Training Module Control Systems and Operational Procedures

1. THE SEQUENCER
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) has been installed to control the machine run up and shut down This
is mounted in the Old Automatic control panel (machine control suite-MCS). Once start up or shut down
commands are given the sequencer step through the sequence as described in the machine start up and
shut down sequences. The sequencer is interfaced to other plant items as shown in below
The sequencer will monitor the status of various plant items through the inputs and drive various plant items
through the outputs - see notes on PLC basics

Unit
Exciter
ACB Board
C/O(Q7)

Auxiliaries
Sequencer • MCW valve(Q15)
Master Trip • Stator heaters(Q8)
(86)(Q9) • Governor oil
pump(Q10)
• HP jacking oil
pump(
BH BA • Brakes( Q35/Q36)
(Q2) (Q1) • S/by GOP alarm
Control
(Q34)
Room

S800 I/O for Governor

Annanciator
control room
computer

The major steps in the run up and shut down of a unit are as outline in the flow charts below and
summarised as follows

Run Up

1- Pre-start checks conditions which have to be satisfied before machine can be run. Once satisfied the
sequencer will go to the status – ready to start
2- Auxiliaries start up. When the start sequence commences the fist stage is to start up the auxiliaries
listed. Once all auxiliaries are started succsesfully the sequencer will proceed to turbine run up
3- Turbine run up- start with the release of the guide vane lock. Energisation of the valve BA the turbine
governor start. the turbine governor will step through its own turbine start up sequence until the unit is up
to speed
4- Excitation- once the machine is @90 % speed Excitation can start. The first stage of excitation is closure
of field breaker followed by switch on of the Excitation, filed flashing i.e. the rotor is energised from
common services via a rectifier cct so as to build up voltage enough for the exciter to sustain self
excitation whilst excitation is building up the unit bard supplies will change over @ ~87% and @ 90@

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 1 of 17

 volts the unit is considered to be @ speed No Load –SNL and ready to synchronise provide the
sequencer is in remote and the Excitation is in Auto.

Shut down
1. Unloading of unit – shedding of MW & MVArs Necessary to allow smooth shut down load pick up by
other units & extend ACB life When load <5MW& MVArs < 5Kvar the ACB will be opened
2. De-excitation- switch off of the Excitation as Volts decrease the unit board supplies will change over
3. Turbine shut down.- Governor shut down and the guide vanes will close, the BA valve de energises &
the BH de energises allowing the lock to engage
4. @ 40% speed the HP jacking oil pump starts to improve lubrication of the thrust bearing & @ 25%
brakes will apply brake dust extractor fans starts heaters come on CW valve closes GOP pump stops
5. unit the sequencer goes to the turbine at rest status and eventually back to ready to start

The unit runs up and start up is summarised diagrammatically by the flow charts and graph below

Further note on various sequencer logic subroutines are in appendix1

Flow chart for machine run up

Pre-Start Conditions

Ready to Start

Remote Auto selected 1

Start Order

Start G.O.P Unit start Up

Open C.W Valve Auxiliaries
Release Brakes
Start Rotor Jack pump 2

Auxiliaries On
Guide vane lock released

Energise Gov. Sol valve Unit start up to

Governor Start SNL 3
Unit run up to speed

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 2 of 17

Unit @ 95% Speed

Unit Excite 4
U/B change er @ 87%V
Unit @ 95 % Volts

Unit @ SNL 5

Ready to Synch

Order to synchronise

Unit Synchronising Seq 6

ACB closed

Unit ready to load MVAR 7

Flow chart for machine shut down

Remote Auto selected

Unit off HPC

Stop Order 1

Float MW , MVR 2

MW<5, Mvar <.1

Auxiliaries On

Open ACB

Unit @SNL 3
Reset Auto
Synch
Stop Order 4
Governor Stop
Unit De Excite Ready To
synch

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 3 of 17

Heaters On

Unit @ 90% Volts

Unit Board C/O@ 87% V 5

Unit @ 40 % Speed

Star rotor jack pump 6

Open Field Switch
Speed @ 25%

Brakes Apply

Speed @ <8%

Turbine @ reset 7

Stop jacking pump

Brakes off after 5mins

Stop Seq Complete

8

Ready To Start 9

A display unit (DU) mounted on the MCS door indicate the stage at which the sequence is and also shows
the Status of the inputs contacts from field devises and the state of the out put relays
The sequencer output relays have red flags, which drop when the relay is energised and reset, if relay is de-
energised. The relays are labelled RL01, RL02… with RL01 driven by out put Q01 and RL2 by output Q02
and so on.

