Improving the Quality and Energy Efficiency of Power Units of Thermal Power Plants by Optimizing the Operational Modes of Boiler Equipment

The article is devoted to optimizing the operation of the boiler equipment of Ukrainian power plants, which is relevant due to their physical and moral aging and is consistent with the concept of sustainable development of the United Nations. To solve the optimization problem by the criterion of minimum losses, it is proposed to use a combined approach based on the use of standard optimization methods and elements of heuristic analysis. The solution of the problem consists in finding the values of the parameters of the controlled values, at which the energy losses in the boiler will be minimal. For the practical implementation of a complex model, the division of the general technological process of the boiler into a number of conditionally independent processes, united by a common technological cycle, was carried out. The reliability of mathematical models is confirmed by the experiments carried out for the TП-100 boiler of the 200MW power unit of Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant. The practical significance of the results obtained is substantiated by the construction of the static operational control characteristics of the boiler in the entire range of its normal operation and the determination of its optimal energy-saving operational modes.