Coal-fired Power Plant Boiler Unit Decision Support System

Abstract

The present paper discusses decision support system for boiler unit of a coal-fired thermal power plant. The boiler unit consists of five subsystems arranged in series and parallel based configurations. The decision support system for boiler unit has been developed with the help of mathematical formulation based on Markov Birth-Death process using probabilistic approach. For this purpose, first differential equations have been generated. These equations are then solved using normalizing condition so as to determine the steady state availability of boiler unit. After that decision matrices are developed which provide the various availability levels for different combinations of failure and repair rates for all subsystems. The model developed helps in the operations and quantitative management of various maintenance decisions and actions. The results of this paper are therefore beneficial in deciding the relative repair priorities of various subsystems of boiler unit.

Keywords: Decision Support System, Transition diagram, Probabilistic approach, Availability matrices, Quantitative Management