Yankee Steam System Optimization

MIKE SOUCY | KADANT JOHNSON SYSTEMS | MARCH 2018

Equipment Design Parameters
Yankee Dryer Steam System Design
• Each Yankee dryer and syphon system is unique.
• Each steam system must be tailor made.
• Even replacement Yankees will behave differently.
 Yankee Dryer Steam System Design

• Condensing load and syphon flow characteristics must be accurately established

• Determining condensing load
• Kadant Yankee drying programs
• Condensate rise tests useful on existing Yankee cylinder
• Methods for establishing the syphon flow characteristics:
• Observed operating parameters
– Existing blowthrough flow indication
– Existing differential pressure
• Kadant syphon analysis
• Allows syphon system to be modeled
 Kadant Johnson Systems
Yankee Dryer Calculation
Customer Trial
Mill Name
Location Lenoir City, TN
Machine Number 1 Units
Date 04-07-2009 English
Reference

Production Calculations
Grade Tissue
Yankee Speed ft / min 5,200.0 Production Off Yankee lb / hr 14,126.3
Reel Speed ft / min 4,335.0 BD Production Off Yankee lb / hr 13,490.6
Percent Crepe % 20.0 Production At Reel tons / day 165.9
Reel Basis Weight lb / 3,000 ft^2 10.40 Total Evaporation lb / hr 18,184.4
Yankee Basis Weight lb / 3,000 ft^2 8.67
Sheet Width On Yankee inches 188.00
Sheet Width On Reel inches 184.00
Reel Moisture % Moisture 4.5
Reel Dryness % Solids 95.5
Cylinder
Operating Pressure (gage) psig 90 Percent Drying From Cylinder % 49.0
Cylinder Diameter feet 15 Cylinder Evaporation lb / hr 8,916.8
Cylinder Maximum Rating psig 125 Cylinder "Rw" lb / hr / ft^2 12.08
Ribbed / Plain / Bars
Root or Shell Thickness inches
Ribbed
1.625
Steam Temperature
Evaporation Temperature
deg. F
deg. F
331
205
Yankee Dryer
Cast Iron Grade
Plasma Coating On Yankee no / yes
50
no
Yankee Condensing Load
Cylinder "U" Calculated
lb / hr
btu / hr / ft^2 / F
14,022.6
102.9
Simulation Program
Cylinder "U" Expected btu / hr / ft^2 / F 102.9
Hc Calculated btu / hr / ft^2 / F 275.0
Cylinder Temp. Calculated deg. F 213.8

Hood
Hood temperature deg. F 700 Percent Drying From Hood % 51.0
Air velocity ft / min 20,000 Hood Evaporation lb / hr 9,267.6
Hood wrap angle deg. 230 Hood "U" Calculated btu / hr / ft^2 / F 42.61
Hood Effectiveness Adjustment 0.98
Furnish Comments
Percent baled 100
Percent Slush 0
Sheet temperature in deg. F 110
Configuration
Pre-Dryers Present yes / no no
After Dryers Present yes / no no
Pressing
Press Code 13
Nip 1 pli 600
Nip 2 pli 800
Dryness Ex-press Calculated % solids 43.8
Dryness Override % solids
Express Used In Calculation % solids 43.8
Misc.
Spray Addition (liquid) lb / hr 1,500
Components of a Yankee Dryer
PT Style Rotary Joint
Rotary Joints & Mounting Considerations

Lug Mounted Pad Mounted Ring Bracket

2000 Series 6000 Series 9000 Series

Pressure and Piping Loads

Pressure and Piping Loads
Transmitted to Bearing Cover or
Transmitted to External Framework
Drive Housing
Rotary Joint Mounting Considerations
• Stand and Beam Mounting
• Deflection and stress

800 mm W x 300 mm D x 1 m H 250 mm x 250 mm X 2 m long

19 mm plate steel construction 19mm wall
PT Rotary Joint with Safety Cover
PT Rotary Joint Safety Covers
 Insulating Sleeve
Front Insulating
Sleeve
Gasket

