Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
POWER SECTION
Supervisor:
We thank God and praise him to achieve what we aspire in completion our
graduation project in the way that achieve our satisfaction for being useful and easy
to be understood.
During this year, we had the honor to have our project under the supervision of
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud A. El Kady who guided us, placed opportunities in front of us
and had to bear a heavy load of responsibility and concern in bringing this project
to a success, indeed in selfless spirit.
In addition, we owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. Dr. sherif Bahi who gave us the
permission of using the power station laboratory, which was a great appending to
our project.
Also, we would like to express our special thanks to administrator and workers in
Mechanical Engineering Department, not only for helping us and being so friendly,
but also for supporting us intangibly.
Nobody has been more important to us in the pursuit of this project than the
members of our families. We would like to thank our parents, whose love and
guidance are with us in whatever we pursue, they are the ultimate role models.
It is also our duty to record thankfulness to people working in the power stations of
Shoubra El-Kheima and Cairo-West for being very helpful.
Finally, we would like to thank all the people who helped, supported and
encouraged us to the successful finish of the graduation project whether they
were in the university or in the power generation field.
Project Team
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The quality of life, and even its sustenance, depends on the availability of
energy. Therefore, it is essential to have a good understanding of the sources of
energy, the conversion of energy from one form to another, and the technological
and economic aspects associated with these conversions.
Electricity is the only form of energy, which is easy to produce, to transport, to use
and to control. Hence, electrical energy is the most popular form of energy,
Electricity consumption per capita is the index of the standard of living in a country.
The study starts by reviewing several topics related to the improvement of the
power stations performance. This includes thermal storage systems, and modern
techniques in the design and manufacturing of the main components of power
stations (boilers, and turbines.). The study also includes an analysis of the use of
thermal solar energy system as a way to improve power plant performance and
reduce the conventional fuel consumption and the associated pollutants emission.
Furthermore, the project represents different case studies.
The first case study handles the steam power plant found in the steam laboratory
of the Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar
University. The study reveals that it is feasible technically and economically (6 years
payback period) to use solar energy to improve the plant performance and reduce
conventional fuel consumption and emissions.
The second and third case studies are dealing with the application of powering
Shoubra El Khaima, and West Cairo conventional steam power stations with solar
systems. The study proves that It is feasible to apply such system to improve the
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plant performance and reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. The
payback period ranges from about six years.
The use of super critical boilers is studied, and West Cairo power plant is considered
for the case study. It has been proved that it is technologically and economically
feasible to apply this technology.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1 General................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.2 Sources, and Forms of Energy ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.3 Preference for Electrical Energy................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER TWO
POWER PLANTS .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2 Thermal Power Plants ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Steam power plant...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Gas power plant .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Combined-cycle power plant ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Diesel power plant ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Solar thermal power plant .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER THREE
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.2 Thermal Energy Storage Systems.............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3 Thermal Energy Storage Methods ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4 Thermal Energy Storage and Environmental Impact ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.5 Thermal Energy Storage and Energy Savings ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.6 Recent Advances in TES Technologies and Applications .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. Solar system with molten salt technique............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Electrical thermal storage technique .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
iii. Ice-based technology .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
iv. Miscibility gap alloy (MGA) technology .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
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v. Silicon energy storage technology ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
vi. Salt hydrate technology for thermal heat storage ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
vii. Modular thermochemical material (TCM) stock with hot water storage...... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
viii. Parabolic trough power plant with a thermal storage system ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.7 Thermal Energy Storage Case Studies....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. The solar district heating “Am Ackermann-bogen” (Munich, Germany) . Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Solar absorber – Suffolk, UK.................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER FOUR
Modern Boilers and Latest Trends................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1 Introduction: ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2 Super Critical Boilers ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.3 Supercritical Thermodynamic Cycle.......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4 Supercritical boiler components ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.5 Advantage of supercritical boilers ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.6 Preference of supercritical boilers on subcritical boilers.......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.7 Ultra-Supercritical Boilers (USC) ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4. 8 Material Used in Advanced Ultra-Supercritical Boilers ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.9 Double Reheat .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.10 T-Firing – Front / Opposed ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER FIVE
Latest Technologies of Steam Turbines ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.2. Complete Three-Dimensional Blade ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3. Low-Pressure Last Stage .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.4. Latest Sealing Technology ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.4. Directed Lubrication Bearing ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.5. Advanced 12% Cr Steel Welded Rotor ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.6. Improvement of Steam Conditions (Development Of A-USC) ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.7. Development Issues ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.8. Development of New Ni-Based Alloy ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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CHAPTER SIX
Analysis of The Department Laboratory Steam Power Plant ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2 Laboratory Simple Steam Cycle Components: .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Boiler ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Super heater ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
III. Turbine and generator .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Steam condenser ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Cooling tower ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
III. Fuel tank.......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.3 Thermodynamic Analysis of the laboratory Steam Cycle ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.4 Modifying the Simple Cycle with A Solar Thermal Technique .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Repowering Steam Power Plant Using Thermal Solar System ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.2 Parabolic Trough Description .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.3 Parabolic Trough Collector........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.3.1 Geometrical Description Of A Parabolic Trough ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.3.2 Mirror Area And Aperture Area ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.4 Case Study: Repowering of A Steam Power Plant Using Solar Power ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.4.1 The Power plant cycle description ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.4.2 Solar repowered cycle of the power plant ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cairo-West Power Station Case-Study .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.1 General Description .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.2 Schematic Diagram for Analysis ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.3 Solar repowered cycle of Cairo West Steam Power Plant ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.3.1 Introduction: ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.3.2 Solar repowering cycle calculations: ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.3.3 Results and discussions: ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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8.4 Repowering of Cairo-West Power Plant by Using super critical boiler Technology .Error! Bookmark
not defined.
8.4. 1 Introduction....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.4.2 Super critical steam generator design ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.4.3 Challenges of supercritical technology ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.4.4 Data of Cairo-West power plant before modification ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.4.5 Schematic diagram and condition for super critical Analysis ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
8.4.6 Calculations of power plant performance after modification ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER NINE
Shoubra El-Kheima Power Station Case-Study.............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.1 General Description .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.2 Schematic Diagram for Analysis ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.3 Solar repowered cycle of Shoubra El-Kheima Power Plant ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.3.1. Introduction: .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.3.2 Solar repowering cycle calculations: ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
9.3.3 Results and discussions: ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX A
Thermodynamic Formulations ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.1 Carnot Cycle .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.1.1 Four Processes of Carnot Cycle: ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.1.2 Efficiency of a Carnot Cycle: .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.2 Diesel Cycle: .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Process 1-2: Isentropic Compression ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Process 2-3: Constant Pressure Heat Addition ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Process 3-4: Isentropic Expansion........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Process 4-1: Constant Volume Heat Rejection ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.3 Brayton cycle: ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.3.1 Modifications to the basic gas turbine thermodynamic cycle: ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. The Brayton Cycle with Regeneration.................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. The Brayton cycle with intercooling, reheating, and regeneration .... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4 Rankine Cycle ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
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A.4.1 Energy analysis of the ideal Rankine cycle ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.2. Deviation of actual vapor power cycles from idealized ones ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.3. Increase the efficiency of the Rankine cycle.................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. Lowering the condenser pressure .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Superheating the steam to high temperatures .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.4. Increasing the boiler pressure ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.5. Ideal reheat Rankine cycle .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
A1.6.6 Ideal regenerative Rankine cycle .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. Open feed water heaters ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Closed feed water heaters .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.6 Cogeneration ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.4.7 Combined Cycle ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. Combined cycle principles of operation .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Combined-cycle power plant producing electricity ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
iii. Combined cycle efficiency ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX B
Boilers ............................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.2 The boiler System ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.3 Boiler capacity........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.4 Types of Boiler .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
i. Fire-tube boiler ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii. Water tube boiler .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
iii. La Mont boiler ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
iv. Velox boiler............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
v. Loeffler Boiler .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
vi. Pulverized coal-fired boiler .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.5 Current technologies ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.6 Boiler Improvements ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
a. Steam-water separator ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
b. Superheater ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
c. Re-heater ................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
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d. Economizer ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
e. Air preheater ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.7 Boiler Efficiency......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.8 Major Heat Losses..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.8.1 Heat loss with unburned combustible gases ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.8.2 Heat loss due to unburned solid fuel ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
B.9 Calculations of Boiler Efficiency ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Direct method ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Indirect method .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX C
Steam Turbines............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.2 Principles of Operation ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.3 Steam Turbine Capacity ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.4 Types of Steam Turbines ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Simple Impulse Turbine ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
a. pressure compounded impulse turbine .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
b. simple velocity-compounded impulse turbine ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
c. pressure and velocity compounded impulse turbine.......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Reaction turbine...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.5 Cylinder arrangement ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.6 Number of Shafts of Turbine .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
a. Tandem Compound................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
b. Cross Compound ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.7 Direction of Flow ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.9 Heat supply ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.10 Heat Rejection......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.11 Number of Cylinder................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.12 Steam Turbine Basic Parts ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
a) Turbine Casings ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
b) Turbine Rotors .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
c) Turbine Blades .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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d) Governor ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
e) Steam Turbine (Generator) ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
C.13 Performance of Steam Turbine............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
1. Blade efficiency ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2. Nozzle efficiency ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3. Stage efficiency ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX D
Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG)....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.2 The basic components of HRSG ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.3 TYPES OF HRSG ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Natural circulation HRSG..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Forced Circulation HRSG ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
III. Once-Through Steam Generator (OTSG) ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.4 Gas turbine ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.5 Basic componants of gas turbine power plant ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Compressors ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Combustion Chamber ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
III. Gas Turbines........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.6 First Generation Combined-Cycle Plants .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.7 Second Generation Combined-Cycle Plants ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.8 Third Generation Combined Cycles .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
D.8 Fourth Generation Combined-Cycle Plants .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX E
Pumps ............................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
E.1 Definition and Working Principle .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
E.2 Pump Used in Steam Power Plants ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
E.3 Centrifugal pump ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Axial Flow Centrifugal Pump .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Mixed Flow Pumps .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Positive displacement pump ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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E.4 Reciprocating pumps ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
a) Gear pump ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
b) Screw pump .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
c) Vane pump ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
E.5 Pump characteristics ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. H-Q curve ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Efficiency curve ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
III. NPSH curve ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX F
Steam Condenser ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.2 Elements of Steam Condenser .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.3 Types of Steam Condenser........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Jet Steam Condenser .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
II. Surface Steam Condenser ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.4 Requirements of good surface condenser ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.5 Materials of Condenser Tubes .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.6 Sources of air in condenser ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.7 Effect of air leakage on condenser performance ...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
F.8 Latest Trends of Steam Condenser (Super Vacuum Hybrid Steam Condenser) ...... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
F.9 Conclusions, Suggestions and Recommendations .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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1.1 General
Energy is vital for all humankind on earth. Modern life-style has further
increases its importance, since a developed life means faster transport, faster
communication, and faster manufacturing processes. All these lead to increase in
energy required for all those modern systems. Whether we realize it or not, energy
is an important part of most aspects of daily life. The quality of life, and even its
sustenance, depends on the availability of energy. Therefore, it is important to have
a good understanding of the sources of energy, the conversion of energy from one
form to another, and the results of these conversions.
Energy is the capacity for doing work, generating heat, and emitting light. Energy is
an essential input for economic development and improving quality of life. Energy
Conservation is being given the highest-priority and is being used as a tool to bridge
the gaps between demand and supply of energy.
Sources of Energy
Conventional Non-Conventional
Solar Energy
Commercial Non-Commercial Wind Energy
Tidal Energy
• Coal Geothermal
• Fire Wood
• Oil Bio Energy
• Straw
• •Conventional
Natural Gas Sources of •Energy: These sources of energy are also known
Dry Dung
as non-renewable sources of energy like Coal and Natural gas and in limited
quantity apart from hydro-electric power.
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Specifications: -
Specifications: -
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. A swinging pendulum has
kinetic energy.
Potential Energy: This is energy due to an object's position. For example, a ball
sitting on a table has potential energy with respect to the floor because gravity acts
upon it.
Mechanical Energy: Mechanical energy is the sum of the kinetic and potential
energy of a body.
Nuclear Energy: This is energy from interactions with the protons and neutrons of
an atom. Typically, this relates to the strong force. Examples are energy released by
fission and fusion.
Electrical Energy: This is energy from the movement of charged particles, such as
protons, electrons, or ions.
Other forms of energy may include geothermal energy and classification of energy
as renewable or nonrenewable. There may be overlap between forms of energy and
an object invariably possesses more than one type at a time. For example, a
swinging pendulum has both kinetic and potential energy, thermal energy, and
(depending on its composition) may have electrical and magnetic energy.
According to the law of conservation of energy, the total energy of a system remains
constant, though energy may transform into another form. for example, two billiard
balls colliding may come to rest, with the resulting energy becoming sound and
perhaps a bit of heat at the point of collision. When the balls are in motion, they
have kinetic energy. Whether they are in motion or stationary, they also have
potential energy because they are on a table above the ground. Energy cannot be
created, nor destroyed, but it can change forms and is also related to mass.
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2.1 Introduction
Thermal power plants continuously convert the energy stored in fossil fuels
(coal, oil, natural gas) or fissile fuels (uranium, thorium) into shaft work and
ultimately into electricity. The working fluid is hot gases or water, which is
sometimes in the liquid phase and sometimes in the vapor phase during its cycle of
operation.
The most common types of thermal Power plants are the following: -
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Steam power plant
1. The unit capacity of steam power plant is more than other plants. The
cost of unit decreases with the increase in unit capacity.
2. Life of the plant ranges from 25 to 30 years, which is much more than
other plants. For instance the life time of diesel plant ranges from 2 to
5 years)
3. Repair and maintenance cost is low when compared with diesel plant.
4. Initial cost of the plant is less than nuclear plants.
5. Suitable for varying load conditions.
6. The fuel used is cheap.
7. Smaller space is required if compared with hydro power plant.
8. Economical in initial cost if compared with hydro plants.
9. Steam plants can be placed near load centers unlike hydro and nuclear
plants.
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However, the steam power plant has the following disadvantages: -
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Gas power plant
The gas turbine, in the gas power plant, obtains its power by utilizing the
energy of burnt gases and air, which is at high temperature and pressure by
expanding through the several rings of fixed and moving blades. It thus resembles
a steam turbine.
An outstanding feature is its capability of quick starting and using a wide variety of
fuels from natural gas to residual oil or powdered coal.
The overall efficiency of a gas power plant can be about 35 per cent, almost the
same as that of conventional steam power plant.
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Meanwhile, the gas power plant has the following disadvantages: -
1. The turbine engine has a low thermal efficiency, which has prevented
its widespread use in many applications such as auto-motives.
2. Turbine engines have high manufacturing costs, because of the
complicated design.
3. Skilled technicians are required to operate the gas turbine.
4. A gas turbine is less suitable for low-power applications. At partial
throttle conditions, the efficiency of the gas turbine decreases.
5. A turbine requires intercoolers, regenerators and/or re-heaters to
reach efficiencies comparable to current gasoline engines; this adds
significant cost and complexity to a turbine engine.
6. High noise levels.
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Combined-cycle power plant
In combined cycle power plants, a gas turbine generator generates electricity while
the waste heat from the gas turbine is used to make steam to generate additional
electricity via a steam turbine.
In other words: The output heat of the gas turbine flue gas is utilized to generate
steam by passing it through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), so it can be
used as input heat to the steam turbine power plant. This combination of two power
generation cycles enhances the efficiency of the plant to be in the range of (50-
60%).
However, the combined cycle power plant has the following disadvantages:
1. Major part of the work developed in the turbine is used to derive the
compressor, therefore, network output of the plant is low.
2. Since the temperature of the products of combustion becomes too
high so service conditions become complicated even at moderate
pressures.
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Diesel power plant
A Diesel power station (also known as Stand-by power station) uses a diesel
engine as prime mover for the generation of electrical energy.
This power station is generally compact and thus can be located where it is actually
required. This kind of power station can be used to produce limited amounts of
electrical energy. In most countries, these power stations are used as emergency
supply stations.
The diesel burns inside the engine and the combustion process moves a fluid that
turns the engine shaft and drives the alternator. The alternator in turn, converts
mechanical energy into electrical energy. This type of electricity generating power
station will probably be used a long time into the future, due to a need for reliable
stand-by electrical source for emergencies.
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The diesel power plant has the following disadvantages: -
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Solar thermal power plant
The system must be very precise in order to ensure that sunlight is really focused
on the top of the tower. It is here that the absorber is located, and this is heated up
to temperatures of 1000° C or more. Hot air or molten salt then transports the heat
from the absorber to a steam generator; superheated water steam is produced
there, which drives a turbine and electrical generator
The efficiency of a solar thermal power plant is the product of the collector
efficiency, field efficiency and steam-cycle efficiency. The collector efficiency
depends on the angle of incidence of the sunlight and the temperature in the
absorber tube, and can reach values up to 75%. Field losses are usually below 10%.
