Emerson to Update Controls at Power Station Serving PetroChina

Emerson Process Management announced recently it is updating the controls at a power station that provides electricity and steam to PetroChina's Dalian Refinery, located in northeastern China's Liaoning province. Emerson will install its Ovation expert control system at the captive power station, which is undergoing a comprehensive modernization as part of the complex's overall expansion. There are three distinct phases to the control system project.

First, in September and October 2007, Emerson performed a WDPF-to-Ovation migration for the two newer units. For the second phase of the project, Ovation was installed at the power station's new auxiliary facility, which includes a deaerated water station, heating exchange station and condensed water station.

Emerson is currently in the third and final stage of the project, completely replacing the PLC controls in the older units with the Ovation system. Once this is accomplished, the power plant will be equipped with a fully integrated control solution utilizing Ovation technology. The Ovation system will perform data acquisition; monitor and control the sequence control system, water treatment control and furnace safeguard supervisory system; and interface to existing turbine controls.

In all, Emerson will supply 13 redundant Ovation controllers, nine operator workstations, two engineering stations and one historian. "Unlike other control system suppliers, Emerson has technologies and expertise that is power focused, which we consider a tremendous asset," said Tang Lifeng, instrumentation & controls supervisor, PetroChina. According to Lifeng, PetroChina wanted to increase the productivity and improve the reliability of the power station in order to support the expanded refinery. "Unifying our controls under the Ovation platform will enable us to meet these important objectives," he continued.