Quantifying social costs of coal-fired power plant generation

Coal has been dominating the electricity supply in Indonesia,especially in long-term power generation from fossil energy.This dominance is due to lower production costs in coal-fired power plant generation.However,this low price is only based on monetary costs and ignores the social costs.Therefore,this study aims to quantify the social costs of coal-fired generation.Using QUERI-AirPacts modeling,the present study quantifies the social costs resulting from the Tenayan Raya coal-fired generation in Riau,Indonesia.It includes the levelized cost of electricity and health costs into the generation costs.After that,this study calculates the net present value,internal rate return,and project payback period.The study found that as much as$50.22/MWh was the levelized cost of electricity.While$15.978/MWh or$0.015978/kWh was the social cost that was not included in the generating cost.At the electricity production level of 1,380,171.69 MWh per year,there is an expected extra cost of$22,052,383.30 uncounted when externalities are included.For instance,the net present value(NPV)is lower and even negative when external costs are included(-$24,062,274.19)compared to$176,108,091.52 when externalities are not considered.The internal rate of return(IRR)is much higher when the social costs are not considered.The payback period is also shorter when the social costs are excluded than when the externalities are included.This global number indicates that the inclusion of external costs would impact NPV,IRR,and the payback period.This result implies that the government should internalize the external cost to stimulate the electricity producers to conduct cost-benefit analyses.The cost-benefit analysis mechanism would lead the producers to be more efficient.

Optimal Load Dispatch of Gas Turbine Power Generation Units based on Multiple Population Genetic Algorithm

In this paper, a multiple population genetic algorithm (MPGA) is proposed to solve the problem of optimal load dispatch of gas turbine generation units. By introducing multiple populations on the basis of Standard Genetic Algorithm (SGA), connecting each population through immigrant operator and preserving the best individuals of every generation through elite strategy, MPGA can enhance the efficiency in obtaining the global optimal solution. In this paper, MPGA is applied to optimize the load dispatch of 3×390MW gas turbine units. The results of MPGA calculation are compared with that of equal micro incremental method and AGC instruction. MPGA shows the best performance of optimization under different load conditions. The amount of saved gas consumption in the calculation is up to 2337.45m3N/h, which indicates that the load dispatch optimization of gas turbine units via MPGA approach can be effective.

Investigating Load Regulation Characteristics of a Wind-PV-Coal Storage Multi-Power Generation System

There is a growing need to explore the potential of coal-fired power plants(CFPPs)to enhance the utilization rate of wind power(wind)and photovoltaic power(PV)in the green energy field.This study developed a load regulation model for a multi-power generation system comprising wind,PV,and coal energy storage using realworld data.The power supply process was divided into eight fundamental load regulation scenarios,elucidating the influence of each scenario on load regulation.Within the framework of the multi-power generation system with the wind(50 MW)and PV(50 MW)alongside a CFPP(330 MW),a lithium-iron phosphate energy storage system(LIPBESS)was integrated to improve the system’s load regulation flexibility.The energy storage operation strategy was formulated based on the charging and discharging priority of the LIPBESS for each basic scenario and the charging and discharging load calculation method of LIPBESS auxiliary regulation.Through optimization using the particle swarm algorithm,the optimal capacity of LIPBESS was determined to be within the 5.24-4.88 MWh range.From an economic perspective,the LIPBESS operating with CFPP as the regulating power source was 49.1% lower in capacity compared to the renewable energy-based storage mode.

A novel carbon trap sampling system for coal-fired flue gas mercury measurement

A novel carbon trap sampling system for gas-phase mercury measurement in flue gas is developed, including the high efficient sorbents made of modified biomass cokes and high precision sorbent traps for measuring particle-bound and total vapor-phase mercury in flue gas. A dedusting device is installed to collect fine fly ash for reducing the measurement errors. The thorough comparison test of mercury concentration in flue gas is conducted between the novel sampling system and the Ontario hydro method （OHM） in a 6 kW circulating fluidized bed combustor. Mercury mass balance rates of the OHM range from 95.47% to 104.72%. The mercury breakthrough rates for the second section of the sorbent trap are all below 2%. The relative deviations in the two test cases are in the range of 15. 96% to 17. 56% under different conditions. The verified data suggest that this novel carbon trap sampling system can meet the standards of quality assurance and quality control required by EPA Method 30B and can be applied to the coal-fired flue gas mercury sampling system.

