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Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

ScienceDirect www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 3903–3908

10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, ISHVAC2017, 19-
22 October 2017, Jinan, China

Energy Conservation Analysis and System Optimization of

Extended Air Preheater
Wanpeng Lua,*, Suoying Heb
a
a
School of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
b
b
School of Energy & Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

Abstract

Steam air heater is one of the most effective ways to avoid the corrosion and ash deposition of air preheater, but it increases the
temperature of exhaust gas from the boiler and as a result, reduces cycle efficiency of the power plants. The current paper
investigates the economic performance of a pre-fixed type of extend air preheater(EAPH). Based on the quantitative analysis of
energy conservation and equivalent enthalpy method, the results indicate that the economic performance of the new preheater is not
good when no air is required to be heated. In such case, an optimized system is proposed and the economic performance of the
system is analyzed when applied in a 320 MW unit. The results show that the incremental ratio of the plant efficiency employing the
optimized system increases from 0.11% (for EAPH) to 0.51% when no air is required to be heated. The saved value of annual-
average standard coal consumption rate is 1.50 g/(kW·h) compared to EAPH of 0.54 g/ (kW·h).
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Conditioning.
Air Conditioning.
Keywords: energy conservation analysis; extend air preheater; low-temperature economizer; system optimization

1. INTRODUCTION

To meet the requirements of energy saving and emission reduction, the boiler exhaust gas temperature shows a
downward trend[1], which reduces the boiler exhaust gas heat loss and the wall temperature of air preheater low
temperature heating surface[2]. Once the wall temperature is lower than the dew point, flue gas condensation would
occur, leading to cold end corrosion[3], ash deposition[4].
Using steam air heater is a conventional solution to the mentioned problems. Air is preheated by turbine

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 .

E-mail address: luwp@sdjzu.edu.cn

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning.
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.10.038
3904 Wanpeng Lu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 3903–3908
2 Wanpeng Lu and Suoying He/ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

extraction steam to raise the wall temperature of air preheater low temperature heating surface[5]. Because the
operation of air heater has seasonal characteristics, the boiler operation time can be divided into two periods, namely
the period having use for warming air and the period having no use for warming air.
According to the theory of quantitative analysis of energy saving[6], extraction steam heating air has regenerative
profits in terms of thermodynamic cycle while leading to an increase in the exhaust gas temperature and a decrease
in the boiler efficiency due to raising the air inlet temperature of air preheater. Normally the thermal profit of air
heater is negative[7].

2. Thermodynamic System of Extended Air Preheater

Some power stations install a kind of boiler flue gas recovery system to deal with the decrease in thermal
economy brought by steam air heater[8], as shown in Fig.1. The system in year-round operation, called extended air
preheater(EAPH), includes gas heat recovery and air heater, circulating pump, valves and so on, using water in
closed circuit as heat transfer mediator to absorb the waste heat of flue gas and heat the inlet air of air preheater.
Low flue gas temperature may lead to corrosion of surfaces on the flue gas side of EAPH[9]. Different from
conventional air preheaters, EAPH uses water as mediator, so the metal wall temperature of flue gas side surface is
similar to that of liquid mediator due to the much higher heat transfer coefficient of water side. The inlet water
temperature could be controlled to adjust the metal wall temperature, so the safety of flue gas side surfaces could be
guaranteed[10].

Fig. 1. The thermodynamic system of EAPH

3. Economic Performance Analysis of EAPH Tables

3.1. Economic Performance in period having use for warming air

Based on the theory of quantitative analysis of energy saving[6], for a unit with air heater heated by a extraction
steam, assuming that the condensed water mediator returns to the corresponding heater, the work of fuel per kg can
be determined as,

N = ( Qdy + Qf )η bη pηi − Qf η j (1)

Where, Qdy is lower heating value of the fuel, kJ/kg; Qf is heat transfer amount of steam air heater per kg fuel,
kJ/kg; ηb is boiler efficiency; η p is pipe efficiency; ηi is actual cycle efficiency; η j is extraction steam efficiency of
steam air heater, and η j can be calculated with equivalent enthalpy drop method based on the thermal parameters.
 Wanpeng Lu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 3903–3908 3905
Wanpeng Lu and Suoying He / Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000 3

