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Exergy Analysis of Thermal Power Plant: Nomenclature
Exergy Analysis of Thermal Power Plant: Nomenclature
NOMENCLATURE
H : enthalpy in MW
s : entropy in kJ/kg-K
S : entropy in MW/K
To : atmospheric temperature in K
mg : mass of gases in kg/s
gi : gas inlet
go : gas outlet
ms : mass of steam in kg/s
mw : mass of water in kg/s
SH : super-heater
mb : mass of boiler in kg/s
bi : boiler inlet
bo : boiler outlet
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO RTPP ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
1.1 GENERAL………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
1.2 LOCATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..9
1.3 RAWMATERIAL……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…...……..11
1.4 COMBUSTION PROCESS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11
1.5 OPERATIONAL DATA…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......................................11
CHAPTER 2 .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
2.1 RANKINE CYCLE ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
2.2 REGENERATIVE CYCLE ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
2.3 .REHEAT CYCLE..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4 TYPICAL VALUES OF EFFICIENCIES ................................................................................................................................................................................ 20
2.5 FACTORS INCREASING THE THERMAL CYCLE EFFICIENCY. ...................................................................................................................................... 20
2.6 PLANT LOSSES. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER 3 .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23
3.0 INTRODUCTION TO EXERGY .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 23
3.1 ENERGY ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23
3.2 EXERGY.…………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………24
3.3 APPLICATIONS OF THE SECOND LAW OF THERMO DYNAMICS……………………………………………………………………….…..…………..28
3.4 WORK DONE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………….…………..30
3.5 LAWS OF THERMO DYNAMICS…………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….…………..32
3.6 LAW OF DEGRADIATION ENERGY……………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………33
CHAPTER 4 .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
4.0 DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
4.1TECHNICAL DATA .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
4.2 GENERAL DATA………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………….34
4.3 HEAT RATE VALUES……………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………..37
CHAPTER 5 .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
5.0 COMPONENTS ON WHICH ANALYSIS IS MADE ............................................................................................................................................................. 40
5.1 BOILER..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
5.2 TYPES OF BOILERS................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40
5.3 SUPER HEATER ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 41
5.4 CONDENSER ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
5.5 TYPES OF CONDENSERS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...….44
5.6 COOLING TOWER……………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………...……45
5.7 TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…….46
5.8 CONDENSATE EXTRACTION PUMP…………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………48
5.9 EJECTORS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..…………48
CHAPTER6 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 56
6.0 TABLES AND CALCULATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 56
6.1 ENTHALPY AND ENTROPY OF THE COMPONENTS ...................................................................................................................................................... .56
6.2 THERMO DYNAMIC EXTRACTION OF STEAM AT TURBINES………………………………………………………………………………..…… 79
6.3 TABULATED VALUES OF TURBINE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….81
CHAPTER 7…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………...83
7.0 EXERGY AND ENERGY ANALYSIS ON THE COMPONENTS…………………………………………………………………………………….………...83
7.1 EXERGY ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………….83
7.2 ENERGY ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………90
7.3 TABLES OF THE EXERGY, ENERGY EFFICIENCIES AND LOSSES………………………………………………………………………………………..95
CHAPTER 8…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………97
8.0 COMPARISONOF GRAPHS BETWEEN EXERGY AND ENERGY…………………………………………………………………..………………………97
8.1 EXERGY DESTRUCTION GRAPH………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 97
8.2 TURBINE EFFICIENCY AND DESTRUCTION GRAPH……………………………………………………………………………………………………... 97
8.3 EXERGY VS ENERGY GRAPH………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................................….98
8.4 COMPARISON GRAPH………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………….…………....98
CHAPTER 9………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………99
9.0 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………...……….99
9.1 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES………………………………………………………………………………………………….….....….100
CHAPTER 10 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…101
10.0 BIBLOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..101
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.5.1 : Power generation data
Table 4.3 : Heat rate values
Table 6.1.1 : Enthalpy and entropy values of components
Table 6.2.1 : Thermodynamic extractions at turbines
Table 6.3 : High pressure Turbine
Table 6.4 : Intermediate pressure turbine
Table 6.5 : Low pressure turbine
Table 7.3.1 : First law and second law efficiencies
Table 7.3.2 : Energy and exergy losses
LIST OF GRAPHS
ABSTRACT
EXERGY ANALYSIS OF THERMAL POWER PLANT (RTPP)
CHAPTER-1
1.1 General
Rayalaseema thermal power project (R.T.P.P),is one of the major generation
unit, developed in A.P., to meet the growing demand for power, the project envisaged the
installation of 2×210MW coal based thermal generation units under stage I. The first 210MW
unit for commercial operation was started on 25 Nov1994 and the second unit on 30 Mar 1995.