The Effects of SO_3 in Flue Gas on the Operation of Coalfired Units and Countermeasures

There exists a certain amount of SO_3 in flue gas discharged from coal-fired power plants. With the operation of the selective catalystic reduction( SCR) denitrification system,SO_3 concentration in the flue gas increases,which will lead to fouling,erosion and plugging of downstream equipment. In this study,the main effects of SO_3 on the safety,stability and efficiency of units were analyzed,and measures to control SO_3 were proposed.

GPU-based leaves contour generation algorithm

The implementation and optimization of the traditional contour generation algorithms are always proposed for the common processor. When processing high resolution images, the performance often exists low efficiency. A new graphics processing unit （GPU）-based algorithm is proposed to get the clear and integrated contour of leaves. Firstly we implement the classic Sobel operator of edge detection in GPU. Then a simple and effective method is designed to remove the fake edge and a heuristic algorithm is used to repair the broken edge. It is proved by the experiments that the results of our algorithm are natural and realistic in terms of morphology and can be good materials for the virtual plant.

Research on Comparisons of New Clean Power Generation Technologies

On the basis of introducing clean power generation technologies, the author calculated and analyzed the investment, economy and environmental protection of these technologies, posed his views of giving the priorities to the development of supercritical and ultra-supercritical pressure coal-fired power generation technologies and taking vigorous action to nuclear power generation technology within the following 5-10 years, exploiting wind power within the following 10-15 years, and suggested that the installed capacity of nuclear power reach 80-100 GW and that of wind power reach 50-80 GW by 2020.

Impact of PV Distributed Generation on Loop Distribution Network

The rapid spreading of the Photovoltaic (PV) Systems as Distributed Generation (DG) in medium and low voltage networks created many effects and changes on the existing power system networks. In this work, two methods have been used and applied to determine the optimal allocation and sizing of the PV to be installed as DGs (ranging from 250 kW up to 3 MW). The first one is to determine the location according to the maximal power losses reduction over the feeder. The second one is by using the Harmony Search Algorithm which is claimed to be a powerful technique for optimal allocation of PV systems. The results of the two techniques were compared and found to be nearly closed. Furthermore, investigation on the effects on the feeder in terms of voltage levels, power factor readings, and short circuit current levels has been done. All calculations and simulations are conducted by using the MATLAB Simulation Program. Some field calculations and observations have been expended in order to substantiate the research findings and validation.

Study on CO_2 Emission Reduction from Chinese Coal-Fired Power Plants Between 1993 and 2010

Based on the Chinese thermal coal and power generation data,such as ultimate analysis,proximate analysis,low heat value(LHV)on as received basis,power generation volume,thermal coal consumption volume and net coal consumption rate,several mathematical models for calculating CO 2 reduction by Chinese coal-fired power plants are established.Calculations of the CO 2 emission factor(CEF),the CO 2 emission volume and reduction volume are made according to these models.The calculation results reveal that between 1993 and 2010,the CO 2 emission volume reached 31.069 Gt,reduced by 0.439 Gt,averaging 28.83 Mt each year.

Research on solar aided coal-fired power generation system and performance analysis

Integrating solar power utilization systems with coal-fired power units, the solar aided coal-fired power generation (SACPG) shows a significant prospect for the large-scale utilization of solar energy and energy saving of thermal power units. The methods and mechanism of system integration were studied. The parabolic trough solar collectors were used to collect solar energy and the integration scheme of SACPG system was determined considering the matching of working fluid flows and energy flows. The thermodynamic characteristics of solar thermal power generation and their effects on the performance of thermal power units were studied, and based on this the integration and optimization model of system structure and parameters were built up. The integration rules and coupling mecha- nism of SACPG systems were summarized in accordance with simulation results. The economic analysis of this SACPG system showed that the solar LEC of a typical SACPG system, considering CO2 avoidance, is 0.098 $/kW·h, lower than that of SEGS, 0.14 $/kW·h.

