China Northwest Electric Design Institute has awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to install its Ovation™ expert control system at two new 1,000-MW, ultra-supercritical, coal-fired power generating units now under construction.

The contract is for automating the new units at the Anhui Tongling power plant in China’s Anhui province. They are the first 1000MW units in this province and the control system installation is part of Anhui Tongling's Phase VI expansion project, in which older and less-efficient power generating units are being replaced by ultra-supercritical units 5 and 6.

The Ovation system will perform data acquisition at both of the units as well as monitor and control all major plant components, including the boiler, turbine and generator. The Ovation system will also manage each unit's sequence control system, modulating control system, electrical control system, feedwater turbine control system, furnace safety supervisory system and flue gas desulphurization (FGD) system, as well as equipment common to both units. They will be integrated utilizing multi-networking technology and together will manage approximately 21,600 I/O points.

Emerson will supply a total of 18 workstations and 64 redundant controllers, as well as Ovation virtual controller software for a simulator that will be built to test control logic and train operators on the Ovation system.