PLCs for

Turbine Control Systems

Application Note 83408

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PLCs for Turbine Control Systems Application Note 83408

PLCs for.
Turbine Control Systems

Introduction
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are currently being utilized for full
turbine control by some control suppliers and some turbine OEMs and are being
considered by some turbine system packagers. PLCs are available from at least
a half-dozen suppliers, including GE Fanuc and Allen Bradley. Each of these
suppliers has its own mix of modules and its own system for product distribution.
Their target design market is not turbine control, but the myriad of everyday
bread-and-butter control applications of general industry and automation.

In general, only standard I/O is available from the PLC vendor. Full turbine
control requires some special modules, such as speed sensors, fast protection
thermocouples, LVDTs, servo actuator drivers, vibration interfaces, and special
serial interfaces. Some of these modules are available from specialty suppliers
(not the PLC vendors), or they can be manufactured by or for the control
packagers to their own design specifications.

Utilizing the PLCs in any control scenario involves both selecting the appropriate
PLC hardware—including that PLC vendor's programming environment—and
then programming the system. In other words, both hardware and software
issues must be addressed.

The general appeal of PLCs would seem to be composed of one or more of the
following considerations:
• Low purchase cost, due to standardization
• Purchaser's command of the control system design, due to hardware
modularity and perceived programming flexibility
• "Local" support for the system, due to wide availability of at least the larger
PLC suppliers' hardware and the increasing availability of third-party special
modules

We’ll take a closer look into both the hardware and software aspects later in this
paper.

Some General Observations

Third-party suppliers play a key role in the product line-up of many PLCs. Fanuc
manufactures only four I/O modules (4–20 in, 4–20 out, discrete in, discrete out).
Third-party suppliers (such as Horner, KEP, SYCOM, Delta Tau) provide at least
30% of turbine control I/O modules. Some specialty modules must be purchased
directly from the controls’ supplier because they are not available through PLC
distribution.

PLC chips have specific I/O limits. For large and/or complex applications, a
single processor is not sufficient and additional processing units are required.

Most of the ordinary programming needs for PLCs are accomplished within the
ladder logic environment. Certain analog-type functions are also provided within
this framework. For the additional functionality required in a turbine control
system, either Basic or C language programming is necessary.

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Application Note 83408 PLCs for Turbine Control Systems
The key software requirement for a turbine control system involves the utilization
of rate groups in order to achieve the critical timing of functions required for PIDs,
ramps, etc. The software responsible for such timing is generally buried deep
within the software structure of the PLC itself. For a turbine control system, the
user/programmer must access this core software, and modify the programmable
interrupts within the PLC code to set up this rate group structure. These
modifications will be written in Basic or C language. Generally, changes to the
size of the application will cause timing changes in the PLC and the rate group
software.

Because of design and module-capability differences among the many PLC

manufacturers, it is usually not practical for a PLC packager to be familiar with or
support more than a single vendor. This could lead to problems in supplying
users who may be standardized on a different PLC vendor.

System Costs
The cost of basic hardware and I/O for a PLC is relatively low. However, a full
turbine control PLC requires:
• Additional third-party hardware, at a price and availability well beyond the
basic hardware.
• Custom software development for the rate group timing and non-linear
algorithms. This is either purchased outside or requires a large investment
for extensive in-house programming capability, plus the cost of maintaining
this capability for the life of the control system.
• Provision for several co-processors, according to the size of the project.
• Very large amounts of systems and turbine control expertise to convert the
hardware and software into an ongoing workable control system that will
serve for many years.
• Factory testing capabilities.

Based on several comparisons from many available bid documents and

purchase orders, the overwhelming evidence indicates that by the time a
complete control system is fully designed, the apparent cost advantage of the
PLC has disappeared.

Control System Design

Special I/O needs or co-processor requirements will require the control system
designer to utilize third-party designers and/or suppliers, thus giving up that
measure of the desired in-house control.

Establishing and maintaining the specialized programming capability in-house

requires major engineering resources. This is further complicated by the irregular
demand for these specialists—what do they do while waiting for their services to
be required? This is not so bad for repetitive applications of the same program.
But, if/when the next unit(s) is (are) different, if parameters such as the fuel or
acceleration schedules need to be changed, or if there are special
communication requirements, a considerable amount of highly professional
programming is needed.

Most importantly, the special programming, in Basic or C, whether done in-house

or purchased outside, is very particular to individual code writers. Unavailability of
those particular individuals, for so many possible reasons, would cause any
changes to that code to be very difficult or impossible. It could be necessary to
start all over again.

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PLCs for Turbine Control Systems Application Note 83408

Local Support
The local PLC supplier is an industrial distributor, with little influence with the
PLC manufacturer. Any expertise this distributor has is in the area of general
applications, not turbine control. This distributor cannot help in sorting out any
turbine control system problems.

The more critical modules are provided in-house or, more usually, by third
parties. Sometimes these third-party suppliers are small companies and are
almost always single-sourced. The availability of local support can be dependent
on that supplier's field service facilities and policies.

A large degree of site individuality is usually required for turbine controls. Turbine
OEMs offering "standard" PLC packages are necessarily limited in the amount of
customizing they can provide to meet the user's individual application needs.
Users who accept "canned" solutions should evaluate the short-term cost
consideration versus the long-term advantage of having a control system that is
or can be tailored to their present and future needs. Support with such a large
degree of flexibility, especially considering the software requirements, is difficult
or impractical with many PLC-based control systems.

Next-generation software tools from PLC vendors don't generally work on

systems with customized codes. Upgrades and future revisions to the PLC
system will require more changes to the modified software, if the advantages of
those new tools are to be realized.

Basic and C codes are difficult to maintain across a significant number of

employees. Changes are more readily accomplished by the original author of the
code. Again, should that author be unavailable, problems and complications are
more probable.

The dependence on software experts can be eliminated with a strong high-level

reprogramming tool (such as the Woodward Graphical Applications
Programmer). With such, any turbine engineer or technician (not a programming
specialist) can accomplish changes quickly and in a straightforward fashion −
and for the life of the control.

Software—and the support of it—is really the key issue!

Key Considerations
Potential users of PLC hardware and software for full-turbine controls ultimately
will need to address all of the following issues:
• Changing control strategies that require custom software
• Special third-party I/O modules
• Long-term support
• Costs of maintaining a programming staff that is amortized over a relatively
low number of units

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