The plant has another 2 × 210MW coal based thermal generation units under stage II. In the
stage 2, the third Unit was started on 24 Jan 2007 and the fourth unit is under construction.
1.2 Location
The R.T.P.P. project is located at a distance of 8km from Muddunur railway
station of south central railway on Chennai-Mumbai railway line. The site is selected at an
adequate distance from the residential areas and it has an area of 2600 Acres. The water
requirements for the project are met from Mylavaram reservoir across river Penna, which is 23
KM away from the power plant.
CHAPTER-2
2.0 WORKING CYCLES
The fundamental forms of energy with which thermal stations are
principally concerned are heat and work. Heat produces work and this work is further converted
into electrical energy through a medium .i.e. electrical generator. For the purpose of
understanding of thermal plants, the phenomenon of thermodynamics vapor power cycles is
explained here under:
1. Rankine cycle
2. Regenerative cycle
3. Reheat cycle
Fig.2.3(b).T-S Diagram
Above 480 oC and up to 600 oC heat resistant ferritic steels can be used
o
.It gives limiting value of initial steam temperature to be 565 C .
During operation of power plants, it was found that plant outages due to boiler failure with initial
steam temperature 565 oC were enormous as compared with initial steam temperature 535 oC.
Now-a-days, practical limit for initial steam temperature is 535 oC to 540 oC. Above 540 oC
temperature, austenitic steels could be used, which have coefficient of thermal expansion and
lower thermal conductivity but poor machinability and weldability as compared to ferritic steels.
For these reasons use of austenitic steels is not preferred.
2.5.3 REHEAT
Reheating the steam after it as partially expanded, improves the
thermal cycle efficiency by 4% to5% as a more efficient cycle is added to original cycle. Reheat
reduces moisture in the last stage of turbine, the re by improving the internal efficiency of the
turbine. Reheating invariably complicates design of turbine, steam generators and their controls.
If the pressure drop in re-heater is more than 12-15%, almost all increase in efficiency is offset
by it.
2.5.4 CONDENSER PRESSURE
Condenser has a triple function in Rankine cycle, first is providing
heat sink, second is to provide very low vacuum and third is to preserve working fluid. Lower
condenser pressure implies lower mean temperature at which heat is rejected to sink, thereby
increasing the thermal efficiency cycle.
Condenser pressure is dependent on cooling water temperature and
to certain extent on cooling water flow rate. Since cooling water is usually taken from river, lake
or sea whichever is near by to thermal plant, we do not really have control on cooling water
temperature and hence on condenser pressure. In India, cooling water temperature usually ranges
between 24 oC to 36 oC giving condenser pressure of 0.06 to 0.12.ata
2.5.5 REGENERATIVE FEED WATER HEATING
In regenerative feed water heating part of steam is extracted after
partial expansion in the turbine and is used to heat up the feed water going to steam generator
(boiler). In this process the latent heat of liquidification of extracted steam is also utilized in
heating feed water, which otherwise would have been dumped in to the condenser, there by
increasing the cycle efficiency.
CHAPTER-3
3.0 INTRODUCTION TO EXERGY
3.1 Energy
The word energy derives from the Greek ἐνέργεια energeia, which possibly
appears for the first time in the work of Aristotle in the 4th century BCE.
Energy is defined as the ability to do work.
In the context of chemistry, energy is an attribute of a substance as a consequence of its atomic,
molecular or aggregate structure.
In biology, energy is an attribute of all biological systems from the biosphere to the smallest
living organism.
Internal energy is the sum of all microscopic forms of energy of a system.
Heat, a form of energy, is partly potential energy and partly kinetic energy. In the context of
physical sciences, several forms of energy have been defined. These include
Chemical energy
Electric energy
Radiant energy, the energy of electromagnetic
radiation
Nuclear energy
Magnetic energy
Elastic energy
Sound energy Fig: 3.1(a) THERMAL ENERGY
Thermal energy
Mechanical energy
Luminous energy
Mass (E=mc²)
These forms of energy may be divided into two main groups; kinetic
energy and potential energy. Other familiar types of energy are a varying mix of both
potential and kinetic energy, Energy may be transformed between different forms at
various efficiencies.
