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and temperature (FPT) gradients with-
N
By S. C. Gülen, Bechtel, Principal Engineer such as terminal attemperators and
owadays all major Alas, modern gas turbine based com- cascaded steam bypass as well as mate-
gas turbine OEMs bined cycle (GTCC) systems comprise rial selection. As a result, in terms of
promote their steel behemoths weighing tens of dynamic response to transient events,
products with an thousands of pounds and operate at the difference between a modern
emphasis on “flex- extremely high pressures and tempera- GTCC and its forerunners is as pro-
ibility” in addition to output and effi- tures while connected to each other via nounced as that between cars with car-
ciency. The most advertised flexibility a maze of pipes and valves. This com- bureted vis-à-vis fuel-injected engines.
feature is the fast start capability of plex architecture presents formidable The goal of this article is to provide
advanced F, G or H class machines in challenges to designers and operators the reader with relevant and easy-to-
simple and combined cycle modes. alike to handle major operational use technical information (in the form
120
Start Command to FSFL: 40 minutes
18 minutes (Fast Start)
6 8 6 8 8
100
C 8
Fly”
Conventional
e
F
ire on th
Fast
er minute)
80
)
)
inute
inute
er m
g (20+% p
8% p
4 – Ignition Speed
n
60
CI Preco
g (~
5 – GT Fire + Warmup
g (~
Fast Loadin
adin
7 – Synchronization
redit + L
al Lo
al Lo
40
Norm
Purge C
2 3
20
5
0 1 4 5 7
0 GT Load Hold for ST Temp. Matching
(Conventional Start)
0 1 7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Minutes
Typical gas turbine startup diagram (conventional and fast versions). Conventional start with GT hold can take up to 50 minutes to reach MECL.
Purge credit shaves off 12 minutes of that time. Eliminating GT hold saves another 15+ minutes. With fast start feature MECL point is passed in less
than 10 minutes.
40 www.power-eng.com
of simple charts, basic equations and
Steam Turbine Cool-Down Profiles 2
representative physical quantities) to
form an informed opinion on avail- 1,200
able technologies and their purported HOT WARM COLD
capabilities and benefits along with
1,000
potential pitfalls and physical limits.
The focus is on GTCC startup, which
www.power-eng.com 41
for HRSG warming) the difference be- the rule is sequential combustion (reheat) low load with reduced exhaust en-
tween start command and ignition is GTs, which can turn off their second ergy (flow and temperature) to con-
20 minutes (see Figure 1). Thus, the combustors to operate at 20% or lower trol HRSG steam production rate and
same start time (40 minutes to be ex- load while emissions-compliant. steam temperatures (at the HP drum
act) can be quoted as 20 minutes by Two steps are instrumental in reduc- and HP superheater exit). Elimination
someone who sets t = 0 at ignition. ing GT start time: elimination of (i) of direct HRSG steam temperature
Today’s fast start GTs with features like HRSG purge sequence (by performing control via GT load and exhaust ener-
“purge credit”, LCI pre-connect and it right after shutdown in compliance gy is the “thermal decoupling”, which
“fire on the fly” can reach FSFL in 18 with NFPA® 85) and (ii) hold time at is the key enabler of fast start. It can be
8.3
0.100 6.7
12
designed to run near the lean limit for
low emissions. This is accomplished 10 Steam T = 700˚F
800˚ F
by piloted, multi-nozzle fuel injectors 8 900˚
900˚FF
via sequential activation of fuel flow
6
through individual nozzles (known as
staging) to prevent lean blow-out and 4
combustion dynamics while staying 2
within the narrow equivalence ratio
0
band to control NOx and CO emis- 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
sions. For older units MECL is 60%; Stem Flow, % of Rated
for modern units the low load limit Steam turbine roll times for varying steam flows and temperatures. (Steam pressure 120 psia,
is around 50% (maybe 40% for most rotational inertia 700 kp-ft2, rated IP turbine inlet flow 681.5 kpph.)
advanced systems). The exception to
42 www.power-eng.com
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BRAND COMPANIES:
lk
Surfac
Bu
Temperatur, ˚F
Steam Flow
d
ST Spee
perators (TA). Steam generation and
n.
mi
temperature-pressure ramp rates in HP T
40
78
drum are dictated by GT exhaust en- steam
τ=
surface
ergy whereas final steam temperature in.
