7128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER 9 =0«ce«8 > \ ‘P Feb 15, 2006 by POWER Coal Constant and sliding-pressure options for new supercritical plants The drivers may be different, but the destination—higher efficiency—is the same worldwide. As a primary component of current efforts to reduce the environmental impact of burning low-cost coal, new and more-efficient steam plant designs are once again being considered by the U.S. generation industry. Even though current market conditions in the U.S. tend to favor diversification of technologies and operating capabilities, the lowest-cost generating units will stil be first in line for dispatching. The present and expected makeup of regional generating fleets in the U.S. generally indicate that any modern supercritical, coal-fired unit will have a significant fuel cost advantage and could be dispatched at costs approaching those of current nuclear plants. Although seasonal and daily load reductions could be plausible in the long term, much of any new supercritical coal-fired capacity will not be frequently shut down or continually load- cycled. This is one major difference between the market conditions and practices of the U.S. and Europe, and a main reason why it should not be assumed that the pressure-control mode and technology prevalent in Europe should be embodied in the bulk of new unit construction in the U.S. To advance plant efficiencies to 40% (HHV) and beyond, supercritical steam conditions (higher than 3,208 psia) are employed. Operation at these pressures, where there is no phase distinction between liquid and vapor, requires unique steam generator design features, most notably in furnace circuitry and components. Within this category of steam generators, the design is also very much influenced by the intended operating mode: constant pressure or sliding pressure (see box). hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! sro7128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI untra-supereritical conaitions in pursuit ot greater emticiency and reduced emissions. Plant designers should factor these steam generator design implications into their strategic planning and their development of specifications for new plants to arrive at the most cost- effective generation portfolio for particular U.S. and regional market environments. Steam pressure vs. load Constant pressure implies stable pressure of the steam generator and main steam line over the unit's load range. Meanwhile, the basic nature of a simple, rotating turbine is to require less pressure as load and flow rate are reduced, and if the main steam pressure is limited to only that required for each load, this mode is referred to as pure sliding pressure. However, when we speak generally of "sliding pressure,” we often mean modified sliding pressure, as shown in Figure 1, This mode has a limited amount of pressure throttling to provide a modest amount of fast-response load reserve. A unit under constant pressure will have significant load reserve at any reduced load, due to its significant pressure throttling or the availability of admission valve(s). By opening the throttle valve or an admission valve, the pressure in the turbine and steam generator move toward equalization. The sudden reduction of pressure in the steam generator prompts an instantaneous expulsion of steam mass due to the increase in a specific volume of steam within the confines of the system, and it provides a temporary load increase even before the fuel-handling and -firing system can be loaded to support any sustained higher load. graph 100 presi om 0 0 5 6 7 © 9 100 Load 5 of Nem Note 1. Steam generator operating modes Pure sliding-pressure operation does not offer this kind of load or frequency response and is hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 21207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Festures of Aavanced Utrasupercrical Plants, Parl POWER Featured Categories EI worry: sng pressure Market conditions in Europe and Japan—including shutdowns and rapid and continual load ramping of supercritical coal-fired plants—foster priorities and operating practices different from those in the U.S. In part, these conditions have justified the development and expense of sliding-pressure designs overseas. For instance, to handle rapid and continual load ramping (which is of particular value due to high local fuel costs), turbine temperature transients are minimized by operating in sliding-pressure mode. This requires certain drastic adaptations of the steam generator design, which—for current steam conditions—are apparently worth the investment given European and Japanese market realities (except that the implied low capacity factor means a longer payback period for the higher capital investment) In sliding-pressure operation, because the steam generator operates under both supercritical and subcritical conditions as load is varied, the furnace must be designed to accommodate both single- and two-phase fluid flow. Because the two pressure regimes and the wide variation in fluid specific volume make continual forced recirculation rather impractical, itis appropriate to use a once-through design, in which flow rate through the