Double Seated
Type

Front

Packing Ring
 Insulating Sleeve

6.9 bar(g) steam pressure with and without insulating sleeve

Yankee Syphons
 Estimation Of Blowthrough Flows and
Differential Pressures
• Most important part of Yankee steam system design is an accurate estimation of
blowthrough flow and differential pressure required
• Too little blowthrough steam
• Poor cross machine profiles
• Flooding
• Too much blowthrough steam
• Steam waste (venting)
• Possible hot spots developing on cylinder
• Blowthrough flow can be 40% to 90% of Yankee condensing load
• Differential pressures can range from 0.5 to 2 bar
• All blowthrough flow must be conserved by steam system and reused for good energy efficiency
Yankee Syphon Calculation

7464 PPH 125 Psig 3936 fpm

Flow and Dp 8957 PPH 125 Psig 3936 fpm
5971 PPH 125 Psig 3936 fpm
25.00

20.00

15.00

Dp - psid
10.00

5.00

0.00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Blow-thru - pph
 Yankee Turbulator Tube Bars
“to create resonant waves in the condensate film to increase condensate
turbulence and therefore, increasing the rate of heat transfer”

• Axial bars that can be applied to smooth bore

Yankee dryers
• Stainless or steel bars
• Held by segmented rings or screwed to the
Yankee dryer shell
• Increased condensate turbulence
• Improved heat transfer and drying capacity
• Improved CD surface temperature profile
• Scoop syphons replaced with conventional
large shoe rotary syphons
• Potentially extend life of a Yankee
Turbulator Bars For Yankee Dryers
Condensate Coefficient - No Dryer Bars
450

Heat Transfer Coefficient (Btu/hr-ft2- F)

400

350 Heat Transfer

300
600 mpm
250
900 mpm
200

150

100 1,200 mpm

50

0
0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500
Film Thickness (inches)
Condensate Coefficient with Turbulator Bars
450
Turbulator bars

Heat Transfer Coefficient (btu/hr-ft2-F)

400

350

300

250
900 mpm
200 600 mpm

150

100 1,200 mpm

50

0
0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500
Film Thickness (inches)
 Thermocompressor Components
“Spindle” controls
motive steam flow Motive steam “nozzle” where steam
through nozzle expands and discharges at high velocity

Actuator High pressure motive “Throat” where mixture

steam enters accelerated to high velocity

Discharge at
higher
pressure

Low pressure suction “Diffuser” reduces velocity

steam enters converting velocity energy to
pressure
 Design Ratios
Pm = Motive Pressure
Mm = Motive Flow

Ps = Suction Pressure Expansion Ratio  PM  1.4

Ms = Suction Flow
PS
Compression Ratio  PD 2
PS
Entrainment Ratio  MS = As high as possible!
MM

P = Absolute Pressure

Pd = Discharge Pressure
Md = Discharge Flow = Ms + Mm
 Thermocompressor Efficiency
• High-efficiency thermocompressors are an advantage on
Yankee systems
• Blowthrough flows and differential pressure are high
• Motive steam flow can often equal or exceed Yankee condensing load
• Causes system to vent
• High-efficiency thermocompressors reduce the motive steam
requirement and reduce venting
• Can reduce motive steam use by 20% to 25% over conventional
thermocompressor designs
 CFD Modeling

TC With Non-Optimal TC With Optimal Configuration

Introduction Of Suction Steam & Entrainment ratio improves by 20% Less
Discharge Of Motive Jet motive steam required for this condition
 Thermocompressor Efficiency
6,000

Suction Flow (kg/hour)

5,000
Conventional unit
4,000 High-efficiency unit

3,000
2,000
1,000
Operating point
0
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Motive Flow (kg/hour)

For this operating condition, an optimized high-efficiency consumes 25% less motive
steam for the same suction flow vs. a conventional unit.
 Condensate Separator Stations
• Condensate separator station
must remove all free condensate
from the blowthrough steam.
• Condensate carry over to
thermocompressor will cause
erosion.
• Condensate carry over will add to
load.
• Reduced drying capacity
• Higher differential pressures
• Flooding
• Unstable blowthrough control
 Separator Station Design
• Vapor velocity through tank is used as key sizing criteria to determine
separation efficiency
• 98% to 99% steam quality leaving tank
• Vapor velocities vary with dryer pressure and steam density

• Tank baffling determines vapor distribution within tank

• Vapor distribution must be uniform for efficient separation

• Liquid retention time should be taken into consideration

• 1.5 to 3 minutes

• Pump is critical
• Liquid height for NPSH
• Minimum losses to pump inlet
• Ensure proper level control (no dumping of condensate)
• Mechanical seal w/ seal cooler vs. seal water
Magnetic Level Indicators
Pump By-Pass
Transmitters
 Safety Valves
Conventional vs Pilot Operated