3.1.1Unit of Measure:
The energy is a scalar physical quantity. Joule is the (SI) unit of
measurement for energy. It is a derived unit of energy, work, or amount of heat. It is equal to the
energy expended (or work done) in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one
meter. However energy is also expressed in many other units such as ergs, calories, British
Thermal Units, kilowatt-hours and kilocalories for instance. There is always a conversion factor
for these to the SI unit; for instance; one kWh is equivalent to 3.6 million joules.
3.2 Exergy:
The term availability was made popular in the united states by the M.I.T.
school of engineering the 1940’s. Today, an equivalent term, exergy, introduced in Europe in the
1950’s, has found global acceptance partly because it is shorter, it rhymes with energy and
entropy, and it can be adapted without requiring translation. In this text the preferred term is
exergy. Exergy is now recognized that it is an extremely fruitful theory. Exergy accounting is the
only way to accurately calculate the thermodynamic losses of a given process and to
unambiguously define a thermodynamic efficiency expressing its level of perfection. It also
allows for the evaluation of the thermodynamic quality of an energy system when considering
energy policies and economics, independent of the size, complexity and the nature of the
phenomena being looked at. That is why we devote particular care to exergy theory and to its
generalization.
. The quantity exergy is defined as:
The amount of work which can be received from an energy carrier in a process that:
is reversible.
takes place in an open system with stationary flow.
exchanges heat only with the environment.
is in balance with the environment at the end of the process.
the end of the process to maximize the work output can be explained as follows: if the system
temperature at final state is greater than (or less than) the temperature of the environment it is
in, we can always produce additional work by running a heat engine between these two levels.
better characterization of the sources of internal losses, and therefore leads to better target
designs and retrofitted projects.
Exergy analysis is a tool for identifying the types, locations and
magnitudes of thermal losses. Identification and quantification of these losses allows us to
evaluate and improve the design of thermodynamic systems. Although the amount of energy
remains constant, our ability to use the energy decreases with time. In other words, the energy in
the system at the initial state has a greater potential for use than at the final state. Due to the
irreversibility’s occurring during this process, the energy's potential for use or the system's
exergy is reduced. Exergy is defined as the maximum theoretical work obtainable as the system
interacts with its surroundings and comes to equilibrium. Once a system is in equilibrium with its
surroundings, it is not possible to use the energy within the system to produce work. At this
point, the exergy of the system has been completely destroyed. The state in which the system is
in equilibrium with its surroundings is known as the dead state.
Recall that the exergy of a system is maximum amount of work that can
be obtained from a system. In order to quantify the exergy of a system, we must specify both the
system and the surroundings. The exergy reference environment is used to standardize the
quantification of exergy. The exergy reference environment or simply the environment is
assumed to be a large, simple compressible system. The temperature of the environment is
assumed to be uniform at to, and the pressure is assumed to be uniform at Po. Also, it is assumed
that the intensive properties of the environment are not significantly changed by any process.
Therefore, the environment is modeled as a thermal reservoir at To.
The work produced by a system cannot all be used for the desired
purpose. For example, when the gas in the piston cylinder device is expanding, some of the work
is required to compress the environment. We define environment work as the work done on or by
the environment. Since the environment is a simple compressible system and the pressure of the
environment is constant.
In thermodynamics, the exergy of a system is the maximum useful
work possible during a process that brings the system into equilibrium with a heat reservoir.
When the surroundings are the reservoir, exergy is the potential of a system to cause a change as
it achieves equilibrium with its environment. Exergy is the energy that is available to be used.
After the system and surroundings reach equilibrium, the exergy is zero. Energy is never
destroyed during a process; it changes from one form to another (see First Law of
Thermodynamics). In contrast, exergy accounts for the irreversibility of a process due to increase
in entropy (see Second Law of Thermodynamics). Exergy is always destroyed when a process
involves a temperature change. This destruction is proportional to the entropy increase of the
system together with its surroundings. The destroyed exergy has been called anergy For an
isothermal process, exergy and energy are interchangeable terms, and there is no anergy.
Exergy analysis is performed in the field of industrial ecology to use
energy more efficiently. The term was coined by Zoran Rant in 1956, but the concept was
developed by J. Willard Gibbs in 1873. Ecologists and design engineers often choose a reference
state for the reservoir that may be different from the actual surroundings of the system. Exergy is
a combination property of a system and its environment because unlike energy it depends on the
state of both the system and environment. The exergy of a system in equilibrium with the
environment is zero. Exergy is neither a thermodynamic property of matter nor a thermodynamic
potential of a system.