In the period having use for warming air, steam air heater could be replaced by EAPH. The operation parameters
keep invariant while the steam of air heater is saved and could return to the turbine to do work. The work in turbine
done by per kg saving steam can be determined as,

ΔN =Qfη j (2)

Thus the increment ratio of plant efficiency can be determined as,

ΔN Qfη j
δηc = = (3)
N ( Qd + Qf )ηgηgdηi − Qfη j
y

3.2. Economic Performance in period having no use for warming air

In the period of higher ambient temperature and no warming air being needed, running EAPH would lower the
flue gas temperature at the outlet of EAPH and improve the plant efficiency, because it increases the area of original
air preheater.
Following heat-transfer characteristic of air preheater [6], the decrement of exhaust gas temperature when running
EAPH can be expressed as

λ0 Δth t y − t py 0
Δt py = Δtk 0 ， λ0 = (4)
Δtk t y − tk 0

For the original air preheater without EAPH, Δtth is the terminal temperature difference of the hot end. Δttk is
the temperature rise of air. ty is flue gas inlet temperature. tpy0 is flue gas outlet temperature. tk0 is air inlet
temperature; When operating EAPH, Δtk 0 is the air temperature rise of EAPH.
The increment ratio of plant efficiency when running EAPH can be determined as

K Δt py K λ0 Δth
δηc = = Δtk 0 (5)
ηg Δtkηg

Where K is the heat loss correction value when the flue gas temperature changes by 1℃，which is related to the
fuel type.
It can be seen that all the parameters in Equation (5) except Δtk 0 have nothing to do with EAPH. Therefore,
when running EAPH in the period having no use for warming air, the increment ratio of plant efficiency is only
proportional to the air temperature rise of EAPH, and its contribution to the plant efficiency would decrease. In
order to keep the economic performance in a higher level all year round, thermal system and the operation mode of
EAPH must be optimized.

4. Thermodynamic System Optimization of EAPH

4.1. Structure and Operation Mode of the Optimized System

Fig.2 shows the combination utilization of EAPH and low pressure economizer(LPE). Pipelines and valves are
added to the main condensate pipeline on the foundation of EAPH system.
In the period having use for warming air, inlet and outlet valves of the main condensate pipeline are closed,
operating in EAPH mode. In the period having no use for warming air, inlet and outlet valves of the air heater are
closed, operating in LPE mode. The gas heat recovery are parallel to a certain low pressure heater in the main
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condensate pipeline, absorbing heat from flue gas to heat the main condensate so as to save the extraction steam.

Fig. 2. Combination utilization of EAPH and LPE

4.2. Economic Analysis of the Optimized System

Based on the theory of quantitative analysis of energy saving[6] , the influence of LPE on the plant efficiency can
be determined as follows. The heat absorption of LPE,

Qd = I py − I py ′ (6)

LPE’s thermal load per unit,

qd = Qd / Qdy (7)

The increment ratio of plant efficiency when LPE is used,

δηc = qdη j / ηbη pηi (8)

Where η j is the average extraction steam efficiency of the extraction steam saved by LPE which can be
calculated with equivalent enthalpy drop method based on the thermal parameters of the period.
Based on the economic expressions mentioned above and the thermal parameters of a C320/300-16.7/1.0/537/537
unit, thermodynamic calculation and economic performance comparison of two schemes are made, where Scheme 1
refers to year-round operation of EAPH and Scheme 2 refers to the combination utilization of EAPH and LPE.
Tab.1 gives the initial parameters of the thermodynamic system. Tab.2 gives the main structure and design
parameters. The calculated economic analysis results of the two schemes are given in Tab.3.