Altogether, solar thermal trough power plants can reach annual efficiencies of
about 15%; the steam-cycle efficiency of about 35% has the most significant
influence. Central receiver systems such as solar thermal power plants can reach
higher temperatures and therefore achieve higher efficiencies.
1. No fuel cost.
2. No pollution and global warming effects.
3. Unlimited source of energy.
4. Using existing industrial base.
5. Solar thermal energy can generate power 24 hours a day. This is made
possible as solar thermal power plants store the energy in the form of
molten salts etc.
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3.1 Introduction
Thermal energy storage (TES) is one of the key technologies for energy
conservation, and therefore, it has a great practical importance. The thermal energy
storage can be defined as the temporary storage of thermal energy at high or low
temperatures. TES is perhaps as old as civilization it-self, but this technology has
only recently been developed to a point where it can have a significant impact on
modern technology. One of its main advantages is that it is best suited for thermal
applications (heating and cooling).
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3.2 Thermal Energy Storage Systems
There are mainly three types of TES systems, that is, sensible (e.g., water and
rock), latent (e.g., water or ice and salt hydrates) and chemical or bond (e.g.,
CaO/H2O, MgO/H2O, FeCl2/NH3). For each storage medium, there is a wide variety
of choices depending on the temperature range and application. TES via latent heat
has received a great deal of interest. Perhaps, the most obvious example of latent
TES is the conversion of water to ice. Cooling systems incorporating ice storage have
a distinct size advantage over equivalent capacity chilled water units because of the
ability to store large amount of energy as latent heat.
TES deals with the storing of energy, usually by cooling, heating, melting, solidifying,
or vaporizing a substance, and the energy becomes available as heat when the
process is reversed. The selection of a TES is mainly dependent on the storage
period required, that is, diurnal or seasonal, economic viability, operating
conditions, and so on. In practice, many research and development activities related
to energy have concentrated on efficient energy use and energy savings, leading to
energy conservation. In this regard, TES appears to be an attractive thermal
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application. Furthermore, exergy analysis is an important tool for analyzing TES
performance.
The basic principle is the same in all TES applications. Energy is supplied to a
storage system for removal and use at a later time. What mainly varies is the scale
of the storage and the storage method used.
A complete storage process involves at least three steps: charging, storing, and
discharging. A simple storage cycle can be illustrated as in figure 3.1, in which the
three steps are shown as distinct.
𝐸 = 𝑚 ∫ 𝐶𝑝 𝑑𝑇,
𝑇1
Where m is the mass and Cp; the specific heat at constant pressure. T1 and
T2 represent the lower and upper temperature levels between which the
storage operates. The difference (T2 – T1) is referred to as the temperature
swing.
𝐸 =𝑚∗𝜆
Where Cps and Cpl represents the specific heats of the solid and liquid phases
and T* is the melting point.
In latent heat storage the principle is that when heat is applied to the material
it changes its phase from solid to liquid by storing the heat as latent heat of
fusion or from liquid to vapor as latent heat of vaporization. When the stored
heat is extracted by the load, the material will again change its phase from
liquid to solid or from vapor to liquid.
34
iii. Using heat to produce a certain physicochemical reaction and then storing
the products. Absorbing and adsorbing are two examples for the bond
reaction. The heat is released when the reverse reaction is made to occur.
In this case also, the storage operates essentially isothermally during the
reactions.
Of the above methods, sensible and latent heat storage systems are in use, while,
bond energy storage systems are being proposed for use in the future for medium
and high temperature applications. The specific application for which a thermal
storage system is to be used determines the method to be adopted.
During the past few decades, the risks and reality of environmental
degradation have become increasingly apparent. The environmental impact of
human activities has grown dramatically due to a combination of factors such as
increasing world population, energy consumption, industrial activity, and so on.
TES systems can contribute significantly to meeting society’s desire for more
efficient, environmentally benign energy use, particularly in the areas of building
heating and cooling and electric power generation. By reducing energy
consumption, the utilization of TES systems results in two significant environmental
benefits:
35
3.5 Thermal Energy Storage and Energy Savings
The main objective of most TES systems, which is often to alter energy-use patterns
so that financial savings occur, can be achieved in several ways:-
Much research on thermal energy storage (TES) has been carried out over the
last decade or so in academe and industry, leading to innovations in TES systems
and their applications, as well as advances in such areas as TES types, materials,
control strategies, measurement techniques, and macro- to Nano-encapsulation
processes. Advances in TES systems include new pump able slurries and
microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs), which are of interest for
applications ranging from building materials to new textiles that improve human
comfort. New operation, control, and simulation strategies are under development
for many TES applications. Many of the developments are or can be useful to
designers and here we produce some applications and techniques of TES systems.
36
i. Solar system with molten salt technique
Molten salt energy storage systems are already applied in solar thermal power
plants, giving solar thermal plants the ability to store the energy they generate
during the day. The current industrial application of molten salt technology will
catalyze further improvements in the technology, as well as cost reductions, that
may make these storage systems feasible for micro-grids in remote areas.
Figure 3.2 Molten salt energy storage system in a solar thermal plant
37
ii. Electrical thermal storage technique
Electric thermal storage (ETS) heaters are one way of getting around the
problem of high peak loads. They draw energy during off-peak hours when supply
is plentiful and rates are relatively low. An ETS system contains electric heating
elements within dense ceramic bricks, which store heat as shown as Fig 3.6
ETS heaters are available as stand-alone room heaters, much like a wood heater,
but also as whole-house forced-air or hydronic systems. They can be incorporated
into an existing heating system as a backup for an electric furnace or to supplement
a heat pump, but also work as a principal source of heat.
Local electricity rates and rate structures are a key consideration in purchasing an
ETS heater, since these units use a lot of electricity. Room-size heaters draw 1.32 to
10.8 kW, with outputs from 46,602 to 136,480 Btu. The smallest Steffens central-
air heater draws 14 kW. An ETS heater may require wiring upgrades to handle the
current. The run-time for the units depends on the size of the heater, the size of the
heated space, the heating load, and how much stored energy was used during the
previous heating cycle.
Off-peak rates, which are lower than during high-usage times, are usually available
at night or on weekends—when utility system demand is the lowest. Take, for
example, the residential rate structure offered by Portland (Oregon) General
Electric. Its on-peak rate is $0.1327 per kWh, its mid-peak rate is $0.075 per kWh,
and the off-peak rate is $0.0442 per kWh—one-third of the peak rate. The biggest
advantage for the utility is the avoided cost of not having to build new power plants
to meet spikes in demand during peak hours.
38
Figure 3.3 An electric thermal storage unit
In Ice-based technology, ice is produced during off-peak periods and used for
cooling at later time. For example, air conditioning can be provided more
economically by using low-cost electricity at night to freeze water into ice, then
using the cooling capacity of ice in the afternoon to reduce the electricity needed
to handle air conditioning demands. Thermal energy storage using ice makes use of
the large heat of fusion of water.
Electric chillers have been utilized for ice-based TES. This method can decrease costs
by shifting electric energy consumption from higher-priced peak rates to less costly
off-peak rates.
39
Chilled water is used to produce ice during off-peak periods, which is melted to
absorb heat in conditioned spaces during peak periods, thus reducing peak chiller
loads.
40
iv. Miscibility gap alloy (MGA) technology
The application is a binary alloy system that uses miscibility gaps and an inverted
microstructure to achieve high thermal conductivity and high energy density
storage per unit volume. As shown below in figure 3.5, discrete regions of metal
with a lower melting point (metal 1) are encapsulated in a matrix of a second
metal (metal 2) with a higher melting point.
The thermal properties of the solid matrix (metal 2) enable fast and efficient
conduction of energy to and from the encapsulated phase (metal 1), while allowing
it to remain solid at operating temperature, negating the need for a container vessel
(but not insulation). Whilst both metals store sensible heat, the encapsulated metal
also generates and stores energy through phase change mechanisms. Different
miscibility gap alloys can be prepared to capture a great range of storage
applications. These include low (<300°C), mid (300-600°C) and high (600-1,400°C)
temperature applications. More than 90 metal pairs have been identified, covering
a temperature range from 21°C to as high as 2,080°C. These alloys possess the
desirable characteristics of phase change materials.
(The technology has not yet been
implemented on a large scale).
Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust after oxygen. A ton
of silicon can store enough energy to power 28 houses for a day. Its high latent heat
capacity and high melting temperature of 1414 C – make it ideal for the storage of
large amounts of energy.
The TESS device stores electricity as thermal energy by heating and melting
containers full of silicon at a cost estimated to be up to 10 times cheaper than
lithium batteries. The high latent heat capacity and melting temperature of silicon
– 1414 C – make it ideal for the storage of large amounts of energy.
42
vi. Salt hydrate technology for thermal heat storage
With the renewable energy challenge of our generation, seasonal heat storage in
the residential sector has emerged as an important research topic, with the aim of
developing a sustainable concept that can entirely fulfill the heat demand over a
year of individual dwellings.
Compact storage systems based on the water sorption process in a packed bed of
salt hydrates present suitable characteristics for implementation in single houses.
Salt hydrate materials can store and release heat with a high energy storage density
four times higher than the energy storage density of water (over a temperature
range of 60°C), with the additional benefits of low heat losses over the storage time
and allowing for low cost and safe systems.
Although some salt hydrate materials were shown are to be have interesting
properties for domestic application of seasonal heat storage, pure salt hydrates are
currently not suitable for a multiple cycle application, due to the breakdown of the
material structure over cycles. For future research, this work indicates the need of
using structurally stable sorption materials for developing a long term concept of
seasonal heat storage.
Figure 3.7 Schematic of Salt hydrate technology for thermal heat storage
43
vii. Modular thermochemical material (TCM) stock with hot water storage
During the warm season, solar energy is captured by solar collectors, heating
up a hot water storage. The hot top, for instance at 90 C, can be fed to a heat
exchanger through a TCM stock, which can provide sufficient heat for the cold
season. To handle an exceptionally cold season, one may use a conventional backup
system or sufficiently enlarge the dimensions of the TCM stock. Desorbed water
vapor is captured by the condenser, and condensation heat is stored in a large
reservoir.
Figure 3.8 Schematic of modular TCM stock with hot water storage
Figure 3.9 Schematic of parabolic trough power plant with a thermal storage
system.
45
3.7 Thermal Energy Storage Case Studies
The following is representing various case studies of thermal energy storage
The solar district heating supplies solar energy for space heating and
domestic hot water for about 320 apartments in 12 multi-story dwellings with about
30,400 m2 of living area. The system is designed to cover more than 50% of the
annual heat demand (i.e. about 2,000 MWh/a) using solar energy collected by 2,761
m2 of flat-plate collectors. The heat collected is used either directly or stored in a
6,000 m3 underground seasonal hot water storage.
46
Figure 3.10 Large Hot Water Storage (construction and final state) combined with
Solar Thermal District Heating “Am Ackermann-Bogen” in Munich, Germany.
The vocational block to the north and teaching clusters to the south surround a
central atrium. All teaching areas are flexible work spaces with generous provision
of sky-lights to maximize natural daylight.
The design for Inter-seasonal Heat Transfer (IHT) collects heat from asphalt solar
collectors in the bus turning areas in summer, stores the heat in Thermal banks in
47
the ground, and releases heat to Suffolk One in winter using ground source heat
pumps.
The skid mounted equipment also captures surplus heat from the roof mounted
solar thermal collectors, whose primary function is to provide hot water, so that the
heat generated from thermal panels in the long summer holidays is not wasted (and
the life of the panels will be prolonged). Suffolk One has a gas-free heating system.
Figure 3.11 Concrete Solar Thermal Collector for Inter seasonal Heat Transfer.
48
49
4.1 Introduction:
Modern thermal power plants operate at very high pressures greater than the
Critical pressure of steam. This article explains how Super Critical power plants are
different from the normal power plants. The old plants with the subcritical boilers
have an efficiency of 33-40 %. New plants with a steam at 300 bar and 600-620 C
gives an overall efficiency of 46-48 % which contains the technologies of the
supercritical boilers. The future plants will achieve 50-55 % net plant efficiency that
needs a steam conditions at 350 bar and 700-720 C and this requires the usage of
ultra-supercritical boilers. When we reach this efficiency, we can decrease CO2
emissions to 70% from the ordinary ratio and the fuel consumption will be reduced.
Figure 4.1 800-MW supercritical boilers for the Darlipalli thermal power project
(TPP) located in Sundergarh in India.
50
4.2 Super Critical Boilers
Supercritical power plants boiler was in service from the late fifties. But the
technology did not really take off due to problems of reliability especially from the
metallurgical aspect. The single most important factor that determines the use of
higher pressure and temperatures are the availability of materials to withstand
these conditions. Increases in operating pressure and temperatures have to go hand
in hand with developments in metallurgy. With more than 600 boiler units in service
the reliability issue seems to be resolved. Supercritical boiler units are the standard
for future power plants in many countries.
51
Boiling process beyond critical point of water, the latent heat of vaporization
becomes zero and there is no distinction between liquid and vapor phase of water
as shown as the table
i. Spiral wall (Upper, Intermediate & lower) Panels with Burner Coils
ii. Vertical water wall (Upper, Intermediate & lower) Panels
iii. Super-heated Coil ( Primary Super heater, Latent, Platen & Final)
iv. Reheated Supercritical Coil
v. Economizer Coil (Upper, Intermediate & lower) & Side Walls.
vi. All panels & Walls Header (Junction drum)
vii. Water Pumps & FD Fans.
52
And there are a lot of accessories which are important to operate the system as
shown in the below figure
The main difference between supercritical and subcritical boilers according to the
following parameters:
i. Boiler Efficiency
The main advantage and the reason for a higher-pressure operation is the increase
in the thermodynamic efficiency of the Rankine cycle.
Large Subcritical thermal power plants with 170 bar and 540 / 540 ° C (SH / RH)
operate at an efficiency of 40%. Supercritical boiler units operating at 250 bar and
600/620 ° C can have efficiencies in the range of 48 %.
v. Water chemistry
In supercritical boiler units the water entering the boiler has to be extremely high
levels of purity. Supercritical boilers do not have a steam drum that separates the
steam and the water. If the entering water quality is not good, carryover of
impurities can result in turbine blade deposits.
vi. Material
The main difference between supercritical and subcritical boilers is the modern
technology that has been used in the metallurgy science. Supercritical power plants
use special high-grade materials for the boiler tubes. The turbine blades are also of
improved design and materials. In fact, the very increase in higher pressure and
temperature designs are dependent on the development of newer alloys and tube
materials. The aim of the industry is to achieve power plant efficiencies in the range
of 50 %.
The USC boiler operates at high efficiency resulting in lower fuel consumption for
electricity generation. The combustion in the USC boilers will therefore lead to a
reduced CO2 emission compared with other type of boilers.
The future plants will achieve 50 - 55 % net plant efficiency that needs a steam
conditions at 350 bar and 700-720 C.
55
The elevated steam parameters require higher grade pressure part materials. Final
HP superheater banks and final RH banks are made in austenitic steel. In order to
reduce steam side oxidation, fine grain austenitic materials are selected.
When ultra-super critical boilers operate, the materials after the evaporator are
mostly in the creep range. Due to the elevated steam temperature, the materials
operate in the creep range on the edge of what is possible. A small increase in
temperature will result in a tremendous reduction of allowable stress. It is therefore
essential to reduce the temperature imbalances in the boiler by correct boiler
design. This is possible by a number of well proven measures as uniform flue gas
profile (as result of T-firing), intermediate outlet headers, crossover of steam from
left to right boiler side and extraction of main steam via four outlet headers (instead
of usual only two).
56
4. 8 Material Used in Advanced Ultra-Supercritical Boilers
The following table shows the material which used in the different component of
the ultra-supercritical boiler
T91
T12 – T23
57
4.9 Double Reheat
BWE combustion system for T-firing will have over burner air (OBA) injected just
above each burner. The OBA is part of the air staging and contributes to a reduction
of NOx formation. Furthermore, the OBA ensures sufficient oxygen content along
the membrane wall and in this way protecting the membrane walls against CO
corrosion. No CO corrosion is reported on T-fired boilers with a BWE combustion
system installed.
The T-firing concept results in a very uniform flue gas temperature profile at the
outlet of the furnace. The temperature imbalance in the first heating surfaces
caused by the flue gas profile is therefore reduced significantly.
Front opposed or even worst box type boilers will have high temperature peaks in
the flue gas temperature profile at the furnace outlet resulting in temperature
peaks in the superheater banks.
58
By T-firing it is possible to operate with longer flames and without swirl in tertiary
air sectors of the burner. Front and especially opposed fired boilers are very
sensitive to variation in the coal composition and the related shape of the flame.
Often it is required with heavy swirl in order to reduce the flame length. In opposed
fired boilers the flames will meet at the middle of the furnace and generate NOx.