control is accomplished by TAs. Until 23 5m mean
center
τ=
Sur
Max. σ
200 Rotor 20
fac
steam temperatures reach acceptable
Temperature
eS
levels for admission into the ST, steam r 10
100
tres
is bypassed via a route including the
s
reheat superheater so that the latter is
70 80 90 120
pressurized and “wet” (i.e., cooled by
Time, minutes
steam flow obviating the need for ex-
Typical ST roll via IP steam admission and the ensuing warm-up period [6]. Representative of
pensive alloys). a single-shaft GTCC cold start (total three hours). Note how the quasi-stationary Phase II is
Steam FPT acceptable for admission preceded by a short non-stationary period.
into the ST is dictated by metal tem-
peratures (primarily valves, casings or
shells and the rotor). The critical com-
to start maintenance as soon as pos- with a characteristic cooling time con-
ponent is the rotor, whose temperature
sible to minimize the downtime). The stant, tc, as a function of the ambient
cannot be measured directly and in- natural cooling time depicted in Figure temperature, Tamb, and the starting
ferred by proxies (e.g., HP and IP inner
2 is represented by the exponential de- value (denoted by subscript 0). This
bowl). ST metal temperature, Tm, is a
cay law temperature is the main GTCC startup
direct function of unit downtime and classification gauge instead of widely
ambient temperature as shown in Fig- Eq. 1 used but fuzzy terms such as “hot” or
ure 2 (unless forced cooling is applied “warm”, whose definitions vary from
one source to another.
Component Tm and, more precisely,
Representative values of major parameters characterizing its variation in a metal structure across
the transient heat transfer during steam turbine warm-up 2 a characteristic dimension, L , (e.g., di-
for typical steam flow, pressure and temperatures. c
ameter of ST rotor – 20-25 in. for mod-
m/mo P T h Bi ern GTCC units) along a characteristic
δ τ
dimension, x, is the key determinant
[-] psia F Btu/h-ft2-F [-] ft2/h min of thermal stress via the following for-
1.0 120 700 116 7 0.26 37 mula:
1.0 120 1,050 100 6 0.21 54 Eq. 2
1.0 1,200 700 958 56 5 where E’ = E / (1-n). For the ST rotor,
1.0 1,200 1,050 701 41 8 DTm in Eq. 2 is the difference between
0.2 120 700 32 2 135 rotor surface or bore and mean body
(bulk) temperatures for surface and
0.2 120 1,050 28 2 196
bore stresses, respectively. For a given
0.2 1,200 700 264 15 16 steam temperature, Tstm, bulk rotor
0.2 1,200 1,050 193 11 28 body Tm varies according to the expo-
nential decay law
Source:
44 www.power-eng.com
HITACHI INTRODUCES
NEW COMBUSTION TURBINE TECHNOLOGY
12.5 min.
n.
si/ .
IP Drum
0 p min
mi
Increa 15 min.
~ 5 ˚F/
Eq. 5 sing τ
(< -15
20 min. LP Drum
10
This equation introduces the di-
mensionless Biot number, Bi = h·L c/k,
which is a relative measure of the TIME
Representative of a single-shaft GTCC cold start (total time of about three hours).
uniformity of temperature gradi-
ents inside a heated or cooled body.
46 www.power-eng.com
When things heat
(which is not a perfect cylinder after all). Similarly, Eq. 6
describes Phase II via its simplified form given by up, call Aggreko.
Eq.
8
where fF is the form factor (0.125 for a cylinder [4]). Equa- Aggreko Cooling Tower Services (ACTS) is the
tion 8 gives the allowable Tstm ramp rate for a given maxi- world’s largest provider of rental cooling
mum allowable stress, smax , which is dependent on rotor ma- tower solutions. For over 20 years, we have
terial and typically lies in a range of 50-80 ksi. For the cited successfully helped customers solve their cooling
range, with the data in Table 2, Eq. 7 suggests that for low water limitations—under any circumstances.
HTC (~100 Btu/h-ft 2-F or less) steam-metal DT can range From the planning stages to the turnkey
from 200-300°F (high K T) to 500°F and higher (low K T). installation of convenient modular cooling
For high HTC (~ 650 Btu/h-ft 2-F), steam-metal DT can range towers, ACTS has the solutions to help you
from 100-200°F (high K T) to about 400°F (low K T). Simi- keep your cool, 24/7/365.
