New district heating system to help cut carbon emissions and improve air quality in China

ABB’s Symphony Plus automation system will optimize operation, management and maintenance of new district heating system in the city of Shuozhou helping reduce emissions and improve air quality for 1.7 million people.

ABB’s SymphonyTM Plus total plant automation solution to the Jiangsu Shuangliang Eco-energy Company will help to optimize, monitor and control a new district heating system being installed in the city of Shuozhou in Shanxi province, China. The project is viewed as a benchmark for other urban district heating projects in the country.

Like many cities in China, heating needs in Shuozhou are served by large numbers of coal-fired boilers, which have efficiency limitations and contribute to carbon emissions.

The new district heating project will use surplus steam from an existing 2,000 megawatt (MW) power plant to generate heat for the 1.71 million residents of Shuozhou. The heat will be piped to two heat transfer stations and then distributed via an underground pipeline grid to all the houses and buildings in the city.

Substituting the existing heat generation source with the new district heating grid, will help eliminate substantial amounts of greenhouse gas emissions – estimated at 2.88 million tons of carbon dioxide, 35,500 tons of sulfur dioxide and 0.37 million tons of ash. It will also contribute to conservation of natural resources, including 1.5 million tons of coal and 2 million cubic meters of water.

An ABB Symphony Plus control system, located at the heart of the system will monitor and control the heating pumps, steam pipes, valves and frequency converters at each of the two heat transfer stations – ensuring that the entire district heating grid operates at the highest levels of efficiency and reliability.

A similar Symphony Plus control system was previously supplied by ABB for the four 500 MW power plant from which the surplus steam will be recovered. Selecting the same control system will make it easier to integrate the power plant and district heating control systems in the future, enabling optimization of the operations, management and maintenance of the power plant and district heating grid and also bring cost benefits.

“We are proud to participate in this showcase national demonstration project and contribute to China’s efforts in reducing environmental impact,” said Massimo Danielli, head of ABB’s Power Generation business, a part of the company’s Power Systems division. “ABB has a long and proven track record in providing control system solutions that maximize efficiency and reduce operating costs of district heating grids all over the world, many of which are located in China and Central Asia.”

A Symphony Plus control room.Over the past 30 years ABB has delivered power and automation solutions for more than 200 district heating and cooling projects worldwide. The offering ranges from turnkey solutions for entire district energy networks to integrated products and systems for pumping stations and heat transfer stations.

Symphony Plus is ABB’s flagship automation and control platform for the power and water sectors. This powerful, versatile and scalable platform is designed to maximize plant efficiency and reliability by automating, integrating and optimizing the entire plant. There are more than 6,500 Symphony installations in operation all over the world, including more than 4,500 in power and water applications.