The Hindu Business Line : Power the process

TUCKED away on the outskirts of the Tata Steel township in Jamshedpur is the Jojobera power Plant of the Tata Power Company Ltd. With four units and a total installed capacity of 427.5 MW, power generated at the Jojobera power plant is supplied to the Tata Steel works and the steel township.

It is also exported to Damodar Valley Corporation and, through the Eastern Region Grid, transported all the way to Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

While all this is commonly known, what is little known is the fact that the manpower requirement per MW of power at the Jojobera plant is 0.8, as against the industry average of 1.2. With all information on processes in the system, faster decision-making by the management is facilitated. In-built checks and balances ensure "reliability and repeatability" in the plant's operations. All due to the deployment of IT infrastructure in both office and process automation at the plant across various levels.

Says D. Santra, Assistant General Manager (Services) of The Tata Power Company Ltd's Jojobera power plant: "Here, we are using IT optimally in both office automation and process automation". IT in the office automation arena is deployment of ERP (enterprise resource planning) with regard to human resources, materials and money. SAP modules pertaining to human resources, plant maintenance, finance and materials management have been put in place.

"SAP is used by all our employees; in finance, purchase, stores and all other non-technical areas. For communication with the outside world, we use MS Exchange as our mailing system", he says.

IT in process automation

According to him, the more important part is the deployment of IT in process automation. In power generation, different types of machines are used. There is use of IT in starting a machine, operating it, monitoring it, stopping it and in even monitoring the machines' health and keeping them well-oiled and healthy. Proprietary technology from Honeywell and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is used in all this.

The Honeywell GUS (Global User Station) software, a Windows NT-based system, has been deployed. This system uses the LCN (local control network) where token passing technology is used for communication and UCN (universal control network) is used for communication between controllers. "These are self-diagnostic controllers and this is the Level I control system. Over and above this, and with the help of PHD (process history data), interface with Level II is facilitated. Through this, Web connectivity is possible and the system can be accessed through remote location", explains Santra.

To measure the performance of individual equipment at Level I, software packages called TPPM (total plant performance monitoring) and TPRL (total plant report & log) is made to reside in the PHD. These are responsible for complicated algorithms for performance calculation.

Next is an energy management system whose function is to measure energy consumed by major equipment at Level I, consolidate the same in a server, and report it at Level II. "Through the availability of this information at Level II, operational engineering and the management take decisions with regard to the basic operations at the plant".

The next level of IT deployment would be level III and this would veer round management of the plant from Level III down below to Levels II and I from a remote location. "This we do not do as it is not required at this stage", Santra says.

The benefits of all this: Reduced manpower and, hence, lower staff and salary costs. Improved reliability is assured by providing all information of processes in the system that, in turn, facilitates faster decision making by the management. And, an IT system with in-built checks and balances ensures reliability and repeatability.

And the costs of deployment of such state-of-the-art IT infrastructure? As a thumb rule, about 10 per cent of the total project cost. And the average return on the investment takes about five years. That's no big deal for power utilities that wish to invest in their IT infrastructure for sustainable gains in the long term.

ambar_singhroy@rediffmail.com

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