IMPROVING THE QUALITY PERFORMANCE OF HIGH-POWER ELECTRIC POWER PLANT PUMPS THROUGH OPTIMIZATION OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

Abstract

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2079-1747-2025-36-06

The article examines the problem of improving the quality performance of high-power pump units at electric power plants through the optimization of automatic control systems. High-power pumps (over 1 MW) are critical components of the energy infrastructure, ensuring the operation of circulation, feedwater, and cooling circuits. Instability of their functioning, prolonged transient processes, and excessive dynamic loads lead to reduced energy efficiency, increased operational costs, and shortened equipment lifetime. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to improve control algorithms in order to ensure stable and efficient pump operation under variable loads and stringent reliability requirements.

The paper presents a mathematical model of a high-power pump, which includes head-flow, energy, and power characteristics, as well as second-order dynamic equations describing the interaction between the pump and the electric drive. Based on simulation, the influence of PID controller parameters on system dynamics is investigated, and integral quality criteria (ISE, IAE, ITAE) are evaluated. The obtained results demonstrate significant reductions in overshoot, shorter transient response times, and a decrease in integral errors by a factor of 1.7–7 when applying optimized controller settings compared to non-optimized ones.

Head, energy, and power characteristics of a real 2000 kW pump are constructed, along with transient response plots and energy performance diagrams for different control modes. A comprehensive quality index combining dynamic and energy-efficiency criteria is proposed. The results confirm the effectiveness of PID controller optimization and can be used for modernization of pump control systems at power plants to enhance their reliability and energy efficiency.