Tab. 1 Preliminary thermal parameters for unit of the type C320/300-16.7/1.0/537/537

Item Value
Lower heating value as received basis Qdy /(kJ·kg )
-1
17 000
Generated power P/MW 320
Unit heat rate q/(kJ·kW·h )
-1
7 871
 Wanpeng Lu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 3903–3908 3907
Wanpeng Lu and Suoying He / Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000 5

Design boiler efficiency ηb/% 92.19

Average exhaust temperature in the period having use for warming air tpy/℃ 120
Average exhaust temperature in the period having no use for warming air tpy/℃ 140
Pipe efficiency ηp/% 98.5
Electromechanical efficiency ηjd/% 98.7
Cycle efficiency ηi/% 45.7

Tab. 2 Main structure and design parameters of the system

Value
Item
Air side Gas side
Duct dimension/m 4×6.1 6×5.4
Main structure parameters Pipe bundle depth/mm 375 1725
Heat transfer area/m 2
945 5 260
Inlet temperature/℃ 5 135
Having use Outlet temperature/℃ 20 118
for warming EAPH
air period Pressure drop /Pa 180 400
Rate of heat transfer/kW 6 870 6 870
Gas inlet temperature/℃ — 140
Design Gas outlet temperature/℃ — 123
LPE
para- Gas pressure drop/Pa — 408
meters Having no Rate of heat transfer /kW — 6 870
use for
Inlet temperature/℃ 25 153.5
warming air
period Outlet temperature/℃ 48 138
EAPH Pressure drop /Pa 200 440
Water flow resistance//Mpa 0.03 0.03
Rate of heat transfer /kW 6 320 6 320

Tab. 3 Calculated economic results of design I and II

operation period Item Scheme1 Scheme2
Operation mode EAPH EAPH
Extraction steam efficiency of air heater /% 29.3 29.3
Increment ratio of the plant efficiency /% 0.70 0.70
Decrement of standard coal consumption rate for
Having use for 2.08 2.08
power generation /(g·kW·h-1)
warming air
Increment of standard coal consumption rate for
period 0.18 0.18
induced draft fan /(g·kW·h-1)
(4 months)
Increment of standard coal consumption rate for
0.02 0.02
circulating pump /(g·kW·h-1)
Decrement of standard coal consumption rate for
1.87 1.87
power supply /(g·kW·h-1)
Operation mode EAPH LPE
Having no use for
Increment ratio of the plant efficiency /% 0.11 0.51
warming air
Decrement of standard coal consumption rate for
period 0.33 1.51
power generation /(g·kW·h-1)
(8 months)
Increment of standard coal consumption rate for 0.21 0.14
3908 Wanpeng Lu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 3903–3908
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induced draft fan /(g·kW·h-1)

Increment of standard coal consumption rate for
0.02 —
circulating pump /(g·kW·h-1)
Decrement of standard coal consumption rate for
0.10 1.37
power supply /(g·kW·h-1)
Decrement of annual average standard coal
0.69 1.53
consumption rate for power supply /(g·kW·h-1)
All the time
Annual average standard coal consumption /(t·a-1) 1 303 2 896
Period for recovery of investment/a 5.8 2.5

Results in Tab.3 show that when running EAPH in the period having use for warming air, the increment ratio of
the plant efficiency is 0.70% which decreases to 0.11% in the period having no use for warming air. When it comes
to the optimized combination system, the increment ratio of the plant efficiency increases from 0.11% to 0.51% in
the period having no use for warming air, and the decrease value of annual average standard coal consumption rate
for power supply increases from 0.69 g/ (kW·h) to 1.53 g/(kW·h). The payback period is shortened from 5.8 years to
2.5 years. The optimization economic performance is markedly enhanced.

5. Conclusion

In the period having use for warming air, utilizing EAPH instead of steam air heater can ensure the operation
safety of air preheater, save the extraction steam of steam air heater and obtain high plant efficiency, while the
increment ratio of the plant efficiency is smaller in the period having no use for warming air. The optimized
combination utilization of EAPH and LPE overcomes this disadvantage. The operation efficiency, safety, and
continuity are achieved.

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