59
60
5.1. Introduction
Computer-optimized turbine design and material improvements over the past few
decades have enabled turbine manufacturers to reach the long-elusive goal of 50
percent efficiency (simple cycle) for steam turbine power generation, research and
development continues to push the boundaries of the envelope. It has been
completed the actual equipment design of a 1600 MW class steam turbine that uses
50-inch and 60-inch last stage blades in response to recent increasing demand for
the enlargement of capacity.
61
Figure 5.1 Schematic view of 1600 MW tandem compound steam turbine and
applied technologies
63
Figure 5.2 Abradable ACC seal
64
directly supplied from the injection nozzle as shown in Figure 10. , resulting in a
lower oil temperature and a significant reduction of bearing loss.
65
5.6. Improvement of Steam Conditions (Development Of A-USC)
The below figure shows a history changes in the steam conditions of coal-fired
thermal power plants. The steam conditions of coal-fired thermal power plants
have changed from subcritical pressure, super critical pressure (SC), and 600°C class
ultra-supercritical pressure (USC) power generation. These steam conditions, which
were best suited for the steam turbines of each era, contributed to the
improvement of the efficiency of the entire plant together with the adoption of
technologies for the improvement of efficiency in steam turbines that evolved
according to the times.
66
5.7. Development Issues
The allowable temperature limit for the adoption of current commercially available
advanced 12% Cr steel is up to the 630 °C level, and the attainment of even higher
steam temperatures requires the use of Ni-based alloy. However, there is an issue
with Ni-based alloy characteristics derived from manufacturing in that the structure
is highly sensitive to temperature change.
67
68
69
70
6.1 Introduction
This chapter introduces the present state of the laboratory of the Mechanical
Engineering Department at Al-Azhar University.
The project group decided to maintain all its components to operate the lab and
take many measurements to make sure that the lab is operating properly. In
addition, a thermodynamic analysis for the simple steam cycle of the lab is carried
out.
The main target is to gain practical experience, which is essentially needed; besides,
to contribute to the place where they got their study for years by making the
laboratory ready for the upcoming Mechanical Power Engineering students to work
and benefit of the available facility.
I. Boiler
The type of the boiler is a fire tube boiler and works under operating conditions of
7 bar, 170 ℃ and a mass flow rate of 235 Kg/h.
The boiler operates under an efficiency of 75% with Fuel consumption of 0.00371
Kg/s (15.9 L/h).
71
Figure 6.1 the Boiler of the laboratory
The super heater is used to increase the temperature of the steam to reach 350℃
under the same pressure of 7 bar with a firing heat input of 2706 kW.
72
Figure 6.2 the super heater of the laboratory
The type of the turbine is a simple impulse turbine, which handles a pressure of 10
bar, and the exhaust pressure is 0.8 bar with power output of 4.4 KW. The generator
rotates with 3000 rpm with a Volt of 220 v and a current of 20 A.
73
I. Steam condenser
The condenser works with a maximum cooling temperature of 21℃ with a volume
flow rate of cooling water is 9 𝑚3 /h and the design vacuum is (61 to 66) cm Hg (.8
bar).
The cooling tower is used to decrease the temperature of the water, which is used
to condense the steam in the condenser.
74
Figure 6.5 The cooling tower of the laboratory
The fuel tank is the system, which provide the power plant with the required
amount of diesel fuel to burn it in the boiler to generate the steam. The Fuel
consumption is 0.00371 Kg/s (15.9 L/h).
75
Fuel cost = $28885.6 /year
After checking the state of the laboratory, an analysis of the thermodynamic cycle
of the Lab power plant is done by plotting each point on T-S diagram to be able to
determine the efficiency and the power produced by the plant.
76
Figure 6.7 T-S diagram of the laboratory steam cycle
77
ℎ1′ = ℎ @ 𝑃=1 𝑏𝑎𝑟, 𝑇=45 ℃ ∴ ℎ1′ =188.51 kJ/kg
One of the main objectives in any power plants is to enhance the efficiency and
consequently decreasing the fuel consumption in the boiler.
78
Figure 6.8 T-s diagram of the modified steam cycle
79
Power output = (ℎ3 − ℎ4𝑠 ) − ( ℎ1′ −ℎ1 ) − ( ℎ2 −ℎ1′ ) = 506.38 kJ/kg
𝐿 3.65
𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑑 = (24669 ) ∗ (𝐿𝐸 ) = 𝐿𝐸 90041.9 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐿
To achieve the previous results, a parabolic trough collector (PTC) may be used to
increase the temperature of the feed water from 45℃ to 150℃ before entering
the boiler.
80
𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 =
𝑆. Ƞ
Which;
28.32
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = = 78.56 𝑚2 = 79 𝑚2
.6∗.6
= 3.0883 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
The obtained results indicate that the proposed modifications to the simple power
plant of the laboratory is economically feasible with this pay-back period.
81
82
7.1 Introduction
The solar energy can be used in two ways to generate electricity: using photovoltaic
panels and solar concentrator systems. In the first method, Silicon photovoltaic cells
are used as direct electrical converters. In the second method, solar energy is used
to heat the working fluid. The second method is more efficient and more convenient
for large-scale solar power plants. To heat the fluid in solar farms, several types of
solar concentrators are used, each with specific characteristics. In previous studies,
two types of collectors (parabolic trough solar collector PTC and Linear Fresnel
Reflector (LFR) were evaluated as superior options.
The results of these studies suggested that PTC type is the best option for
applications in the temperature range of 400:450 C. One of the main disadvantages
of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind powers arc their fluctuation.
This flaw does not cause much negative impact in the performance of solar
photovoltaic systems and wind turbines, but in solar thermal systems, it causes
temperature variations in the cycle and must be prevented.
There are two methods to fix this flaw in thermal solar power plants: using a backup
boiler, and thermal storage system (TSS). The backup boiler used in these cycles is
usually of fossil fuel type. In cycle with TSS, a large part of the initial investment is
dedicated to TSS. One of the most appropriate was to remove the backup boiler or
TSS is the integration of thermal solar power plants with existing fossil fuel power
plants.
This reduces the initial cost for construction of the solar sector and increases the
output of fossil fuel power plants. Using solar heat energy in combination with
existing thermal power plants is attractive issue which has been studied over last
three decades. There are many methods to combine solar energy and existing
steam power plants, like:
• Air preheating
• Steam evaporation
• Steam superheating
• Steam reheating
83
• Boiler air preheating
• Steam generation for auxiliary equipment
• Steam generation for deaerator
Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies capture the heat of the sun to drive
a thermoelectric power cycle. The most common CSP technology uses parabolic
trough collectors.
Trough power plants have large arrays of solar collectors that feature a reflective
surface curved in the shape of a parabola (or trough) to focus sunlight onto a
receiver pipe.
A heat transfer fluid (HTF), which is often synthetic oil, flows through the receiver
and is heated by the absorbed sunlight. This hot fluid is used to generate steam that
turns a conventional steam turbine/generator to produce electricity. The spent
steam from the turbine is condensed into water and recirculated by feedwater
pumps to be transformed back into high-pressure steam.
84
7.2 Parabolic Trough Description
The design of parabolic trough collector is a trough the cross-section of which has
the shape of a part of a parabola. More exactly, it is a symmetrical section of a
parabola around its vertex.
85
Parabolic troughs have a focal line, which consists of the focal points of the
parabolic cross-sections. Radiation that enters in a plane parallel to the optical
plane13 is reflected in such a way that it passes through the focal line.
86
Where 𝑓 is the focal length, i.e. the distance between the vertex of the parabola
and the focal point.
The following four parameters are commonly used to characterize the form and size
of a parabolic trough:
• Trough Length
• Focal Length
• Aperture Width, i.e. the distance between one rim and the other.
• Rim angle, i.e. the angle between the optical axis and the line between the
focal point and the mirror rim.
87
7.3.2 Mirror Area And Aperture Area
The surface area of a parabolic trough may be important to determine the material
need for the trough. The area is calculated as follows:
This power station has 7 high pressure heaters (HPH) located after Turbine bleeding.
PTC will be put instead of every heater and the performance difference, analysis
comparing and CO2 emission before and after implementation will be calculated.
This power plant includes 2 × 37.5 MW, one 120 MW and 2×320 MW steam units.
In this paper, one of 320 MW units is chosen for solar repowering.
The power plant uses natural gas (NG) fuel, which its 0.2 (dollar/m3).
88
7.4.1 The Power plant cycle description
The technical specifications of this power plant have been presented in Table 1.
Heat cycle of this power plant is a Rankine cycle whose heat process has been briefly
shown in Figure 1. The thermodynamic properties of flows in the cycle are
presented in Table 2.
89
Figure 7.8 Schematic diagram of the reference power plant
90
so:
The PTC is the best option for application in the temperature range of 400-450 C.
For adding solar collectors, seven Scenarios are considered for repowering:
• Scenario 1: replacing HPH-5 with solar farm
• Scenario 2: replacing HPH-6 with solar farm Scenario
• Scenario 3: replacing HPH-7 with solar farm Scenario
• Scenario 4: replacing HPHa-5 and 6 with solar farm Scenario
• Scenario 5: replacing HPHa-5 and 7 with solar farm Scenario
• Scenario 6: replacing HPHa-6 and 7 with solar farm Scenario
• Scenario 7: replacing all HPHs with solar farm
91
Figure 7.9 Schematic of final design for solar repowered cycle of the power
plant (scenario 7)
92
The following assumptions are considered in calculations:
1) The reference temperature and pressure for environment are considered as:
To=33 ℃ (306.4 K), Po=0.94 bar.
2) The relative humidity of the ambient air is taken as 60%.
3) Simulations are based on steady state situation.
4) The exergy analysis is based on Lower Heating Value (LHV) of the natural gas.
5) According to the fuel analysis and the combustion products, the rate of C02
production of the boilers is 2.002 kg/m3 of the consumed natural gas.
6) Number of sunny days in the year is considered as 300 days.
7) The calculations are based on 9 hours use of solar system a day.
8) Direct irradiance and the efficiency of solar collectors are considered as 500
W/m2 and 60%, respectively.
Where, m. is the mass flow rate of the feed water (kg/s), and Δh is the specific
enthalpy gain of the feed water across the solar feed water heat exchanger (kJ/kg)
and ΔT is the temperature difference between inlet and outlet.
93
7.4. Results and discussions:
The cost of PTC / unit area, the fuel consumption, the power produced, the power
plant efficiency, the CO2 emission reduction are founded as:
For scenario 7:
= 3.8 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
94
The following tables and figures illustrate the performance of repowered cycle in
all scenarios:
95
Figure 7.10 Net energy and exergy efficiencies in all cases.
Figure 7.11 Area of solar collectors and requirement load in all cases.
96
Figure 7.12 The rate of CO2 production (kg/ kWh) and power increase modes
Figure 7.13 Variation of net energy efficiency Vs. the rate of feed water in solar
field in all cases
97
Figure 7.14 Variation of net exergy efficiency and the rate of feed water in solar
field
Figure 7.15 Heat rate of simple cycle and repowered cycle in all cases
98
99
8.1 General Description
Cairo West power project is designed to include a 2x350 MW thermal power plant
to interconnect with the National Unified Power System (NUPS). The theoretical
efficiency of the cycle is about 44.52%. The boiler capacity is about 1,094 ton/h and
fuel consumption is 74.2 ton/h of mazout oil.
The power block is comprised of two identical Rankine cycle turbine generator units,
each with a nominal rated capacity of 350 MW. The units are capable of generating
rated capacity using natural gas, residual (mazout) oil, or a combination of both. The
two-unit station arrangement includes an enclosed turbine building, an open boiler
building, a common control room, and all associated structures and facilities.
100
8.2 Schematic Diagram for Analysis
The following figure illustrate the schematic diagram of Cairo West power plant.
The unit consists of three turbines; High Pressure Turbine (HPT), Intermediate
Pressure Turbine (IPT) and double-flow Low Pressure Turbine (LPT). The plant
contains 7 closed heaters (3 low-pressure and 4 high-pressure) and 1 open heater
to increase the feed water temperature.
101
Figure 8.3 Schematic diagram of 350-MW-unit of Cairo West power plant
102
8.3 Solar repowered cycle of Cairo West Steam Power Plant
8.3.1 Introduction:
West Cairo steam power plant in Egypt, which is 170,000-m2 land area, will be
studied in this case. The parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) will be used as water
heater in this case to improve plant performance.
This power station has 2 high pressure heaters (HPH) and 2 intermediate pressure
heaters (IPH) located after Turbine bleeding.
PTC will be put instead of every heater and the performance difference, analysis
comparing and CO2 emission before and after implementation will be calculated.
The power plant uses Mazout Oil fuel, which its 3500 (LE/ton).
103
𝑄𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 = 1067030 ∗ 3399.2 − 1040354 ∗ 1209.3 − 26676 ∗ 893.9
+ 829588 ∗ (3538.1 − 3021.7) = 2773501851 𝑘𝑗/ℎ
𝑄𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 = 770.4 𝑀𝑊
𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 350
𝜂= = = 45.4 %
𝑄𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 770.4
Note: this efficiency not actual efficiency where the efficiency of sub- critical boiler
about 88%.
𝑄𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 770.4
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = = = 875.4 𝑀𝑊
𝜂𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 . 88
350
𝜂𝑡ℎ,𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = = 39.9 %
875.4
104
5) Calculations of fuel consumptions.
3600 ∗ 24 ∗ 365
𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 = 20.7 ∗ = 652795.2 𝑡𝑜𝑛/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
1000
1) The reference temperature and pressure for environment are considered as:
To=33 ℃ (306.4 K), Po=0.94 bar.
2) The relative humidity of the ambient air is taken as 60%.
3) Simulations are based on steady state situation.
4) The exergy analysis is based on Higher Heating Value (HHV) of Mazout Oil.
5) According to the fuel analysis and the combustion products, the rate of C02
production of the boilers is 3.00 kgCO2/kgfuel of the consumed Mazout Oil.
6) Number of sunny days in the year is considered as 300 days.
7) The calculations are based on 9 hours use of solar system a day.
105
8) Direct irradiance and the efficiency of solar collectors are considered as 500
W/m2 and 60%, respectively.
Where, m. is the mass flow rate of the feed water (kg/s), and Δh is the specific
enthalpy gain of the feed water across the solar feed water heat exchanger (kJ/kg)
and ΔT is the temperature difference between inlet and outlet.
The cost of PTC / unit area, the fuel consumption, the power produced, the power
plant efficiency, the CO2 emission reduction are founded as:
So:
106
Fuel saved = 650 * 103 – 472.32*103 = 182.998*103 ton/year.
CO2 money saved =$ 3.4 * 106 /yr. (where, 1-ton CO2 = $ 20)
= 𝟓. 𝟗 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓
107
8.4 Repowering of Cairo-West Power Plant by Using super critical
boiler Technology
8.4. 1 Introduction
The primary reason of the study is to measure whether supercritical thermal plant
technology is a proven and mature industrial technology and whether up to date
supercritical power plants installed in Egypt will have a robust availability and
reliability.
108
The design is also very much influenced by the intended operating mode, constant
pressure or sliding pressure. Constant pressure SGs are of high mass flux and
maintained constant supercritical pressure. This was achieved by installing a
throttle valve between evaporator and super heaters. They employ furnace
recirculation over the entire operating range. As these units stay only in single phase
region, the constant pressure furnace can be sized similar to a high pressure sub-
critical natural circulation unit.
109
8.4.3 Challenges of supercritical technology
There are many challenges to achieve the objective from using super critical boiler
technology, these challenges may be summarized in the following points:
110
TO (HP)TURBINE 1067030 G - 3305 H – 210.8 P – 520.62 T
26676G
Super critical
SH SPRAY
Boiler
REHEAT
FROM (HP) TURBINE 829588 G – 319 T – 3021 H
250 P 1221 H
(BFP) LEGEND
T=temp. ®c
H=ENTALPY KJ/Kg
111
8.4.6 Calculations of power plant performance after modification
The data and equations required to determine the performance with the following
results:
2) The conditions required of super critical boiler to achieve the power output
shows on Schematic Diagram for Analysis.
3) Calculations of the amount of heat added throat super critical boiler by heat
balance.
𝑄𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 = 729.48 𝑀𝑊
𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 350
𝜂= = = 48%
𝑄𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 729.48
Note: this efficiency is not the actual efficiency as the efficiency of super critical
boiler reaches about 92%.
112
𝑄𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 729.48
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = = = 792.9 𝑀𝑊
𝜂𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 . 92
350
𝜂𝑡ℎ,𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = = 44%
792.9
3600 ∗ 24 ∗ 365
𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 = 18.8 ∗ = 592876.8 𝑡𝑜𝑛/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
1000
113
Money saved = 134976001.6 − 122061475.6
= 12914526.02 $/year
7) The rate of C02 production of the boilers is 3.00 tonCO2/ton fuel of the
consumed Mazout Oil.
