COMPARISONS BETWEEN SUPER

CRITICAL AND SUB CRITICAL THERMAL

POWER PLANT

Presentation by
Kamlesh Patel

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 INDEX:-
1. Introduction to Supercritical Technology .
2. Rankine cycle for Sub critical and supercritical Units.
3. Boiling and importance of Nucleat Boiling.
4. Feed water flow control in sub critical and super critical units.
5. Operating mode in thermal power plant.
6. Boiler Design Aspect For Sliding Pressure Operation.
7. Comparisons of Supercritical(660MW) and Subcritical(600MW) units.
8. Material of Construction.
9. Steam water cycle chemistry parameters comparisons.
10. Advantages of supercritical technology.
11. Challenges of supercritical unit.
12. Efficiency of Thermal power plant.
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 Introduction to Supercritical
Technology
The term ‘super-critical’ is used for power plants with
operating pressure above critical pressure.
Thermodynamic cycles which operate at parameter above
critical point (225.56kg/sqr cm and 374.15 degree
centigrade) are called super critical cycles. At critical point
,density of water and steam is same. Further ,the latent
heat at this point is zero which consequently reduces fuel
heat input. The cycle efficiency is improved by adopting
supercritical steam parameters.

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 Rankine Cycle Subcritical Unit
 1 - 2 > CEP work
 2 - 3 > LP Heating
 3 - 4 > BFP work
 4 - 5 > HP Heating
 5 – 6 > Eco, WW
 6 – 7 > Superheating
 7 – 8 > HPT Work
 8 – 9 > Reheating
 9 – 10 > IPT Work
 10–11 > LPT Work
 11 – 1 > Condensing

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 Supercritical Cycle
Subcritical /SupercriticalCycle a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-i-a

Critical
Point 221
bar-a, 6 f h
374 deg-C 6 8
Temp
e g
d 4
5
7
b 3 c
2

i 9
a 1
Subcritical Cycle
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-
1
Confidential Entropy S lide
 Types of Boiling in water wall tubes: -
(i) Film Boiling-In this type of Boiling heat flux is more
than the critical heat flux so water temp. raised by 5-30
degree C higher than the saturation temp. corresponding
to the Pressure . In such a case steam blanketing takes
place on the inner surface of the water wall tubes which
prevents the heat transfer causes tube over heating occurs.
(ii) Nucleat Boiling-It is actually the type of Boiling that
takes place when temp. of inner surface of the tubes is
more than the saturation temp. by certain amount but
where the heat flux is below the critical heat flux.

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 Departure from Nucleate Boiling
If the heat flux of a boiling system is higher than critical heat flux of the
system, the fluid may boil or in some cases,regions of the fluid may boil
where the fluid travels in small channels .Thus large bubbles form,
sometimes blocking the passage of the fluid. This results in DNB . It can
be prevent by increasing pressure, flow rate,

WATER
DENSITY

STEAM

175 225.56

PRESSURE
7
(kg/cm2)
 VARIATION OF LATENT HEAT
WITH PRESSURE
Absolute Saturation Latent Heat
Pressure Temperature (K J/Kg.)
(kg/cm2) (oC)

50.98 264 1640

152.96 342 1004
203.94 366 592
225.35 374 0

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 Boiling of water in subcritical/ supercritical

Confidential S lide
 Natural Circulation Vs. Once Through
System

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 5710C To HP
Turbine To IP
Turbine 5690C
Mixer Header
5340C
4230C 5260C
4620C

Separator FRH

FSH 4730C
Leveling
vessel
Platen
Heater
From CRH Line LTSH
3260C
4430C
LTRH
3240C

NRV
From FRS Line 2830C

2800C Economizer Economizer

Phase 1 Phase 2

Boiler Bottom Ring

Recirculation Pump Header
Feed Water Control
SUBCRITICAL (DRUM) SUPERCRITICAL (ONCE-THRU)
Low Load Wet Mode
Single Element Level BCP in recirculation mode for Load < 30 %
Control
Leveling Vessel Level Control
Higher Load
Three Element Level
Feed water to Fuel Flow ratio =(4.5 to5.5)
Control
:1

Dry Mode
BCP stopped for Load > 30%

Feed water to Fuel Flow ratio =(4.5to 5.5)

:1
Flow control based on degree of
superheat (21-32 deg)
S lide
Operating Mode In Thermal Power Plant

• In order to advance the steam power plant

efficiencies to beyond 40% , supercritical
steam conditions (pressure higher than
225.56 Kg/cm2) are employed.
• Operation at these pressures, where there is
no phase distinction between liquid and
vapour, 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 i.e. either constant
pressure or sliding pressure .
•Both modes have got their distinct
advantages & disadvantages with the type of
Boiler & Turbine Combination in Use .

S lide
Constant Pressure operation :
 Stable pressure of the steam generator and main steam line over the
unit's load range.
 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.

S lide
• In a conventional drum type boiler-turbine combination, the boiler
pressure remains essentially constant throughout the operating
range, with load control accomplished by the turbine throttle
valves. Throttling steam flow is not a reversible process and
therefore introduces inefficiencies to the cycle.

