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KKS and RDS-PP® – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineeringVGB PowerTech 1/2 l 2021

Authors

Kurzfassung

KKS und RDS-PP® – VGB spricht die Sprache der Kraftwerkstechnik

Unabhängig vom Grad der Industrialisierung, zählt die Stromerzeugung zweifellos zu den wichtigsten und komplexesten Aufgaben einer Gesellschaft. Die zuverlässige Energieversor-gung und damit der erfolgreiche Betrieb eines jeden einzelnen Kraftwerks – unabhängig von der eingesetzten Primärenergie – benötigt ein Kennzeichnungssystem zur konsistenten Identi-fikation von Anlagenteilen und Prozessen. KKS und RDS-PP® bieten diese Möglichkeiten von der Planung bis zum geordneten Rückbau. An-gefangen bei der Projektierung, über den Be-trieb der Anlage und bis zum geplanten Laufzei-tende sprechen alle Prozessbeteiligten dieselbe „VGB-Sprache“ und können so national und auch international problemlos miteinander kommunizieren. Dank dieser VGB-Kraftwerks-Sprache können hersteller- und betreiberunab-hängig Daten ausgetauscht werden und verset-zen Kraftwerksbetreiber in die Lage, ihre Anla-gen selbstständig zu betreiben, zu warten und am Ende auch gesetzes- und normenkonform zu demontieren. l

Andreas Böser and Sabine KuhlmannVGB PowerTech e.V. Essen, Germany

KKS and RDS-PP® – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineering

Introduction

Communication and language in all their facets and possibilities are indispensable tools for any kind of development. This ap-plies to our social and equally to our scien-tific-technical as well as economic life. The more complex a problem and the resulting tasks and contexts, the more detailed and differentiated language must define and describe them in order to develop solutions and bring innovations forward. For this purpose, technical languages are continu-ously emerging in order to describe the in-terrelationships and tasks in science and production as precisely as possible. How-ever, these technical languages are usually based on general language and are accord-ingly afflicted with inaccuracies and uncer-tainties and require a maximally exact defi-nition and delimitation of terms and unam-biguous designations of objects, functions and interconnections. Unambiguous termi-nology, leaving no room for interpretation, is a very ambitious task with the means of general language, and numerous examples could be cited that demonstrate where even technical languages come up against clear and often insurmountable limits. An obvious system must therefore be created that is accepted by all parties involved in the process and that eliminates any form of misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

It goes without saying that this problem also and especially applies to the genera-tion and storage of electricity and heat, the starting point for any form of industrial and economically targeted action. Since the beginning of electrification, the processes for converting fossil, nuclear and renewable primary energies have become increasingly complex. Due to technical pro-gress and legal requirements with regard to environmental compatibility, occupa-tional and operational safety, constantly higher demands are made on components and processes, which require detailed and unambiguous language for the clear desig-nation of components, their relationships to each other and the representation of processes: with its power plant identifica-tion systems KKS and RDS-PP®, VGB Power Tech speaks exactly the language of power plant engineering, which is used and required nationally as well as interna-tionally in order to manage the complete operation of plants for the generation of electricity and heat. This applies to the en-tire life cycle of a power plant from project planning and design, construction and op-eration to inspection and orderly disman-tling of plants (F i g u r e 1 ). All these steps can be clearly described with the VGB pow-er plant identification system and proce-dures and processes can be clearly distin-guished from each other at any time.

KKS und RDS-PP – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineeringConformal and manufacturer-independent designation of energy plantsAndreas Böser and Sabine Kuhlmann

UA004

UA003

UA002

UA001

-UA01

-UA01

-UA01

-UA01

-UA02

-UA02

-UA02-UA03

-UA03

=MQA01 UA001 -UA02-UA02

Fig. 1. Application of the RDS-PP® using a photovoltaic free-field system.

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KKS and RDS-PP® – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineering VGB PowerTech 1/2 l 2021

Thus, the KKS and RDS-PP® identification systems are the “master key” to retrieve in-formation processed in the different sys-tems involved in power generation and to link them with each other without redun-dancy and errors. KKS and RDS-PP® form the basis for digi-talised plant management and are:

– applicable in all conventional, nuclear and renewable power generation plants,

– consistent for the entire “life cycle” of a plant,

– manufacturer- and language-independ-ent and

– equal for all departments involved in power generation operations.