furnace is directly proportional to load. Steam flow rate and velocity through the furnace tubes are critical for cooling the tubes, and with flow proportional to load, low-load operation presents a challenge to proper furnace tube cooling. Further, in sliding-pressure mode at low load, the fluid is subcritical, posing specific challenges to heat transfer and tube cooling. Both departure from nucleate boiling and steam dry-out carry the potential for elevated tube metal temperatures. These conditions are mitigated or avoided, in part, by providing sufficient steam mass flow density at subcritical, once-through, low loads. Designing for proper steam cooling effect at low loads produces very high steam mass flow density and pressure drop at full load in a once-through design Therefore, specifying minimum once-through load should be done with careful consideration of its consequences at full load. Below the minimum design once-through flow rate, recirculation pumps are usually used to protect the furnace. Sufficiently high steam mass flow density at once-through loads is provided by use of a small flow area. Because the fumace perimeter has certain minimum limitations due to conventional firing configurations and slag control, the challenge of providing a small flow area to envelop a relatively large fumace enclosure requires special plumbing arrangements But because sliding pressure operation involves two-phase fluid over most of the load range, multiple furnace passes with up-down-up flow direction become difficult to manage, making a single upward flow progression preferable. The upward flow progression in a single pass is achieved with fewer tubes by laying the wall hitps:tiwwn.pomermag,comvdesign features-ot-advanced-ulrasupercriicaFolants-parti sro7128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI = incnneu lube arrangements Olen CaneU a Spiral GeSIYT WUE W Une OvEraN progressiurt OF each tube upward and around the furnace. The tube inclination angle is typically 10 to 20 degrees from horizontal, so the tube length is three to five times greater than the vertical distance gained. Furnace wall dimension Source: Riley Power Inc. 2. Spiral arrangement. The furnace circuit flow area and the tube count can be reduced by inclining the wall tubing at a low angle. Special internally rifled tubing could allow a lower steam mass flow density and the use of vertical tubes, but the range of operating conditions under sliding-pressure operation would make such a system design quite challenging. Figure 3 is an example of a sliding-pressure unit designed for Powder River Basin (PRB) coal, with a spiral arrangement in the high heat-flux zone of the lower furnace. Although much experience has been gained and many lessons learned from such a furnace wall design, it remains a complicated structure to design, fabricate, erect, and maintain. Once the tubes rise into a sufficiently low heat-flux zone, the expensive arrangement is terminated and a transition is made to vertical tubes in the upper furnace. The transition is commonly accomplished by a ring of forgings around the perimeter of the furnace and an external ring mixing header. The walls composed of inclined tubes are not self-supporting, so an “exoskeleton” support system is used, consisting of vertical support straps and load transfer by many welded lugs over the wall surfaces. TTT’ 9g Membrane wal We ws Load vanst hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 47207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI Source: Riley Power Inc. 3. Sliding-pressure, once-through furnace construction. The lower walls with inclined tubing are supported by external support straps. Constant pressure Two-phase heat transfer crises are not encountered in fuaces maintained at supercritical pressure, so constant-pressure operation allows greater flexibility and the use of a conventional design. By employing furnace recirculation smoothly over the entire operating range, low load does not dictate furnace design. As a result, a furnace can be designed with: + Vertical, self-supporting, smooth-bore tubes. + Asingle upward pass with the same simple construction as a conventional drum unit. + No intermediate mixing or external piping. Figure 4 shows a 400-MW Riley Power recirculating supercritical unit with these features. It has powered South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.'s Wateree Station Units 1 and 2 since 1970. Source: Riley Power Inc. 4. Constant-pressure, recirculating unit. This design features vertical, self-supporting, smooth-bore furnace tubing in a single upward pass. Beyond plumbing hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 507128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI = an enthalpy-pressure steam diagram. This steam property diagram is used to trace the rising heat content (enthalpy) of the steam as it flows and loses pressure through the boiler (the series of circled data markers and dashed lines at right). 