231∗106
𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 = 16.66∗106 = 13.86 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
Note that the ordinary payback period of the power station is in the range of
(15-20) years.
114
115
9.1 General Description
Shoubra El-Kheima Power Station is located on a site about 6.5 kilometers north of
Cairo adjacent to the Nile river. Shoubra El-kheima power project is designed to
produce a 4 x 315 MW (1260 MW). The theoretical efficiency of the cycle is about
42%. The boiler capacity is about 1072 ton/h with a thermal efficiency of 90.5 %.
The power block is comprised of four identical Rankine cycle turbine generator
units, each with a nominal rated capacity of 315 MW. The units are capable of
generating rated capacity using natural gas, residual (mazout) oil, or a combination
of both. The four-unit station arrangement includes an enclosed turbine building,
an open boiler building, a common control room, and all associated structures and
facilities.
116
9.2 Schematic Diagram for Analysis
The following figure illustrate the schematic diagram of Shoubra El-Kheima power
plant. The unit consists of three turbines; High Pressure Turbine (HPT), Intermediate
Pressure Turbine (IPT) and double-flow Low Pressure Turbine (LPT). The plant
contains 7 closed heaters (4 low-pressure and 2 high-pressure) and 1 open heater
to increase the feed water temperature.
117
Figure 9.3 Schematic diagram of 315-MW-unit Shoubra El-Kheima plant
118
9.3 Solar repowered cycle of Shoubra El-Kheima Power Plant
9.3.1. Introduction:
Shoubra El-Kheima steam power plant in Egypt will be studied in this case. The
parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) will be used as water heater in this case to
improve plant performance.
This power station has 2 high pressure heaters (HPH) and 2 intermediate pressure
heaters (IPH) located after Turbine bleeding.
PTC will be put instead of every heater and the performance difference, analysis
comparing and CO2 emission before and after implementation will be calculated.
The power plant uses Mazout Oil fuel, which its 3500 (LE/ton).
Where, m. is the mass flow rate of the feed water (kg/s), and Δh is the specific
enthalpy gain of the feed water across the solar feed water heat exchanger (kJ/kg)
and ΔT is the temperature difference between inlet and outlet.
The cost of PTC / unit area, the fuel consumption, the power produced, the power
plant efficiency, the CO2 emission reduction are founded as:
So:
120
(= 503.31 * 103 ton/year)
CO2 money saved =$ 2.95 * 106 /yr. (where, 1-ton CO2 = $ 20)
= 𝟔. 𝟎𝟖 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓
121
Conclusions
The following conclusions could be deduced from the course of the present
project:
1. Solar thermal energy can generate power 24 hours a day. This is made
possible by using thermal energy storage (TES) techniques. TES appears
to be an important solution to correcting the mismatch between the
supply and demand of energy.
2. A supercritical steam generator is a type of boiler that operates at
supercritical pressure, frequently used in the production of electric
power. A supercritical steam generator operates at pressures above
the critical pressure 3,200 psi or 22 MPa as shown as the below figure.
Therefore, liquid water immediately becomes steam. Water passes
below the critical point as it does work in a high-pressure turbine and
enters the generator's condenser, resulting in slightly less fuel that
used in the latent heat area and therefore less greenhouse gas
production.
3. Computer-optimized turbine design and material improvements over
the past few decades have enabled turbine manufacturers to reach the
long-elusive goal of 50 percent efficiency (simple cycle) for steam
turbine power generation, research and development continues to
push the boundaries of the envelope.
4. One of the main objectives in any power plants is to enhance the
efficiency and consequently decreasing the fuel consumption in the
boiler. In order to achieve this objective, it is needed to increase the
temperature of the feed water, which enters the boiler without
burning more fuel. So, it is proposed to add a solar thermal system as
a heat exchanger in the high-pressure line of the steam power plant of
the department laboratory to increase the feed water temperature
122
before entering the boiler. The obtained results indicate that the
proposed modifications to the simple power plant of the laboratory is
economically feasible with a pay-back period of three years. Fuel cost
saving will reach = $ 5116 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟.
5. The results of these studies suggested that parabolic trough solar
collector PTC type is the best option for applications of repowering of
steam power plants by solar system in the temperature range of
400:450 C.
Fuel money saved = $ 32.735 * 106 (For 9 hours of working and 300
days)
126
A.1.1 Four Processes of Carnot Cycle:
127
Figure A.3 Adiabatic Expansion
128
Process 4-1 (Adiabatic Compression):
Carnot efficiency describes the maximum thermal efficiency that a heat engine can
achieve as permitted by the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
A general expression for the efficiency of a heat engine can be written as:
We know that all the energy that is put into the engine has to come out either as
work or waste heat. So, work is equal to Heat at High temperature minus Heat
rejected at Low temperature. Therefore, this expression becomes:
129
Efficiency = (Qh – QL) / Qh
Sadi Carnot showed that the ratio of Qh to QL must be the same as the ratio of
temperatures of high temperature heat and the rejected low temperature heat. So,
this equation, also called Carnot Efficiency, can be simplified as:
The Diesel cycle is assumed to have constant pressure during the initial part of the
combustion phase. This is an idealized mathematical model, real physical diesels do
have an increase in pressure during this period, but it is less pronounced than in the
Otto cycle.
Working principles:
131
Heat added in process 2-3 is given by:
Where,
m → Mass of air in kg
Here the compressed and heated air is expanded isentropically inside the cylinder.
The piston is forced from TDC to BDC in the cylinder. Pressure of air decreases
from p3 to p4, temperature decreases from T3 to T4, and volume increases from
V3 to V4. Entropy remains constant (i.e., s3 = s4). Work is done by the system in this
process (denoted by Wout in the p-V and T-s diagrams above).
Where,
m → Mass of air in kg
133
The engine cycle is named after George Brayton (1830–1892), the American
engineer who developed it originally for use in piston engines, although it was
originally proposed and patented by Englishman John Barber in 1791. It is also
sometimes known as the Joule cycle. The Ericsson cycle is similar to the Brayton
cycle, but uses external heat and incorporates the use of a regenerator. Two types
of Brayton cycles are open to the atmosphere and using internal combustion
chamber or closed and using a heat exchanger.
Working principal
Fluid undergoes in this closed loop is the Brayton cycle, which is made up of four
internally reversible processes:
1-2 Isentropic compression (in a compressor), Fresh air enters the compressor at
ambient temperature where its pressure and temperature are increased.
3-4 Isentropic expansion (in a turbine), The high temperature (and pressure) gas
enters the turbine where it expands to ambient pressure and produces work.
4-1 Constant-pressure heat rejection, The exhaust gases leaving the turbine are
thrown out (not recirculated)
134
Figure A.7 a) T-s diagram of Brayton cycle b) P-v diagram of Brayton cycle
135
Actual Brayton Cycle
Figure A.10 The fraction of the turbine work used to drive the compressor is called
the back-work ratio.
Usually more than one-half of the turbine work output is used to drive the
compressor. The situation is even worse when the isentropic efficiencies of the
compressor and the turbine are low. This is quite in contrast to steam power plants,
where the back-work ratio is only a few percent. This is not surprising, however,
since a liquid is compressed in steam power plants instead of a gas, and the steady-
flow work is proportional to the specific volume of the working fluid.
A power plant with a high back work ratio requires a larger turbine to provide the
additional power requirements of the compressor. Therefore, the turbines used in
gas-turbine power plants are larger than those used in steam power plants of the
same net power output.
137
A.3.1 Modifications to the basic gas turbine thermodynamic cycle:
138
139
II. The Brayton cycle with intercooling, reheating, and regeneration
The net work output of the cycle can be increased by reducing the work input
to the compressor and/or by increasing the work output from turbine (or
both).
Using multi-stage compression with intercooling reduces the work input the
compressor. As the number of stages is increased, the compression process
becomes nearly isothermal at the compressor inlet temperature, and the
compression work decreases.
Likewise utilizing multistage expansion with reheat (in a multi-turbine
arrangement) will increase the work produced by turbines.
140
As shown in Fig. 26:
T1 = T3, T2 = T4
In an ideal regenerator, T5 = T9. In practice (actual regenerator), T5 < T9.
T8 = T6, T7 = T9
The net work input to a two-stage compressor is minimized when equal
pressure ratios are maintained across each stage. That is:
𝑃2 𝑃4
=
𝑃1 𝑃3
𝑃6 𝑃8
=
𝑃7 𝑃9
141
A.4 Rankine Cycle
Rankine cycle is the ideal cycle for vapor power plants. The ideal Rankine cycle does
not involve any internal irreversibilities and consists of the following four processes
Figure A.14 shows that the flow diagram of the simple ideal Rankine cycle.
142
Figure A.15 T-s diagram of Rankine cycle
All four components associated with the Rankine cycle (the pump, boiler, turbine,
and condenser) are steady-flow devices, and thus all four processes that make up
the Rankine cycle can be analyzed as steady-flow processes.
Or,
𝑤𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑖𝑛 = 𝑣(𝑝1 − 𝑝2 )
Where,
ℎ1 = ℎ𝑓 @ 𝑝1 and 𝑣 ≅ 𝑣1 = 𝑣𝑓 @ 𝑝1
143
Turbine (q = 0): 𝑤𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = ℎ3 − ℎ4
The deviation of actual pumps and turbines from the isentropic ones can be
accounted for by utilizing isentropic efficiencies, defined as
𝑤𝑠 ℎ2𝑠 − ℎ1
𝜂𝑃 = =
𝑤𝑎 ℎ2𝑎 − ℎ1
144
And
𝑤𝑎 ℎ3 − ℎ4𝑎
𝜂𝑇 = =
𝑤𝑠 ℎ3 − ℎ4𝑠
where states 2a and 4a are the actual exit states of the pump and the turbine,
respectively, and 2s and 4s are the corresponding states for the isentropic case.
Steam power plants are responsible for the production of most electric power in
the world, and even small increases in thermal efficiency can mean large savings
from the fuel requirements. The basic idea behind all the modifications to increase
the thermal efficiency of a power is "Increase the average temperature at which
heat is transferred to the working fluid in the boiler, or decrease the average
temperature at which heat is rejected from the working fluid in the condenser."
145
i. Lowering the condenser pressure
Figure A.18 Increase the efficiency of the Rankine cycle by lowering the
condenser pressure
146
Figure A.19 Increase the efficiency of the Rankine cycle by superheating the
steam to high temperatures
147
Figure A.20 Increase the efficiency of the Rankine cycle by Increasing the Boiler
Pressure
The effect of increasing the boiler pressure on the performance of vapor power
cycles is illustrated on a T-s diagram. Notice that for a fixed turbine inlet
temperature, the cycle shifts to the left and the moisture content of steam at the
turbine exit increases. This undesirable side effect can be corrected, however, by
reheating the steam, as discussed in the next section.
It is noted that, increasing the boiler pressure increases the thermal efficiency of
the Rankine cycle, but it also increases the moisture content of the steam to
unacceptable levels. Then it is natural to ask that "How can we take advantage of
148
the increased efficiencies at higher boiler pressures without facing the problem of
excessive moisture at the final stages of the turbine"
1- Superheat the steam to very high temperatures before it enters the turbine.
This is not a viable solution, however, since it requires raising the steam
temperature to metallurgically unsafe levels.
2- Expand the steam in the turbine in two stages, and reheat it in between.
Reheating is a practical solution to the excessive moisture problem in
turbines, and it is commonly used in modern steam power plants.
The ideal Reheat Rankine cycle differs from the simple ideal Rankine cycle in that
the expansion process takes place in two stages. In the first stage (the high-pressure
turbine), steam is expanded isentropically to an intermediate pressure and sent
back to the boiler where it is reheated at constant pressure, usually to the inlet
temperature of the first turbine stage. Steam then expands isentropically in the
second stage (low-pressure turbine) to the condenser pressure.
149
Figure A.21 shows the flow diagram of ideal reheat Rankine cycle
Regeneration not only improves cycle efficiency, but also provides a convenient
means of deaerating the feed water (removing the air that leaks in at the
condenser) to prevent corrosion in the boiler. It also helps control the large volume
flow rate of the steam at the final stages of the turbine (due to the large specific
volumes at low pressures). Therefore, regeneration has been used in all modern
steam power plants.
A feed water heater is basically a heat exchanger where heat is transferred from
the steam to the feed water either by mixing the two fluid streams (open feed
water heaters) or without mixing them (closed feed water heaters). Regeneration
with both types of feed water heaters is discussed below.
150
i. Open feed water heaters
An open (or direct-contact) feed water heater is basically a mixing chamber, where
the steam extracted from the turbine mixes with the feed water exiting the pump.
Ideally, the mixture leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the heater pressure.
The schematic of a steam power plant with one open feed water heater (also called
single-stage regenerative cycle) and the T-s diagram of the cycle are shown in the
following figure;
In an ideal regenerative Rankine cycle, steam enters the turbine at the boiler
pressure (state 5) and expands isentropically to an intermediate pressure (state 6).
Some steam is extracted at this state and routed to the feed water heater, while
the remaining steam continues to expand isentropically to the condenser pressure
(state 7). This steam leaves the condenser as a saturated liquid at the condenser
pressure (state 1). The condensed water, which is also called the feed water, then
enters an isentropic pump, where it is compressed to the feed water heater
pressure (state 2) and is routed to the feed water heater, where it mixes with the
steam extracted from the turbine. The fraction of the steam extracted is such that
the mixture leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the heater pressure (state 3).
A second pump raises the pressure of the water to the boiler pressure (state 4).
The cycle is completed by heating the water in the boiler to the turbine inlet state
(state 5).
151
The cycle efficiency increases further as the number of feed water heaters is
increased. Many large plants in operation today use as many as eight feed water
heaters. The optimum number of feed water heaters is determined from economic
considerations.
Another type of feed water heater frequently used in steam power plants is the
closed feed water heater, in which heat is transferred from the extracted steam to
the feed water without any mixing taking place. The two stream snow can be at
different pressures, since they do not mix. The schematic of a steam power plant
with one closed feed water heater and the T-s diagram of the cycle are shown in
Fig
In an ideal closed feed water heater, the feed water is heated to the exit
temperature of the extracted steam, which ideally leaves the heater as a saturated
liquid at the extraction pressure. In actual power plants, the feed water leaves the
heater below the exit temperature of the extracted steam because a temperature
difference of at least a few degrees is required for any effective heat transfer to
take place.
152
The condensed steam is then either pumped to the feed water line or routed to
another heater or to the condenser through a device called a trap. A trap allows
the liquid to be throttled to a lower pressure region but traps the vapor. The
enthalpy of steam remains constant during this throttling process.
A.4.6 Cogeneration
Many systems or devices, however, require energy input in the form of heat, called
process heat. Some industries that rely heavily on process heat are chemical, pulp
and paper, oil production and refining, steel making, food processing, and textile
industries. Process heat in these industries is usually supplied by steam at 5 to 7
atm and 150 to 2008C (300 to 4008F). Energy is usually transferred to the steam by
burning coal, oil, natural gas, or another fuel in a furnace.
Industries that use large amounts of process heat also consume a large amount of
electric power. Therefore, it makes economical as well as engineering sense to use
the already-existing work potential to produce power instead of letting it go to
waste. The result is a plant that produces electricity while meeting the process-heat
requirements of certain industrial processes. Such a plant is called a cogeneration
plant. In general, cogeneration is the production of more than one useful form of
energy (such as process heat and electric power) from the same energy source.
Probably the most striking feature of the ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant
shown in Fig . is the absence of a condenser. Thus no heat is rejected from this plant
as waste heat. In other words, all the energy transferred to the steam in the boiler
is utilized as either process heat or electric power.
153
Figure A.24 cogeneration cycle
The use of cogeneration dates to the beginning of this century when power plants
were integrated to a community to provide district heating, that is, space, hot
water, and process heating for residential and commercial buildings.
A combined cycle facility to increase the overall efficiency of electric power plants,
multiple processes can be combined to recover and utilize the residual heat energy
in hot exhaust gases. In combined cycle mode, power plants can achieve electrical
efficiencies up to 60 percent. The term “combined cycle” refers to the combining
of multiple thermodynamic cycles to generate power. Combined cycle operation
employs a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) that captures heat from high
temperature exhaust gases to produce steam, which is then supplied to a steam
154
turbine to generate additional electric power. The process for creating steam to
produce work using a steam turbine is based on Rankine cycle.
The most common type of combined cycle power plant utilizes gas turbines and is
called a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant. Because gas turbines have low
efficiency in simple cycle operation, the output produced by the steam turbine
accounts for about half of the CCGT plant output. There are many different
configurations for CCGT power plants, but typically each GT has its own associated
HRSG, and multiple HRSGs supply steam to one or more steam turbines. For
example, at a plant in a 2x1 configuration, two GT/HRSG trains supply to one steam
turbine; likewise there can be 1x1, 3x1 or 4x1 arrangements. The steam turbine is
sized to the number and capacity of supplying GTs/HRSGs
155
i. Combined cycle principles of operation
a) The gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel that is heated
to a very high temperature. The hot air-fuel mixture moves through
the gas turbine blades, making them spin.
b) The fast-spinning turbine drives a generator that converts a portion
of the spinning energy into electricity.
