Thermoeconomic Diagnosis of a Pulverized Coal-Fired Steam Generator

An application of a novel technique to filter induced malfunctions from intrinsic ones in the field of the thermoeconomic diagnosis is presented here for the particular case of a pulverized coal-fired steam boiler. The steam boiler is part of a 350 MWe power plant located at Teruel, Spain. The thermoeconomic diagnosis developed here is underpinned by the exergy cost theory. Through application of this new technique, it is attempted to show that it allows to detect, localize and quantify more easily and precisely the causes of the malfunctions in large thermal systems, as well as the direct impact that malfunctions have on the consumption of resources. In order to do so, a hypothetical scenario of anomalies occurring in the system is proposed here. The scenario is obtained by a simulator of the steam generator which determines the operating condition corresponding to the presence of the different anomalies. The results reveal that the technique is a reliable procedure that can assist to detect more easily the causes of the malfunctions.Copyright © 2005 by ASME