1300 1000 Tworphese Abeting) region 5% wen 1400 200 300 4g00 S000 Note: MCR = maximum continous ating: SH = sup Source: Riley Power Inc. 5. Enthalpy-pressure steam diagram. In sliding-pressure operation, the furnace must absorb proportionately as much energy as a typical, 1,500-psia industrial boiler. Sliding-pressure operation during load reductions moves the furnace operation into the subcritical, two-phase region at loads below 70% to 75% MCR. The nearly horizontal dashed lines in Figure 5 indicate the trend of furnace inlet and outlet conditions over the load range. To accommodate the two-phase boiling condition of steam, there are specific steamside conditions that must be fulfilled at the minimum once-through load, and so it is sometimes low load—rather than full load—that determines the heat duty and size of the furnace or evaporator system. Those conditions are: + The economizer size is limited to prevent steaming within it. + The furnace size must be sufficient to produce dry steam in once-through mode to prevent introduction of liquid water into superheaters. These requirements are indicated in Figure 5 at the 35% of MCR load condition, A furnace sized for a certain minimum once-through load produces the indicated conditions at full load, including the total heating duty (the arrow on the far right) and the furnace outlet enthalpy and temperature. Accordingly, the selection of minimum once-through load has consequences not only on the steam flow area and the full-load pressure drop; it also drives the overall furnace size and operating steam and metal temperatures. It is interesting to note that the sliding-pressure furnace is essentially sized as one would size the evaporator system for a 1,500-psia industrial unit. Often, these medium-pressure industrial units employ hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 61207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI = conditions of the constant-pressure, Riley Power recirculating unit over the same load range. The usual gas-side furnace sizing criteria that apply to any operating pressure unit—such as firing arrangement requirements, residence time and bumout, emissions considerations, and exit gas temperature limits for slagging and fouling control—will dictate. Depending on the particular fuel and fireside conditions, the constant-pressure furnace could be sized as indicated (the large blue arrow). Note that, although the sliding-pressure furnace must be sized like an industrial boiler, the constant-pressure furnace can be sized as one would a high-pressure subcritical, natural-circulation unit (Figure 7). y z 1000 Tworphase Aboting) region oo oo 200 mo 400000 Presses) Notes MR maximo continous ing $= upheat Source: Riley Power Inc. 6. Constant and sliding-pressure operating trends, The constant-pressure furnace size is not driven by the significant heat of vaporization at lower pressures. graph = a ‘on C i it 10 Two-pase [a ‘ind ie ee _ . ‘ Wwiaiwiiy § 5B 2,600 psia a” “ 1400 2.006 000 4,000 5,000, Notes: MCR =maxinun conto ating: SH = supeheate Source: Riley Power Inc. 7. Relative furnace heating duty. Although the sliding-pressure furnace must be sized like an industrial boiler, the constant-pressure furnace can be sized as one would expect for a high- nracenva enihertical natural-rinelatian sunit hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 7207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI = duty can be shifted between furnace and convective surfaces in response to changes in fuel, slagging, or other conditions, This feature is not limited to Benson, Sulzer, or other once- through designs, and the constant-pressure design retains this flexibility at all loads. By comparison, a sliding-pressure unit has less flexibility as pressure is reduced and the margin above saturation (two-phase boiling) decreases. Nearly as important as this size difference, the furnace outlet temperature of the constant- pressure unit can be significantly less than that from the sliding-pressure unit (due to this enthalpy difference). Furthermore, the thermodynamics of steam are such that, at the greater outlet enthalpy level required for the sliding-pressure unit, temperature is much more sensitive to differences in enthalpy between furnace tubes. This increased sensitivity is partly mitigated by the heat absorption equalizing effect of the spiral tube arrangement around the sliding-pressure furnace. These are especially important points for extension to ultra-supercritical conditions, where it is found that sliding-pressure designs will have very high furnace outlet temperatures (approaching 1,000F to 1,100F) and may require advanced alloys for the furnace walls. The various materials research efforts being conducted worldwide for ultra-supercritical plants are struggling with this issue, partly due to the exclusive assumption of sliding pressure. Though the furnace outlet temperature with constant pressure also continues to rise, the potential reduction compared to sliding pressure becomes greater—and fumace materials coptions are comparatively broader—as the final steam conditions are advanced A visible difference A cconstant-pressure fumace designed according to the universal gas-side criteria results in a furnace outlet steam enthalpy of about 1,050 Btullb (at 760F). The equivalent sliding- pressure furnace is about 20% larger in order to yield the required outlet enthalpy of 1,150 Btullb (at 790 to 800F). Because the larger