ODtimization of Load Sheddin?

Scheme in an Intepited Process Plant

Gursharan S. Grewal P. Eng., John W. Konowalec
Syncrude Canada Ltd.
Fort McMurray, Alberta
Member IEEE

Mak Hakim P. Eng.,

Sinai Engineering
Edmonton, Alberta
Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract
An integrated process facility recently went through an
update of its existing load shedding scheme due to planned
process changes in the coming years. Transient simulations
indicated that by changing the load shedding philosophy, the
frequency profile during power shortages can be improved
significantly. This paper discusses the plant's electricalhteam
load balance issues, and the development of a high speed
load shedding scheme.

Introduction
Shortage of power in a network is invariably reflected in collapse
of frequency. Traditionally, frequency decay patterns have been
calculated using simplified methods. Simplifications included
the assumption of constant deceleration, constant voltages and
constant generators power. The results obtained using the
simplified methods were generally adequate for simple, slow
acting load shedding systems. In the case on hand, the loads
assigned for shedding and those to be "saved" by load shedding
are part of an integrated process plant sequence, where speed of
operation and selectivity of the load shedding is crucial to the
continuity of the oil-production process. In search for ways to
optimize the load shedding scheme, transient stability simulations
were used to calculate frequency profile, taking into account
generators' transient response and that of excitation and speed
governor systems. This paper describes the outcome of the
analysis in terms of possible improvements in load shedding
performance through the use of rate of change of frequency as
shedding indicator.

EleciricaVSteam Generation System

Syncrude Canada Ltd. is located in Northern Alberta, Canada and
is one of the world's largest integrated mining and bitumen
upgrading operations. It produces approximately 12% of
Canada's total crude oil requirements. A simplified Process Flow
Diagram of the electrical and steam system is shown in Figure 1.
The Utility plant's generation facilities consist of one condensing
turbine ( 6550 kPa to vacuum, 69 MW), three back-pressure
turbines (6550 kPa to 345 kPa, 50 MW each), and two gas
turbine generators (23 MW each) for a total generating capacity
of 265 MW. ElectricaliSteam balance is achieved mainly by
supplying its Extraction process plant with 345 kPa steam from
the back-pressure turbines. The gas turbine generators primarily
provide the electrical needs of the Utility plant, and any excess is
delivered to the general plant distribution system. The role of the
condensing turbine generator is to control the importiexport of
energy during various transient modes of the process operation
i.e., to act as a "swing" unit. An interconnection with the local
grid is provided to absorb the power swings caused by the on-site
Mining draglines. It also acts as reserve generating capacity
during outage of on-site electrical generating equipment or
reduced steam availability.
Steam is produced by two 750 thousand pounds per hour (KPPH)

and three 800 KPPH boilers at 6550 kPa. The steam is required
for the electric power generation, various large steam drivers in
the Utility plant and Process areas and to supplement the steam
supply shortfall at the 4136 kPa, 1034 kPa and 345 kPa via
letdown stations. Steam is produced at the various utilization
pressures in the process areas as well. Steam is also used to heat
trace process piping systems. Major usage of the low pressure
thermal heat i.e., 345 kPa is in the Extraction plant to extract the
bitumen from the oilsands

ElectricaVSteam Priorities
Existing plant operating guidelines limit total steam production
to 3600 KPPH and power import to 80 MW to maintain steam
system stability. The general design of Syncrude's
electricalisteam system is one where steam loads have higher
priority than the electrical system loads. This is because of the
critical process drives being steam driven. To protect the steam
system, all the major upsets are transmitted to the electrical
system. This is supplemented by electrical load-shedding of nonessential
or less critical equipment. Within the steam system
itself, priorities are based on maintaining steam heat tracing,
critical steam-driven pumps and associated auxiliaries, and
critical refinery loads. The Electrical load shedding scheme is
designed to maintain the integrity of the 6550 kPa steam
pressure, which then allows the maintenance of other pressure
levels.

