Improving Stack Uptime by 32.8% at a Major Thermal Power Producer using EverSense for CEMS

A major power producer in Eastern India was facing significant challenges in meeting government-mandated compliance norms for its member thermal power stations. It operates a network of thermal power stations and hydel power stations, supplying electricity to key industrial sectors, railways, and urban centers in Jharkhand and West Bengal.

While regulations required a minimum stack uptime of 85%, the plants were averaging 67% uptime. This posed a serious risk: the unavailability of emissions data could lead to exceedance of compliance limits that could result in not only penalties but also potential plant closure.To tackle this, Forbes Marshall Digital partnered with this conglomerate in November 2022, with the engagement being successfully renewed year after year.

What began as a standard AMC engagement was upgraded into a comprehensive uptime service, designed to achieve the desired uptime levels and sustain them. The goal was to reduce the risk of non-compliance by ensuring accurate, reliable emissions monitoring and to increase the average uptime of the 8 thermal power station stack units from 67% to above 85%, thereby safeguarding compliance and plant operations. At the core of this transformation was EverSense for Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS), providing real-time data, diagnostics, and insights to strengthen compliance and operational reliability.

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PROBLEM

When a probe gets choked, the issue often goes unnoticed until much later. By then, >80% of the probe is choked, typically requiring a costly probe replacement which takes months to procure, severely impacting operations.

Probe choking also caused the uptime to drop drastically. Without digital monitoring, this problem cannot be directly linked to probe choking, making diagnosis difficult. When the probe is 50-60% choked, even a simple brush cleaning of the probe leads to 2 days of avoidable downtime.

Together, these factors caused uptime to fluctuate and remain at an average of 67%, well below the compliance requirement.

SOLUTION

Real-time digital tracking: Enabled quick detection and resolution of issues as soon as they arise. When the probe is 10-20% choked, it can be flagged through digitally monitoring which can be resolved by purging air into the probe without impacting downtime.

Digitally enabled insights: A centralised dashboard provided transparency into stack performance, enabling data-driven decision-making of coal blending, planned shutdowns, component replacements etc.

Specialist intervention: Expert analysis of deviations and anomalies ensured accurate diagnosis and corrective action.

Regular reporting: Weekly performance reports shared with plant teams highlighted trends, flagged potential risks, and recommended best practices to sustain uptime.

Preventive maintenance: Predictive plotting of probe choking allows proactive on-site cleaning, eliminating the need for costly replacements.

Reduced downtime: Prevents months of operational loss by avoiding probe replacement delays and ensuring continuous compliance.

Uptime improvement: Increased and sustained stack uptime from 67% to 89%, well above the compliance mandate.

BENEFITS

Increased and sustained stack uptime from 67% to 89%, exceeding the 85% compliance mandate.

Real-time tracking flagged probe choking at 10–20%, enabling quick fixes preventing sudden breakdowns and extended downtime.

Weekly reports kept teams aligned, proactive, and focused on continuous improvement. This enabled smarter coal use, planned shutdowns, and better resource allocation.

Saved costs by eliminating the need of an expensive probe replacement.