On November 6, Hebei Dingzhou Power Plant’s unmanned on-duty intelligent control system for coal-fired power generation passed a 168-hour trial run, marking the first achievement of fully autonomous control and decision-making for a coal-fired unit in China. It transforms traditional coal-fired unit operation models by establishing an autonomous technical framework for complex production processes.
The unmanned on-duty system has been designed with a real-time control environment powered by big data analysis and machine learning, incorporating intelligent model frameworks based on data analysis, artificial intelligence computation, autonomous decision-making by machine, fault-tolerant control, multi-source data integration and hybrid-driven fault diagnosis. It has established a fully indigenous intelligent control system based on domestically produced chips and an autonomous operating system. This system achieves full autonomous control and decision-making, transforming unit operation from isolated, segmented, and local technical development to autonomous control over technical processes and coordinated control over multiple technical processes. Daily operational actions of unit have maintained below 300, a 90% reduction compared to prior operations and a 95% decrease compared to the national average. In addition, the system has achieved knowledge consolidation and automation, enabling knowledge replication and updating. Specialized knowledge, operational expertise, and device process mechanisms are encapsulated within functional modules, allowing for the automatic start-stop and combining & retreating for the coal pulverizing system, which has witnessed a 90% reduction in start-stop grinding operations, and 100% automation of manual systems, including tilter angle, SOFA secondary air, and low-and-medium pressure connection valves. Furthermore, 12 boiler-side types of equipment and nine turbine-side types of equipment are now routinely automated.
Since February 2022, the project team has achieved several key technological breakthroughs, including the intelligent power generation platform, autonomous start-stop of the coal pulverizing system, full-process autonomous control, and decision-making. The team has secured four software copyrights and applied for ten patents from the China National Intellectual Property Administration. These achievements have been consolidated into the enterprise standard for CHN Energy’s Technical Specification of the Unattended Operating Unit’s Intelligent Control System, establishing a national benchmark for thermal power unit operation with significant potential for widespread application.