156
The steam turbine sends its energy to the generator drive shaft, where it is
converted into additional electricity.
a) The cycle 5-6-7-8-9 which is the gas turbine power plant cycle is the
topping cycle. It depicts the heat and work transfer process taking place
in high temperature region.
b) The cycle 1-2-3-4 which is the Rankine steam cycle takes place at a low
temperature and is known as the bottoming cycle. Transfer of heat
energy from high temperature exhaust gas to water and steam takes
place by a waste heat recovery boiler in the bottoming cycle. During the
constant pressure process 4-1 the exhaust gases in the gas turbine reject
heat. The feed water, wet and superheated steam absorb some of this
heat in the process a-b, b-c and c-d.
Water is useful and cheap medium for transferring heat to a process. When
water is boiled into steam its volume increases about 1,600 times, producing a
force that is almost as explosive as gunpowder. This causes the boiler to be
extremely dangerous equipment and should be treated carefully. Liquid when
heated up to the gaseous state this process is called evaporation.
The heating surface is any part of the boiler; hot gases of combustion are on
one side and water on the other. Any part of the boiler metal that actually
contributes to making steam is heating surface. The amount of heating surface of
a boiler is expressed in square meters. The larger the heating surface a boiler has,
the more efficient it becomes.
160
Feed water system provides water to the boiler and regulates it
automatically to meet the steam demand. The water supplied to boiler that is
converted to steam is called feed water. The sources of feed water are:
Fuel system includes all equipment used to provide fuel to generate the
necessary heat. The equipments required in the fuel system depend on the type of
fuel used in the system.
i. Operating Pressure.
ii. Operating Temperature.
iii.Feed water temperature.
iv. Dryness fraction. (dryness fraction = mass of steam / mass of Steam & water)
v. Energy Input ratio. (This would be constant because furnace design for
specific combustion ratio)
vi. Surface area of the water plane of boiler. (this would be constant because it
is design factor, but level can change due to).
161
First step is calculating the Average Energy requirement for the Plant. Peak
Energy consumption rate also very important when selecting new Boiler for the
Plant. Energy consumption rate can be shown by kJ/hr or k cal/hr. After defining
the energy consumption rate; need to know the maximum temperature
requirement of the plant because operating pressure will change according to the
temperature requirement. At 1 bar (absolute) operating pressure and 100 C feed
water temperature boiler output is optimum
i. Fire-tube boiler
ii. Water-tube boiler
i. Fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass
through one or (many) more tubes running through a sealed container of water.
The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal
conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating steam.
Fire tube boilers are not applicable to use in thermal power plants as water-
tube boilers.
162
Figure 1 Fire tube boiler
163
The following table shows the main differences btween fire-tube and water-tube
boilers:
The most common used boilers in thermal power plants are the following:
i. La Mont boiler
ii. Velox boiler
iii. Loeffler boiler
iv. Pulverized boiler
164
iii. La Mont boiler
Lamont boiler is a high pressure, forced circulation, water tube boiler with
internally fired furnace. This boiler was invented by Walter Douglas La-Mont in
1925.
The feed pump circulates the water in the economizer of the boiler. The
economizer heats the water to some degree.
From steam separating drum the mixture of water and steam is forced circulated
through the radiant evaporator by an external centrifugal pump. In forced
circulation, the pressure of circulation of water through the tubes is more as
compared with the natural circulation.
Radiant evaporator heats the water and changes it into steam. Form radiant
evaporator the water-steam mixture passes through the convective evaporator.
Here the temperature of the fluid increase and most the water gets converted into
saturated steam. And after that the saturated steam enters into the steam
separator drum.
Then, the super heater increases the temperature of the steam to the desired level.
Finally, the superheated steam is either transfer to the steam collecting drum or
made to strike on the blades of the turbine.
The working pressure, temperature and capacity of this boiler is 170 bar, 773 K and
50 ton/h.
165
Figure3 La Mont boiler
Advantages
Disadvantages
Velox boiler is a forced circulation water tube boiler. The velocity of flue gases is
greater than the velocity of sound, which causes more heat transfer from gas to
the water, which increases the steam generation rate. A Velox boiler burns fuel oil
or pulverized coal under pressure in a water-tube boiler.
Heat transfer rate is a lot higher in sonic velocity than to the subsonic velocity.
Similar theory is utilized in design of Velox boiler in order to decrease surface area
thus the size of evaporating tubes.
The air is compressed by air compressor driven by gas a turbine driven. This
compressed air passes from the combustion chamber, where more heat release by
the fuel which increase the velocity of the flue gases up to sound velocity. From the
bottom of combustion chamber, this flue gases pass from the fire tubes. These fire
tubes surrounded by the evaporator water tubes.
The water from the economizer passes from the evaporator tube force by a
circulating pump. This water passes 15 – 20 time from the evaporator tube at very
high speed. Due to this high speed circulation, heat is transfer from the gases to
the water at very high rate. The mixture of water and steam is formed which
further passes from the water and steam separator.
The flue gases from the fire tubes send to the super heater tubes, where it increases
the steam temperature. The gas from the super heater sends to the turbine where
it rotates the gas turbine and then passes from the economizer.
Advantages:
167
a. It needs a gas turbine system to drive the compressor.
v. Loeffler Boiler
Loeffler Boiler is a forced circulation, high pressure, and water tube boiler with
internally fired furnace. In this boiler, the 2/3 of superheated steam is used to
evaporate the water in the evaporating drum and remaining 1/3 of the steam from
the superheater is used by the turbine. A steam circulating pump is used to circulate
the steam into the boiler
In Loeffler boiler, the feed pump forces the water to enter into the economizer.
The economizer preheats the feed water and then it is passed to the evaporator
drum.
168
The evaporator drum has nozzles. The 2/3 of the superheated steam from the
superheater enters into the nozzles of the evaporator drum and the nozzles mix
this superheated steam with the feed water. This changes the feed water into
saturated steam. This saturated steam is then drawn from the evaporating drum
by a steam circulating pump and allows it to passes through the superheater.
Loeffler boiler has the capacity to produce 100 ton/ h of steam at a temperature of
500 C and pressure of 140 bar.
Advantages
169
Figure5 Loeffler Boiler
The basic idea of a firing system using pulverised fuel is to use the whole volume of
the furnace for the combustion of solid fuels. Coal is ground to the size of a fine
grain, mixed with air and burned in the flue gas flow. Biomass and other materials
can also be added to the mixture. Coal contains mineral matter which is converted
170
to ash during combustion. The ash is removed as bottom ash and fly ash. The
bottom ash is removed at the furnace bottom.
This type of boiler dominates the electric power industry, providing steam to drive
large turbines. Pulverized coal provides the thermal energy which produces about
50% of the world's electric supply.
Principle of working
The concept of burning coal that has been pulverized into a fine powder stems from
the belief that if the coal is made fine enough, it will burn almost as easily and
efficiently as a gas. The feeding rate of coal according to the boiler demand and the
amount of air available for drying and transporting the pulverized coal fuel is
controlled by computers. Pieces of coal are crushed between balls or cylindrical
rollers that move between two tracks or "races." The raw coal is then fed into the
pulverizer along with air heated to about 650°F / 340°C from the boiler. As the coal
gets crushed by the rolling action, the hot air dries it and blows the usable fine coal
powder out to be used as fuel. The powdered coal from the pulverizer is directly
blown to a burner in the boiler. The burner mixes the powdered coal in the air
suspension with additional pre-heated combustion air and forces it out of a nozzle
similar in action to fuel being atomized by a fuel injector in modern cars. Under
operating conditions, there is enough heat in the combustion zone to ignite all the
incoming fuel.
Pulverized coal power plants are broken down into three categories; subcritical
pulverized coal (SubCPC) plants, supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) plants, and
ultra-supercritical pulverized coal (USCPC) plants. The primary difference between
the three types of pulverized coal boilers are the operating temperatures and
pressures. Subcritical plants operate below the critical point of water (647.096 K
171
and 22.064 MPa). Supercritical and ultra-supercritical plants operate above the
critical point. As the pressures and temperatures increase, so does the operating
efficiency. Subcritical plants are at about 37%, supercriticals at about 40% and
ultra-supercriticals in the 42-45% range.
172
B.6 Boiler Improvements
There are some of improvements that have been added to the boiler system to
increase the efficiency:
a. Steam-water separator
b. Superheater
c. Re-heater
d. Economizer
e. Air-preheater
a. Steam-water separator
In the past, difficulty with carry-over and impurities in the steam was
frequently encountered (carry-over is the passing of water and impurities to the
steam outlet). Efforts were directed to reduce carry-over to a minimum by
separating the water from the steam through the installation of baffles and the dry
pipe.
173
Efficient steam-water separation is of major importance because it produces
high-quality steam that is free of moisture. This leads to the following key factors
in efficient boiler operation:
a. To mix the saturated water that remains after steam separation with
the incoming feedwater.
b. To mix the chemicals that are put into the drum for the purpose of corrosion
control and water treatment.
c. To purify the steam by removing contaminants and residual moisture.
174
d. To provide the source for a blowdown system where a portion of the water
is rejected as a means of controlling the boiler water chemistry and reducing
the solids content.
e. To provide a storage of water to accommodate any rapid changes in the
boiler load.
175
The deflection baffle plate for guiding the steam from riser tubes to the primary
steam separators and the secondary scrubbers are all of bolted construction to
permit the periodic inspection of the internal surface of the drum. It is of utmost
importance that this assembly is manufactured and installed with great care to
prevent any leakage of drum water into steam space.
operation is as follows:
a. The steam-water mixture from the risers enter the drum from behind the
baffle plate before entering the cyclone; the cyclone is open at top and
bottom.
b. Water is thrown to the side of the cyclone by centrifugal force.
c. Additional separation of water and steam occurs in the passage of steam
through the baffle plates.
d. On entering the scrubber elements, water is also removed with steam
passing to the steam outlet.
Separators of this type can reduce the solids’ carry-over to a very low value
depending on the type of feedwater treatment used, the rate of evaporation, and
the concentration of solids in the water. The cyclone and scrubber elements are
removable for cleaning and inspection and are accessible from manways that are
located in the ends of the steam drum.
176
b. Superheater
• Saturated tubes that transport steam from the drum to the superheater inlet
header (when the superheater tubes are not directly connected to the drum)
• Superheater banks with their respective inlet and outlet headers
• Attemperator station for steam temperature control range.
• Main-steam header with all fittings and terminating with the main-steam
stop valve
Steam from the steam drum flows toward the main-steam header, and there
should be no valve between the two to ensure flow in superheater tubes under all
conditions to prevent overheating and failure.
177
Fig 9 Schematic diagram of superheating system
c. Re-heater
178
iv. Reheater bank complete with inlet and outlet headers
v. Hot reheat pipe from boiler to turbine
d. Economizer
The economizer is the heat exchanger that raises the temperature of the
water leaving the highest-pressure feed-water heater to the saturation
temperature corresponding to the boiler pressure, which is done by the gases
leaving the last super-heater or re heater that still have enough heat to transfer
before it leaves to the stack, that is why it is called economizer.
179
Sections are placed side by side on 1.75 - 2 inch. The spacing depends on the fuel
type, as the smaller ashes the cleaner the fuel such as the natural gas.
180
e. Air preheater
They are simply heaters that heat the air before it enters the combustor,
thence result in the fuel consumption and increasing the thermal efficiency.
The fuel savings are nearly directly proportional to the air temperature rise
in the pre-heater. Typical savings are 4% for a 2000F air temperature rise and about
11% for a 5000F temperature rise in the pre-heater. Air pre-heater are also a
requirement for the operation of pulverized-coal furnaces to dry that fuel.
181
Figure12 Schematic diagram of Air pre-heater system
182
B.7 Boiler Efficiency
Normally the mass flow rate of superheated steam (live steam) is known.
Thus, mass flow rate calculations start usually by calculating the mass flow rate of
spray water to the last spray water group (which is in this example between the
second and third superheater stages). The mass flow rates can be solved with
energy and mass balance equations. With the equations below equation(1), the
mass flow rate of steam after second superheater stage and mass flow rate of spray
water to the last spray water group can be calculated. The mass flow rate of spray
water to the first spray water group can be calculated along the same procedure:
where 𝑚. SHII is the mass flow rate of steam after second superheater stage
[kg/s], 𝑚. SPRAYII the mass flow rate of spray water to second spray water group, 𝑚.
SHIII the mass flow rate of superheated steam (live steam), h SHII ,2 the specific
enthalpy of steam after second superheater stage [kJ/kg], hSPRAY the specific
enthalpy of spray water (feedwater), and h SHIII ,1 the specific enthalpy of steam
before third superheater stage.
183
Figure 13 Flow chart of the PCF boiler arrangement used in this heat load
calculation model.
When the steam parameters and mass flows have been determined, the heat
load of the heat exchanger units can be calculated. The heat load is the heat
transferred by a heat exchanger (calculated in kW).
Evaporator
The heat load of the evaporator part of the boiler can be calculated as:
184
where 𝑚. SH is the mass flow of steam before superheater [kg/s], h’’ the
specific enthalpy of saturated steam at steam drum pressure [kJ/kg], hECO2 the
specific enthalpy after economizer 𝑚. BD the mass flow of blow down water from
steam drum, and h′ the specific enthalpy of saturated water at steam drum
pressure [kg/s].
Superheater
Normally superheating takes place in three or four stages in a big boiler. This
calculation example is based on three stage superheating. The heat load of the first
superheater stage is:
Where h SHI ,2 is the specific enthalpy of steam after the first superheater stage. In
the second
where 𝑚. SHII is the mass flow of steam before the second superheater [kg/s],
hSHII ,2 the specific enthalpy of steam after the second superheater stage [kJ/kg],
and hSHII ,1 the specific enthalpy of steam before the second superheater stage.
Similarly, the heat load added in third superheater stage can be calculated as:
where 𝑚. SHIII Mass flow of steam before third superheater [kg/s],h SHIII ,2 the
specific enthalpy of steam after third superheater stage [kJ/kg], and h SHIII ,1 the
specific enthalpy of steam before third superheater stage [kJ/kg].
Reheater
185
where 𝑚. RH is the mass flow rate of steam in the reheater [kg/s], hRH 2 the
specific enthalpy of steam after the reheater [kJ/kg] , and h RH1 the specific
enthalpy of steam before the reheater.
Economizer
where 𝑚. ECO is the mass flow rate of feedwater in the economizer [kg/s], h
ECO2 the specific enthalpy of feedwater after the economizer [kJ/kg], and h ECO1 the
Air preheater
In order to calculate the heat load for the air preheater, we need to know
the combustion air mass flow, the temperature of the flue gases and the incoming
air. The combustion air fed into air preheater, is taken from upper part of the boiler
room. The temperature of the combustion air before the air preheater is therefore
between 25 and 40°C (in Finnish conditions). The flue gases exiting the boiler are
usually kept above 130-150 °C in order to prevent corrosion. The enthalpies can be
taken from tables:
186
B.8 Major Heat Losses
The typical unburned combustible gases are carbon monoxide (CO) and
hydrogen (H2). In large boilers usually only carbon monoxide can be found in
significant amounts in flue gases. Assuming that flue gases contain only these two
gases, the losses [kW]can be calculated as:
where 𝑚.CO is the mass flow of carbon monoxide [kg/s], 𝑚.H2 the mass flow
of hydrogen, 𝐻l, CO the lower heating value (LHV) of carbon monoxide (10,12
MJ/kg), and H l,H2 the lower heating value (LHV) of hydrogen (119,5 MJ/kg). If a
relevant amount of some other flue gas compound can be found in the flue gases,
it should be added to the equation.
Unburned fuel can exit the furnace as well as bottom ash or fly ash. The
heating value of ashes can be measured in a specific laboratory test. The losses
[kW] of unburned solid fuels can be calculated as:
187
where 𝑚. ubs is the total mass flow of unburned solid fuel (bottom ash and
fly ash in total) [kg/s], and H l,ubs the lower heating value (LHV) of unburned solid
fuel (fly ash and bottom ash in total) [kJ/kg]. Some estimates of the losses with
unburned solid fuels are presented in table
where 𝑚.fuel is the fuel mass flow [kg/s], 𝑚. i the mass flow of a flue gas
component, and hi the specific enthalpy of a flue gas component (e.g. CO2) [kJ/kg].
