THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 89-GT-245

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Copyright © 1989 by ASME

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Mechanical and Process Design of the Flevo Power
Station Conversion Project
J. FEENSTRA, EPON, the Netherlands
P. KAMMINGA, Thomassen International, the Netherlands

In the Netherlands the price of natural

gas is linked to that of oil. That means
ABSTRACT
fluctuations in the cost of electricity are
caused by changes in the oil price and in
EPON operates a number of power stations
the rate of exchange of the U.S. dollar.
in the north of the Netherlands. At some of
To stabilize this vulnerable situation the
these the forced-draught-fans have been
coal percentage was increased and studies
replaced by gas turbines. Unit 3 of Flevo
were initiated to improve the efficiency of
Power Station was the latest repowering
existing oil and gas fired power plants.
project in the Netherlands.

This paper gives a description of the The original studies to repower steam
most important points of the mechanical, and power plants with gas turbines indicated a
process design of the combined cycle unit high potential for improved efficiency. How-
and the influence of the gas turbine on the ever, all plans for conversion were later
starting procedure. disregarded because they were not econo-
mically feasible. The main reason for this
was the large overcapacity in generating
INTRODUCTION power, which would be substantially in-
creased if a large amount of gas turbine
The production of electricity in the power were added.
Netherlands is mainly based on fossil fuel
fired power plants. For example, in 1980, the production
capacity installed was 15,500 MW, the
highest load demand being 9,500 MW with a
The predominant factor determining the
potential of 800 MW of gas turbine power.
price of electricity is fuel cost. Table I
shows the percentages of fuel used over the
A few years later in the Netherlands
last decade along with the anticipated use
another concept was studied which was to
in the near future.
keep the total station output constant by
reducing the steam turbine output by the
Table 1: Fuels For Power Generation In The
same amount as the output of the gas turbine
Netherlands
being installed.
1. 976 198 1 1985 1.990_
This concept proved to he very success-
Coal 5% 14% 27% 42%
ful and as a result several utility
Oil 8% 41% 1% 2%
companies installed gas turbines. A total
Gas 78% 37% 64% 48%
amount of 850 MW of gas turbine power was
Uranium 9% 8% 8% 8%
ordered for efficiency improvement of 10
different power generating plants having a
total generating capacity of 3,800 NW.

Presented at the Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition—June 4-8, 1989—Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 C

The conversion of the EPON Unit 3 at air preheater.

Flevo Power Station, originally built in The simplified process scheme is given in
1974, into a combined cycle unit, is the Figure 1.
latest project of a very successful program
involving about 25% of the total installed

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generating capacity in the Netherlands.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE REPOWERING

MW
The most important requirements the
repowering project had to meet were:
- the maximum power of the unit had to
remain at the original level;
- the return on investment should not be
more than ten years;
- an optimum profitability; )ENSER
- a low NOx emission;
- the boiler was originally built as a dual
fuel unit (natural gas and heavy oil).
After the repowering the boiler had to
maintain the possibility of operating on
dual fuel (natural gas and heavy oil);
- the gas turbine fuel to be natural gas;
- the unit must have the possibility to be
able to operate when natural gas is not
available.
The last requirement needs an explanation. Figure 1: Flevo Power Station Unit 3 Before Repowering

