An application of OPC technology in gas turbine inlet air cooling system

As a specification for the industry control software interoperability, the OPC (OLE for Process Control) has not only broken down the barriers of data exchange and designs of standard application interface among different manufacturers, but also brought the manufacture fields of instrument control a brand-new life. A measurement and control system of gas turbine inlet air cooling is developed basing on this standard. An OPC ActiveX component developed by authors has fulfilled the asynchronous reading and writing operation of OPC items. The system is based on PROFIBUS protocol, and performs the communication of real-time data through the particular data bus and the link of process control layer. The application indicates that the system is highly reliable and greatly automatic, and it has satisfied the measurement and control request of inlet air cooling. It availably increases the power output of gas turbine, and has a remarkable economic efficiency.