Energy conservation in China's coal-fired power industry by installing advanced units and organized phasing out backward production

Coal-fired power is the main power source and the biggest contributor to energy conservation in the past several decades in China.It is generally believed that advanced technology should be counted on for energy conservation.However,a review of the decline in the national average net coal consumption rate(NCCR)of China's coal-fired power industry along with its development over the past few decades indicates that the upgradation of the national unit capacity structure(including installing advanced production and phasing out backward production)plays a more important role.A quantitative study on the effect of the unit capacity structure upgradation on the decline in the national average NCCR suggests that phasing out backward production is the leading factor for the decline in the NCCR in the past decade,followed by the new installation,whose sum contributes to approximately 80%of the decline in the national average NCCR.The new installation has an effective affecting period of about 8 years,during which it would gradually decline from a relatively high value.Since the effect of phasing out backward production may remain at a certain degree given a continual action of phasing out backward capacity,it is suggested that the organized action of phasing out backward production should be insisted on.

Coordinated control strategy for a PV-storage grid-connected system based on a virtual synchronous generator

Due to the characteristics of intermittent photovoltaic power generation and power fluctuations in distributed photovoltaic power generation,photovoltaic grid-connected systems are usually equipped with energy storage units.Most of the structures combined with energy storage are used as the DC side.At the same time,virtual synchronous generators have been widely used in distributed power generation due to their inertial damping and frequency and voltage regulation.For the PV-storage grid-connected system based on virtual synchronous generators,the existing control strategy has unclear function allocation,fluctuations in photovoltaic inverter output power,and high requirements for coordinated control of PV arrays,energy storage units,and photovoltaic inverters,which make the control strategy more complicated.In order to solve the above problems,a control strategy for PV-storage grid-connected system based on a virtual synchronous generator is proposed.In this strategy,the energy storage unit implements maximum power point tracking,and the photovoltaic inverter implements a virtual synchronous generator algorithm,so that the functions implemented by each part of the system are clear,which reduces the requirements for coordinated control.At the same time,the smooth power command is used to suppress the fluctuation of the output power of the photovoltaic inverter.The simulation validates the effectiveness of the proposed method from three aspects:grid-connected operating conditions,frequency-modulated operating conditions,and illumination sudden-drop operating condition.Compared with the existing control strategies,the proposed method simplifies the control strategies and stabilizes the photovoltaic inverter fluctuation in the output power of the inverter.

Tempospacial energy-saving effect-based diagnosis in large coal-fired power units:Energy-saving benchmark state

The energy-saving analytics of coal-fired power units in China is confronting new challenges especially with even more complicated system structure, higher working medium parameters, time-dependent varying operation conditions and boundaries such as load rate, coal quality, ambient temperature and humidity. Compared with the traditional optimization of specific operating parameters, the idea of the energy-consumption benchmark state was proposed. The equivalent specific fuel consumption(ESFC) analytics was introduced to determine the energy-consumption benchmark state, with the minimum ESFC under varying operation boundaries. Models for the energy-consumption benchmark state were established, and the endogenous additional specific consumption(ASFC) and exogenous ASFC were calculated. By comparing the benchmark state with the actual state, the energy-saving tempospacial effect can be quantified. As a case study, the energy consumption model of a 1000 MW ultra supercritical power unit was built. The results show that system energy consumption can be mainly reduced by improving the performance of turbine subsystem. This nearly doubles the resultant by improving the boiler system. The energy saving effect of each component increases with the decrease of load and has a greater influence under a lower load rate. The heat and mass transfer process takes priority in energy saving diagnosis of related components and processes. This makes great reference for the design and operation optimization of coal-fired power units.

Coordinated Optimization of Multi-energy Generation Systems Considering the Health Damages of Coal-fired Pollutant Dispersion

Pollutants emitted from coal-fired power plants lead to the deterioration of air quality in developing countries,and contribute to both mortality and morbidity.To improve air quality from power generation,new dispatch strategies incorporated with air pollution dispersion models should be considered.This paper takes into account the impact of meteorological variations on spatio-temporal dispersion of pollutants.Depending on the coal-fired pollutant concentration estimated by the Gaussian plume dispersion model,exposure-response functions are used to quantify the resulting health effects.Furthermore,the corresponding economic costs of health damages are incorporated to penalize the power dispatch.Considering generation costs and economic costs of health damages,this paper formulates a twostage stochastic optimization model of a multi-energy generation system including coal units,gas units,and photovoltaic stations.Finally,numerical studies based on a modified IEEE 14-node system are performed for illustration and validation.