188
Ash can exit the furnace either as bottom ash from bottom of the furnace or
as fly ash with flue gases. The losses related to the sensible heat of ash can be
calculated as:
where 𝑚. ba is the mass flow of the bottom ash [kg/s], Cp, ba the specific
heat of the bottom ash [kJ/(kgK)], ΔT ba the temperature difference between the
bottom ash temperature and the reference temperature [°C], 𝑚. fa the mass flow
of fly ash,C p, fa the specific heat of fly ash, ΔT fa the temperature difference
between the fly ash temperature and the reference temperature [°C]. Usually the
reference temperature is 25 °C. In recovery boilers the bottom ash is removed as
molten ash in temperature of about 700-800 °C. In addition, the amount of bottom
ash divided by the amount of fuel is about 40 %. The loss of sensible heat of ash is
therefore of great importance in recovery boilers.
189
1.4. Losses of blow down, soot blowing and atomizing steam
Blow down water from the steam drum and soot blowing steam (used to
remove soot from heat exchanger surfaces within the boiler) use a part of the
steam produced by the boiler. This lowers the boiler efficiency. In addition, steam
is sometimes also used to atomize fuel in the burners. The losses can be calculated
as:
𝑚. bd is the mass flow of blow down water [kg/s], h′ is the specific enthalpy
of saturated water (blow down water from steam drum) [kJ/kg], 𝑚. sb is the mass
flow of soot blowing steam, h sb is the specific enthalpy of steam used for soot
blowing (when leaving the boiler), 𝑚. atomizing is the mass flow of atomizing steam,
and hatomizing the specific enthalpy of steam used for atomizing the fuel (when
leaving the boiler) [kJ/kg].
There are two different means of calculating the boiler efficiency: The direct
method and the indirect method.
190
I. Direct method
Indirect method determines the efficiency of a boiler by the sum of the major
losses and by the fuel power of the boiler:
191
192
C.1 Introduction
The steam turbines are used for the generation of electricity in steam power plants
varying from 1 MW to 1900 MW capacity. These are also used for marine
propulsion. The steam turbines operate at very high speed (up to about 40,000
rpm) and are able to give efficiency about 40% which is higher than the other power
producing devices.
The steam expands in a turbine from high pressure to low pressure (below the
atmospheric pressure). Steam cannot be exhausted to atmosphere at a pressure
lower than the atmospheric pressure. This is made possible by using an additional
unit called condenser. A steam condenser is a closed vessel in which vacuum is
maintained and the exhausted steam is condensed by extraction of heat. About
50% to 60% of the heat energy associated with steam is lost in a steam condenser.
The power in a steam turbine is obtained by the rate of change in momentum (mass
× velocity) of a high velocity jet of steam impinging on a curved blade which is free
to rotate.
The steam from the boiler is expanded in a nozzle, resulting in the emission of a
high velocity jet. This jet of steam impinges on the moving vanes or blades,
mounted on a shaft. Here it undergoes a change of direction of motion which gives
rise to a change in momentum and therefore a force. Steam turbines are mostly
'axial flow' types; the steam flows over the blades in a direction Parallel to the axis
of the wheel. 'Radial flow' types are rarely used.
194
C.3 Steam Turbine Capacity
The capacities of small turbines and coupled generators vary from 500 to 7500 kW
whereas large turbo alternators have capacity varying from 10 to 90 MW. Very
large size units have capacities up to 500 MW.
Generating units of 200 MW capacities are becoming quite common. The steam
consumption by steam turbines depends upon steam pressure, and temperature
at the inlet, exhaust pressure number of bleeding stages etc. The steam
consumption of large steam turbines is about 3.5 to 5 kg per kWh.
Generator (kW)
Turbine (kW) =
Generator efficiency
195
C.4 Types of Steam Turbines
The following types of turbines are the most common used turbines in steam
power plants:
In impulse turbines, high-velocity steam from fixed nozzles impacts the blades, and
this impulse drives the blades forward, causing the rotor to turn.
196
Generally, converging-diverging nozzles are used. Due to the relatively large ratio
of expansion of steam in the nozzles, the steam leaves the nozzles at a very high
velocity (supersonic), of about 1100 m/s. It is assumed that the velocity remains
constant in the recess between the nozzles and the blades. The steam at such a
high velocity enters the blades and reduces along the passage of blades and comes
out with an appreciable amount of velocity.
As it has been already shown, that for the good economy or maximum work, the
blade speed should be one half of the steam speed, so blade velocity is of about 500
m/s which is very high. This results in a very high rotational speed, reaching 30,000
r.p.m. Such high rotational speeds can only be utilized to drive generators or
machines with large reduction gearing arrangements.
Compounding is a method for reducing the rotational speed of the impulse turbine
to practical limits. If the high velocity of steam is allowed to flow through one row
of moving blades, it produces a rotor speed of about 30,000 r.p.m. which is too high
for practical use. Not only this, the leaving loss is also very high. Therefore it is
essential to incorporate some improvements in the simple impulse turbine for
practical use and also to achieve high performance.
This is possible by making use of more than one set of nozzles, blades, rotors, in a
series, keyed to a common shaft, so that either the steam pressure or the jet
velocity is absorbed by the turbine in stages. The leaving loss also will then be less.
This process is called compounding of steam turbines. There are three main types:
The exhaust from each row of moving blades enters the succeeding set of nozzles.
Thus, we can say that this arrangement is nothing but splitting up the whole
pressure drop from the steam chest pressure to the condenser pressure into a
series of smaller pressure drop across several stages of impulse turbine and hence
this turbine is called, pressure-compound impulse turbine.
Hence for good economy or maximum work shaft speed is significantly reduced so
as be reduced by increasing the number of stages according to ones need. The
leaving velocity of the last stage of the turbine is much less compared to simple
impulse turbine and the leaving loss amounts to about 1 to 2 percent of the initial
total available energy. This turbine was invented by the late prof L. Rateau and so
it is also known as Rateau Turbine.
198
Figure C.4 Pressure Compounded Impulse Turbine.
199
b. simple velocity-compounded impulse turbine
In this type of turbine, the compounding is done for velocity of steam only. Drop in
velocity is arranged in many small drops through many moving rows of blades
instead of a single row of moving blades. It consists of a nozzle or a set of nozzles
and rows of moving blades attached to the rotor or wheel and rows of fixed blades
attached to casing.
The fixed blades are guide blades which guide the steam to succeeding rows of
moving blades, suitably arranged between the moving blades and set in a reversed
200
manner. In this turbine, three rows or rings of moving blades are fixed on a single
wheel or rotor and this type of wheel is termed as the three-row wheel. There are
two blades or fixed blades placed between Lint first and the second and the second
and third rows of moving blades respectively.
The whole expansion of steam from the steam chest pressure to the exhaust
pressure takes place in the nozzles only. There is no drop in either in the moving
blades or the fixed i.e. the pressure remains constant in the blades as in the simple
impulse turbine. The steam velocity from the exit of the nozzle is very high as in the
simple impulse turbine.
Steam with this high velocity enters the first row of moving blades and on passing
through these blades, the Velocity slightly reduces. the steam gives up a part of its
kinetic energy and reissues from this row of blades with a fairly high velocity. It then
enters the first row of guide blades which directs the steam to the second row of
moving blades.
Actually, there is a slight drop in velocity in the fixed or guide blades due to friction.
On passing through the second row of moving blades some drop in velocity again
occurs steam gives up another portion of its kinetic energy to the rotor.
After this, it is redirected again by the second row of guide blades to the third row
of moving blades where again some drop in velocity occurs and finally the steam
leaves the wheel with a certain velocity in a more or less axial direction. compared
to the simple impulse turbine, the leaving velocity is small and it is about 2 percent
of initial total available energy of steam.
Velocity compounding is also possible with only one row of moving blades. The
whole pressure drop takes place in the nozzles and the high velocity steam passes
through the moving blades into a reversing chamber where the direction of the
steam is changed and the same steam is arranged to pass through the moving blade
of the same rotor. So instead of using two or three rows of moving blades, only one
row is required to pass the steam again and again; thus in each pass velocity
decreases.
201
Figure C.6 Flow of Steam on Blades
The drop-in velocity is achieved by many rows of moving blades hence it is velocity
compounded. There are two sets of nozzles in which whole pressure drop takes
place i.e. whole pressure drop has been divided in small drops, hence it is pressure-
compounded.
202
Figure C.7 Schematic Diagram of Pressure-Velocity compounded Impulse Turbine
In the first set of nozzles, there is some decrease in pressure which gives some
kinetic energy to the steam and there is no drop-in pressure in the two rows of
moving blades of the first wheel and in the first row of fixed blades.
Only, there is a velocity drop in moving blades though there is also a slight drop in
velocity due to friction in the fixed blades. In second set of nozzles, the remaining
pressure drop takes place, but the velocity here increases, and the drop-in velocity
takes place in the moving blades of the second wheel or rotor. Compared to the
pressure-compounded impulse turbine this arrangement was more popular due to
its simple construction. It is, however, very rarely used now due to its low
efficiency.
203
II. Reaction turbine
In the reaction turbine, Pressure drops gradually and takes place continuously over
the fixed as well as moving blades of turbine. Due to pressure drop, while passing
through the moving blades, generates kinetic energy which raises the reaction and
adds to the propelling force which ¡s applied through the rotor to the turbine shaft.
Since turbine works is the result of both reaction and impulse so it is called impulse
reaction turbine or reaction turbine.
In other word we can say that energy transformation occurs in both fixed and
moving blades. Since steam flow in moving blade ¡s accelerated hence chances of
separation of flow is less which results in higher stage efficiency.
Fixed blades (F) : (Function is same as of Nozzle). Fixed blades change the direction
of steam and suffer a change in momentum which gives rise to an impulse on the
blade and allows it to expand to a larger velocity.
Moving blades (K.E. obtained due to fall ¡n pressure) is absorbed by moving blades.
Passage of moving blade is conversing type, due to which kinetic energy of steam
increase which gives rises to reaction in the direction opposite to that the added
velocity.
Thus, the gross propelling force is the vector sum of impulse and reaction forces
and commonly called as reaction turbine. In the figure we can see that, there is a
gradual drop in pressure in both moving and fixed blades.
In reaction turbine pressure drop per stage is small; therefore total number of
stages required is much higher than an impulse turbine of the similar capacity.
204
Figure C.8 Reaction turbine
The following tables shows the different between impulse turbine and reaction
turbine
205
S.No. Details Impulse Turbine Reaction Turbine
1 Pressure Drop Pressure drop occurs in nozzle only Pressure drop occur in fixed
and not in moving blades blades (nozzles) as well as in
moving blades
2 Types of blades
& Profile type and not difficult Aerofoil type and difficult
manufacturing
8 Suitability For small power requirement For medium & higher power
requirement
206
207
C.5 Cylinder arrangement
1. Single flow,
2. Double flow,
3. Reversed flow
1. Single Flow
In a single flow turbine, the steam enters at one end, flows once through the blades
in a direction approximately parallel to this axis, and emerges at the other end. High
pressure cylinder uses single flow. This is also common in small turbines.
2. Double Flow
In this type of turbines, the steam enters at the center and divides, the two portions
passing axially away from other through separate sets of blading on the same rotor.
The low-pressure cylinder normally uses double flow). This type of unit is
completely balanced against the end thrust and gives large area of flow through
two sets of blades. This also helps in reducing the blade height as mass flow rate
becomes half as compared to single flow for the same conditions.
3. Reversed Flow
208
C.6 Number of Shafts of Turbine
There are two types turbines on the basis of numbering the shaft
a. Tandem Compound
Most multi-cylinder turbines drive a single shaft and single generator Such turbines
are termed as tandem compound turbines.
b. Cross Compound
In this type, two shafts are used driving separate generator. The may be one of
turbine house arrangement, limited generator size, or a desire to run shafting at
half speed. The latter choice is sometimes preferred so that for the same
centrifugal stress, longer blades may be used, giving a larger leaving area, a smaller
velocity and hence a small leaving loss. the use of a very long shaft can be avoided
by the use of a cross-compound machine.
209
Figure C.10 Cross compound turbine
The steam turbine is classified on the basis of “Direction of Flow’’ as the following:
210
1. Axial Flow Turbine
In axial flow turbine, the steam flows along the axis of the shaft. It is the
most suitable turbine for large turbo-generators and that is why it is used in
all modem steam power plants.
Steam flows in radial direction. This type of turbine is very successful in the
smaller sizes.
Steam flows in tangential direction and this turbine is very robust but not an
efficient machine
The steam turbine is classified On the basis of “Means of Heat Supply ’’ as the
following:
211
1. Single pressure turbine,
2. Mixed or dual pressure turbine
3. Reheated turbine.
This type of turbine use two sources of steam, at different pressures. The
dual pressure turbine is found in nuclear power stations where it uses both
sources continuously. The mixed pressure turbine is found in industrial
plants (e.g., rolling mill, colliery, etc.) where there are two supplies of steam
and use of one supply is more economical than the other; for example, the
economical steam may be the exhaust steam from engine which can be
utilized in the L. P. stages of steam turbine. Dual pressure system is also used
in combined cycle.
3. Reheated Turbine
During its passage through the turbine steam may be taken out to be
reheated in a re-heater incorporated in the boiler and returned at higher
temperature to be expanded. This is done to avoid erosion and corrosion
problems in the blades and to improve the power output and efficiency. The
reheating may be single or double or triple.
212
C.10 Heat Rejection
The steam turbine is classified On the basis of “Means of Heat Rejection ’’ as the
following:
1.Pass-out Turbine
This type of turbine is suitable where there is dual demand of steam-one for power
and the other for industrial heating, for example sugar industries. Double pass-out
turbines are sometimes used.
213
2.Regenerative Turbine
3.Condensing Turbine
In this turbine, the exhaust steam is condensed in a condenser and the condensate
is used as feed water in the boiler. By this way the condensing turbine allows the
steam to expand to the lowest possible pressure before being condensed. All steam
power plants use this type of turbine.
4.Non-Condensing Turbine
When the exhaust steam coming out from the turbine is not condensed but
exhausted in the atmosphere is called non-condensing turbine. The exhaust steam
is not recovered for feed water in the boiler.
This type of turbine rejects the steam after expansion to the lowest suitable
possible pressure at which it is used for heating purpose. Thus, back pressure
turbine supplies power as well as heat energy.
The back-pressure turbine generally used in sugar industries provides low pressure
steam for heating apparatus, where as a topping turbine exhausts into a turbine
designed for lower steam conditions.
214
C.11 Number of Cylinder
1) Single cylinder
2) Multi-cylinder
1.Single Cylinder
When all stages of turbine are housed in one casing, then it is called single cylinder.
Such a single cylinder turbine uses one shaft.
2.Multi-Cylinder
In large output turbine, the number of the stages needed becomes so high that
additional bearings are required to support the shaft. Under these circumstances,
multi-cylinders are used.
a) Turbine Casings
The casing shape and construction details depend on whether it is a High
Pressure(HP) or Low Pressure (LP) casings. For low and moderate inlet steam
pressure up to (120 bar), a single shell casing is used. With a rise in inlet pressure
the casing thickness as to be increasing. Handling such heavy casing is very difficult
also the turbine as to slowly brought up to the operation temperature. Otherwise
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internal stress or distortions to the thick casing may arise. To over this for high
pressure and temperature application double casing is used. In the double casing
inner casing is for High pressure and the outer casing is for hold the low pressure.
Most of the turbine have casings with horizontal split type. Due to horizontal split
it easy for assembling and dismantling for maintenance of turbine. Also, maintain
proper axial and radial clearance between the rotor and stationary parts.
Usually, the turbine casings are heavy in order to withstand the high pressures and
temperatures. It is general practice the thickness of walls and flanges decrease
from the inlet to exhaust end due to the decrease in steam pressure from inlet to
exhaust.
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b) Turbine Rotors
The steam turbine rotors must be designed with the most care as it is mostly the
highly stressed component in the turbine. The design of a turbine rotor depends on
the operating principle of the turbine.
The impulse turbine, in which the pressure drops across the stationary blades. The
stationary blades are mounted in the diaphragm and the moving blades fixed on
the rotor. This construction requires a disc rotor.
The reaction turbine has pressure drops across the moving as well as across the
stationary blades. The disc rotor would create a large axial thrust across each disc.
Hence disc rotors are not used in the reaction turbine. For this application, a drum
rotor is used to eliminate the axial thrust caused by the discs, but not the axial thrust
caused by the differential pressure across the moving blades. Due to this, the
configuration of reaction turbine is more complicated.
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c) Turbine Blades
The energy conversion takes place through the turbine blades. A turbine consists
of alternate rows of blades. Those blades convert the thermal energy of working
fluid into kinetic energy and then from kinetic energy to mechanical energy as
rotation of the shaft. There are two types of blade, fixed and moving blade. Moving
blade is also two types. One is impulse blade and another reaction blade.
Fixed blade:
A fixed blade assembly is very important for turbine blading. It is also known as
diaphragm. The shape of the blade is the key to the energy conversion process.
