Energy Efficient Techniques

for
Air Preheater
Presented by:
V.Rajagopal
GEECO, Trichy, India

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Designation of Air Preheater

29 VI T SM RC 78 (82)

Size of APH Tri - Sector Round Casing

VI - Vertical Inverted Element Depth, in
inches
Semi Modular Future Element

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Designation of Air Preheater

LAP 13494 / 1800

Ljungstrom Element Depth, mm

APH
Diameter of Rotor,
mm

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Role of Air Preheater in a Boiler
• The efficiency of boiler is increased by reduction in
Gas Outlet Temperature (for every 20°C drop in flue
gas temperature, the boiler efficiency increases by
1%). Leads to fuel saving.

• Reduction of APH leakage decreases Fan loading.

• Reduced Gas outlet temperature reduces flue gas

volume and that results in improving ESP efficiency.

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Innovative Concepts

Resulted in
• Improved Thermal Performance
• Improved Fan Margin
• Increased Reliability in operation
• Less down time and Increased availability of
Air preheater
• Less Maintenance cost
• Increased Life of APH Internals

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Profiles

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Conventional Element Profiles

Double Undulated Notched Flat

(DU) (NF)

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Conventional Element Profiles

FNC
GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in
 Conventional Element Profiles

DUN
GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in
 Upgraded Heating Element Profile

Recent times the quality of coal has deteriorated

– Low Calorific Value, High Ash and Sulphur.

Firing poor quality coal makes the layers of APH

heating elements susceptible to fouling. Hence,
there is a need to upgrade profile to minimise
fouling with consistent performance.

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Upgraded Heating Element Profile

* GEECO’s answer is the modified and improved

profiles.

* The results are verified by CFD simulations & Wind

Tunnel Testing

* Implemented and the results confirms to CFD and

Wind Tunnel Testing

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Upgraded Heating Element Profile

Solution for Improved Thermal

Performance

GHT®
GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in
 Upgraded Heating Element Profile

MERITS of GHT® over FNC

 Equal thermal performance
 Lower pressure drop
 6% higher heat transfer area
 Reduced fouling or choking
 Easy to clean under soot blowing
operation
 Sustained performance FNC
 Increased life
 Short Payback
GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in
 Herringbone Profiles

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Dimensioning of Baskets
AREA REDUCTION DUE TO CLEARANCE
BETWEEN BASKETS & DIAPHRAGM PLATES
APH : 27 VIT DOUBLE SEALING
IF GAP BETWEEN DIAPHRAGM PLATE & BASKETS IS 20mm ON BOTH SIDES:
REDUCTION IN AREA : 4.94%

IF GAP BETWEEN DIAPHRAGM PLATE & BASKETS IS 10mm ON BOTH SIDES:

REDUCTION IN AREA : 2.46%

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Increase in Heat Transfer Area

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Increasing the Size of APH

Increasing the height of APH

to accommodate

Increase in Element height from

57.5’’ to 67.5” (1460 to 1715 mm)

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Increasing the Size of APH

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Increasing both diameter and
height of Rotor

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Increasing the Size of APH

MAXTRA®
Solution for Improved Thermal
Performance @ lesser DP

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Maxtra

Maxtra resulted in improving the

boiler efficiency from 1.5 to 2%

Maxtra resulted in reducing the

leakage level

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Maxtra

Placement of Bigger Size APH in

3 Pass of the Boiler
rd

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Maxtra

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 CFD

Computational Fluid Dynamics

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 CFD

Even distribution Gas and Air

at Entry

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 CFD

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 CFD
Flue Gas Inlet – Velocity Magnitude

Large flow Separation

downstream of the
ash hopper that Added Vane
creates an uneven
flow distribution

Reduced the flow

Separation
downstream of the ash
hopper by addition of a
guide deflector vane

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Introduction of Sacrificing
Baskets at Gas Entry

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Sacrificing Baskets

Sacrificing Element

Hot End

Hot Intermediate

Cold End

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Soft Touch Seal

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Soft Touch Seal

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Liner Plate on Sealing Surface

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Liner Plates

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Single Sealing
----
Double Sealing
----
Triple Sealing

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Improvements
DOUBLE / TRIPLE SEALING
MODIFIED RADIAL AND AXIAL SEALING
ARRANGEMENT WITH MODULAR ROTOR

Solution for Reduced Leakage and

Improved Fan Margin

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Improvements
Before
Typical 12 sector rotor design

New axial seal

carrying bars fitted

After
Rotor modified to 24 sectors

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Modular Rotor

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Modular Rotor

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Leakage Control System

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 GLRS ®
LEAKAGE CONTROL SYSTEM

Solution for Reduced Leakage and

Improved Fan Margin

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Talcon Seal

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Reliability

Solution for Increased Reliability

PERIPHERAL DRIVE SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION OF PERIPHERAL DRIVE SYSTEM
FOR AIR PREHEATERS

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Reliability

ECO - HOPPER

Solution to prevent more

ash carry over to Air Preheater

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 APH MONITORING SYSTEM
SCADA BASED ONLINE APH PERFORMANCE
MONITORING & FIRE SENSING SYSTEM

Solution for Increased Reliability

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Solution for Increased Reliability

Conversion of TAPH to RAPH

GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in

 Thank You
GEECO Enercon Pvt Ltd., www.geeco.in