In the Netherlands there are, in

principle, two kinds of gas deliveries, SELECTION OF THE GAS TURBINE
namely a fixed delivery, when the gas
delivery is guaranteed, and a non-fixed As a first selection 11 types of gas
delivery, when the gas delivery can be turbines with an output of approximately 100
stopped at low ambient temperatures. For the MW were chosen.
Flevo Power Station as well as for the other
Dutch repowering projects the fixed delivery After this first selection a second
was chosen for the gas turbine. selection was made with the following
criteria:
Since at the first repowering stations - a minimum exhaust flow to realize a
had their forced-draught-fans replaced by minimum unit power of 465 MW;
one or more gas turbines, it is not possible - a peak combustion air fan was not wanted,
for these units to operate without the because it would cause an efficiency
(natural gas fired) gas turbine. This makes reduction at high power;
the electricity production too dependent of - maximum output of the unit should not
the natural gas delivery. exceed approximately 500 MW;
- the exhaust flow was limited to avoid
For this reason the repowered unit 3 of bypassing of the boiler furnace and
Flevo power station was made capable of realizing an exhaust flow of the LP
operating without natural gas, for instance, turbine, smaller than the maximum capacity
in situations of calamities. The design of of the condenser;
the unit could meet this requirement in two
ways:
- the gas turbine should be capable of
- maintain the forced-draught-fans;
operating with a maximum pressure drop in
- order the gas turbine suitable for dual.
the exhaust of 8 kPa.
fuel (natural gas and distillate oil).
Stork Boilers advised EPON about this
selection. After this second selection,
The first alternative has a lower -
three gas turbine types remained: gas
investment cost but is, according to our turbines A, B and C, with performances as
experience, more vulnerable than the second, given in Table 2.
so we have chosen the dual fuel firing
system for the gas turbine. Table 2: Gas Turbine Performances, At The
Following Site Conditions:
DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIT BEFORE REPOWERING - ambient temperature : 228 K
- ambient pressure : 101.3 kPa
The original unit was a 465 MW conven- - pressure drop inlet : I kPa
tional steam power plant with a Babcock & - pressure drop exhaust : 8 kPa
Wilcox boiler. This boiler had natural circu- - rel. humidity : 60%
lation in the evaporator and a combustion - fuel: natural gas : 38000 kJ/kg (LHV)

2

Gas Turbine A B C
- power MW 108 98 86
- fuel flow kg/s 9.1 8.9 7.4
- exhaust flow kg/s 408 420 372
- exhaust temp. K 808 809 775
- efficiency % 31.0 28.8 30.3
With these three gas turbines Stork
Boilers made performance calculations using
the cycle calculation program "cycle Ill"
(1). The results are given in Figure 2.
thermal
effeciency (5)
(LH V)
200 300 400 500
Unit Load (MW)
Figure 2: Performance Of Three Alternative Gas Turbines
For The Repowering Of Flevo Power Station
These calculations lead to a provisional
choice for gas turbine A, the PG9141 (E) of
Thomassen International/General Electric.
After this provisional selection of the gas
turbine the process-engineering was concen-
trated on a number of specific items with
the purpose of getting better profitability:
- should we alter the heating surfaces of
the boiler?
- do we have to adapt the steam turbine?
- do we have to use a gas turbine
evaporator?
- is it possible to use a better gas
turbine?
These points are now developed.
3
H
ADAPTATION OF SUPERHEATER AND REHEATER
SURFACE
To achieve a maximum unit efficiency,
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the heating surface of the superheater and
reheater had to be enlarged. Enlarging of
the heating surface lead to a unit
efficiency increase of 0.25 percentage
point. A feasibility study concluded that it
i_s more profitable to choose the lower
efficiency, i.e. by not increasing the
heating surface of superheater and reheater.
ADAPTATION OF THE STEAM TURBINE
The maximum lip-turbine flow after
repowering of the unit is approximately 70%
of the design flow. For this reason an optimi-
zation study has been made with three alter-
natives:
- maintaining the original HP-turbine;
- reblading the HP-turbine;
- installing a new rotor for the HP-turbine.
Reblading the HP turbine gives a unit
efficiency increase of 0.4 percentage point.
Installing a new rotor gives an increase of
0.7 percentage point in comparison with the
original. HP-turbine.
Based on a feasibility study it was decided
to reblade the HP-turbine, i.e. fit new
rotor blades and new stator blades.
GAS TURBINE EVAPORATOR
The combustion air ducts of the original
unit, between the air heater and the burners
of the boiler, are designed for a
temperature lower than the exhaust
temperature of the gas turbine. By in-
stalling a heating surface just after the
exhaust of the gas turbine, the exhaust gas
can be cooled down to a temperature lower
than the designed temperature of the com-
bustion air ducts. Such a heating surface
can be incorporated in the boiler evaporator
circuit. In this case we called it a gas
turbine evaporator. The advantage of such an
evaporator is that we can maintain the
original combustion air ducts. An evaluation
of the gas turbine evaporator has given the
following advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages Of A Gas Turbine Eva orator_:
- the combustion air ducts can be main-
tained;
- a higher flexibility with regard to star-
ting the unit. Keeping the load of the
steam turbine at a constant level and
bringing the gas turbine from full speed
no load to full load the live steam
temperature and reheat steam temperature
are reduced. That means that we can
realize the live steam temperature and
reheat steam temperature (within a certain
range) by choosing the right gas turbine
loading.
 L

