125 AUMA actuators for Finnish CHP plant revamp

AUMA Finland Oy has supplied around 125 electric valve actuators with Profibus DP-V1 for an upgrade project at a combined heat and power (CHP; cogeneration) plant at a steelworks in Finland.

 

The Raahen Voima plant is located at Raahe, 500 km north of Helsinki. Its owners are Swedish steelmaker SSAB and Finnish energy company EPV Energia Oy.

 

The project, which has a total investment value of EUR 121 million, involves replacing the existing boiler and steam turbines. The new boiler will run on coke and process gas from the steelworks, with natural gas as a support fuel. Thanks to new technology and cleaner fuels, it will provide 20–25% more electricity than the previous plant while reducing emissions. Startup is scheduled for autumn 2016.

 

Operating at steam conditions of 545°C and 83 bar, the new plant will produce 125 MW of electricity and 40 MW of steam for district heating.

 

Working closely with SSAB Europe, AUMA Finland Oy chose AUMA SA multi-turn and SQ part-turn actuators with intelligent AC actuator controls. The use of the Profibus DP-V1 protocol allows the control system to change the actuator settings and request diagnostic information while the plant is running – a feature that is not available with standard Profibus DP-V0.

 

The actuators were supplied during 2015 and 2016, and commissioned by staff from AUMA Finland Oy and local valve companies.