furnace is effectively accomplishing some of the superheat duty at higher loads, the radiant superheater can be reduced accordingly, but the net cost increase is positive. Additionally, a particular advantage of the Riley Power recirculating supercritical design is that it does not require intermediate furnace mixing. That not only reduces associated piping costs but also permits the use of a close-coupled backpass and eliminates the tunnel section that would otherwise be required The primary differences in furnace construction and size are estimated to result in 4% to 5%. greater overall boiler cost for sliding-pressure designs. For a 650-MW unit, this differential amounts to about $6 million to $7 million, including materials and erection. This cost differential is due to only the tube circuitry, intimate support, erection, and overall furnace hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 81207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI Wor wera Can the additional capital investment in a sliding-pressure plant be recovered by operating cost advantages in the U.S. market? With uncertainty about long-range load dispatching, the efficiency of new plants at low loads becomes important for considering a plant's payback of capital and, indeed, for dispatch competition. Many people have been under the impression that sliding-pressure units offer better efficiency (lower heat rate) than constant-pressure units at reduced loads. The extent to which this is true depends greatly on the turbine control mode, and so a closer review of heat rate differentials is in order. Though old, throttle-control turbines at constant pressure indeed suffer in efficiency at part loads, comparative data from turbine manufacturers indicate that moder, nozzle-control turbines at constant pressure have nearly the same efficiency as at sliding pressure across the load range. This is mainly due to the sequential use of the turbine admission valves, and at several loads (the “valve best points") the remaining valves are fully open and there is negligible throttling loss before the first turbine stage. Using differential heat rate data from turbine manufacturers, heat rates were evaluated for both constant- and sliding-pressure systems, with both throttle and nozzle control. Plant operating costs were evaluated at all loads for each turbine control mode using a detailed economic model including fuel, reagent, and emissions costs according to typical U.S. conditions. Even assuming a nightly load reduction to 35% to 80% every night over an entire 20-year evaluation period, the present value of the difference in operating costs is calculated to be only $0.5 million for PRB coal firing and less than $1 million for high-sulfur bituminous coal firing of a modem 650-MW unit with nozzle control. As Figure 8 makes clear, the present value of 20 years of operating cost savings is not nearly enough to justify the additional $6 million to $7 million capital investment required for the sliding-pressure steam generator. Meanwhile, the sliding-pressure turbine cost savings are reportedly estimated to be on the order of $0.5 million and would be partly offset by any additional feedwater heater and steam generator costs to handle sliding pressure and any associated load and pressure cycling Power sin $100 Powder iver Bs 33 3 e 12 63 a 13 3 oo 020203 ial hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 9120 $1.40 a Bitminow $1.807128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI 8. Investment payback. The chart shows simple 20-year present value of operating cost savings with sliding pressure on a 650-MW unit. Additional cost for a sliding-pressure steam generator is estimated as $6 million to $7 million. For cycling service? For completeness, it should be recognized that continual load cycling and fast start-up abilities may be of particular value for a limited number of units in each region of the U.S., though the value is relatively difficult to quantify. Sliding pressure may be justified and viable where such features are especially valued, but development of these abilities with constant- pressure systems should not be overlooked, Nevertheless, it is widely believed that any continual load cycling of new coal units, beyond controlled nightly reductions, will be for a relatively smalll proportion, to be strategically determined for each grid region. The significant operating cost advantage of new supercritical units will give these units preference for load dispatch. In addition, America’s installed natural gas-fired capacity—now almost 200 GW—represents a sizeable sunk investment in generation that is well suited for peaking duty. Though it is expensive to operate, this capacity is available to meet peak loads and is relatively easy to start up and shut down, This creates a different environment from that of the 1970s, when such peaking capacity was not available and utilities were caught not being able to easily cycle their baseloaded units when a recession hit. Independent power producers considering new coalfired units should recognize that—armed with economically efficient generation fired by coal rather than by natural gas—their role in contributing to the regional