Vol. 29 No.

2 June 2006
3-D CFD Analysis Results of Modified LP Exhaust Hood
DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW DESIGN
VARIANT OF LP TURBINE OF 200/
210MW LMW RUSSIAN DESIGN
FOR UPRATING
At present,there are 57 Steam Turbines Generating
sets of 200/210 MW of LMW Russian design in
operation,which form the backbone of power
generation of the country. Design of these sets dates
back to early 60s and a majority of them have
completed more than 20 years out of their service
life of 25 years. To upgrade these old in-service
Steam Turbines,a new variant of LP Turbine has
been developed by BHEL-Haridwar. State-of-the-art
design tools have been used in designing of this new
variant: 3-D modellng for design evolution, 3-D
Finite Element Method for structural analysis and
3-D CFD for flow path analysis. The implementation
of new design shall result in gain in output by
8.5 MW (204 MW to 212.5 MW) and improvement
in heat rate by nearly 86 kcal/kg (from 2142 kcal/kg
to 2056 kcal/kg) i.e. by 4%. This new development
will enable BHEL to tap huge business potential in
the retrofit area.
The New Design Features :
New state-of-the-art reaction-type, integral LP
rotor with advanced class Siemens blading of
N302*6.3 sqm., has been incorporated in place
of the existing shrunk-on disc-type impulse rotor
with inefficient bauman penultimate stage.
The new design of LP rotor shall have integral
couplings, instead of semi-flexible coupling.
Shaft sealing glands have been made of see-
through type as per Siemens design, which
permits unrestricted relative expansion between
rotor and casing.
New liners and guide blade carriers have been
designed to fit in the existing LP casing.
New exhaust diffuser has been designed to guide
the exhaust flow to the condenser.
Modification of the LP casing front and rear
exhaust part has been done by cutting a few plates
to accommodate the newly designed LP rotor and
flow path.
The Castings
CASTINGS OF STATE-OF-THE-ART
H-COMPACT MOTOR DEVELOPED
BHEL-Bhopal has successfully developed critical &
intricate Siemens design H-Compact ILA435 motor
frame, end shield & internal fan patterns & castings.
The first H-Compact motor (355 kW, 4 pole, 6.6 kV,
50 Hz, SCIM Frame ILA4 352-4), using the above-
mentioned castings, has also been successfully
manufactured & tested, and handed over to the
customer, M/s Chethar Vessels Pvt. Ltd., Trichy.
The frame & end shields are made of IS 210 Gr. 200
grey cast iron with external cooling ribs over the entire
length and internal cooling ribs at both DE & NDE.
The frame also has box section feet over the entire
length and four axial ducts for internal cooling circuit.
The frame pattern & core boxes are made of wood
with cast aluminium LM6 alloy ribs fixed on the
wooden base. The frame was cast using 11 cores by
core-in-core assembly in the mould and bottom
pouring. The internal fan was cast in LM6 aluminium
alloy in shell mould. The end shield metallic pattern
was also developed & manufactured.
operating cost. The higher-reliability bearing design
results in low vibration, long bearing life and low
maintenance costs. Micalastic insulation with vacuum
pressure impregnation results in high reliability, long
life and high-load capability under fault conditions,
acceleration & overload.
This development is expected to increase BHELs
market share in motors business.
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (SPV)-
DIESEL HYBRID SYSTEM SET UP
AT BANGARAM ISLAND OF
LAKSHADWEEP
Bangaram Island, located in Arabian Sea, attracts a
large number of international tourists. To cater to the
electrical load requirements of this tourist resort, BHEL
had supplied, installed and commissioned a 10kWp
stand-alone SPV system in the year 1993. As the
electrical load increased over the period of time,
Lakshadweep Electricity Department (LED)
subsequently commissioned BHEL to install an SPV-
Diesel hybrid system comprising a 50kWp SPV array,
240V maintenance-free battery bank, 2 nos., each of
75kVA, 3-phase, 415V, 50Hz, Diesel Generators
(DGs) housed in a sound-proof FRP enclosure.
Accordingly, the system was designed & set up by
BHEL, and it has been performing satisfactorily for
the last one year. . Encouraged by the savings of fuel
(diesel) and silent operation, LED is planning to install
such systems in other islands of Lakshadweep as well.
Diesel can be substantially saved by employing the
SPV-Diesel hybrid system. The control strategy of the
system ensures that during the time when the site load
is less than 25kW, supply of power to load is from the
SPV source only. This leads to substantial saving of
diesel (40%-50% savings). Accordingly, solar array
of 50kWp has been sized so as to generate an average
of 150 units per day.
System Operation:
The solar PV array also charges the battery bank
through charge controller and keeps the battery bank
in FLOAT mode, while feeding power to the site load
via a 3-phase, sine wave inverter. During low-sunshine
periods, the battery bank supplies the required power
The cast iron frame & end shield with cooling ribs
provide a rugged, torsionally rigid design, enabling
extremely high loading capability & enhanced
damping characteristics, leading to lower noise &
vibration levels compared to the fabricated frame &
end shield in conventional motors.