Exergy and energy both have units of joules. The Internal Energy of a
system is always measured from a fixed reference state and is therefore always a state function.
Some authors define the exergy of the system to be changed when the environment changes, in
which case it is not a state function. Other writers prefer a slightly alternate definition of the
available energy or exergy of a system where the environment is firmly defined, as an
unchangeable absolute reference state, and in this alternate definition exergy becomes a property
of the state of the system alone. The term exergy is also used, by analogy with its physical
definition, in information theory related to reversible computing. Exergy is also synonymous
with: availability, available energy, exergic energy, essergy (considered archaic), utilizable
energy, available useful work, maximum (or minimum) work, maximum (or minimum) work
content, reversible work, and ideal work.
The exergy destruction of a cycle is the sum of the exergy destruction
of the processes that compose that cycle. The exergy destruction of a cycle can also be
determined without tracing the individual processed by considering the entire cycle as a single
process and using one of the exergy destruction equations. ---Information found in
thermodynamics by Yunus A. Cengel
Exergy output will not balance the exergy input for real processes
since a part of the exergy input is always destroyed according to the Second Law of
Thermodynamics for real processes. After the input and output are completed, the engineer will
often want to select the most efficient process. An energy efficiency or first law efficiency will
determine the most efficient process based on wasting as little energy as possible relative to
energy inputs. An exergy efficiency or second-law efficiency will determine the most efficient
process based on wasting and destroying as little available work as possible from a given input
of available work. Design engineers have recognized that a higher exergy efficiency involves
building a more expensive plant, and a balance between capital investment and operating
efficiency must be determined in the context of economic competition.
3.3.2 Quality of energy types
The ratio of exergy to energy in a substance can be considered a
measure of energy quality. Forms of energy such as macroscopic kinetic energy, electrical
energy, and chemical Gibbs free energy are 100% recoverable as work, and therefore have an
exergy equal to their energy. However, forms of energy such as radiation and thermal energy can
not be converted completely to work, and have exergy content less than their energy content. The
exact proportion of exergy in a substance depends on the amount of entropy relative to the
surrounding environment as determined by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Exergy is
useful when measuring the efficiency of an energy conversion process. The exergetic, or
2nd Law, efficiency is a ratio of the exergy output divided by the exergy input. This formulation
takes into account the quality of the energy, often offering a more accurate and useful analysis
than efficiency estimates only using the First Law of Thermodynamics.
Work can be extracted also from bodies colder than the
surroundings. When the flow of energy is coming into the body, work is performed by this
energy obtained from the large reservoir, the surrounding. A quantitative treatment of the notion
of energy quality rests on the definition of energy. According to the standard definition, Energy
is a measure of the ability to do work. Work can involve the movement of a mass by a force that
results from a transformation of energy. If there is an energy transformation, the second principle
of energy flow transformations says that this process must involve the dissipation of some energy
as heat. Measuring the amount of heat released is one way of quantifying the energy, or ability to
do work and apply a force over a distance.
denoted by subscript 0, such as pressure P0 and temperature T0. At the dead state: A system is at
the same temperature and pressure of its surroundings. It has no kinetic or potential energy
relative to its surroundings. It does not react with the surroundings. There are no unbalanced
magnetic, electrical and surface tension effects between the system and its surroundings.
For example, gas expands in a cylinder to do work on its surroundings. If
the pressure in the cylinder reaches the pressure in its surroundings, no more work can be done
by the cylinder. That means the cylinder reaches its dead state, and the work done by this
cylinder reaches its maximum value. Therefore, a system will deliver the maximum possible
work if it undergoes a reversible process from the specified initial state to its dead state. This
work represents the useful work potential of the system at the specified initial state and is called
exergy of the specified initial state.
3.4.1 REVERSIBLE WORK
Wrev (reversible work): the maximum amount of useful work that
can be produced (or the minimum work that needs to be supplied) as a system undergoes a
process between the specified initial and final states. This is the useful work output obtained,
when the process between the initial and final states is executed in a totally reversible
manner. When the final state is the dead state, the reversible work equals exergy.