grid load and their priority on the dispatch curve will be entirely different, moving from the peaking role into the baseload and average-load roles. Regarding start-up, it should be noted that not all of the startup systems and features employed on modern generating units around the world are inherently or exclusively applicable to sliding-pressure operation, and the expense of once-through sliding-pressure steam generators need not be assumed to gain such features. The Riley Power recirculating units in operation since 1970 already prove the successful application of recirculation to facilitate start-up of a constant-pressure supereritical unit. For the future generation of coa- fired plants in the U.S., other modem startup features can be developed and integrated with appropriate plant designs for the range of expected domestic needs, for both constant- and sliding-pressure applications. SHARE this article @® ®) Gn) ®) hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 10120‘r24i22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories = Design Features of Advanced Ultrasupercritical Plants, Part III A supercritical plant uses a steam generator design that operates at full load above critical pressure 22.1 MPa. Jinzhushan 3: The World's First PC-Fired Low Mass Flux Vertical Tube Supercritical Boiler, Part 1 Jinzhushan 3: The World’s First PC-Fired Low Mass Flux Vertical Tube Supercritical Boiler, Part 2 Jinzhushan 3: The World’s First PC-Fired Low Mass Flux Vertical Tube Supercritical Boiler, Part 3 = WEBINARS Sponsored By GE Digital It's Not About Base Load Performance Anymore Live on July 27, 2022 Lear more Sponsored By Winsted From The Lab To The Field: Making The Most Of Your Microgrid Live on August 10, 2022 Leam more Sponsored By Siemens "The Use Of Advanced Simulation In The Design Of The Xe-100 Advanced Reactor Power Plant” Available on demand until June 28, 2023 Learn more -npstieww:powermag.con design features-of advanced -trasuperereatplant-partil! 107128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI Jul 30, 2012 by POWER Coal Design Features of Advanced Ultrasupercritical Plants, Part A supercritical plant uses a steam generator design that operates at full load above critical pressure 22.1 MPa (3,208 psia). The Benson boiler refers to a steam generator design that is capable of operating on a variable pressure ramp and is capable of startup from zero pressure at initial firing and up to supercritical pressure at higher load. The initial versions of once-through supercritical steam generators were and still are controlled to maintain constant throttle pressure. Unit load demand is set to demand firing rate and feedwater flow. Steam temperature is controlled by the adjustment of the ratio of firing rate to feedwater flow. The furnace enclosure is maintained at supercritical pressure to avoid subcritical two-phase flow and the high temperature excursions that occur with dryout or departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) where tube failures can occur from high metal temperatures due to the inadequate steam film heat transfer coefficient. The inside tube wall temperature is suddenly higher when the water film dries out so that the steam cooling mass flux is too low for the local upset/unbalance heat flux. Unique Benson Boiler Features The Benson boiler is controlled employing a different design approach with furnace circuitry that, with correct operating conditions and variable pressure mode operation, will be capable of permitting appropriately located dryout to occur. Control of the A-USC Benson steam generator transitions from the minimum circulation flow recirculating mode for initial firing using the boiler circulation pump to the once-through mode where all the water entering the economizer leaves from the superheater outlet. Two-phase flow is accommodated until the critical point is reached at about 55% load where the transition to entirely single-phase flow occurs at critical pressure. Controls and design of equipment of an A-USC plant must achieve cold startup, warm restarts, hot restarts, load cycling, and shutdown. hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 12707128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupererical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI the primary superheater inlet) in once-through operation. By this method, the relative proportion of steam generator surface serving as evaporator and as superheater is controlled as a function of load and is stabilized. Final steam temperature control range meets a set point from about 50% to 100% load. Reheat steam temperature control range meets a set point from about 60% to 100% load. Steam temperature is controlled by multiple stages of spray attemperation and the temperature difference across the first stage attemperators is used to trim the relationship between spray and feedwater flow in the furnace. The steam temperature control for faster transients must account for the time delay of the water entering the economizer to leave the superheater outlet, which takes about 15 minutes at minimum circulation flow load and about 3 minutes at maximum continuous rating (MCR) load. If the traditional approach of using