Enhancing Efficiency in Coal-Fired Boilers Using a New Predictive Control Method for Key Parameters

In the context of carbon neutrality, the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources has led to frequent load changes in coal-fired boilers. These fluctuations cause key operational parameters to deviate significantly from their design values, undermining combustion stability and reducing operational efficiency. To address this issue, we introduce a novel predictive control method to enhance the control precision of key parameters under complex variable-load conditions, which integrates a coupled predictive model and real-time optimization. The predictive model is based on a coupled Transformer-gated recurrent unit (GRU) architecture, which demonstrates strong adaptability to load fluctuations and achieves high prediction accuracy, with a mean absolute error of 0.095% and a coefficient of determination of 0.966 for oxygen content (OC); 0.0163 kPa and 0.987 for bed pressure (BP); and 0.300 °C and 0.927 for main steam temperature (MST). These results represent substantial improvements over lone implementations of GRU, LSTM, and Transformer models. Based on these multi-step predictions, a WOA-based real-time optimization strategy determines coordinated adjustments of secondary fan frequency, slag discharger frequency, and desuperheating water valves before deviations occur. Field validation on a 300 t/h boiler over a representative 24 h load cycle shows that the method reduces fluctuations in OC, BP, and MST by 62.07%, 50.95%, and 40.43%, respectively, relative to the original control method. By suppressing parameter variability and maintaining key parameters near operational targets, the method enhances boiler thermal efficiency and steam quality. Based on the performance gain measured during the typical operating day, the corresponding annual gain is estimated at ~1.77%, with an associated CO₂ reduction exceeding 6846 t.