Without this “language”, it would be virtu-ally impossible to operate power genera-tion plants economically and competitively by simultaneously meeting current re-quirements as regards occupational and environmental safety, operational reliabil-ity and availability. Besides, plant design-ers, manufacturers, operators, service pro-viders, licensing authorities, etc. would be confronted with almost insoluble problems and thus the existence of entire national economies would be seriously jeopardised.

Development of the power plant identification systems KKS and RDS-PP®

Since the mid-1970s, VGB and its members have continuously developed a power plant identification system in order to meet the needs in planning, construction and opera-tion of power plants and to ensure uniform communication between all parties in-volved. VGB set up the then VGB Technical Committee “Technical Classification Sys-tems”, that was equally manned by repre-sentatives of operators, experts, authori-ties and manufacturers to develop such a designation system. The system was devel-oped parallel to or together with DIN 40719-2 (first edition 1978) and the activi-ties of VGB resulted in the Power Plant Identification System – KKS. The first edi-tion of the KKS was also published in 1978 as VGB Guideline VGB-B 105 and is cur-rently available in its 8th edition of 2018. With the help of the KKS, mechanical engi-neering equipment was also labelled in ad-dition to electrical equipment. Further-more, KKS was used as a basis for designat-ing signals, connections and documents. The guideline was completed by the func-tion, aggregate and equipment keys. With its development, the KKS has established itself worldwide as a recognised “lan-guage” and is used in countless power gen-eration plants. The KKS thus became an “in-house standard” of VGB with interna-tional validity. In 2000, DIN 40719-2 was withdrawn and IEC 61346-2, or DIN 61346-2, were pub-lished. As a result, code letters were used in

the KKS that were no longer covered by a valid standard and international require-ments and specifications were no longer taken into account in the KKS. It became necessary to further develop the KKS and to adapt it to the valid international regula-tions. The Technical Group (TG) “Refer-ence Designation and Plant Documenta-tion”, which had been set up by VGB in the meantime, as successor of the VGB Techni-cal Committee “Technical Classification Systems”, made significant contributions to the development of the power plant standards DIN 6779-10 and DIN ISO/TS 16952-10. These IEC and ISO standards for reference designation were published un-der the joint series of standards 81346 and form the basic standard of the reference designation system for power plants – RDS-PP®: the consistent further development of the KKS. The RDS-PP® was first published in the mid-2000s and is now in its 4th edi-tion. About 90 % of the code letters of the KKS function key could be adopted in the new system key of the RDS-PP®. In contrast to the KKS, the RDS-PP® has been expand-ed to include indicator blocks for joint and functional assignment, i.e. links can be cre-ated between two functions. The RDS-PP® provides the basis for an object-oriented identification of individual plant compo-nents with any number of relationships to other objects and is thus predestined to be applied in an operational management sys-tem. The uniform and consistent structur-ing as well as the unambiguous identifica-tion of plants increases plant and personal safety and excludes confusion. The RDS-PP® was also developed for renewable pow-

er generation technologies such as wind, water and photovoltaics and takes their ad-ditional requirements into due account. An RDS-PP® application guideline is also al-ready available for power-to-gas (F i g u r e 2 ). KKS and RDS-PP® are developed by VGB in the German and English language (F i g u r e 3 and F i g u r e 4 ).

KKS or RDS-PP?

Since the end of the 1970s, the KKS has been used successfully worldwide and has been further developed to RDS-PP® due to international standardisation, which form its basis. Nevertheless, the KKS, which has now been tried and tested for decades, con-tinues to be used and is also applied in new plants, especially if an existing fleet is al-ready designated with KKS and operational management and control systems are ac-cordingly available and also linked corre-spondingly, e.g. with a company informa-tion system (ERP) such as SAP. In the wind sector, however, the newer RDS-PP® has become established and is used there rather than the KKS.

Additional use of designation systems

Apart from communication, which is inde-pendent of manufacturers and which is in line with standards, the VGB identification systems KKS and RDS-PP® are also used in other areas that are very important for the safe and economic operation of power plants:

ELEN Electric energy / Elektrische Energie

-NHC

=NHB=NHA

ELEN

= NHG

H2O

=NHE

H2

O2

Fig. 2. Illustration from the RDS-PP® Standard VGB-S-823-41, Application Guideline “Power to Gas”.