outlet steam temperature of a variable pressure steam generator to control the feedwater-to- firing rate ratio is used, the tube metals will suffer damage due to the error in required feedwater flow caused by transit time delay. Heating surfaces that function as preheating, evaporator, or steam generating, superheater, and reheater are shown as process lines in Figure 1, an h-p, enthalpy versus pressure diagram. The line originating at the critical point, 22.1 MPa and running out to about 2,455 kulkg (1,055 Btu/lb) enthalpy at 41.4 MPa (6,000 psi) is the pseudo film boiling line where the fluid below the line acts like water and above the line acts like steam. The A-USC steam generator is primarily in the greater proportion through the upper load range, a superheater. Also it should be noted for the traditional two-pass design case displayed on Figure 1, operating with variable pressure, the outlet steam temperatures of the components run nearly parallel to the isotherms so the metal temperature change in the upper load range has a very desirable minimal change hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 131207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI Te 1,800 1500 = Reheater: 1,700 1,400 1,600 ure! 4,300 1,500 1,200 1,100 1,400 PSH inlet 1,000 Vewtiral separator 0a 1,300 1,200 @ 0 Redo film 2 100 = on 800 é = 80 Econ out 70 700 600 500 400 300 20 100, THE PSP PPMP HF HP GF PGMs Pressure (psig) 1. Enthalpy vs. pressure process diagram for an A-USC plant. Source: B&W Variable pressure operation sets the turbine valves 100% wide open (VWO) providing better heat rate at partial load and primarily reducing the thermal stress damage to the very high temperature turbine and boiler pressure parts. The boiler can operate with zero pressure on startup due to the waterwalll design and pumping a minimum circulation flow rate. There are no valves between the economizer inlet and the superheater outlet. Modified sliding nrassiire aneration is another made that uses throttle valve reserve gn the valves are sliahtly hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 141207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupererical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI Alternative Boiler Configurations One of the design study arrangements for A-USC is the traditional two-pass configuration Spiral-wound furnace circuitry is normally utilized in the lower furnace of a Benson boiler to accommodate variable pressure. Smooth or ribbed tubes may be used in a spiral furnace enclosure. Fewer and slightly larger tubes are used, increasing the mass flux and routing the tubes around the furnace periphery to pass through the varying heat flux zones providing more even fluid outlet temperatures. Near the elevation of the furnace arch, transition headers and piping are used for the conversion from spiral wound tubes to vertical smooth tubes in the upper furnace and arch. When the furnace is larger so the steam flow per meter (foot) of perimeter is increased, vertical tubes with optimized rib profile may be used alternatively. The superheater, reheater and economizer heating surface arrangement are a combination of radiant and convective heat transfer surface. Pendant radiant platens are supported from the roof, At the rear of the boiler, the gas turns down into the horizontal convection pass area where the tube surface is stringer-, or end-supported at the enclosure walls. The longer- length banks are stringer-supported by economizer tube legs and are usually primary superheater and horizontal economizer surfaces. Double reheat cycles would have portions of the second (low-pressure) reheater in both down passes and some final outlet pendant surface. The A-USC boiler should have the same gas-side temperature profile as a conventional supercritical unit while the steam is at higher temperature. The energy absorption from the boiler inlet to outlet is lower and the amount of steam flow to be heated is lower for the same power output as compared to a lower efficiency steam cycle. The higher efficiency reduces the fuel input and the combustion products’ gas weight flow, which also means the size of equipment from pulverizers, furnace, flues, air heaters, and environmental systems are smaller. The furnace size should be smaller for the same relative capacity due to lower firing rate. The convection surface tubing weight will increase due to heat transfer at a lower mean temperature difference between the hot gas and the steam The features and arrangement selected for the A-USC steam generator are very likely to evolve from the current state-of-the-art two-pass arrangement (Figure 2) hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 15120‘r24i22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories 2. Current state-of-the-art 600C USC. Source: B&W ‘The tower design used in Europe, the ranch-style (Figure 3) and the modified tower design, which is a combination of the two-pass and tower designs, are also under consideration (Figure 4). -npshmwwpowermag.com/desigr-features-of-advanced-utrasupercrivcatplantspartil! 