3.4.2 IRREVERSIBLE WORK
Irreversible work or Irreversibility is defined as the difference
between the reversible work and the useful work. It is expressed as
I = Wrev,out - Wu, out or I = Wu, in - Wrev,in
Where Wrev is the reversible work and Wu is the useful work. The
definitions of reversible work and the usefully work are given below. When gas expands in a
cylinder to do work, it needs to expend some work on pushing the atmospheric air out of the
way. This part of work cannot be recovered and utilized, and is called surrounding work, which
is the work done by or against the surroundings during a process.
Reversible work is defined as the maximum amount of useful work that
can be produced (or the minimum work consumed) as a system undergoes a process between the
specified initial and final states. A system can contain energy in numerous forms such as kinetic
energy, potential energy, internal energy, flow work and enthalpy.
Exergy is the useful work potential of energy, and the exergy of a system is
the sum of the exergies of different forms of energy it contains.
3.5 THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, In all energy
transformations, energy quality will be consumed .These are Natural Laws, i.e. they are
fundamental and cannot be negotiated. On the other hand, if somebody find out something that
might falsify them, they will cease to be fundamental.
The First Law tells us that energy can be neither created nor
destroyed.(The production or consumption of energy is impossible. Anyone who speaks about
'energy production’ or 'energy consumption' is probably ignorant about the First Law). This
means that the amount of energy in the universe is constant. So, the First Law tells us something
about the state of the universe and all processes in it.
The Second Law tells us that the quality of a particular amount of
energy i.e. the amount of work, or action, that it can do, diminishes for each time this energy is
used. This is true for all instances of energy use, physical, metabolic, interactive, and so on.
This means that the quality of energy in the universe as a whole, is constantly diminishing. All
real processes are irreversible, since the quality of the energy driving them is lowered for all
times.
Thus, the Second Law tells us about the direction of the universe and all
processes, namely towards a decreasing exergy content of the universe. Processes that follow this
general principle will be preferred. Some people seem to think that this law should be revoked...
But perhaps they are misled by their notion of entropy. The usable energy in a system is called
exergy, and can be measured as the total of the free energies in the system. Unlike energy,
exergy can be consumed.
CHAPTER-4
4.0 DATA COLLECTION
The following data is collected for calculation of heat rate and
performance of steam turbine and heat balance of regenerative cycles.
o
1 HPH 5 inlet feed water C 168 170.6 167.4 169.6 162.8
3 temperature
o
1 HPH 6 outlet feed water C 244.8 233.1 232.8 235.3 234.8
4 temperature
o
1 HPH 6 inlet feed water C 201.2 200.1 196.7 200.6 194.6
5 temperature
1 HPH 6 inlet feed water pressure Kg/c 185.4 181.3 181.6 185.8 181.4
6 m2 2
1 HPH 6 outlet feed water pressure Kg/c 184.5 185.1 177.8 184.5 180.2
7 m2 6
o
1 Economizer inlet feed water C 244.8 233.1 233.3 233.9 233.5
8 temp(L/R)
o
1 CW temp at condenser I/L- C 27/36 29/39 29.2/38. 31.1/4 32/39.
9 O/L(L/R) 9 0 4
o
2 Steam temperature at ejector C 200 199.8 198.7 266.7 217
6 nozzle
CHAPTER-5
5.0 COMPONENTS ON WHICH ANALYSIS IS MADE
5.1 Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The
pressure vessel in a boiler is usually made of steel (or alloy steel), or historically of wrought iron.
Stainless steel is virtually prohibited (by the ASME Boiler Code) for use in wetted parts of
modern boilers, but is used often in super-heater sections that will not be exposed to liquid boiler
water. The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood, coal,
oil, or natural gas. Electric steam boilers use resistance- or immersion-type heating elements.
Nuclear fission is also used as a heat source for generating steam, either directly (BWR) or, in
most cases, in specialized heat exchangers called "steam generators" (PWR). Heat recovery
steam generators (HRSGs) use the heat rejected from other processes such as gas turbines.
all fuels.
Outlet conditions
Fig:5.2.1 FIRE TUBE BOILER
5.4 CONDENSER
When the steam has completed its work in the turbine and before it can
be returned to the boiler, it must be changed back into water. This is the duty the condenser must
perform as efficiency as possible and, for this reason, it is the largest and most important of the
heat exchangers in a power station. The heat in the exhaust steam cannot be converted into
mechanical energy and must be transferred from the steam to the cooling water. The way in
which the condenser carries describe in this lesson.
boiling point and for this purpose the condenser can be employed. The make-up water is
introduced into the condenser where it is brought to boiling point and the dissolved oxygen
released ready for removal together with any air and other gases which may be in the condenser.
