Fossil-fuel power plants, which produce most of the electricity worldwide, currently face more and tighter operation requirements (e.g., life extension, pollution regulation, cyclic operation, heat rate improvement, etc.) than ever before. In these circumstances, an overall approach for their optimal operation and control is of vital technical, economical and ecological relevance. This book contributes a methodology to design a generalized overall control system for a fossil-fuel power unit (FFPU), and develops a minimum prototype to demonstrate its feasibility. An FFPU is envisioned as a...