Have you ever wondered how BoilerOpt™
(CombustionOpt® and SootOpt®) affects your unit’s
heat rate? With the new Heat Loss Index, which is
now included with every BoilerOpt system, you will
no longer need to wonder.
The Heat Loss Index provides a real-time measure of
the effects of BoilerOpt on heat rate. The Heat Loss Index is a summation of five different losses that are
directly affected by BoilerOpt. These five losses include
dry gas loss, reheat steam temperature deviation
loss, reheat spray loss, superheat steam temperature
deviation loss, and superheat spray loss. By summing
these losses together, a single index of heat rate
loss in units of btu/kw-hr is computed.
The Heat Loss Index provides two benefits to
BoilerOpt users. First, the optimizers can be used to
directly lower heat rate by including a goal (residual)
in the optimization profile to minimize the Heat
Loss Index. Second, the user can view and track the
improvements in heat rate directly using the Heat
Loss Index.
NeuCo will be rolling out the Heat Loss Index
across our current install base. Two versions of
the implementation will be offered: standard and
custom. The standard version uses average coal
compositions and correction curves to compute the
components of the Heat Loss Index. The custom
version uses coal compositions and correction curves
that are specific to your plant. NeuCo will install the
custom version in any cases where our customers
provide us with the plant specific information.