5.5 Types of condensers:
Steam can be condensate by using either the jet or the surface type of condenser.
1. Jet condenser
2. Surface condenser
5.5.1 Jet condenser:
The simplest method is to mix the
steam with a spray of water in a closed vessel. The water
will remove the heat from the steam by direct contact and
the steam will condense. This method is used in the jet
condenser which is illustrated in figure.
In a power station the condensate is
returned to the boiler and must be absolute pure. If a jet
condenser were used the cooling water, which is mixed
with the condensate would have to be equally pure.
Because very large quantities of cooling water required,
this type of Condenser is not a practical proposition for
power plant. It was, however, the first type of condenser
ever to be fitted to a steam turbine. A new development for
jet type condenser is in conjunction with the dry cooling Fig:5.5.1 Jet condenser
tower installation at rudely power station, where the
cooling tower becomes a tube heat exchanger instead
of the condenser.
5.5.2 Surface condenser:
Where water is available in
large quantities it is usually very impure, for example,
sea water and river water, but such impurities have
little effect upon its cooling properties.
This suggests a condenser with two entirely separate water system, steam
being condensed on the outside of surface which is kept cool by an abundant supply of water
flowing on the inside. Such an arrangement is known as a surface condenser and the cooling
surface consist of small diameter tubes as shown in figure. In this case the purity of the cooling
water does not matter because apart from any leakages which may occur it is never in contact
with the condensate.
5.6 COOLING TOWER
5.6.1 Cooling water:
When power station are built beside river which cannot supply
sufficient water to condense the turbine exhaust steam by using a once through system, cooling
tower are used in conjunction with a closed circuit system to cool the circulating water.
5.6.2 Principles of operation:
Cooling water is pumped from
the turbine condenser by the tower pump to the
cooling tower. Inside the tower the water passes
through sprinklers, and sprays out in fine drops. The
water than fall as droplets, passing over pickings
where it is made to present a greater surface area to the
cooling air. The water then falls into the cooling tower
pond. Air is drawn in near the bottom of the tower,
either by natural draught or by a fan. The air passes up
the tower and cools the water as it does so. Any water
droplets which have been carried up by the air are Fig: 5.6.2 Cooling water operation
removed by the water droplet eliminator screen.
5.6.3 The theory of cooling:
As a water droplet fall through the tower, air flows past it and cooling
takes place in three ways:
A small proportion of heat is lost from the droplet by radiation of heat from its
surface.
delivered through the feed heating system to the boiler. As you will appreciate, all the water used
is of condensate quality.
5.8 Condensate Extraction Pump
The condensate water is drawn from the condenser by the extraction pump
and sent to the low pressure feed heaters. This is how we begin to get the water back to the boiler
so that the whole process can start again. The pump which removes the water from the hot-well,
called condensate at this point, is the pump you are referring to. It is a high volume, low pressure
pump and it may have one or more stages. It only raises the pressure enough to get the water out
of the condenser and into the system which pipes it to the feed pump.
5.9 Ejectors
Operation of Ejectors is based upon Bernoulli’s Principle which states: -
‘When the speed of a fluid increases its pressure decreases and vice versa’. The principle is
demonstrated by air moving over the top of a piece of paper is moving quicker than the air
underneath. Thus, the local pressure on the top surface of the paper is less than on the underside.
The resulting pressure imbalance causes the paper to rise. An ejector or steam ejector, is a type
of pump that uses the Venturi effect of a converging-diverging nozzle to convert the pressure
energy of a motive fluid to velocity energy which creates a low pressure zone that draws in and
entrains a suction fluid. After passing through the throat of the injector, the mixed fluid expands
and the velocity is reduced which results in recompressing the mixed fluids by converting
velocity energy back into pressure energy. The motive fluid may be a liquid, steam or any other
gas. The entrained suction fluid may be a gas, a liquid, slurry, or a dust-laden gas stream. The
adjacent diagram depicts a typical modern ejector. It consists of a motive fluid inlet nozzle and a
converging-diverging outlet nozzle. Water, air, steam, or any other fluid at high pressure
provides the motive force at the inlet.