Slide 15
Sliding Pressure :

Sliding Pressure is nothing but the variable pressure required at

the turbineinlet based on load& steam flow rate .

• Pure sliding pressure

• Modified sliding pressure

Pure sliding pressure .

When the MS pressure is equal /limited to the turbine

requirement of load with all TCV full open.

Slide 16
Modified sliding pressure/Hybrid Sliding Pressure

 Has a limited amount of pressure throttling to provide a

modest amount of fast-response load reserve.
 The modified sliding pressure operation combines the
advantages of constant-pressure operation with those of the
sliding pressure mode.
 The ability to activate the storage capacity of the boiler by
opening the throttle valves is combined with the advantages
of low lifetime consumption the plant and high part load
efficiency.

S lide
Need For modified Sliding Pressure Operation:-
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 power generation industry.
•Large coal-fired plants are being asked to perform in ways such as routinely
operating at part load which were not envisaged at design stage .
•New concepts of ABT were not there when these plants started operating .
•But today based on market conditions / future needs our plants need to
"turn down" to meet part-load demands.
•But the control system is limited to fixed-pressure /constant
pressure operation.
•Finally it is the prudence of the power plant Operator to carry out
commercially correct operation.
•In this aspect modified Sliding Pressure Operation is the best operational
Mode to be chosen due to its inherent advantages .

S lide
 Boiler Design Aspect For Sliding Pressure
Operation

Confidential Slide 53
 The design for sliding pressure requires certain drastic
adaptations of the steam generator design at present capacity
boilers are generally used in market.
 In sliding-pressure operation, at low load, the fluid is subcritical
& the
furnace must be designed to accommodate both single- and two-phase
fluid flow.
 Wide variation in fluid specific volume due to two pressure regimes make
continual forced recirculation impractical.
 Low-load operation is a challenge for proper cooling of furnace tubes .
Therefore, specifying minimum once-through load should be done with
careful consideration of its consequences at full load.
Hence it is appropriate to use a once-through design in which flow
rate through the furnace is directly proportional to the load

S lide
• Steam flow rate and velocity through the furnace tubes are
critical for cooling the tubes, and in once through design in
particular where the flow is proportional to load .
 Both departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) and steam dry-out carry the
potential for elevated tube metal temperatures.
 These conditions are avoided if SC boiler is designed for sufficient steam
mass flow density at low loads.
 This leads to High Pressure drop at full load .
 Below the minimum design once-through flow rate, recirculation
system/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 by considering the spiral water wall
design of boiler or vertical rifled water tubing with low steam mass
flow density like drum type/ natural circulation boilers .

S lide
Confidential
COMPARISION S OF SUPER CRITICAL & SUB CRITICAL
DESCRIPTION SUPERCRITICAL SUB-CRITICAL
(660MW) (600MW)
Circulation Ratio 1 Assisted Circulation=3-4
Natural circulation= 7-10

Feed Water Flow -Water to Fuel Three Element Control

Control Ratio -Feed Water Flow
-MS Flow
(4.5 to 5.5:1)
-Drum Level
-DSH(22-32 OC)
-Load Demand
Latent Heat Addition Nil Heat addition more
Sp. Enthalpy Low More
Sp. Coal consumption Low High
Air flow, Dry flue gas High Low
loss
Continue..
DESCRIPTION SUPERCRITICAL SUB-CRITICAL
(660MW) (600MW)
Coal & Ash handling Low High

Pollution Low High

Aux. Power Low More
Consumption
Overall Efficiency High Low
(40-42%) (36-37%)
Total heating Low High
surface area Reqd (69116m2 for (64064m2 for
660MW) 600MW)
Tube diameter Low High
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Continue..
DESCRIPTION SUPERCRITICAL SUB-CRITICAL
(660MW) (600MW)
Start up Time Less More

Blow down loss Nil More

Water Consumption Less More

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 WATER WALL ARRANGEMENT
 Bottom spiral & top vertical tube furnace arrangement

 Once through design feature is used for boiler water wall design

 The supercritical water wall is exposed to the higher heat flux

 Spiral tube wall design (wrapped around the unit) with high mass flow
& velocity of steam/water mixture through each spiral

 Higher mass flow improves heat transfer between the WW tube and
the fluid at high heat flux.

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 SPIRAL VS VERTICAL WALL
VERTICAL WALL
 Less ash deposition on wall
 Less mass flow
 More number of tubes
 More boiler height for same
capacity
 No uniform heating of tubes and
heat transfer in all tubes of WW
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SPIRAL WALL
 More ash deposition
 More fluid mass flow
 Less number of tubes
 Less boiler height
 Uniform heat transfer and
uniform heating of WW tubes
 Ash accumulation on walls
Vertical water walls Spiral water walls

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 Material standards
Steel
Low carbon steel contains <0.3% carbon.
Medium carbon steel contains 0.3 to 0.45 % carbon.
High carbon contains 0.45 to 0.75% carbon.
Tube standards
 SA210-seamless medium carbon steel Boiler and SH Tube.
 SA213 –Seamless ferritic and austentic steel Boiler SH Tube.
 Mostly SA210,Grade A1&C(Seamless medium carbon steel Boiler and SH) and
SA213,Grade T11,T22 &T91 (Seamless ferritic and austenitic alloy steel ,SH
and heat exchanger tube) are used in Boiler.Carbon steel is used in economiser,
evaporator and other low temperature tubes and alloy steel is used for high
temperature SH tubes.