16120‘r24i22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereriical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories Eli : ro aye 3. AEP Philo 6 universal pressure steam generator. Source: B&W e 8 © @€e 2 Sa 4. Conceptual design 800-MW modified tower A-USC. Source: B&W The two-pass design shown in Figure 2 is considered to have the following advantages: + Shorter steel structure than a tower design. + Time savings of parallel construction sequence. + Less complicated high-temperature tube sections support. + More economical to erect. + Less sootblowing required to clean the pendant surfaces than high-temperature horizontal surfaces in the tower design. The tower design (Figure 3) is considered to have the following advantages: + Better gas flow distribution resulting in lower tube metal upset temperatures. + Wider tube spacing allowing high fuel ash removal to a single furnace hopper. * Ability to successfully fire brown lignite. 2 Mrainahla haatinn enforce, ose -npstieww:powermag.con design features-of advanced -trasuperereatplant-partil! 171207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI long ash hopper system. Both the two-pass and tower designs have found success and enjoy preferences in select applications. Countermeasures for the negative aspects of these designs have been incorporated that keep the designs viable in the market place. Post-combustion and oxy-combustion carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) offer opportunities along with constraints to better suit the design impact of 100C+ (200F) higher steam temperature and the new plant integration requirements. The design, when coupled with CCS oxy-combustion techniques, provides some operational advantages. The heating surface will be more effective because of the higher gas density and specific heat of the carbon dioxide. The radiant gas emissivity will be higher. The backend horizontal downpass could use a series instead of the parallel gas for reheat temperature control. Commercial A-USC Plants The path forward to commercial A-USC plants is to determine whether further component testing at small-scale in an electric utility setting is deemed necessary or whether the industry is ready to move forward with a small commercial-size demonstration at about 400 mw. The customer for the product of an operating electric generating unit is the transmission grid independent system operator (ISO) that is meeting load demands at various system delivery locations by taking and transmitting power produced by many generating plants. This evolving and competitive market is served by generating units at power plants which must bid a pricing offer one day ahead and that have various operating restrictions, cost structures and characteristics that may or may not align well with the power grid’s needs at each hour of the day. Low net plant heat rate, low fuel cost, wider load turndown range, and fast rate of response are valuable characteristics that will enable the unit to achieve positive net income. The owner/designer planning a new generating unit must factor these considerations into the design. The tendency for supercritical units has been to select a size greater than 400 MW and averaging about 750 MW. This is because economies of scale have normally resulted in the delivery of a lower cost per MW installed and a lower levelized cost of electricity. The preferred commercial-size unit has been stated to be 1,000 MW. Europe and China have been planning and constructing 1,000-MW units. The U.S, industry A-USC consortium is indicating that unit sizes between 350 MW to 1,000 MW would be possible. U.S. domestic A- USC plants will likely be teamed with CCS soon after the first commercial-size demonstration. hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 181207128/22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupererical Plants, Part POWER Featured Categories EI The DOE and the OCDO support for the A-USC Materials Development project is greatly appreciated. The efforts of industry-wide organizations have fostered an environment of cooperation in working toward the common pre-competitive needs for ASME Code materials development for A-USC. —Paul S. Weitzel is a technical consultant in the New Product Development, Advanced Technology Design and Development, Technology Division of Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. SHARE this article @ ~) Gn) @) MORE COAL NEWS Jinzhushan 3: The World’s First PC-Fired Low Mass Flux Vertical Tube Supercritical Boiler, Part 1 Enhanced Load Dispatch Rate and Furnace Protection Through Model Predictive Control The enhanced plant performance achieved at the 1,477-MW Morgantown Generating Station shows the value of model predictive control... World's Largest Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Begins Commercial Operation Jinzhushan 3: The World’s First PC-Fired Low Mass Flux Vertical Tube Supercritical Boiler, Part 2 WHITE PAPERS Long Duration The Value Of Role Of Simulation Energy Storage Reliability In The Digital Twin For Energy And Process Industries hitps:iwwn,pomermag,comvdesign features-oF advanced itrasupereriicaFolants-parti! 19120‘r24i22, 11:08 AM Design Features of Aavanced Utrasupereiical Plants, Part Il POWER Featured Categories EI -npstieww:powermag.con design features-of advanced -trasuperereatplant-partil! 20120