The Venturi effect, a particular case of Bernoulli's principle, applies to the
operation of this device. Fluid under high pressure is converted into a high-velocity jet at the
throat of the convergent-divergent nozzle which creates a low pressure at that point. The low
pressure draws the suction fluid into the convergent-divergent nozzle where it mixes with the
motive fluid.
The seals around the rotating shaft on steam turbines are many in several
ways but all leak a small amount of steam to the atmosphere. To capture this steam, many of the
seals have small condensers to capture this steam. mall Inlet Pressure 18.63bar Temperature 320K
heat exchanger used to condense the steam that leaks past
the first section of seals on
the shaft of a steam turbine. Specifically, if the turbine
exhausts into a vacuum system, it is necessary to inject
Outlet Pressure 17.65 bar Temperature
sealing steam into the seals in order to keep the low
325K
pressure end of the turbine from drawing in atmospheric
air. Fig: 5.9(a) Ejector Line diagram
This sealing steam
from the low pressure end and the normal leakage
from the high pressure end would tend to leak out and
blow toward the bearing housing. In order to reduce
the chance of this leakage causing an accumulation of
water in the lube oil system, we use a gland steam
condenser to draw a very slight vacuum (typically 2 or
3 in-Hg) at the outer section of the shaft seals. The
gland condenser uses cooling water to condense this Fig: 5.9(b) Ejectors
steam to water which is usually lost to sewer.
5.10 Feed water heater
Feed water heaters are used within a power plants thermal cycle to
improve overall efficiency. The number and placement of feed water heaters are determined
during the original plant design and are highly integrated with the overall performance of the
steam turbine. Feed water heaters preheat the boiler feed water prior to it entering the boiler for
steam generation. The heat used to increase the feed water temperature comes directly from the
thermal cycle, as steam extracted from various turbine sections. The feed water heaters in a
power plant are either LP or HP shell and tube heat exchangers. From an efficiency standpoint,
the primary means of improving the operation of such heat exchangers is to maintain their
operational effectiveness. Feed water heating surface could be added to improve efficiency.
However, the costs associated with either increasing the heat transfer surfaces of existing heaters,
or adding additional heaters for efficiency purposes only, is prohibitive due to the small
incremental reductions in heat rate that would be obtained.
5.10.1 Low Pressure Feed Heaters
Feed-water from the condensate extraction pumps passes through five
low pressure feed heaters. Steam is used to heat the feed-water. After the fifth feed-heater, the
feed-water is at around 160°C. A feed-water heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat
water delivered to a steam generating boiler In a steam power plant, feed-water heaters allow
the feed-water to be brought up to the saturation temperature very gradually.
These feed heaters are increasing the water temperature before this
water returns to the boiler. Low Pressure Heater: A heater located between the condensate pump
and either the boiler feed pump . It normally extracts steam from the low pressure turbine. High
Pressure Heater: A heater located downstream of the boiler feed pump. Typically, the tube side
design pressure is at least 100 kg/cm2, and the steam source is the high pressure turbine.
The heating process by means of extraction steam is referred to as
being regenerative. The feed- heaters are an integral portion of the
power plant thermodynamic cycle. Normally, there are multiple
stages of feed-water heating. Each stage corresponds to a turbine
extraction point. These extraction points occur at various stages of
the expansion of steam through the turbines. The presence of the
heaters in the cycle enhances the thermal efficiency of the power
plant; the greater the number of extraction stages, the lower the
amount of thermal energy required to generate a given amount of
electrical energy. Fig: 5.10.1 Low Pressure Feed Heaters
5.11 De-aerator
From the low pressure feed heaters the water passes through the de-
aerator before going to the high pressure feed heaters. A de-aerator is a device that is widely used
for the removal of oxygen and other dissolved gases from the feed water to steam-generating
boilers. In particular, dissolved oxygen in boiler feed waters will cause serious corrosion damage
in steam systems by attaching to the walls of metal piping and other metallic equipment and
forming oxides (rust). Dissolved carbon dioxide combines with water to form carbonic acid that
causes further corrosion. Most de-aerators are designed to remove oxygen down to levels of 7
ppb by weight (0.005 cm³/L) or less as well as essentially eliminating carbon. In the de-aerator,
the gases are removed from the water to limit corrosion or rusting of the steel tubing that carries
the water back to the boiler and lines the boiler.
5.12 Booster pump
A Booster pump is a machine which will increase the pressure of a
gas. It is similar to a gas compressor, but generally a simpler mechanism which often has only a
single stage of compression, and is used to increase pressure of an already pressurized gas.