ATM
ATM

Steam
Steam
 Piping Considerations
• Many Yankees are running at twice or more their original design
speed
• Condensing load and piping velocities have increased
substantially
• Piping is rarely upgraded (replaced by larger piping) but usually
patched up
• Undersized piping adds considerable piping losses and demand
for the thermocompressor
Yankee Control Methods
 Thermocompressor Control
• Method 1 - Control thermocompressor from pressure control loop (preferred)
• Thermocompressor opens fully, then make-up valve
• Blowthrough meter controls valve at thermocompressor inlet
• Used when make-up and motive steam from same source with no electrical power
generation
• Used when motive steam pressures are low and blowthrough rates are high
• Used if motive flow is a high percentage of total make-up
Pressure Controlled Thermocompressor

70% Blowthrough
 Thermocompressor Control

• Method 2 - control thermocompressor motive based on blowthrough flow or DP

transmitter
• Used if motive steam pressure is high
• Used if blowthrough flow rates are relatively low
• Motive steam flow is only a portion of dryer condensing load
Blowthrough or DP Controlled Thermocompressor
 Yankee Steam System Design
• Yankee dryers should be equipped with both a
blowthrough flow meter and a DP transmitter.
• Instrumentation is needed to allow monitoring of syphon condition.
• If blowthrough increases relative to differential pressure, there is likely a
breach in the syphoning system.
• If blowthrough decreases relative to differential pressure, soda straws and/or
riser pipes might be plugging with magnetite.
Flash Steam Utilization
 No Flash Steam Recovery

Flash steam is generated

as condensate pressure is
reduced through level
control valve.
With Flash Steam Recovery - Condenser

Low Pressure Flash

Tank Established
Flash steam used
for process water
heating
With Flash Recovery – Condenser + Shower
Condensate Direct to Boiler
Case History
 Background Information
• Machine information:
• 5.5 m diameter ribbed Yankee
• 2,000 mpm Yankee speed
• Approx. 5.1 m sheet width at the reel
• Problem:
• Yankee thermocompressor loop “vented” 2,050 kg/h of steam (worth $200,000
annually).
• Vented steam was used to make warm water, but warm water generation was
excessive. “Vented” steam was viewed as pure waste.
• Study was requested to identify problems and make recommendations
Background Information
 Key Observations from our Study
• The existing thermocompressor was unable to recompress all blowthrough, and there
was clearly opportunity to apply a larger thermocompressor.
• The maximum motive steam consumption for the old thermocompressor is 5,000 kg/h, while the
yankee condensing load is 7,300 kg/h.
• Existing undersized equipment (piping and dryer steam joints) that increased the
differential pressure load on the thermocompressor.
• The yankee separator tank was undersized (and was expected to operate with
significant condensate carry-over).
 Project Scope
• Replaced both steam & condensate joints with larger ones
• Replaced separator tank with larger one
• Increased diameter of motive steam line
• Increased diameter of condensate line from Yankee condensate
joint to the separator tank
• Added a thermocompressor suction control valve
• Corrected routing of transmitter impulse lines
• Right sized orifice plate for blowthrough flow control
• Added a small orifice for non-condensable bleed
• Added pressure gauges
Project Scope

Steam systems
changes shown in red
 Project Results
• Eliminated venting from Yankee thermocompressor loop (for a savings of $200,000
annually).
• Reduced the risk of severe “condensate carry-over” from the yankee separator.
• Prolonged thermocompressor life.
• Potential improvement in dryer performance.
• Enlarged steam joint incorporates improved technology that will result in reduced
maintenance requirements.
• ROI < 1 year!
 Yankee Steam System Summary
• Thermocompressor systems used almost exclusively on Yankee dryers
• Very high blowthrough flows
• High differential pressures typical
• Design of thermocompressor critical
• High-efficiency designs are advantageous
• Separator design is extremely important
• Blowthrough flow used for control
• Produces correct velocity in syphon straws and risers
• Flash steam from high temperature condensate should be used in process
• Good piping design must be followed
• Limit velocities and pressure drops to acceptable levels
 Thank You
mike.soucy@Kadant.com