Disa dvant ages 0 f A Gas Turbine Evaporator:

the investment of the gas turbine The main features of the new turbine
evaporator; configuration consist of:
- application of a gas turbine evaporator
results in a decrease of roughly 0.3 per- - Improved material and aerodynamic shape of

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centage point of the units efficiency at the compressor inlet guide vanes,
60% load, because of the lower live steam resulting in an increase of airflow of 2%.
temperatures and reheat steam temperatures - The first stage bucket material was
in this range. changed to a General Electric developed
alloy GTD-111, which has increased
temperature capability compared to its
We can eliminate this disadvantage by predecessor IN738.
enlarging the heating surface of the super- - The first stage turbine nozzle was
heater and reheater but then we introduce equipped with an improved cooling design
another disadvantage, namely the which gives optimal performance.
investment of enlarging these. - Combustion liners of the latest design
have a thermal barrier coating.
- An improved exhaust diffuser design.
Based on this evaluation, EPON decided - A small increase in firing temperature of
to realize the repowering without a gas 10 ° C.
turbine evaporator.
Incorporating the new data in the
overall cycle calculation revealed an even
GAS TURBINE PG9161 (E) better performance, resulting in an improved
heat rate of the total power station of
During the evaluation phase of the 0.6%, and hence an improved economical
project an improved version of the PG9141 feasibility of the conversion program.
(E) gas turbine, the PG9161 (E), became
available and was used for the Flevo
Project. Based on good experience with the
60 Hz gas turbine MS7001E several design The gas turbine PG9161 (E) is shown in
improvements were made, giving an increase Figure 3.
in output of 4.4% and a decrease in heat
rate of 2.8%.

1612 0546 0801 1501 0703 0702 0705 0706 1503 1625
214 0701
0514 Ilil 502 1403 409
0513 1401
0811 0802 1302 0512
O2 /
A/// 1
1301 / 0803
1314
1319

131 3

II i.^

TJL:

IG-=— --1
1604 II 0901

H AIR
IN LET COMPRESSOR —a^s- COMBUSTION —TURBINE rls EXHAUST

ML NO. ML NA ME ML NO. ML NAME ML NO. ML NAME ML NO. ML NAME

0512-14 FUEL NOZZLE ASSEMBLY (QTY, 14) 0801 CASE ASSEMBLY. INLET a 1121 DETECTOR, FLAME 1402 NOZZLE ARRANGEMENT, TURBINE
0546 PICKUP ARRG.,MAGNETIC HP BEARING NO.1 1214 SPARK PLUG STAGE NO.2
0701 COMBUSTION CHAMBER 0802 CASE ASSEMBLY, FWD. COMPRESSOR 1301 VANE ARRANGEMENT, 1403 RING ASSEMBLY, SUPPORT STAGE
ARRANGEMENT (QTY. 14) 0803 CASE ASSEMBLY, AFT COMPRESSOR COMPRESSOR STATOR NO.1 TURBINE
0702 COMBUSTION TRANSITION 0805 CASE ASSEMBLY, COMPRESSOR 1302 ROTOR ASSEMBLY, COMPRESSOR 1409 NOZZLE ARRANGEMENT, TURBINE
PIECE ASSY (QTY 14) DISCHARGE B TURBINE STAGE NO.3
0703 COMBUSTION CAP a LINER 0811 VANE ARRANGEMENT, VARIABLE 1313 ACCESSORY GEAR COUPLING 1501 NO.1 BEARING ASSEMBLY
ASSEMBLY (QTY. 14) INLET GUIDE VANE 1314 ACCESSORY GEAR COUPLING 1502 NO.2 BEARING ASSEMBLY
0705 TURBINE CASE ARRANGEMENT 0901 TURBINE BASE GUARD 1503 NO.3 BEARING ASSEMBLY
0706 EXHAUST FRAME ASSEMBLY 1319 OUTPUT COUPLING, SOLID 1604 BOLT B DOWELING
1401 NOZZLE ARRANGEMENT, TURBINE 1612 INLET PLENUM ASSEMBLY
STAGE NO.1 1625 EXHAUST PLENUM ASSEMBLY

Figure 3: Gas turbine PG9161 (E)