Booster pumps are designed to smooth out water pressure in areas where the flows are highly
variable. Booster pumps are usually piston or plunger type compressors. A single-acting, single-
stage booster is the simplest configuration, and comprises a cylinder, designed to withstand the
operating pressures, with a piston which is driven back and forth inside the cylinder. The
cylinder head is fitted with supply and is charge ports, to which the supply and discharge hoses
or pipes are connected, with a non-return valve on each, constraining flow in one direction from
supply to discharge. When the booster is inactive, and the piston is stationary, gas will flow from
the inlet hose, through the inlet valve into the space between the cylinder head and the piston. If
the pressure in the outlet hose is lower, it will then flow out and to whatever the outlet hose is
connected to. This flow will stop when the pressure is equalized, taking valve opening pressures
into account.
5.13 Boiler Feed Pump
A boiler feed-water pump is a specific
type of pump used to pump feed water 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 Fig: 5.13(a) Boiler Feed Pump
centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.
The boiler feed pump pumps water into the boiler, overcoming the boiler
pressure of 160 bar to achieve it. The pump is driven by a steam turbine and runs at 7,500
revolutions per minute. The boiler feed pumps consume a
large fraction of the auxiliary power used internally within a
power plant. Boiler feed pumps pressurize and force feed
water through the HP feed water heaters and boiler. Boiler
feed pumps can require power in excess of 10 Mon a 500-
MW power plant, therefore the maintenance on these pumps Fig: 5.13(b) Boiler Feed Pump
should be rigorous to ensure both reliability and high-efficiency operation.
Boiler feed pumps wear over time and subsequently operate below the original design
efficiency. The most pragmatic remedy is to rebuild a boiler feed pump in an overhaul or
upgrade. The overhaul of the pumps is justifiable in the industry and can yield heat rate
reductions estimated to be in the of range 25-50 Btu/kWh.
5.14 Economizer
Flue gases leaving the super-heater and re-heater still contain useful
energy. Water from the high pressure feed heaters is heated in the economizer from 252°C to
292°C before it continues to the steam drum. Having given up its last heat in the boiler, the flue
gases move on to the air heater. The economizer makes use of the heat energy that is still in the
flue gas to increase the temperature of the feed water further before it goes to the steam drum. In
boilers, economizers are heat exchange devices that heat fluids, usually water, up to but not
normally beyond the boiling point of that fluid. Economizers are so named because they make
use of the enthalpy in fluid streams that are hot, but not hot enough to be used in a boiler, thereby
recovering more useful enthalpy and improving the boiler's efficiency. They are a device fitted to
a boiler which saves energy by using the exhaust gases from the boiler to preheat the cold water
used to fill it.
An economizer is employed to utilize the waste heat generated from the
combustion process to improve overall efficiency in the boiler. Flue gas exiting the combustion
chamber is still very hot and can be used as a pre- heater for the feed water. The economizer used
for these boilers is a horizontal counter current shell and tube heat exchanger. Feed water enters
finned tubes while hot flue gases pass over the outside. This allows for the recovery of energy
which would otherwise be wasted.
5.15 ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS
5.15.1 Introduction to ESP
A device which separates particles from a gas stream by passing the carrier
gas between pairs of electrodes across which a unidirectional, high-voltage potential is placed.
The particles are charged before passing through the field and migrate to an oppositely charged
electrode. These devices are very efficient collectors of small particles, and their use in removing
particles from power plant plumes and in other industrial applications are widespread. An
electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a particle control device that uses electrical forces to move the
particles out of the flowing gas stream and onto collector plates. The particles are given an
electrical charge by forcing them to pass through a corona, a region in which gaseous ions flow.
The electrical field that forces the charged particles to the walls comes from
electrodes maintained at high voltage in the center of the flow lane. Once the particles are
collected on the plates, they must be removed from the plates without re entraining them into the
gas stream. This is usually accomplished by knocking them loose from the plates, allowing the
collected layer of particles to slide down into a hopper from which they are evacuated. Some
precipitators remove the particles by intermittent or continuous washing with water.
steam or from any impact of the steam jet. The blades are designed in such a way, that the steam
will guide on and off the blade without any tendency to strike it.
As the steam moves over the blade, its direction is continuously changing and centrifugal
pressure exerted as the result is normal to the blade surface at all points. The total motive force
acting on the blades is thus the resultant of all the centrifugal forces plus change of momentum.
This causes the rotational motion of blades.