Clyde Bergemann was appointed by long-standing customer LEAG to supply, install and commission an intelligent hopper cleaning system for the Lippendorf Power Plant, south of Leipzig. The order is a result of the superior performance of Clyde Bergemann’s initial installation in early 2012 to address the furnace cleaning issues at LEAG. Since 2012, Clyde Bergemann’s intelligent boiler cleaning system “SMART Clean” has been in operation in both units of the modern power plant with an installed capacity of 920 MW. Clyde Bergemann has since supported LEAG as a service partner and the cleaning system is now being expanded within Unit R of the power plant.
LEAG requested Clyde Bergemann’s services as they faced new issues due to a fuel change. The challenges arose mainly due to a change in chemical composition of the fuel, which coupled with the combustion and deposition characteristics, caused severe contamination in the hopper area. The prospect of a blockage in the hopper area, due to the contamination, could ultimately lead to a boiler shutdown and loss of efficiency. Therefore, in order to prevent such a scenario, LEAG decided to extend the intelligent furnace cleaning solution to the hopper area by installing four WLB90 water lance blowers, controlled by two infrared camera systems.
The intelligent boiler cleaning system SMART Clean from Clyde Bergemann relies on the combined application of diagnosis, analysis and action. Diagnostic devices such as special sensor systems and infrared cameras continuously measure important process parameters and transfer the collected data for analysis to Clyde Bergemann’s state of the art intelligent SMART Furnace software. The software analyses, interprets and evaluates the data and provides the control system with demand-oriented instructions for necessary cleaning actions.
“With our intelligent hopper cleaning system, we are actively supporting LEAG in the future to be able to operate the Lippendorf Power Plant more flexibly with an increased efficiency,” says Dr. Christian Mueller, President & CEO of the Clyde Bergemann Power Group. He himself is very familiar with the local conditions, as he was involved in the commissioning of the boiler cleaning system for LEAG in Lippendorf in 2012.
Installation and commissioning of the new hopper cleaning system in unit R will be carried out in summer 2020 as part of a major boiler outage. With a quick turnaround, new components will be delivered to the site and the existing control system and software will be modified to incorporate and integrate the intelligent cleaning of the hopper. In the summer of 2021, Unit S of the power plant will be shut down as planned. In the meantime, we expect to see positive results of the commissioned intelligent hopper cleaning system for Unit R, which could also in future pave the way for a similar installation on Unit S.