Introduction  The initial investment and operation cost of the power plant are significantly increased after the ultra-low emission configuration is selected for the project of new coal-fired power units. The main purpose of this paper is to carry out detailed technical research on how to optimize the design to improve the operating economy of the units and give recommendations.

  Method  By combining theory with practice, this paper selected a 1 000 MW unit project for practical study.

  Result  The results show that the application effect of the project is significant, and the main economic and technical indicators are leading in China. The optimization design results and research methods recommended in this paper have been verified accordingly.

  Conclusion  The relevant research results of this paper can provide important reference for the construction of similar projects in the future.