With this development, the era of H-Compact motors
has started in BHEL. The H-Compact motors have a
more compact design with higher power density &
optimized efficiency, resulting in lower weight-to-
output ratio, smaller space requirement and lower
to the load. As the battery reaches a predetermined
voltage, one of the diesel generators starts
automatically and gets synchronised to the inverter
output. Now, the diesel generator charges the battery
bank (being a bi-directional inverter) and feeds power
to the site load also, thus ensuring that the DG set is
optimally loaded. Should the site load increase to
more than the capacity of one DG set and the
available SPV power, another DG set also
automatically starts and gets synchronised to the
running generator, thereby meeting the increased
demand of the site peak load. When the site load gets
reduced, the DG sets automatically get switched off,
thereby conserving the diesel. If the site load is such
that the combination of one DG set and SPV
generation can meet the site load requirements, then
the operation of the two DGs alternates so that they
will have equal wear and tear. To facilitate solo and
parallel operation of the generators in conjunction
with the solar inverter, a parallel generator set control
module (PGCM) monitors the parameters of Gensets
and also has a built-in synchroniser. The system has
a built-in SCADA for local and remote data logging
via a telephone line.
The DG Sets
The Solar PV Array
TEST FACILITY FOR DEEPWELL
SPV WATER PUMPING SYSTEM
ESTABLISHED IN-HOUSE
For marketing SPV water pumping system through
MNES / IREDA programme, it is necessary to get
empanelled with MNES. For this purpose, it is
essential to establish in-house a test facility for the SPV
Water Pumping System and collect data over a
suitable period. In line with the above requirement, a
test facility has been established to carry out long-
term testing of the High-Efficiency SPV Deepwell
Water Pumping System developed earlier at
Corporate R&D Division of BHEL.
The test facility has been established with the following
features :
Two PV arrays, using 12 nos X 75 Wp PV modules
and 8 nos X 100Wp PV modules
Two 500-litre plastic water tanks with piping for
measurements along with pressure gauges and
water flow meters
Two automatic solar tracking structures for the two
PV arrays
The automatic sun-tracking system has been installed
for tracking the sun from East to West everyday so
that the PV array mounted on it keeps receiving the
maximum available solar energy daily. . A very small
portion of the power from photovoltaic array is being
used to drive the motor in steps with a small controller,
for the tracking system. The tracking structure is
designed to withstand wind speed of 150 km / hour.
The high-efficiency water pumping system developed
earlier using non-tracking, fixed-tilt PV array of
840 Wp rating has been tested with the newly installed
automatic active solar tracker using slightly smaller
rating (800 Wp) PV array. Due to the sun tracking
system, the daily water output has increased from
19300 to 26750 litres per day (LPD) at 40m head,
i.e. by 38.6%.
The automatic active solar tracker can be used
effectively for remote stand-alone applications such as
water pumping, battery charging and other PV power
systems. Due to self-standing structure design, these
automatic solar trackers can be easily installed on the
terrace of multi-storeyed buildings and apartments for
water pumping and other PV power applications.
Issued quarterly by the Corporate Office, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, BHEL House, Siri Fort, New Delhi-110049, Website : http://www.bhel.com
Editor : R.K. Bhattacharya. Associate Editor : D. Roy. Printed at I G Printers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi-110020. Phones : 26817927, 26810297. Telefax : 26817927
For Private Circulation only
With this test set-up, it is now possible to collect long-
term test data of deep well / high-head SPV pumping
systems as per MNES / IREDA norms.
STATE-OF-THE-ART INVERTER
DEVELOPED FOR INDIAN
RAILWAYS FOR 3300 HP DIESEL-
ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE WITH
HOTEL LOAD FEATURE
The hotel load, consisting of fan, light and air
conditioner load of passenger coaches of fully air-
conditioned trains, is traditionally being catered to
through two power cars connected on either end of
the locomotive. Each power car has two DG sets. Since
Diesel-Electric Locomotives have an arrangement of
power generation,Indian Railways approached BHEL
for developing a system which can draw power from
diesel engine and supply it to passenger coaches at
3-phase, 750 volts, 50 Hz., resulting in replacement
of one power car with passenger coach, thereby
generating extra revenue for the Railways. BHEL
accepted the challenge, and consequently Railways
placed order for two sets of the electrics on
BHEL. Accordingly, the two sets have been
manufactured,and successfully tested in the presence The Inverter with Covers
of representative of RDSO, Lucknow. One set has
been dispatched to Diesel Locomotive Works,
Varanasi, for commissioning on 3300 HP Diesel-
Electric locomotive specially developed for this
project. The inverter has been developed for the first
time in the country.
BHEL-Bhopal and Corporate R&D Division have
developed the complete system in-house. The system
includes: microprocessor-controlled IGBT-based
inverter, choppers for excitation controls of main &
companion alternators, software for control, trouble
shooting & data logging. The snubber-less, fuel-less
design of IGBT inverter results in reduced number of
components and leads to higher efficiency and
increased reliability. Microprocessor-based controls
used provide fault monitoring and self-diagnostics
features in addition to controls and protections. The
control philosophy has been developed to ensure
safe working of the hotel load inverter in tandem with
power car to provide redundancy. In case the
locomotive with the new hotel load system is used in
goods train or in multiple-unit operation with a
conventional locomotive, the power used for hotel
load can be made available for traction by operating
a simple switch.
The total output of the inverter is 290 kW, out of which
240 kW i.e. 300 kVA at 0.8 power factor will be used
for the air-conditioning & other load of passenger
coaches. The remaining 50 kW power is used for
excitation of machines, battery charging and other
auxiliary loads.
This project is very prestigious for both Indian Railways
and BHEL in view of the novelty and innovative
manner of catering to the hotel load and the locomotive
load through the Diesel-Electric Locomotive.
The Test Facility for SPV Water Pumping System