Over the last 18 months Denman have been part of a biomass investigation team at Drax power station. This work is to help improve all areas of operations with a focus on safety and improving the efficiency of the control system.
Our first task was to look at all trip and sequence shutdown events to see if any areas of concern existed or improvements could be made. Some testing was done on live plant but due to operational needs much of this testing was completed on a simulator with an exact copy of the plant software.
Once all the testing was completed the results were analysed and any areas we highlighted for further consideration were discussed between Denman, Drax operations and various industry experts to find the best way forward.
After all changes had been agreed we moved on to the implementation stage, this involved working alongside the software team to install and retest.