Coal-fired power generation units
Source: CAN Newsletter March 2008
Emerson announced that the company has been selected to install its PlantWeb digital plant architecture with the Ovation expert control system at twelve US coal-fired units. The company is already installed in plants representing roughly 300 000 MW of generating capacity, which is equivalent to 40 % of average peak demand in the United States. The twelve new units, which are all expected to go into commercial operation within the next five years, represent nearly 7 000 MW of new generating capacity that will help U.S. utilities satisfy an increasing demand for electricity. The majority of these units are taking advantage of industry standard communications protocols, such as DeviceNet. Extensive use of serial network technologies offers significant benefits throughout the lifecycle of a plant. During the plant start-up/commissioning phase, these technologies help lower wiring costs and streamline device installation, communications verification and troubleshooting.