The following are the states displayed by the du

Turbine At rest : Machine speed less than 8% but condition prior to start not
Satisfied
Unit at rests Available for Start: Machine speed less than 8% and conditions prior to start
Satisfied

Unit Start up In Progress Machine start up sequence initiated until all auxiliaries start up

Unit Start up TO Speed no load Machine start up sequence initiate d& all auxiliaries started
Stays on until machine speed and volts > 90%
Unit at Speed NO load Machine speed Volts > 90%

Turbine to governor Power settings

& Generator ready to load MVArs Machine Synchronised

Shut down sequence in progress Machine shut down sequence initiated

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 4 of 17

 Stays until turbine is at rest and brake dust Extraction fan is off
Alarms

The following alarms are driven from the Sequencer

Guide vanes fail to open : Comes up if speed NO Load status is not reached 4mins after the Governor
start pulse is sent

Guide vanes fail to close : Comes up if guide vanes do not close within 12secs from the turbine stop
signal

Brakes fail to operate: comes up if machine speed does not drop below 8% within 2 minutes from
The time a brake application pulse is sent
Fail to start : Generated by the auxiliaries start timer( 2mins after start pulse) or speed no
load timer(5mins from start of Seed no Load Sequence)
Exciter trip to manual- Trip of Excitation from Auto to manual
Brake interlock failure Not Programmed
Urgent excitation trouble : Loss of excitation trip supplies

If the sequencer does not complete the shut down sequence due to the above alarms being sustained (i.e.
Hangs up with DU reading Unit stop in progress) clear alarms before start up by resetting the excitation
alarms as necessary and then pressing the reset push button below the PLC. The display unit will display
UNIT AT REST AVAILABLE FOR START

Exercises

Operational Procedures
Question 1 Describe in your own words what checks you would make as
a Leading Turbine Driver when first coming on shift.

What importance would you attach to the previous shifts’ log book and log
sheets?

Question 2 Describe the action you would take on receipt of the following Alarms with
the machine on load.

(i) Bearing Temperature High

(ii) Bearing Oil Level
(iii) Turbine guide Generator Thrust Bearing oil levels
(iv) Cooling Water Flow Failure

Question 3 Describe your actions as a Leading Turbine Driver the Operations and
checks that you would do to:

(i) Shut down a Machine

(ii) Carry out an overspeed test on a machine.
(iii) Start up a machine following routine brushgear maintenance.

Question 4 What is the purpose of the radial intake gate.

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 5 of 17

 What would be the indications on the Turbine Panel instruments if the intake
gate closed with the machine on load? What action would you take as a
Leading Turbine Driver? Explain the reasons for your actions.

Question 5 Where and what is the Emergency Drain Pump – how is it supplied and are
there any monitoring circuits to check availability of Emergency Drain Pump.

What tests are done on this pump, at what frequency? Describe the test in
your own words, itemising readings and precautions to be taken during the
test.

Question 6 What provides power in the event of all Machines being off the bars at
Kariba South?
How many sources of Electricity Supply can be obtained in the above
circumstances and where?
Are there any Routine Tests carried out to check Validity of Emergency
Supplies both A.C. and D.C.

Control systems
1. Describe the machine start up sequence in detail
2. What are the most common causes of sequencer hang ups and how are they cleared
3. DeScribe the logic in the main sequencer control blocks
4. Auxiliaries start-up
5. Automatic start-up
6. Manual shut down
7. What happens if there is a speed signal fail alarm
8. If the sequencer looses power supplies what will happen(describe in detail)
9. What are the main causes of failure to start and how are they cleared
10. If on shut down the governor fails to De-load what is the most likely cause and what action can
be taken

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 6 of 17

 Kariba South Automation Overview TO NCC (A.G.C)

Old Control Desk Station Sub Station

Old Operator
computer
C Station
Sub station control
system remote
console

Old 38 pair New 20 Pair

AF100 Field Bus

Turb Turb Turb Turb Turb Turb

Gov1 Gov2 Gov3 Gov4 Gov5 Gov6

M/c JB

MCS-1 MC MC MC MC MC
S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6

Exciter Exciter- Exciter- Exciter- Exciter- Exciter-

2 3 4 5 6

S800 I/O I/O I/O I/O I/O

Remote Unit- Unit Unit- Unit- Unit-
I/O s800 2 3 4 5 6
Unit1

Plant I/O unit

Junction (Common)
To Control Boxes services/Auxil
Desk iaries Plant
Notes.
The I/O modules are connected as shown for NO1
The Machine control suite MCS consists of the sequencer and the old control and supervisory
equipment.

