Coordinated Control System

In thermal power plants the fundamental objective is to supply thermal energy by the boiler as required by the turbine to convert the energy to mechanical energy to match the electrical power delivered by the generator coupled with the turbine. There must be a balance among all these forms of power to ensure a continuous supply of electricity with a well-coordinated control system and a control strategy to ensure a largely fluctuating power demand with an optimum rate of load change, resulting in minimum possible thermal stresses. This chapter depicts control philosophies regarding coordinated control of the boiler and turbine according to load requirement either by a local/station load demand or central load dispatch center. Other possibilities like boiler follow mode or turbine follow modes, their initiations, implications, and relations with the coordinated control system, are taken care of with run back action followed by loss of any equipment.