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KKS and RDS-PP® – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineeringVGB PowerTech 1/2 l 2021

On the one hand, the designation systems also offer the possibility of assigning docu-mentation to the corresponding compo-nents/systems. In this context, the VGB documentation standards VGB-S-831-00 and VGB-S-832-00 should be mentioned. These standards describe requirements for the scope of delivery of technical docu-mentation and the use of document identi-

fiers for energy supply systems. With these specifications, communication is signifi-cantly improved between all partners en-trusted with the handling of documents. Unnecessary costs can thus be effectively and sustainably avoided and power plant operators are enabled to operate their plants independently and also independ-ent of OEM.

Furthermore, the KKS and the RDS-PP® are also an indispensable prerequisite for benchmarking tasks. The analysis of weak points, both within and across companies, nationally and internationally, would hard-ly be feasible without corresponding desig-nation and identification of individual components and processes. The systems are also used in VGB´s database KISSY. The benefits of such benchmarks are indisput-able and, again in terms of occupational safety, environmental compatibility, avail-ability and economic efficiency, a fixed item on the agenda of energy suppliers worldwide.

Updating of KKS and RDS-PP®

As mentioned before, the VGB TG “Refer-ence Designation and Plant Documenta-tion” is primarily in charge of maintaining and updating the KKS as well as the RDS-PP® (F i g u r e 5 ). About 15 experts from the circle of operators, manufacturers and consultants work together in this group. In contrast to other VGB committees, the work of the TG “Reference Designation and Plant Documentation” is based on its own rules of procedure. As in the predecessor committee, all members of the technical group still have equal voting rights and any conflicts of interest are resolved immedi-ately in the group by the parties involved. The individual parties cooperate in a prac-tical and results-oriented manner and are part of this symbiotic team of experts. This ensures that the individual interests of each stakeholder can be optimally taken into account. Problems that arise in daily work are brought to the group‘s attention by opera-tors or consultants. These issues are put on the group´s agenda and are discussed in order to identify solutions promptly. The TG offers initial advice (first level support) for questions concerning power plant des-ignation and arranges experts for the im-plementation of optimisation projects. Representatives of VGB member compa-nies are invited to actively participate in the further development of the VGB power plant designation systems and to support shaping the future development of the des-ignation systems.

Documentation and use of KKS and RDS-PP®

Thanks to the detailed explanations of KKS and RDS-PP®, users are enabled to label their plants in accordance with regulations with the corresponding assignment of plant documentation. Currently the KKS comprises a total of nine VGB Standards in German or English with around 2,600 pages of documentation and information. The KKS key part with func-tion key, equipment unit key and compo-

KKS-Standards

Supplementary VGB-Standards

Basic Standards (incl. part thermal power plants)

Supplementary power plant type specific parts

VGB-B 106 D1eKKS-Application Explanations

for Hydro Power Plants

VGB-S-811-01-2018-01-ENKKS-Guideline for

Application and Key Part

VGB-B 106eKKS-Application Explanations

General & Specific

VGB-B 105.1KKS-Begriffszuordnungsliste

zum Aggregate- undBetriebsmittelschlüssel*

VGB-S-891-00-2012-06-DE-ENVGB abbreviation cataloguefor power plant technology

VGB-B 108 d/eRules for the creation of denomi-

nations and their applicationfor power plant engineering

VGB-S-831-00-2015-05-ENProvision of Technical

Documentation forEnergy Supply Units

DE/d/(void): German edition. EN/e: English edition. *List of terms assigned to the equipment unit keys, and component keys. only available in German.

VGB-S-832-00-2012-06-EN-DEDesignation codes for

document kindclassification code (DCC key)

Fig. 3. Overview of the KKS code and the associated VGB Standards with the basic standards and the generation-specific standard for hydropower. The standards are either published as bilingual edition, German-English, or as separate German- or English-language publica-tions. The publication VGB-B 105.1 is only available in the German language. The supple-mentary publications complete the basic set of KKS basic rules, especially with regard to documentation.

Supplementary VGB-Standards

VGB-S-821-00-2016-06-ENRDS-PP®

System Key

VGB-S-891-00-2012-06-DE-ENVGB abbreviation cataloguefor power plant technology

VGB-B 108 d/eRules for the creation of denomi-

nations and their applicationfor power plant engineering

VGB-S-823-01-2015-09-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Power Plants, General

Basic Standards (incl. part thermal power plants)

Supplementary power plant type specific parts

VGB-S-823-31-2014-12-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Hydro Power Plants

VGB-S-823-32-2014-03-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Wind Power Plants

VGB-S-823-33-2018-07-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Photovoltaic Power Plants

VGB-S-823-41-2018-07-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Power to Gas

VGB-B 102 d/eRDS-PP® Letter Codes

for Basic Functionsand Product Classes

VGB-S-832-00-2012-06-EN-DEDesignation codes for

document kindclassification code (DCC key)

VGB-S-831-00-2015-05-ENProvision of Technical

Documentation forEnergy Supply Units

DE/d: German edition. EN/e: English edition.