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 Chemical Compostion
Material C Mn P S Si Ni Cr Mo
SA 210 Gr C 0.35 0.29- 0.035 0.035 0.10 - - -
max 1.06 max max max
SA 213 T12 0.15 0.30- 0.025 0.025 0.5 - 0.08 0.44
max 0.61 max max max -1.2 -0.6
5 5
SA 213 T22 0.15 0.30- 0.025 0.025 0.50 - 1.9- 0.87
max 0.60 max max max 2.60 -1.1
3
SA 213 T91 0.08 0.30- 0.020 0.010 0.20- 0.4 8.0- 0.85
-0.1 0.60 max max 0. 0 9.5 -1.0
2 50 ma 5
x
SA 213 TP 0.04 2.0 0.04 0.03 0.75 9.0- 17-2 -
347HFG(Nb+Ta -0.1 max max max max 13. 0
stabilized) 0 0

S lide
 Material of construction

Description 660 MW 600 MW

Structural Steel Carbon Steel Carbon Steel
Water wall SA 213 T12 SA 210 C
SA 213 T23,
T22,T91,TP347 SA213 T91,
SH Coil HFG T22
SA213 SA 213,T22,
RH Coil T91,TP347HFG T91,T11
LTSH SA213 T22,T23 T11
Economizer SA 210-C SA 210 -C &A

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 Steam Water Cycle Chemistry
parameters

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S. Parameter Sub Critical Super Critical
No.
Type of Boiler  LP and HP dosing. Or  No HP dosing
1 water  All Volatile Treatment  Combined water treatment (CWT).
treatment (Hydrazine + Ammonia)

Silica < 20 ppb in feed water and steam, Standard value <15 ppb in the cycle
2
< 250 ppb in boiler drum Expected value <10 ppb in the cycle
pH 9.0 - 9.5 for feed, steam & 9.0 – 9.6 for AVT(All volatile treatment)
3 condensate, 8.0 – 9.0 for CWT(Combined water
9.0 – 10.0 for Boiler drum treatment)
Dissolved < 7 ppb for feed. < 7 ppb for feed in case of AVT
4 Oxygen (DO) 30 – 150 ppb for feed in case of CWT
Cation <0.20 µS/cm in the feed & steam Standard value <0.15 µS /cm in the cycle
Conductivity cycle Expected value- <0.10 µS /cm in the cycle
5

6 (CPU) CPU is optional CPU is essential for 100% flow.

Silica and TDS By maintaining feed water quality Blow down possible till separators are
7 control and functioning (upto 30% load).
By operating CBD
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Efficiency Of Power Plant
Theoretically One unit = 1 KW.H
= 3600 sec ( kW)
= 3600 sec ( KJ/Sec)
=3600 KJ
= 3600/4.18 Kcal
One Unit=1 kWh =861 Kcal

For supercritical Thermal power Plant

Practically Power station efficiency- Boiler Efficiency= Approx

87.28%
Turbine Heat rate(Depends on Pr/Temp) = Approx 1885 Kcal/
kWh
Cycle efficiency- 1885/0.8728= 2159.72 kcal/kWh It means
Efficiency = 861*100/2159.71
=39.86%
Slide
 For subcritical Thermal power Plant

Practically Power station efficiency- Boiler Efficiency= Approx

87.74%
Turbine Heat rate(Depends on Pr/Temp) = Approx 1940 Kcal/
kWh
Cycle efficiency- 1940/0.8774= 2211.08 kcal/kWh It means
Efficiency = 861*100/2211.08
=38.94%

Focus- Increase Efficiency of Power plant

Slide
How to increase efficiency-

By increasing pressure of Steam

By Increasing Temp of steam

By reducing exhaust pressure of steam i.e. improving vacuum

By regenerative feed heating

By reheating of steam

By reducing flue gas outlet temp

By operational control i.e. dry flue gas loss, loss due to coal
moisture etc
Limitation is sizing, economics and metallurgical constraints

supercritical parameters (Press. above 221.2 bar i.e. 225.56

Kg/cm2 and temperature above 374.15 ºC) is an effort in that
direction by increasing pressure and temp of steam.

Slide
 ECONOMY
Higher Efficiency (η%)
•Less fuel input.
•Low capacity fuel handling system.
•Low capacity ash handling system.
•Less Emissions.

 Approximate improvement in Cycle

Efficiency
Pressure increase : 0.005 % per bar
Temp increase : 0.011 % per deg C

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 Challenges of supercritical technology

 Water chemistry is more stringent in super critical once through

boiler.
 Metallurgical Challenges
 More complex in erection due to spiral water wall.
 More feed pump power is required due to more friction losses in
spiral water wall.
 Maintenance of tube leakage is difficult due to complex design of
water wall.
 Ash sticking tendency is more in spiral water wall in comparison
of vertical wall.

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THANK YOU.