UNIT 1
Passage A
Through the IT Looking Glass Appears a New Kind of Commany
What used to be considered plant-level control ,monitoring,and automation systems are now
becoming part and parcel of the plant owner's corporate-wide information system.Plant data
acquisition becomes part of the corporate information system;the computerized maintenance
management system(CMMS) becomes part of an enterprise asset management (EAM)
system;document management is a subset of plant design from a life-cycle standpoint;and
administrative chores,towards using IT as a comprehensive and integrated competitive strategic
tool.
In addition,the plant-level IT engines are based less and less on proprietary software and
hardware.Even mission-critical control can be reliably conducted on open PC
architecture,according to many IT experts.Finally,power-industry executives view IT application
as a way to streamline plant management and staffing,raise productivity,and add economic value
to the enterprise.
In fact,many executives view IT application as a way to break down entrenched organizational
barriers that are difficult to break any other way-such as by management directives.A simple
example at power plants:integrating the operations department with the maintenance department
and align them towards common goals of enterprise profitability.
Specific IT products are revolutionzing plant operations,or are expected to in the coming
years.Several of these topics are discussed below.
Optimization.Process optimization packages have made significant progress in penetrating the
power generation market over the last two or three years.These software packages-which seek to
analyze and discover patterns in huge amounts of data to determine an optimum combination of
unit set-points for efficiency,emissions,etc.-have probably been applied to at least 150-200 coal-
fired units.
Predictive maintenance.Predictive maintenance is another important IT category at the plant
level.The basic PdM suite today includes vibration analysis,shaft alignment
measurement,tribology for lubrication systems,and thermograph to detect patterns in heat loss and
gain.These techniques are combined with software packages to arrive at knowledge-based asset
management.
Mobile computing.Although the control room is often known as the nerve center of the
plant,emerging mobile computing solutions allow workers to acquire,disseminate,and access
knowledge from almost anywhere.
Simulator.Increasingly,simulators are introduced as part of the control system upgrade.They have
gained wide acceptance as an effective way to improve power plant availability and
performance.While simulators are used to provide operators with practical experience in the
shortest time possible,they are also used widely for introducing new DCSs,training non-operators
as part of multi-skill efforts,validating plant procedures,and evaluating control system and plant
design modifications.
Inventory management.This area could be an early,practical application of e-commerce tools at
the power plant level.There are several enterprises that seek to help power stations obtain and sell
spare parts,and in general reduce the cost of carrying inventory.