4
 IS A GAS TURBINE STACK NECESSARY?
In Figure 4, the simplified situation
before repowering and two alternative
repowering models with and without gas
turbine stack are shown:
SITUATION BEFORE REPOWERING WITH REPOWERING WITHOUT
REPOWERING GASTURBINE STACK GASTURBINE STACK
150 kV 150 kV 150 kV
EXTRA
TRANS- TRANS- TRANS- TRANS-
FORMER FORMER FORMER 01 FORMER
STEAM STEAM STEAM
TURBINE TURBINE TURBINE
G G
GASTURBINE
STACK In order to obtain a slower and smooth
BOILER IBOIL BOILER
starting characteristic, several salient
features were added to the normal starting
® cycle:
FAN
G 1. Warming-up speed after firing is increased
CASTUR INE
Figure 4: The Simplified Situation Before
And After Repowering
Installing of a gas turbine stack has
several advantages:
- we can instantly produce electrical power
to the grid, so the gas turbine can
operate instantly at its best efficiency;
- the quantity of exhaust flow to the boiler
can be controlled, i.e. maximized;
- the above mentioned advantages result in
25% lower starting costs in comparison
with the situation without using a gas
turbine stack;
- the availability of the unit can be
increased because solo operation of the
gas turbine is possible.
A gas turbine stack has disadvantages
too:
- the investment of the gas turbine stack;
- in the situation of using a gas turbine
stack we cannot apply the electrical
connection of the gas turbine alternator
like we planned in the situation without
a gas turbine stack. So when we decide on
using turbine stack an extra transformer
is needed;
- flue gas leakages through the gas turbine
stack dampers;
- vulnerability of the gas turbine stack
dampers.
MW K 7.
} } I EXHAUST TEMP (K)
500 773 100
I.G.V.'S AT 57' I. G.V.'S AT 84'
400 673 80 379 MW
300 573
50 I.G.V.'S CLOSED 34'
RPM
} 200 473
3000 RPM GAS TURBINE
100 373 20
1500
0 0 273 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Figure 5: The Starting Sequence Of The Combined Cycle Unit
DESCRIPTION OF THE REPOWERING CONCEPT
In comparison with the conventional
cycle diagram of Figure 1 the most important
adaptions are:
- replacement of the forced draught fans by
the gas turbine;
- replacement of the air heater by new
economisers for cooling the flue gases
leaving the boiler economiser.
The simplified cycle-diagram is given in
Figure 6.
The repowering has resulted in the per-
formance given in Table 3.
Table 3: Performance At NCR Before And After
Repowering.
Before
Repowering
Gas Turbine
- type
- exhaust flow kg/s
- exhaust temperature K
- power MW
Boiler
- live steam flow kg/s
- steam temperature K
- steam pressure bar
Steam Turbine
- power output MW
Unit
- power unit MW
- efficiency %
Based on an optimization study EPON
decided not to install a gas turbine stack.
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STARTING PROCEDURE
The decision not to install a gas
turbine stack resulted in the need for an
integrated starting procedure for the total
plant: gas turbine, boiler and steam
turbine. A major concern was the capability
of the boiler to accept the exhaust
conditions of the gas turbine during a
normal starting procedure. The fact that a
gas turbine after firing accelerates to its
rated speed and exhaust flow in just 8
minutes, made modifications to the starting
sequence necessary.
from the normal 20 - 30% to 50% speed in
order to increase the initial mass flow and
reduce boiler purge time. The length of this
phase is determined by the boiler.
2. Turbine acceleration between 50% and 95% of
rated speed is fixed, because in this speed
range the compressor is moving through
regions with possible rotating stall which
could lead to compressor blade damage if
prolonged operation at such a condition
could take place.
In order to limit compressor flow, the com-
pressor inlet guide vanes remain in the
closed position (34 ° ).
A further possible measure to reduce
airflow, is to allow the inlet air heating
system for anti-icing to preheat the inlet
air to the compressor and hence create a
lower density resulting in a reduced mass
flow.
The turbine remains at this condition until
the boiler and steam turbine are warmed-up.
3. After synchronising, the turbine is loaded
to 2 MW, air preheating is shut down and the
compressor inlet guide vanes opened to the
minimum position (57 0 ) for loading the gas
turbine, representing approximately 80% of
rated air flow.
4. Turbine is loaded to base load, representing
100% air flow and a maximum position (84 ° )
of the compressor inlet guide vanes.
For details see Figure 5, depicting the
main parameters during the starting
sequence.
GASTURBINE
EXHAUST FLOW (7.)
SUPER-
HEATER
116 MW
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STEAM TURBINE LOAD (MW)
RE-
HEATER
GAS TURBINE LOAD (MW)
DEAE-
RATOR
CONDENSER
TIME (HOURS)
I.G.V. = INLET GUIDE VANE HIGH PRESSURE
ECONOMISER
LOW PRESSURE
ECONIMISER
Figure 6: Flevo Power Station Unit 3 After Repowering
NOX EMISSIONS
A very significant feature of repowering
a conventional boiler by a gas turbine is
the ability to reduce NOx emissions sub-
stantially.
The exhaust gases of the combustion
turbine have a reduced oxygen content and
contain the combustion products water and
carbon dioxide, which all contribute to a
lower flame temperature in the boiler
resulting in low NOx levels at full boiler
load. As the relative NOx emission level is
related to the total heat input into both
the gas turbine and the boiler, it is
obvious that the NOx level will decrease as
a function of boiler load, see Figure 7B.
This phenomenon can be explained by the
After fact that the combustion process in the
boiler adds a relatively small amount of NOx
Repowering
to the level generated by the gas turbine.
An additional advantage is the fact that
approximately 15% less fuel is burned to
generate the same amount of power, which
- PG9161 (E)
constitutes a direct decrease in NOx
410
-
emissions, on the base of mass flow. The
- 810
NOx-emissions expressed in kg/h are given in
- 116 Figure 7C.
From the same figure it can also be con-
cluded that by 1990 the expected NOx level
418 282
does not satisfy the allowable level
813 813
168 (emission limit) over the entire load range.
168
In the boiler load range of 20% to 35%
the environmental regulations are violated.
473 379 A means to reduce the NOx levels in this
load range can be achieved by changing the
load of the gas turbine and steam turbine.
Partload operation of the gas turbine has a
negative effect on the total cycle
473 495 efficiency, but provides a way to maintain
40.2 46.1 the NOx levels below the prescribed limit
because of the reduced gas turbine
emissions. In this load range we expect a
small number of operating hours because of
the low efficiency, see Figure 7A.
6
 in