On-Site Generation Control Modes

When connected to the grid, the back-pressure turbines operate
on back-pressure control at 345 kPa. The condensing turbine
operates in speed/load control but receives a secondary control
command from the Distributed Control System to balance the net
importiexport to the desired level. The gas turbine generators
operate fully loaded (in droop mode) to maximize operating
efficiency.
At high steam production rates, the turbines are "load limited" to
prevent them from responding during a tie-line trip. Upon a
boiler trip, steam load shedding is accomplished by the initial
pressure limits on the 6550 kPa header. This prevents pressure
decay by pinching steam flow to the turbines, starting at 6258
0-7803-3825-1/97/$10.00 1997 IEEE 96
kPa, which shifts part of the electrical supply source from the
turbines to the tie-line. The situation is further aggravated by the
increased steam usage/MW by the turbines at pressures lower
than 6550 kPa. Under this condition, the Boiler Master
Controller attempts to maintain a constant pressure by ad.justing
the boiler firing. Maintaining the steam pressure within the
operating range prevents transfer of the disturbance to the process
areas.
STGl
STG2

During islanded operation of the plant, all turbines remain in

speed/load control and receive frequency control commands from
the "Distributed Control System", which attempts to maintain 60
MW MW MW
40 40 28
40 40 28

Electrical Load Sliedding

Automatic, frequency-based electrical load shedding is provided
to restore the frequency under upset conditions, such as loss of
connection to the grid. It responds faster than the steam system
for larger disturbances, and minimizes swings in boiler control

* 0.05 Hz.

systems.
Three types of load shedding are used for the frequency recovery:
proactive, reactive and manual. The first two are applied without
operator intervention because underfrequency relays distributed
throughout the Mining and Refinery areas trip various loads
according to established priorities. The lowest priority load, the
Mining draglines, are tripped proactively upon separation, since
during a system upset their fluctuating loads complicate system
recovery. The subsequent steps are coordinated on both
frequency and time basis so that the lower the frequency, the
larger the block of load is tripped. The electrical load shedding
sequence is staged in seven steps and is shown in Table 1
(attached at the back). Step 0 occurs when the frequency dips to
59.2 Hz. It separates the plant from the grid. This threshold
frequency is based on simulations of a trip of the largest
generator (380 MW) in the local utility system with a 0.2 Hz
safety margin.

Criteria For Load Shedding

Steam system has priority over the electrical system. The
steam system must be able to recover or both will fail.
Electrical load shedding coordinates with the steam system
by shedding load as soon as possible.
Syncrude must ride through local utility disturbances without
nuisance trips.
Electrical load shedding is compatible with local utility load
shedding.
Other considerations are:
Facilities which are essential from a safety standpoint are not
shed.
Facilities which can be shed without disruption of process
operations are shed first.
Facilities which are easier to restore to normal operation are
shed before those which are difficult to restart.
Based on the above, the sequence of load shedding is Mining,
Extraction and then the Refinery load. The amount of load shed
at each step is fixed due to interdependency of the processes.

Load Shedding Simulations

The performance of the load shedding scheme was evaluated in a
computer simulation by subjecting the Syncrude plant to a
separation from the grid at different import levels. Grid
underfrequency and sudden separation due to unknown reasons
were the two main causes examined for the load shedding
initiation. It became very clear early in the simulations that
sudden separation from the grid had a more severe impact on the
electricalisteam system. Subsequent analysis and conceptual
design were based on that scenario.
The User Defined Modeling (UDM) capability of the transient
stability program used for the study provided an opportunity to
model appropriate underfrequency relays, breaker opening times
and plant distributed control systems (DCS). The load is shed in
the simulations at preset frequency points, taking into account
relay evaluation time (5 cycles), relay output contact time (10
msec), time delay settings and circuit breaker opening time (5
cycles).

Pre-disturbance Operating Conditions

Plant load was 240 MW. Different operating scenarios examined
are shown in Table 2. Based on future demands, three levels of
import of 40 MW, 80 MW and 120 MW were examined to
verify frequency recovery.
Table 2
Generation dispatch in simulation cases

[ Machine I Case 1 I Case 2 I Case 3

GTG5
CSTG6 40

Import I 40 80 120
Allowable I 34 I 38 I 22

seuaration P.U. on

IIII

Only 300 KPPH of the steam is available to the steam turbine

generators to respond and pick-up the lost import. This
translates into a limit of 22 MW pick-up by the back-pressure
turbine generators or a 30 MW pick-up by the back-pressure
and condensing units combined.