Since the fixed blades have a conversing nozzle shape, it is also called nozzles. When
steam is passed over the fixed blades, they increase the velocity of steam as an
operation of nozzles. Here blades are converted the thermal energy of steam into
kinetic energy by causing the steam to speed up and gain velocity.
Moving blade:
Moving blade can be shaped in either of two ways: reaction shaped or impulse
shaped. The shape of the blade determines how the energy is actually converted.
Either type of moving blades or a combination of both can be attached to the shaft
of the rotor on dices, called wheels. Along the outer rim of the blades is a metal
band, called shrouding which ties the blades together. The moving blades convert
the kinetic energy in the moving speed into the mechanical energy as rotor
rotation.
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Figure C.15 Steam turbine blades
The following table illustrate the difference between Impulse & Reaction turbine
blades:
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The blades are strong enough to withstand the following factors:
Twisted Blades
This type of blades is used in the last stage of a large multistage steam turbine.
These are the largest blade in turbine and contribute around 10% of the turbine
total output. Due to larger in size, these types of blades are subjected to high
centrifugal and bending forces. To overcome these forces twisted construction is
used.
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Figure C.16 Twisted Blades
d) Governor
Steam turbine governing is the procedure of controlling the flow rate of steam to a
steam turbine so as to maintain its speed of rotation as constant. The variation in
load during the operation of a steam turbine can have a significant impact on its
performance. In a practical situation the load frequently varies from the designed
or economic load and thus there always exists a considerable deviation from the
desired performance of the turbine. The primary objective in the steam turbine
operation is to maintain a constant speed of rotation irrespective of the varying
load. This can be achieved by means of governing in a steam turbine. The governor
is one of the steam turbine basic parts. Its main function is to control the operation
of a steam turbine.
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Figure C.17 Mechanism of governor
1. Speed-sensing governor
2. Pressure sensing or load governor
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Figure C.18 Speed sensor
• Mechanical Governor
• Hydro-mechanical Governor
• Electronic Governor
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e) Steam Turbine (Generator)
The turbine is linked by an axle to a generator, so the generator spins around with
the turbine blades. As it spins, the generator uses the kinetic energy from the
turbine to make electricity.
The steam turbine drives a generator, to convert the mechanical energy into
electrical energy. Typically, this will be a rotating field synchronous machine. These
machines are described more fully in the section on Generators. The energy
conversion efficiency of these high capacity generators can be as high as 98% or
99% for a very large machine.
Note: This means that a 1000MW generator must dissipate 20 MW of waste heat
and such generators require special cooling techniques.
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C.13 Performance of Steam Turbine
Both types of steam turbines have different efficiency due to their different
working principles but the efficiency of both types of steam turbines is expressed
by the following equation.
Work done
Efficiency (ɳ) =
Input Kinetic Energy
There are two ways of calculating steam efficiency. These methods referred as
blade efficiency (ɳb) and stage efficiency (ɳs). Blade efficiency is calculated using
the velocity of the steam while stage efficiency is calculated by measuring changes
in the enthalpy of the steam. Enthalpy is referred to the heat content of the steam.
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1. Blade efficiency
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227
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2. Nozzle efficiency
Nozzle efficiency of steam turbine is the ratio of energy supplied to the blades per
kg of steam to the total energy supplied per stage per kg of steam.
3. Stage efficiency
A stage is defined as the combination of a ring of nozzles (fixed blades) and a ring
of moving blades. The energy supplied corresponds to the isentropic heat drop, ΔH
in the nozzles
The stage efficiency becomes equal to the blade efficiency if there are no friction
losses in the nozzles. Thus,
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230
D.1 Introduction
The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is a heat exchanger designed to recover
the exhaust ‘waste’ heat from power generation plant prime movers, such as gas
turbines or large reciprocating engines, thus improving overall energy efficiencies.
HRSG can be used to generate steam for district heating or factory processes, or
to drive a steam turbine to generate more electricity.
There are several types of HRSG, but the basic construction techniques are largely
similar, comprising banks of tubes mounted in the exhaust path. Exhaust gases at
temperatures of 430º–650ºC heat these tubes, through which water is circulated.
HRSGs mainly absorb heat from the hot exhaust in the flue gases by convection
heat transfer, but, in certain sections, heat is transferred by both radiation and
convection. HRSG is a critical link between the gas turbine and steam turbine in
combined cycle.
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D.2 The basic components of HRSG
• Evaporator
• Super heater
• Economizer
• Steam drum
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Plant emission control equipment may be fitted to the HRSG, but can significantly
alter the layout. Such equipment may include selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to
reduce NOx emissions. SCR works optimally at temperatures between 340ºC and
400ºC, so is commonly situated in a split evaporator section. However, a relatively
recent design advance has been NOx catalysts operating.
• natural-circulation (NC)
• forced-circulation (FC)
• once-through (OT) design
In natural-circulation HRSG units, the turbine gases flow horizontally past vertical
tubes. In the vertical evaporator tubes, the density difference between water in the
external down comers and the water-steam mixture in the evaporator tubes is
responsible for the circulation through the evaporator system. Proper selection and
sizing of evaporator tubes, down comer, feeders & risers is required to ensure good
circulation rates for the full range of GT, duct burner and HRSG operation that is
expected. In most natural circulation HRSG units, the economizer, superheater,
reheater, preheater and integral deaerator sections (as applicable) are all
supported and hung from the top of the HRSG structure.
As the tube bundles grow thermally, they are allowed to expand vertically down.
Because of this construction and support method, the various sections of the HRSG
can frequently be prefabricated in the shop, and shipped to site as a single
component, minimizing field erection time and complexity. Often, NC HRSGs for
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GT’s up to about 40~50 MW incorporate integral steam drums and internal down
comers, again minimizing field erection.
For larger NC HRSGs, the length of the steam drum dictates that the drum be
shipped separately, and be erected at site. In this case, the evaporator tube banks
will be located between top and bottom headers, and the drum is connected to the
headers with risers to release steam, and with down comers to be fed with water.
Instead of a bottom drum, the bottom headers are interconnected with jumpers.
For the largest HRSGs, the width of the gas path dictates that each module be
fabricated and shipped in multiple sections, i.e. a right-hand, middle and left-hand
section. These sections are then connected at site to each other to form a complete
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box structure. Several sections or modules will usually be required to complete
each evaporator, superheater and economizer, etc.
In a forced circulation HRSG, the gas turbine exhaust flows vertically past
horizontal tubes. Steam-water mixture circulation through the evaporator tubes,
and to the and from the drum is maintained with a “forced circulation” pump.
Traditionally, most HRSGs in Europe have been specified as forced circulation. The
claimed advantages of these units include decreased space requirements and
faster start-up capabilities. However, their main disadvantage is the complex
circulating pumps and their impact on operating costs and reliability.
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III. Once-Through Steam Generator (OTSG)
In a once-through steam generator (OTSG) the gas turbine exhaust flows past
vertical and/or horizontal tubes. The unit is basically a single continuous serpentine
tube in which all the functions of economizer, evaporation and superheating are
carried out, without discrete drums.
In the tube bundle, the phase change zone from liquid to gas is free to move up or
down throughout the bundle, depending on gas conditions (flow and temperature)
and the operational load. OTSGs eliminate the need for the steam drums, level
controls, blowdown and recirculation systems. Startup times can be greatly due to
the absence of thick walled pressure vessels and the steam drum water inventory,
which would otherwise require heating. The OTSG has all the benefits of the forced
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circulation HRSG, but without circulation pumps, and with decreased start up
times. Because there is no blowdown from this type of HRSG, improved feedwater
treatment systems, and condensate polishers may be required.
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D.4 Gas turbine
A gas turbine is a combustion engine that can convert natural gas or other liquid
fuels to mechanical energy. This energy then drives a generator that produces
electrical energy.
Fresh atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher
pressure. Energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so the
combustion generates a high-temperature flow. This high-temperature high-
pressure gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to the exhaust pressure,
producing a shaft work output in the process. The turbine shaft work is used to
drive the compressor; the energy that is not used for shaft work comes out in the
exhaust gases that produce thrust. The fourth step of the Brayton cycle (cooling of
the working fluid) is omitted, as gas turbines are open systems that do not use the
same air again.
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Figure D.7 Gas turbine flow diagram
It is always necessary for the engineers and designers to know about the
construction and operation of the components of gas turbine plants.
I. Compressors
The high flow rates of turbines and relatively moderate pressure ratios necessitate
the use of rotary compressors. The types of compressors, which are commonly
used, are of two types :-
• Centrifugal compressor
• Axial compressor
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Centrifugal compressor consists of an impeller (rotating component) and a diffuser
(stationary component). The impeller imparts the high kinetic energy to the air and
diffuser converts the kinetic energy into the pressure energy. The pressure ratio of
2 to 3 is possible with single stage compressor and it can be increased upto 20 with
three-stage compressor.
These compressors take air in at the center or “eye” of the rotor. Due to the high
rotational speeds of the rotor, the air is accelerated by the blades and forced
radially to the edge of the rotor at high velocity by centrifugal force.
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Figure D.9 Eye of centrifugal comperssor
Axial flow compressor consists of a series of rotor and stator stages with
decreasing diameters along the flow of air. The blades are fixed on the rotor and
rotors are fixed on the shaft. The stator blades are fixed on the stator casing. The
stator blades guide the air flow to the next rotor stage coming from the previous
rotor stage. The air flows along the axis of the rotor. The kinetic energy is given to
the air as it passes through the rotor and part of it is converted into pressure. The
number of stages required for pressure ratio of 5 is as large as sixteen or more.
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Figure D.10 Axial flow compressor
The combustion chamber, or combustor, in the open cycle gas turbine is used to
heat the working air after its discharge from the compressor and before entry to
the gas turbine.
Because gas turbine is a continuous flow system, the combustion in the gas turbine
differs from the combustion in diesel engines. High rate of mass flow results in high
velocities at various points throughout the cycle.
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Figure D.11 Combustion chamber
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III. Gas Turbines
The turbine extracts power from the hot gases supplied from the combustion
section by decreasing pressure and temperature. It is used first to drive the
compressor and then provides mechanical power for the generator, compressor or
other load.
The common types of turbines, which are in use, are axial flow type. Large work
output can be obtained per stage with high blade speeds when the blades are
designed to sustain higher stresses. More stages of the turbine are always
preferred in gas turbine power plant because it helps to reduce the stresses in the
blades and increases the overall life of the turbine. More stages are further
preferred with stationary power plants because weight is not the major
consideration in the design which is essential in aircraft turbine-plant.
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surface cooling technology show promise for near-term future power generation
combined-cycle systems capable of reaching 60%
The first gas turbine installed in an electric utility in the United States was applied
in a combined cycle. This was a 3.5 MW gas turbine that used the energy from the
exhaust gas to heat feedwater for a 35 MW conventional steam unit the gas turbine
is shown in Figure 1. A schematic showing the combined-cycle system is shown in
Figure 2. This system entered service in June 1949, and a similar system was added
to this station in 1952.
The heat recovery economizers applied in these systems used bare tubes, as was
typical of heat exchangers in combined-cycle systems installed prior to 1959. Most
combined-cycle power generation systems installed during the 1950s and early
1960s included conventional-fired boilers. These systems were basically
adaptations of conventional steam plants with the gas turbine exhaust gas serving
as combustion air for the boiler.
The efficiency of this type of combined cycle was approximately 5–6% higher than
that of a similar conventional steam plant. These systems could economically utilize
bare tubes in the boiler because of the high mean temperature difference between
the combustion products and the water/steam. The repowering of steam power
plants with gas turbine generators and HRSGs is still attractive
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The repowering of steam power plants with gas turbine generators and HRSGs is
still attractive in many applications today as evidenced by ( the recent Colorado
Public Service, Fort St. Vrain( installation, which was placed in commercial
operation in 1999. The summary presented in Table 1 characterizes the first
generation combined-cycle systems.
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Figure D.12 Gas turbine in first power generation combined cycle
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D.7 Second Generation Combined-Cycle Plants
During the 1960s the application of the heat recovery type of combined-cycle
systems became more prevalent. Its initial application was in power and heat
applications where its power-to-heat ratio was more favorable. Also, a small
number of the heat recovery type combined cycles were installed in utility power
generation applications during the 1960s.
Application of these systems in the 1970s and 1980s established the heat recovery
feedwater heating combined-cycle as a mature technology for baseload and mid-
range service. The summary presented in Table 1 characterizes the first generation
systems. Table 2 and Table 3 represent second generation characteristics and
experience.
The requirements for stack gas NOx emission control was initially legislated during
the late 1970s. The first systems utilized gas turbine water or steam injection to
meet new source performance standards of 75 ppmvd at 15% oxygen with
efficiency and fuel-bound nitrogen adjustments. Combined-cycle plants utilized
steam from the steam cycle for NOx control because this had the least impact on
plant efficiency.
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D.8 Third Generation Combined Cycles
The first and second generation combined cycles were configured using gas turbine
designs that were optimized for simple-cycle output and efficiency. Gas turbine
design optimization for simple-cycle and for combined cycle output and thermal
efficiency is illustrated in Figure 8 performance maps as a function of firing
temperature and pressure ratio parameters.
Specific power (i.e., output per pound of airflow) is important since the higher the
value, the smaller the gas turbine required for design power output. The
importance of thermal efficiency is obvious since it directly impacts the operating
fuel cost.
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3. Firing temperature has a greater impact on combined-cycle efficiency than
simple-cycle efficiency.
Fuel price escalation in the 1970s and 1980s further increased the need for more
efficient power plants for base- and mid-range service. This led to gas turbine
designs in the late 1980s that were optimized specifically for combined cycle
efficiency.
The GE “F” Technology gas turbine designed in the 1980s, with pressure ratio of
about 14:1 and 2400°F firing temperature was the result of a design effort aimed
at optimization for combined- cycle peak efficiency rather than simple cycle peak
efficiency.
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The fleet leader “F” Technology gas turbine entered commercial operation in 1990
in a combined-cycle installation at the Virginia Power Chesterfield site and
launched the third generation of combined-cycle systems. The system
characteristics are defined in Table 4.
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Figure D.15 Combined-cycle system efficiency trend
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D.8 Fourth Generation Combined-Cycle Plants
Further gas turbine materials development and hot gas path cooling technology
advances, as well as higher temperature and pressure steam cycles, will continue
the trend for more efficient combined-cycle systems in the future.
Gas turbines installed in the first, second and third generation combined-cycle
plants are configured with open-loop cooling of the turbine hot gas path and
cooling air supplied from the compressor. Hot gas path components are in large
part cooled by film cooling. As a result, there is significant exhaust gas temperature
drop across the first stage nozzle, and significant “chargeable air” required to cool
down the steam turbine stages.
The drop in exhaust gas temperature across the first stage nozzle and the increase
in chargeable cooling loss due to increases in turbine firing temperature may
diminish efficiency gains to the point of being uneconomical.
For this reason, the GE fourth generation plants with “H” Technology gas turbines
will be configured with an integrated closed-loop steam cooling system (See Figure
5). This system allows higher turbine firing temperature to be achieved without
increasing combustion temperature. This is because exhaust gas temperature drop
across the first stage nozzle is significantly reduced as outlined in Figure 6.
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Figure D.16 S107H/S109H cycle diagram
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and stationary airfoils. This technology is expected to provide two percentage
points thermal efficiency improvement. The “H” platform gas turbine combined-
cycle plants are expected to achieve 60% LHV thermal efficiency in the first half of
this decade.
The application of ceramic hot gas path parts and coatings show promise for further
future performance gains. Steam cycle improvements that include increased steam
pressure and temperature with supercritical steam cycles have near-term
application. Current economic analysis indicates, however, that the
thermodynamic gain associated with steam cycles that have steam temperatures
and pressures above the current levels (1050°F and 1400 PSIG to 1800 PSIG) cannot
be justified in most cases because of the added costs as in the past, operating cost
(fuel price) and the cost of new technology development will dictate the trend for
increased combined-cycle efficiency.
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E.1 Definition and Working Principle
Resistance to flow is the result of a restriction or obstruction in the path of the flow.
This restriction is normally the work accomplished by the hydraulic system, but can
also be restrictions of lines, fittings, and valves within the system. Thus, the
pressure is controlled by the load imposed on the system or the action of a
pressure-regulating device.
A pump must have a continuous supply of fluid available to the inlet port to supply
fluid to the system. As the pump forces fluid through the outlet port, a partial
vacuum or low-pressure area is created at the inlet port. When the pressure at the
inlet port of the pump is lower than the local atmospheric pressure, atmospheric
pressure acting on the fluid in the reservoir forces the fluid into the pump’s inlet. If
the pump is located at a level lower than the reservoir, the force of gravity
supplements atmospheric pressure on the reservoir.
A boiler feedwater pump is a specific type of pump used to pump feedwater into a
steam boiler. The water may be freshly supplied or returning condensate produced
as a result of the condensation of the steam produced by the boiler. These pumps
are normally high-pressure units that take suction from a condensate return system
and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.