Appendix 1 Note on Station Control systems Upgrade

Power plant controls at Kariba Power Station

Component/System Before Refurbishment After Refurbished

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 7 of 17

 Hydraulic Mechanical governors: Electro-hydraulic Governing :
Turbine Governor • Non-Programmable • programmable settings,
• Spares and skills no longer • low maintenance
available • Spares and skills available.

Generator Excitation Rotary Excitation System: Static (thyristor) excitation.

• Slow acting, • Programmable
• Not suitable for Power system • Fast acting.
stabilisation. • Power system stabilisation
incorporated.

Primary(unit)control • Electromechanical relayed PLC based control system.

system technology • Programmable
• Non-Programmable • Spares and skills available

Supervisory control Electromechanical relayed Computer based Supervisory

system technology control and Data
acquisition(SCADA) system

Why Automation:

• Provide improved control and supervision of the power plant.

• Interfacing different control systems (from different suppliers) to one common supervisory
control system

• Enhance reliability

• Improve efficiency- Optimisation

• Enhance AGC applications

• Automate the processes done manually

• Reduce human error
• Reduce unit commitment time

• Real time Data Acquisition and Storage and processing

• Accurate Report generation

• Accurate Event & Disturbance recording.

Requirements for an Automated System

Master Computer Station – controls and supervises whole system

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Data acquisition system (I/O) – obtain data from the filed devices primary control systems and
transmits commands to primary controllers

Communication systems- interfaces all sub systems to main station

Intelligent electronic devices

Primary controller- e.g. Exciter, turbine governor, sequencer

User interface/ man machine interface (MMI) VDU’s in control room

Information management system (IMS) – data processing and report generation

Software

Function of Components in the Automated System proposed for Kariba

Governor
• primary control of the turbine
• start-up and shut down sequencing
• load control
• speed control
• Supervision and alarm signalling

Exciter
• primary control of machine voltage /MVArs/Power factor
• start-up and shut down sequencing
• Voltage control
• MVAR control
• Power factor control
• Power system stabilisation
• Supervision and alarm signalling

Sequencer
• Co ordinates start up and shut down of unit
• Accept commands from Operator
• Gives commands for
• Auxiliary start-up
• Turbine start-up
• Excitation start up
• Unit shutdown
• Auto synchroniser activation
• Supervise start-up/shutdown sequence and generate alarm signals

Station computer
• AGC functions

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 9 of 17

• Supervises all units
• Joint control of units

IMS station
• reports ,
• trends,
• time tagged event/alarms lists list

Remote Input /Output units S800 I/O

Data acquisition:
• Collect data from field and transmit to station computer
• Accept commands from station computer
• send commands to:
1. to governor/
2. exciter
3. sequencer
4. other auxiliaries e.g. ACB open

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 10 of 17

Data Acquisition

Analogue signal e.g. Measurants

Analogue inputs collect analogue data from the field and convert to computer format

Signal from field Transducer Analogue to Digital convertor Data

Processor
ADC

Transducers convert the in put signal to low power signals typically

4-20 mA, 0-5v, 0-10v ,-20-+20mA, -10-+10V etc

ADC converts the analogue signal to digital bits 0 or 5v(0-or1) format suitable for computerised processing

Processor read the digital bits from the ADC and uses the information

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Digital signals e.g. status signal like ACB open
5v /24V/48v typically

52X- ACB closed

+5V

Processor

Opto-coupler

+5v

Typical digital input can use relays, transistors, opto-cuoplers, thyristor ,triac etc

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 12 of 17

Analogue outputs

Analogue inputs collect analogue data from the field and convert to computer format

Analogue signal Amplifier Digital to Analogue convertor Data

Processor
To drive Actuator display etc
DAC

Amplifier converts the in put signal typically

4-20 mA, 0-5v, 0-10v ,-20-+20mA, -10-+10V etc to high power signals to drive say actuators displays etc

DAC converts the Digital signal to digital bits 0 or 5v(0 or1) to an analogue signal

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 13 of 17

Digital out puts
24V

Volt Free 220vdc

Contact

Processor 5v
Solenoid v/v for e.g.

Digital outputs are normally volt free contacts used in the control circuits of unit control systems or
auxiliaries

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 14 of 17

 Station Automation Unit Monitoring and Control Interfaces

18 kV 18 kV
Old Control Desk. Excitation
Switchgear protection
Control Suite
Panel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Machine Remote S800 Remote Interposing

** Input /Output relay panel
control junction Box
Unit
Af100 field-bus 9 10 11 12

Turbine New Annanciator panel 13

Governor HPC Turbine 14 Sequencer
640 Panel Panel
15

16

Details of signals in each link is given in pages 2-19 below

** Analogue Input signals connected directly to S800

Fig 1- Station Control Interfaces

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 15 of 17

Station Control &Automation Notes Page 17 of 17