VGB-S-823-34-2020-12-EN-DERDS-PP® Application Guideline

Combustion Engines

RDS-PP®-Standards

Fig. 4. Overview of the RDS-PP® Standards and the associated VGB Standards with the basic standards and the generation-specific Standard on hydropower, wind power, photovolta-ics, combustion engines and “power to gas”. The standards are either published as bilin-gual edition, German-English, or as separate German- or English-language works. The sup-plementary publications complete the RDS-PP® basic set of rules, especially with regard to documentation.

Fig. 2. Illustration from the RDS-PP® Standard VGB-S-823-41, Application Guideline “Power to Gas”.

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KKS and RDS-PP® – VGB speaks the language of power plant engineering VGB PowerTech 1/2 l 2021

nent key are made up of about 10,000 data sets, each for German and English. The “KKS Pocketbook” (148 pages), which is available free of charge as a print and eB-ook, and the KKS app for iOS and Android operating systems, which is also free of charge, support the user on site (Figure 6). The RDS-PP® currently comprises a total of 10 VGB Standards in German or English with around 3,200 pages of documenta-tion and information. The RDS-PP® key part comprises about 9,000 data sets of the system key. The free “RDS-PP Pocket-book2” (German and English edition, 74 pages each), available as print and eBook, as well as the KKS app for the operating systems iOS and Android, which is also free of charge, support the user on site. For the user and operator of KKS and RDS-PP®, VGB also offers customised license models that are oriented to the respective requirements of a project, from planning to construction and operation to decommis-sioning.

=MRG

=MRE

=MRV

=MUG

=MRN

=MRE

=MRK

=MRH

Fig. 5: Image from the currently published RDS-PP Standard on „Power supply systems with inter-nal combustion engines“.

ConclusionRegardless of the degree of industrialisa-tion, power generation is undoubtedly one of the most important and complex tasks of a society. The reliable supply of energy and thus the successful operation of each indi-vidual power plant – regardless of the pri-mary energy used – requires a designation system for the consistent identification of plant components and processes. KKS and RDS-PP® offer these possibilities from planning to orderly dismantling. Starting with project planning, through plant oper-ation and up to the planned end of opera-tion, all process participants speak the same “VGB language” and can thus com-municate with each other nationally and also internationally without any problems. Thanks to this VGB power plant language, data can be exchanged independently of manufacturers and operators, enabling power plant operators to operate and maintain their plants independently and, in the end, to dismantle them in compli-ance with legal requirements and regula-tions.

For further information please visit VGB‘s KKS/RDS-PP® topic page: https://kks.vgb.org

The German language version of this article was published in VGB POWERTECH 1/2 (2021), pp- 68. l

Fig. 6. iOS/Android-App for KKS and RDS-PP. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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International Journal for Electricity and Heat Generation

ISSN 1435–3199 · K 123456 l International Edition

Publication of VGB PowerTech e.V. l www.vgb.org

The electricity sector at a crossroads The role of renewables energy in Europe

Power market, technologies and acceptance

Dynamic process simulation as an engineering tool

European Generation Mix Flexibility and Storage

1/2

2012

International Journal for Electricity and Heat Generation

ISSN 1435–3199 · K 123456 l International Edition

Publication of VGB PowerTech e.V. l www.vgb.org

The electricity sector

at a crossroads

The role of renewables energy

in Europe

Power market, technologies and acceptance

Dynamic process simulation as an engineering tool

European Generation Mix

Flexibility and Storage

1/2

2012

International Journal for Electricity and Heat Generation

ISSN 1435–3199 · K 123456 l International Edition

Publication of VGB PowerTech e.V. l www.vgb.org

The electricity sector

at a crossroads

The role of

renewables energy

in Europe

Power market,

technologies and

acceptance

Dynamic process

simulation as an

engineering tool

European

Generation Mix

Flexibility and

Storage

1/2

2012

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