257
E.3 Centrifugal pump
A centrifugal pump is a machine that uses rotation to impart velocity to a liquid and
then converts that velocity into flow.
Centrifugal pump consists of just these three components:
1. An impeller that rotates and imparts velocity to a liquid.
2. A casing that captures the velocity generated by the impeller and transforms
that velocity into a stable flow.
3. An assembly of mechanical components that makes it possible for the
impeller to be rotated within the pump casing.
At the heart of the system lies impeller. It has a series of curved vanes fitted inside
the shroud plates. The impeller is always immersed in the water. When the impeller
is made to rotate, it makes the fluid surrounding it also rotate. This imparts
centrifugal force to the water particles, and water moves radially out.
258
Since the rotational mechanical energy is transferred to the fluid, at the discharge
side of the impeller, both the pressure and kinetic energy of the water will rise. At
the suction side, water is getting displaced, so a negative pressure will be induced
at the eye. Such a low pressure helps to suck fresh water stream into the system
again, and this process continues.
The negative pressure at the eye of the impeller helps to maintain the flow in the
system. If no water is present initially, the negative pressure developed by the
rotating air, at the eye will be negligibly small to suck fresh stream of water. As a
result, the impeller will rotate without sucking and discharging any water content.
So, the pump should be initially filled with water before starting it. This process is
known as priming.
The impeller is fitted inside a casing. As a result, the water moves out will be
collected inside it, and will move in the same direction of rotation of the impeller,
to the discharge nozzle.
If pressure at the suction side of impeller goes below vapor pressure of the water,
a dangerous phenomenon could happen. Water will start to boil forming vapor
bubbles. These bubbles will move along with the flow and will break in a high-
pressure region. Upon breaking the bubbles will send high impulsive shock waves
and spoil impeller material overtime. This phenomenon is known as cavitation.
More the suction head, lesser should be the pressure at suction side to lift the
water. This fact puts a limit to the maximum suction head a pump can have.
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Figure E.2 Low pressure at the suction side can cause cavitation; More the suction
head, lesser is the suction pressure required
However Cavitation can be completely avoided by careful pump selection. The term
NPSH (Net Positive Suction Head) helps the designer to choose the right pump
which will completely avoid Cavitation. NPSH is defined as follows.
Where Pv is vapor pressure of water V is speed of water at suction side. For a given
pumping system it will have an NPSH called 'Available NPSH'. Pump manufacturer
will specify the minimum NPSH required for each pump for its safe operation,
known as 'Required NPSH'. If the pump needs to work without Cavitation
the 'Available NPSH' should be greater than 'Required NPSH'.
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I. Axial Flow Centrifugal Pump
The axial flow pump has parallel flow to the axial of rotation or Strictly axial. It
develops most of the head by the propelling. Or lifting Action of the vanes on the
liquid. It has a single inlet impeller with the flow entering axially arid discharging
nearly axially. Axial flow pumps are often used to supply water for irrigation and to
pump out ponds and areas having excess water. They normally operate with high
volume, low head capabilities.
Often the pump is furnished with a set of diffuser vanes which reduce the
turbulence caused by the action of the impeller and directs the flow of water into
the discharge pipe.
261
Mixed Flow Pumps
Mixed flow centrifugal pumps are ideal for low head, large capacity applications.
The design of the pump is such that the head is developed partly by the lift of the
vanes on the liquid. This type of pump has a single inlet impeller with the flow
entering axially and discharging in an axial and radial direction. The vanes of this
pump are enclosed in a shroud and the fluid is discharged outwardly.
While this type of pump resembles a vertically mounted centrifugal pump, it is
designed to handle much larger volumes of water.
Figure E.4 Mixed flow pump: Volute casing pump with open mixed flow impeller
and vortex volute
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II. Positive displacement pump
2) Rotary Pumps
Piston pumps can be used to move liquids or compress gases. They can operate
over a wide range of pressures. High pressure operation can be achieved without a
strong effect on flow rate. Piston pumps can also deal with viscous media and
media containing solid particles
263
Figure E.5 Reciprocating Positive Displacement Pump Operation
Rotary Pump
The rotary pumps that existed in thermal power stations are gear, screw and
vane.
a) Gear pump
264
As the gears come out of the mesh, they create expanding volume on the
inlet side of the pump. Liquid flows into the cavity and is trapped by the gear teeth
while they rotate.
Liquid travels around the interior of the casing in the pockets between the
teeth and the casing. The fine side clearances between the gear and the casing
allow recirculation of the liquid between the gears.
Finally, the meshing of the gears forces liquid through the outlet port under
pressure. As the gears are supported on both sides, the noise levels of these pumps
are lower and are typically used for high-pressure applications such as the hydraulic
applications.
Internal gear pumps have only two moving parts. They can operate in either
direction, which allows for maximum utility with a variety of application
requirements. In these pumps, liquid enters the suction port between the large
exterior gears, rotor, and the smaller interior gear teeth, idler. The arrows indicate
the direction of the pump and the liquid.
Liquid travels through the pump between the teeth of the ‘gear-within-a-
gear’ principle. The crescent shape divides the liquid and acts as a seal between the
suction and the discharge ports.
265
The pump head is now nearly flooded as it forces the liquid out of the
discharge port. Rotor and idler teeth mesh completely to form a seal equidistant
from the discharge and suction ports. This seal forces the liquid out of the discharge
port.
The internal gear pumps are capable of handling liquid from very low to very
high viscosities. In addition to superior high-viscosity handling capabilities, internal
gear pumps offer a smooth, non-pulsating flow. Internal gear pumps are self-
priming and can run dry.
b) Screw pump
A screw pump is a type of positive displacement pump that uses two or more
screws that intermesh to pressurize fluids and move them in a system. The screws
take in fluid then push it out from the other side while increasing its pressure.
• There are two main types of screw pumps in common use today:
1. Two/Double screw pump (twin screw pump) –Due to the design, the screws
are not required to be in direct contact with each other which helps extend
the life of the pump.
2. Three screw pump (triple screw pump) – They utilize one driving screw
intermeshed with the other two screws to create pressure and move fluid.
266
The screws do come into contact with each other, which often limits the
pump to handling only clean liquids.
Less commonly used is the single screw pump, which uses only one screw and has
more limited capabilities.
c) Vane pump
267
When in operation, the vanes slide in and out, creating a seal around the cavity or
chamber, and allowing a series of smaller chambers to form within the larger
chamber. Inside each chamber, air is captured and compressed, forcing it through
the system, which is caused by the increasing or decreasing sizes of the chambers
between the vanes, while rotating.
The rotor supports the continuous flow of air in a uniform manner during the
process, and does this without any of the “Pulsations” that most other technologies
of pump create.
A rotary vane pump can be used for either vacuum or pressure, and sometimes
both!
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E.5 Pump characteristics
• Q-H curve
• Efficiency curve
• Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) curve.
Each of the characteristics is explained in the next sections for propeller pumps.
I. H-Q curve
The Q-H curve is the relation between the volume flow and the pressure at a
constant speed of the pump crank. The H in the curve is the difference in energy
level between the suction and the pressure side of the pump. Q-H curves will be
given by the manufacturer of the pump and can normally be considered as a simple
quadratic curve.
269
The hydraulic efficiency of the pump with the motor is given with the efficiency
curve. The hydraulic efficiency is the relation between the absorbed hydraulic
energy (pressure and velocity) and the provided mechanical energy at the pump
crank including the power efficiency of the motor.
270
III. NPSH curve
The Net Positive Suction Head curve is the relation between the volume flow Q
and the needed margin between the energy level at the suction side of the pump
and the vapor pressure of the water to prevent too much cavitation in the pump.
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272
F.1 Introduction
Condenser is a one kind of heat exchanger where the heat transfer takes place
between hot and cold fluid. In condenser the exhaust steam coming from the last
stage of the steam turbine is condensed or cooled either in direct contact with
cooling water or indirect with cooling water via heat transfer medium separating
them.
The main purpose of the steam condenser is to maintain a low back pressure on
the exhaust side of the steam turbine. After releasing from nozzles, the steam has
to expand to a great extent for converting available energy into it to usable
mechanical work. So, if the steam after doing it, work, does not get condensed, it
will not give required space to other steam behind it, to expand to its required
volume.
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Figure F.1 Steam condenser
274
F.3 Types of Steam Condenser
In a steam condenser, steam is always condensed with help of cooling water, but
the techniques are different for different condensers. Depending upon
condensation techniques, there are mainly two types of steam condensers. They
are mainly
In this type, cooling water is sprayed on the exhaust steam. This is very fast process
of condensing steam. But here cooling water and condensed steam are mixed up
which cannot be separated.
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II. Surface Steam Condenser
In this type, cooling water and exhaust steam are separated by a barrier and
condensation is done by heat exchanging through this barrier wall. Cooling water
is passed through numbers of water tubes and exhaust steam passes over the outer
surface of the tube. The heat of steam is absorbed by the water inside the tube
through the wall of the tube. Again, in some cases, steam is passed through an array
of steam tubes, cooling water is sprayed over the steam tube and condensed steam
comes out from the outlet of the tubes. Surface steam condensing is slower process
than Jet Steam condensing, but the main advantage of surface steam condensing
is that, the condensed steam is not thrown to waste but is returned to steam boiler
through feed water system.
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The following table shows a comparison between Jet Condenser and Surface
Condenser:
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F.5 Materials of Condenser Tubes
Generally, condenser tube material is selected in the view of cost and cooling water
quality. copper alloys are brasses, cupro-nickel, titanium grade-2 and bronzes are
generally used in most condenser. Stainless steel tubes have also been used and
has good corrosion resistance though heat transfer co-efficient is quite lower than
the copper alloys. Because of high cost, stainless steel is used only where water is
highly corrosive. Some sea side power plants are also using titanium despite high
cost, because of highly corrosive environment.
1. The boiler feed water contains dissolved air in it. From the boiler it is carried off
by the hot steam to the turbine and finally from turbine to the condenser.
2. There is also a chance of air leakage from joints, packings, and glands into the
condenser where the pressure is below the atmospheric pressure.
With leakage of air in condenser, it increases the back pressure on the turbine and
so there is a less enthalpy drop across the steam turbine which results into low
thermal efficiency of the plant.
With leakage of air, pressure inside of condenser increases and finally it reduces
the partial pressure of the steam which means that steam will condense at a lower
temperature and that it will require greater amount of the cooling water.
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Leakage of air reduces the rate of steam condensation, because air having poor
thermal conductivity, so it reduces the overall heat transfer from the steam air
mixture. The presence of air promotes the corrosive action in a condenser.
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The other stream enters downwards onto the surface of the water cooling tubes of
the condenser. The outlet cooling water should be clean or a filter is essential at
the jet exit. The fluid from the mixing chamber is sucked by a pump and is
discharged through a nozzle as a high velocity jet. This nozzle is combined with the
outlet of the condenser shell opening from where condensate is discharged to the
hot-well.
The hot-well discharge opening of the condenser shell is designed as the part of a
diffuser throat where the nozzle discharges high velocity cooling water through a
mixed condensate jet. This nozzle and diffuser throat position is shown by a
magnified circular inset in Figure 4. This high velocity jet creates a low-pressure
area around the mouth of the nozzle which enables pulling of the tube surface
condensate. Both the condensate i.e. jet condensate and tubes surface condensate
meet at the diffuser throat expansion and gets mixed with hot-well fluid.
1. A partial vacuum is created near the hot-well discharge opening of the main
condenser body. This influences the vacuum efficiency of the condenser.
2. This enables uniform temperature of hot-well fluid, which is almost near
saturation temperature of the steam, and a heat efficient boiler feed is
ensured.
3. The temperature of mixing chamber fluid is near the saturation temperature
of steam because of the loss of latent heat of steam only. There is no chance
of under-cooling of condensate.
4. The hot-well fluid is the mixture of the two condensates and temperature
remains uniform i.e. near the saturation temperature.
It is also important to note that the cooling water of the mixing chamber is taken
from the exit of the condenser tubes where this fluid has already exchanged latent
heat of steam and is at the temperature, which is somewhat closer to the saturation
temperature of steam.
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In another design, the mixing chamber receives cooling water directly from the inlet
cooling water supply line of the condenser where the temperature of the mixing
chamber cooling water is same as of the supply line.
This steam condenser has a combination of counter flow and cross flow
mechanisms as illustrated in Figure 5. It is well known that the overall heat transfer
rate is greater in counter flow than parallel flow.
The design and arrangement of condenser tubes is such that the condensation of
the steam takes place at both the counter flow and cross flow. The cross flow
pattern is desirable when the bulk volume of steam is to be condensed. The
application of a hybrid super vacuumed condensing mechanism as discussed above
is also used very effectively in this design.
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Figure F.5 Advanced super vacuum hybrid single pass steam condenser
This is a steam condenser in which the cooling water carrying tubes are not a flat
type. These tubes are a corrugated type, where both the length and average
diameter of the tube can be varied. This is illustrated in Figure 6.
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Figure F.6 Corrugated cooling water tube for a given length and average diameter
Here it is possible to get a higher surface area for a given length and an average
diameter of a tube. In this design, the heat transfer rate is greater because of the
increase in the surface area. It is well known that for a given length and average
diameter, the heat transfer rate is greater in the case of a corrugated tubes
condenser than the flat tubes condenser.
a) The heat transfer rate is greater than any other type due to:
• Higher surface area of the corrugated tube.
• Counter flow pattern of cooling water; and
b) Higher vacuum efficiency.
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F.9 Conclusions, Suggestions and Recommendations
The main function of a condenser is to only remove the latent heat of vaporization
so that the temperature of condensate becomes equal to the saturation
temperature of steam corresponding to the condenser pressure. It further
theoretically elaborates complete absence of under cooling of condensate.
Therefore, the maximum temperature to which cooling water can be raised is the
condensate temperature at the minimum possible condenser pressure where only
latent heat of vaporization is extracted without any under cooling. The condenser
efficiency is given as the ratio of actual rise in the temperature of outlet cooling
water to the maximum possible temperature rise in a saturated temperature at
condenser pressure corresponding to the inlet cooling water temperature.
Mathematically,
Condenser efficiency
Where, T1 and T2 are inlet and outlet cooling water temperature, and T3 is
saturation temperature at condenser pressure.
Here in all Types of super vacuumed hybrid condenser designs discussed above, the
saturation temperature corresponding to the condenser pressure is minimum in
comparison to conventional surface condensers where a nozzle-diffuser system is
absent across the hot-well discharge opening.
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This super vacuum does not allow any under-cooling of condensate because of the
mixing of high velocity jet condensate (from mixing chamber) with tubes surface
condensate.
Hence, it is evident that there is one other source of vacuum from the nozzle jet
which is generally absent in the case of conventional surface condensers.
That is why this condenser design is named as a super vacuumed condenser. The
increase in vacuum decreases the condenser pressure and lowers the saturation
temperature T3 which is a prime requisite for the high performance of the
condenser.
Theoretically, all three types of condenser design have a higher heat transfer rate
because of the counter flow and cross flow nature. A Type C design of condenser is
more efficient than A and B Types because of the higher heat transfer rate due to
increased surface area of cooling water carrying tubes of a corrugated nature.
These tubes further improve the efficiency of heat transfer because of the
increased surface area. It is also important to note that in all the three A, B, and C
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Types of condenser design two things are common, that is the flow of cooling water
which is of counter-flow and cross-flow type. The other common feature is
availability of a mixing chamber where jet condensation takes place with the mixing
of exhaust steam with cooling water.
At the same time, it is possible to use inlet cooling water or outlet cooling water in
a mixing chamber. The heat transfer rate in the former is higher than the latter
because the temperature of the inlet cooling water is lower than the outlet cooling
water.
The cooling water should be of a good quality – free from impurities such as algae,
salt etc. The capacity of the suction pump which is used to pull jet condensate from
the mixing chamber and to deliver it to hot-well discharge should be higher.
This enables higher speed of suction, which in turn, increases the velocity of the
cooling water flow in tubes, and enables a higher heat transfer rate between the
exhaust steam and tubes cooling water.
The rate of heat transfer varies approximately with a square root of the cooling
water flow velocity in the condenser tubes. It is also important to regulate speed
of suction at an optimum level beyond this possibility of back pressure into the
mixing chamber because it could harm the smooth flow of exhaust steam over the
condenser tubes.
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References
1) A. K. Raja. Power Plant Engineering. New Delhi. New age international limited,
publishers. 2006
2) P. K. Nag. Power Plant Engineering. Third edition. New Delhi: Tata McGraw
Publishing Company Limited. 2008
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9) T. Ohno. Development of low thermal Expansion Nickel Base Superalloy for
Steam Surbine Applications, Energy Materials, Vol2, No. 4. 2007
12) Meherwan P Boyce. The Institute of Diesel and Gas Turbine Engineer
Handbook (IDGTE U.K.), No.2 (2002)
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