Power plant simulation and controller design using modular modeling system software

The primary objective of the work being done by The University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) at the CoalFired Flow Facility (CFFF) is to prove the concept of operating a coal-fired power plant equipped with a magnetohydrodynamic MHD topping cycle. The ultimate goal of the MHD power generation program is to bring the MHD process into commercial use. This would involve the design of a full-scale commercial coal-fired power plant with a MHD topping cycle.

The group responsible for the MHD program at UTSI is the Energy Conversion Research and Development Programs (ECP). ECP personnel, anticipating the design effort for a commercial MHD power plant, decided that computer simulation of conventional power plant components subjected to MHD conditions would be useful. To facilitate this simulation, a pre-release version of the Modular Modeling System (MMS) was acquired from The Electric Power Research Institute.

This work involves the development of a MMS model of the three superheater test-sections (TSl, TS2, and TS3) at the CFFF. The dynamic model was then used to design Proportional Integral (PI) controllers for the superheater test-section. It is hoped that this effort will lay the groundwork for future applications of MMS by ECP staff and UTSI students.