larly, using Eq. 8 with Table 2, it can be seen that allowable
values for dTstm/dt range from 3-6°F to 8-10°F. ACTS provides proven rental cooling tower
The allowable stress is not a precisely defined material solutions to:
property. (For ferritic steels used in ST rotor construction, Overcome thermal discharge
0.2% tensile yield strength lies between 70-90 ksi for tem- temperature limitations
peratures 600-1,000°F.) It is derived from the S-N curves re-
Minimize post-disaster downtime
lating total strain to cycles to failure, which gives the fatigue
life of the material in question (for LCF life of CrMoV alloy Maintain cooling capacity during partial
or complete tower repair
see Figure 3). Based on the relationship between stress and
strain, e, via the modulus of elasticity, σ = E´ • ε, this curve is Lower cooling water temperatures and
used to determine smax for a defined fatigue life. In practice, reduce turbine back-pressure
the relationship between s and DT allows the translation Add cooling water capacity with no
of the S-N curve into Cyclic Life Ependiture (CLE) curves, capital commitment
which determine the allowable Tstm ramp rates (Figure 3).
Contact Aggreko today for all your rental
Depending on the rotor material, size and geometry and its
cooling tower needs.
temperature at start initiation, the range is limited to about
5 to 10°F per minute except for very hot “restarts” after a
few hours of downtime.
Steam turbines with cascaded steam bypass are typically 866.597.8783
started by admitting steam from the reheat superheater into www.coolingtowers.com
the IP section. Admission steam FPT should be sufficient
to overcome the rotational inertia (in lb-ft 2) of the entire
ST and its generator, Irot, and accelerate it from TG speed (a
few rpm) to FSNL (3,000 or 3,600 rpm). Based on avail-
able steam FPT and initial IP rotor temperature, using the
relationship between ST power generation (expansion from
IP inlet to the condenser), rotor torque and rate of change
in angular speed, w, the roll time can be estimated as 2 to
15 minutes (see Figure 4) via
Eq. 9
Performance Certified
by Cooling Technology
where N is the rotor speed (rpm) and the argument of Institute
the integral on the RHS of Eq. 9 is the power (in Btu/s) gen-
erated by steam expanding between IP turbine inlet and
condenser [6].
p Rate
damage due to cycling is the cylindri- re Ram 12
peratu
HR
Tem
Steam
SG
10
rm
rpm/min, ˚F/min
wall thickness). The limiting thermal 150
up
48 www.power-eng.com
to enable GT starts with no low-load roughly 30 minutes from a standstill 2.
Akhtar, Z., 2006,”Design Features for
hold. Beyond about three days, how- (to be defined precisely) to combined Minimizing Start-Up Time in Combined
ever, this is increasingly impractical cycle full load for a "hot" start (e.g., fol- Cycle Plants,” POWER-GEN Europe 2006,
and even in plants designed for fast lowing an overnight shutdown). This Köln, Germany.
starts limited duration GT holds are is generally compared to a conven- 3. Ugolini, D.J., Bauerschmidt, J.R., 2006,
needed to accomplish HP drum warm- tional hot start, which takes around “Optimization of Start-Up Times for Com-
up in two steps (somewhat similar to one hour (see Figure 1). The under- bined Cycle Power Plants,” Electric Power
that shown in Figure 6). lying physics discussed herein briefly Conference 2006, Atlanta, GA.
Combining the elements discussed and summarized in Figure 7 hopefully 4. VGB PowerTech Guideline, 1990, “Ther-
above and illustrated by the ST roll makes it clear that this particular case mal Behaviour of Steam Turbines, Re-
example in Figure 5, a representative is only one single point in a continuum vised 2nd Ed.,” VGB-R105e, VGB Pow-
ST start curve can be established as a of start scenarios driven mainly by the erTech Service GmbH, Essen, Germany.
function of the key controlling param- downtime preceding the pushing of 5. Viswanathan, R., 1989, “Damage Mecha-
eter, namely, ST metal temperature at the start button. nisms and Life Assessment of High-Tem-
the startup initiation (Figure 7). Ap- perature Components,” ASM Internation-
propriate GT start time per Figure 1 References al, Metals Park, OH, USA.
(from start command to the point 1. Chrusciel, A., Zachary, J., Keith, S., 2001, 6. Gülen, S.C., Kim, K., 2013, “Gas Turbine
when ST roll begins) should be added “Challenges in the Design of High Load Combined Cycle Dynamic Simulation:
to that for total GTCC start time (e.g., Cycling Operation for Combined Cycle A Physics Based Simple Approach,”
18 minutes for the fast start). The four- Power Plants,” POWER-GEN International GT2013-94584, ASME Turbo Expo, June
minute mile of fast start capability is 2001, Las Vegas, NV. 3-7, 2013, San Antonio, TX, USA.
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