- News
Espoo, Finland, Jan 19, 2022 – Vantaa Energy and Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) continue their close collaboration in developing artificial-intelligence solutions for reducing the environmental impacts of energy production. As a result of a joint pilot project launched in 2020, the AI solutions are based on the utilization of process data and advanced analytics. The partnership was deepened last November with the introduction of an application for optimizing soot blowing at Vantaa Energy’s Martinlaakso power plant. Regular soot blowing of selected heat-surfaces – on a needs-based schedule – enables more efficient production capacity for the plant’s boiler.
The partnership contributes to Vantaa Energy’s target of achieving carbon negativity by 2030.
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In a joint pilot project, Vantaa Energy and Sumitomo SHI FW have developed a cloud-based analytics service for optimizing the output of power plants. The service was deployed at Vantaa Energy’s Martinlaakso power plant in early 2020. The solution model developed by the partners uses real-time process data to visualize the capability of the power plant’s boiler in key figures and graphs. These can be easily interpreted by the plant’s operators. Deeper understanding of the data means more predictable boiler operation and optimized performance. Thanks to the system, Vantaa Energy has been able to increase its use of biofuels and reduce use of fossil fuels since 2020. This has resulted in lower carbon-dioxide emissions and operating costs.
In November 2021, the collaboration continued with the launch of an optimization application for soot blowing, built on SFW’s IZANA™ platform. The application analyzes the cleanliness of the heat surfaces of the boiler in the Martinlaakso bio-energy plant, and automatically suggests the optimum timing for the next steam-powered soot blowing. The operating model maintains optimal performance and saves energy, by carrying out soot blowing at the correct time only when it is needed. Vantaa Energy was among the first companies in Finland to deploy the optimization application of IZANA soot blowing for the management of boiler fouling.
The production of the soot-blowing optimization application was a natural continuation of the development collaboration between Sumitomo SHI FW and Vantaa Energy. The idea of improving soot blowing had been discussed before, but now we finally succeeded in packaging it into a compact utilization tool for making the impacts of the process a visible part of the everyday operations of the power plant.
The extremely successful collaboration with Vantaa Energy produced another application for everyday use at the power plant. The targets were set in collaboration and the implementation was put into production use after the pilot phase. From our point of view, the setting was ideal: the application that was confirmed at the production site is now readily available for use in the next plants, and at the same time we developed a method that is suitable for other boiler types as well.
The IT-service companies CGI and Pinja are development partners in the joint co-operation project.
For more information:
Jari Sundqvist
Product Owner, Digital Services
Sumitomo SHI FW
Email: [email protected]
About Sumitomo SHI FW
Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) has been providing innovative and environmentally sound energy solutions to our customers for over 100 years. Our mission is to enable the energy transition to a carbon-free future through decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization.
Our solutions expand from the world-leading circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology to long-duration energy storage, waste-to-energy, waste-to-value, carbon capture and services for the global power and industrial markets. Through co-creation, partnerships, and ecosystem collaboration SFW aim to accelerate the speed of decarbonization and create more value to our customers.
We are global energy experts with more than 1800 talented staff, across multiple locations, covering the globe from North America through Europe to Asia.
For more information, please visit: https://www.shi-fw.com/
For more information about our Digital Services: Digital Services – Sumitomo SHI FW (shi-fw.com)