Nett. Unit
Efficientcy (%) (LHV) As there is some uncertainty between the
46
ng guaranteed and expected NOx levels, the
following solutions were studied in case the
expected levels are not met:

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42
ring - steam injection into the gas turbine;

38 - dry low NOx combustors for the gas

turbine.
34
Steam injection will have a negative
30 effect on the total cycle efficiency but has
a lower investment than applying a dry low
26 NOx combustor.
400 500
—..
100 200 300
Nett.Unit Load (MW)
Figure 7A: Nett Unit Efficiency Before And After Repowering
The decision was made to make provisions
for an easy addition of steam injection at a
1 NOx/GJ
natural gas)
Before Repowering
later date in case the prescribed emission
level can not be met. This gives low risk
220 and saves a substantial amount of money
compared with the solution of installing a
200 dry low NOx combustion system, which has the
potential to reduce the NOx emission level
180 down to approximately 20%, compared with the
standard combustor. In case of more
160 Guaranteed
NOx Emissions
stringent requirements in the future, such a
140 Emission Limit
dry low NOx combustion system can be retro-
Flevo 3 fitted at that point of time.
120 by 01-01-1990
Expected NOx
100 Emissions
CONCLUSION
80

60
After completing several feasibility
studies on some systems of the combined
40 -------- t t
cycle unit, the repowering concept of Flevo
Power Station unit 3 has been optimized.
20 Gas Turbine Load:100% 100% 100% 1 After This combined cycle unit will be in
Boiler Load: 20% 60% 100% J Repowering operation in February 1989, after which the
0 actual efficiency will be determined. The
100 200 300 400 500 _i
calculated unit efficiency is given in
Nett.Unit Load (MW) Figure 7.
Figure 7B: NOx Emissions (gr NOx/GJ fuel) Before And After Repowering

r kg/h NOx
(natural gas) REFERENCES
1000
(1) Miedema, J.A.; Liefhebber, F. and Op den
900 ng Brouw, H. Computer Program Cycle III
Report EV-1158 (1980) and EV-1157 -2
800 (1986)
Delft University of Technology,
700 Laboratory for Thermal Power Engineering

600

500
, wering

400

300

200

100

0
100 200 300 400 500
MW
Figure 7C: NOx Emissions (kg/h NOx) Before And After Repowering