Composite Cost Function Based Solution to the Unit Commitment Problem

This paper presents a new approach via composite cost function to solve the unit commitment problem. The unit com-mitment problem involves determining the start-up and shut-down schedules for generating units to meet the fore-casted demand at the minimum cost. The commitment schedule must satisfy the other constraints such as the generating limits, spinning reserve, minimum up and down time, ramp level and individual units. The proposed algorithm gives the committed units and economic load dispatch for each specific hour of operation. Numerical simulations were carried out using three cases: four-generator, seven-generator, and ten-generator thermal unit power systems over a 24 h period. The produced schedule was compared with several other methods, such as Dynamic programming, Branch and bound, Ant colony system, and traditional Tabu search. The result demonstrated the accuracy of the proposed method.

An Optimization Approach for Unit Commitment of a Power System Integrated with Renewable Energy Sources： A Case Study of Afghanistan

This paper focused on generation scheduling problem with consideration of wind, solar and PHES （pumped hydro energy storage） system. Wind, solar and PHES are being considered in the NEPS （northeast power system） of Afghanistan to schedule all units power output so as to minimize the total operation cost of thermal units plus aggregate imported power tariffs during the scheduling horizon, subject to the system and unit operation constraints. Apart from determining the optimal output power of each unit, this research also involves in deciding the on/off status of thermal units. In order to find the optimal values of the variables, GA （genetic algorithm） is proposed. The algorithm performs efficiently in various sized thermal power system with equivalent wind, solar and PHES and can produce a high-quality solution. Simulation results reveal that with wind, solar and PHES the system is the most-cost effective than the other combinations.

Flexible Operation Mode of Coal-fired Power Unit Coupling with Heat Storage of Extracted Reheat Steam

In order to provide more grid space for the renewable energy power,the traditional coal-fired power unit should be operated flexibility,especially achieved the deep peak shaving capacity.In this paper,a new scheme using the reheat steam extraction is proposed to further reduce the load far below 50%rated power.Two flexible operation modes of increasing power output mode and reducing fuel mode are proposed in heat discharging process.A 600 MW coal-fired power unit with 50%rated power is chosen as the research model.The results show that the power output is decreased from 300.03 MW to 210.07 MW when the extracted reheat steam flow rate is 270.70 t·h^(-1),which increases the deep peak shaving capacity by 15%rated power.The deep peak shaving time and the thermal efficiency are 7.63 h·d^(-1)and 36.91%respectively for the increasing power output mode,and they are 7.24 h·d^(-1)and 36.58%respectively for the reducing fuel mode.The increasing power output mode has the advantages of higher deep peak shaving time and the thermal efficiency,which is recommended as the preferred scheme for the flexible operation of the coal-fired power unit.

Performance Analysis of an Efficient Integration System of Coal-Fired Power Plant,Solar Thermal Energy and CO_(2)Capture

Coal-fired power plant is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.The post-combustion capture is a promising method for CO_(2)emission reduction but the high thermal demand is unbearable.To address this issue,solar thermal energy and CO_(2)capture are jointly integrated into the coal-fired power plant in this study.The solar thermal energy is employed to meet the heat requirement of the CO_(2)capture process,thereby avoiding the electricity loss caused by self-driven CO_(2)capture.Furthermore,the heat released from the carbonation reaction of MgO adsorbent is integrated into the steam Rankine cycle.By partially substituting the extracted steam for feedwater heating,the electricity output of the power plant is further increased.According to the results from the developed model,the system could achieve a CO_(2)capture rate of 86.5%and an electricity output enhancement of 9.8%compared to the reference system,which consists of a self-driven CO_(2)capture coal-fired power plant and PV generation unit.The operational strategy is also optimized and the amount of CO_(2)emission reduction on a typical day is increased by 11.06%.This work shows a way to combine fossil fuels and renewable energy for low carbon emissions and efficient power generation.