Argenta excited to collaborate with Greenbank on a new Research and Development project
14 March 2016
Argenta have been working with Greenbank for the last 18 months, getting involved in optimising LabVIEW applications for their products. Greenbank approached Argenta to join them in an application for an InnovateUK funding call. The objective of the funding call is to improve efficiency, reduce cost and minimise the environmental impact of coal within energy generation.
The bid was successful and the collaboration were awarded a £537,000 grant in the cleaner more efficient fossil fuels category.
The ultimate objective of the project is to develop an Intelligent Flow Control System (IFCS) for Coal Fired Power Stations (CFPS). The system will be fully automated and will adjust to suit modulation in flow performance of mill, fuel types, quality, wear and load. It will provide flow feedback, allowing burners to achieve optimum stoichiometric conditions, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing emissions. Other key collaborators are the University of Nottingham and DRAX Power Ltd, the largest CFPS in the UK. A prototype will be built and integrated at Drax in order to verify efficiency and effectiveness through long term testing. It will also address carbon abatement – increasing efficiency and flexibility within UK CFPS.
All collaborators will be working towards a successfully project that will help create a technology to fit the need for flexible plant operation and by doing so generate major business and employment opportunities for the UK.
Argenta’s involvement will be to develop a solution to bring all measurements and control algorithms into a single application. The application will be developed using National Instruments hardware and software platforms, which is an area Argenta has a wealth of experience in.
Chris Woodhams, Managing Director of Argenta, commented that “we’re looking forward to working with all partners in the collaboration and making some technological breakthroughs. This project has the potential to make significant improvements to the efficiency and environmental impact of CFPSs. Having worked with Greenbank previously we are confident that the project will be a success for all involved but most importantly will help integrate innovative technology into CFPS. This technology will bring CFPSs in line with new government emission regulations and provide unrivalled optimisation for fuel delivery and combustion performance.”
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