97
Turbine's maxiyum transient outputs are limited to their
nameplate ratings.

Criteria for Acceptable Load Shedding Performance

After separation from the grid, Syncrude's islanded plant
frequency must recover to between 59.0 Hz and 61.0 Hz
without operator intervention.
Each generator steady state MWs and MVARs must not
exceed its capability, after load shedding has occurred.
Generators and synchronous motors must remain stable
during and after the load shedding.
The settings must ensure that all load that can be shed is
removed before the generators are tripped.
Steady state voltage at major busses, after the system
recovers, must be between 95 and 100% of nominal.

Proposed Load Shedding Philosophy

Early in the study, it became evident that the revised load
shedding scheme (Table - l), which was fundamentally based on
the existing scheme, would work but could be improved further
by overcoming the concerns identified during the study. The two
concerns identified were:
Load is tripped unnecessarily at lower import levels. And, at
higher import levels too much load is tripped. Overtripping
would result in undesirable consequences such as:
unnecessary production interruptions, possible overspeed trip
of the generators, and steam side disturbances due to sudden
and substantial load rejection. As shown in Figure 2, at 80
MW import, the load shedding scheme went into step 4,
shedding 120 MW of the operating load. As a result, shown
in Figure 3, the steam system will go into massive unloading,
which would cause the 6550 kPa steam header pressure to
fluctuate and subsequently affect the drives supplied at this
and other utilization pressures.
Figure 2 - System Frequency, 80 MW import
I
I GEN I

Figure 3 Steam Turbines Power, 80 MW import

The system is not able to recover fast enough between the
steps to prevent unnecessary tripping. In the revised scheme,
which was based on the present load shedding philosophy,
step 1 trips at 58.9 Hz while the last step goes at 58.2 Hz.
This leaves a window of 0.7 Hz within which six sequential
steps of load shedding are expected to operate. This fact is
illustrated in Figure 2.
To overcome the two areas of concern listed above, a new load
shedding philosophy was developed and proven by transient
simulations, and is shown in Table 3. The number of steps and
load shed at each step were kept the same as Table 1, but two

significant changes were made:

Use of df/dt feature: One way of improving the response of
load shedding is to speed up the tripping at the earlier stages
so that the system recovers quickly before more loads are
tripped, based on the rate of frequency decline. The rate,
HdSec, is a measure of the degree of the power shortage.
The higher the rate of decline the more load needs to be
tripped. By using the rate of decline method, one can begin
tripping load blocks without waiting until the frequency
drops substantially. More importantly, the steps can be
tripped simultaneously instead of sequentially, based on the
df/dt at the time. Compared to a frequency-only scheme, this
method has a faster response time.
Steam turbine tripping: Presently, as shown in Table 1, the
steam turbines are tripped at 58.0 Hz with a 1.0 sec delay.
This can be reduced to 57.0 Hz with a delay based on the
low-speed damage characteristic of the turbines provided by
the manufacturer, the predicted operation at such a low
frequency and the age of the machines.

Results
A few of the key simulation results for different import levels are
shown in figures 4 to 10.
Figure 4 shows comparative 40 MW import case with the
revised and df/dt based load shedding scheme. With the
revised scheme, step 1 load was shed whereas none was shed
with the new proposed scheme.

98

Figure 4 - Plant Frequency, Revised Vs Proposed Settings, 40

MW Import
Figure 5 is a comparative case at the 80 MW import level.
Here the revised scheme tripped at about 120 MW, resulting
in an overshoot of frequency to nearly 62.5 Hz. This will be
avoided with the proposed settings. Also, note the quick
recovery with the new settings and the minimum frequency of
about 58.6 Hz versus 58.0 Hz with the revised scheme.
Figure 6 shows the effect of overtripping in the revised
scheme on the turbine power of the steam units using one
back pressure turbine for the purpose of illustration.

