Vista is a comprehensive software tool which brings a new sophistication to fuel decisions by seamlessly integrating the effects of fuel purchase decisions on power plant performance, emissions, and power generation costs. Vista delivers this value by providing powerful technical capabilities, simple user interaction, increased flexibility, and information sharing.

Performance Impacts

Vista uses equipment-specific engineering models, including the Black & Veatch Integrated Plant Model (IPM) heat transfer model, rather than general correlations to evaluate performance impacts on all power plant systems affected by coal quality. Equipment and component level configuration, design, and performance data are input into a detailed model of the power plant, allowing evaluation of coal quality on the unit. Equipment models employ calculations based on engineering principles rather than empirical formulas and converge upon results taking into account inter-system dependencies.

• Plant efficiency
• Equipment capacity limitations
• Auxiliary power requirements
• Slagging, fouling, erosion potential
• Steam attemperation requriements
• AQC equipment performance
• Reagent requirements and waste streams
• Emissions

Economic Analyses

Economic results are calculated from the detailed performance predictions to provide rapid and thorough analyses of differential and absolute costs of prospective fuel options. Over 75% of the members of the Vista User Group use Vista to evaluate economic, performance, and environmental implications of spot coal purchases. Over 600 failure modes are examined in predicting differential reliability, maintainability, and availability metrics, allowing determination of replacement power and maintenance costs.

• Break-even costs
• Levelized annual cost
• Calculate return period of capital improvements

Vista, Black & Veatch, and the Electric Power Research Institute

Black & Veatch is a global leader in providing fuel-related services and expertise to its clients. In the 1980’s, Black & Veatch developed the Coal Quality Impact Model (CQIM) for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). After its introduction in 1989, CQIM became the industry standard for fuel-related performance and economic analyses of fossil-fired power generation facilities worldwide. It has been used by over 100 EPRI member utilities and multiple non-EPRI utilities and coal producers in the United States and throughout the world to model over 500 fossil-fired units.

In a 1990’s self-funding initiative, nine power utilities came together to ensure continuation and provide direction and funding for maintenance and enhancement of the CQIM and subsequent products. In 1998 the self-named Vista User Group directed the development of a next-generation coal quality impact model to meet the changing needs of the electric generation industry. This new model, Vista, is a continuation and expansively enhanced successor of the CQIM.