Figure 5 Plant Frequency, Revised Vs Proposed Settings, 80

MW Import

Figure 6 STGI Turbine power, Revised Vs Proposed Settings,

80 MW Import
Figures 7 and 8 show comparative performance at 120 MW
import. Reduced swings in frequency and turbine power are
evident with the new settings.
versus not in service. Figure 9 is performance with df/dt feature
active and Figure 10 is with this feature not active. With the
backup settings alone, the frequency recovery will be slow and
the frequency dip higher, but recovery is still acceptable.

Figure 7 Plant Frequency, Revised Vs Proposed Settings, 120

MW Import

Figure 8 STGl Turbine Power, Revised Vs Proposed Settings,

120 MW Import
mm
19 70
19 U
19 10

53s
om 2m 4m em (100 ?om (200 ( 4 0 0 (800 mm mm
SECWD

Figure 9

- Frequency with Proposed Settings, Primary and Back

up Settings Active, 80 MW import

Figure IO - Frequency with Proposed Settings, only Backup
Settings Active, 80 MW import
Figures 9 and 10 are the 80 MW import case which show
the effect of the frequency rate of change feature in service

99
Conclusions Predicted frequency of steam production restriction
0
0

Automatic electrical load shedding is the primary protection

against frequency excursions in the system. It is even more
critical in process plants with cogeneration, where such
excursions can have an affect on the steam system and
turbines. These plants have varying import levels depending
on plant configuration at any given time. The load shedding
scheme should provide security at all levels of import. As
shown in this paper, a frequency-only based scheme may
not be the best method to provide this protection. A df/dt
based load shedding scheme is more flexible and can be
tailored to different levels of import. Upon separation at
higher import levels, the frequency would fall at a faster rate
and therefore, more load can be tripped simultaneously
instead of waiting for a set frequency. This would reduce
swings in the frequency and steam pressure, thus avoiding
process upsets.
When critical, high speed response is needed, transient
stability simulations can be performed to evaluate the
expected behavior of the load shedding scheme during
various system contingencies.
The benefits of this study are realized in avoidance of
production interruptions and improved system stability.
Before the selection of the load to be shed, some issues
must be resolved within the organization to achieve the end
result. These are:
Determination of the Electrical versus Steam system priority
Availability of the Low and High priority load
The theoretical analysis in itself does not guarantee the
satisfactory performance of the load shedding scheme.
Correctness of relay settings in the field, regular and proper
maintenance practices etc. greatly influence the success of
the load shedding scheme.

Future Work
Presently a project called Load Management is in the
process of being implemented on-site. Load will be
monitored at different locations of the plant and the
information will be sent to the DCS main control room via
radio link. It will provide an opportunity to confirm the load
consumption by different feeders and substation locations.
The data gathered will be used for informing the panel
operator with respect to MW load availability at different
steps. It can also be used for more informed decision making
for the manual load shedding, if required. Provision is in
place to link it with the underfrequency relays for remote
changes in the settings, based on changing production
priorities.

References
[I.] D. Novosel, K.T. Vir, D. Hort, E.Udern, Practical Protection and
Control Strategies during large Power system disturbances
PES Transaction.
[2] CYMSTABNDM Users Guide & Reference Manual, CYME
International Inc., Nov. 1991.

Table - 1
Revised Automatic Load shedding Frequency/Steps
Powerhouse 5/6 sec. 4.8 sec. 0.9 sec.

100
Externa
Supply
Cold
Refinery Area 3 x 800 KPPHr
2 x 750 KF'PHr
Plant
6550 kPa
I

BPSTGs CSTG
ported
Power
72 kV)

'4

.I(

Power Extraction1 Mining

L/D - Letdown Station hse Refinery (72 kV)
BPSTGs - Back Pressure Steam Turbine Generators (13.8 kV) (13.8 kV)

2x23 hlW

CSTG - Condensing Steam Turbine Generator

GTGs

- Gas Turbine Generators

SlDs - Steam Drivers

- Thousand Pounds Per Hour

Figure 1 - Simplified process flow diagram of Syncrude Electrical - Steam balance
Table - 3
KPPHr

Proposed df/dt based Underfrequency Settings

101