Steam Turbine Hot Standby: Electrical Pre-Heating Solution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Kostenko ◽  
D. Veltmann ◽  
S. Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Heating Process ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Start Up ◽  
New Apparatus ◽  
General Aspects

Abstract Growing renewable energy generation share causes more irregular and more flexible operational regimes of conventional power plants than in the past. It leads to long periods without dispatch for several days or even weeks. As a consequence, the required pre-heating of the steam turbine leads to an extended power plant start-up time [1]. The current steam turbine Hot Standby Mode (HSM) contributes to a more flexible steam turbine operation and is a part of the Flex-Power Services™ portfolio [2]. HSM prevents the turbine components from cooling via heat supply using an electrical Trace Heating System (THS) after shutdowns [3]. The aim of the HSM is to enable faster start-up time after moderate standstills. HSM functionality can be extended to include the pre-heating option after longer standstills. This paper investigates pre-heating of the steam turbine with an electrical THS. At the beginning, it covers general aspects of flexible fossil power plant operation and point out the advantages of HSM. Afterwards the technology of the trace heating system and its application on steam turbines will be explained. In the next step the transient pre-heating process is analyzed and optimized using FEA, CFD and analytic calculations including validation considerations. Therefor a heat transfer correlation for flexible transient operation of the HSM was developed. A typical large steam turbine with an output of up to 300MW was investigated. Finally the results are summarized and an outlook is given. The results of heat transfer and conduction between and within turbine components are used to enable fast start-ups after long standstills or even outages with the benefit of minimal energy consumption. The solution is available for new apparatus as well as for the modernization of existing installations.

Investigation of Steam Turbine Warm-Keeping by Use of Air

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Toebben ◽  
Piotr Luczynski ◽  
Manfred Wirsum ◽  
Wolfgang F. D. Mohr ◽  
Klaus Helbig
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Calculation Model ◽  
Heat Radiation ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Start Up

Abstract The changing energy landscape leads to a rising demand of more flexible power generation. A system for steam turbines warm-keeping provides the ability to shutdown conventional power plants during periods with a high share of renewable power. Simultaneously, these power plants are ready for grid stabilization on demand without an excessive consumption of lifetime during the start-up. One technical solution to keep a steam turbine warm is the use of hot air which is passed through the turbine. In addition, the air supply prevents corrosion during standstill and also enables the pre-warming after maintenance or long outages. This paper investigates the warm-keeping process of an intermediate pressure steam turbine (double shell configuration) through the use of dynamic numerical Finite-Elements (FE) simulations. As a representative test-case, warm-keeping calculations during a weekend shutdown (60h) are conducted to investigate the temperatures, their distribution and gradients within the rotor and the casing. For this purpose an improved numerical calculation model is developed. This detailed 3D FE model (including blades and vanes) uses heat transfer correlations conceived for warm-keeping with low air mass flows in gear mode operation. These analytical correlations take heat radiation, convection and contact heat transfer at the blade roots into account. The thermal boundary conditions at the outer walls of rotor and casing are determined by use of experimental natural cool-down data. The calculation model is finally compared and verified with this data set. The results offer valuable information about the thermal condition of the steam turbine for a subsequent start-up procedure. The warm-keeping operation with air is able to preserve hot start conditions for any time period. Most of the heat is transferred close to the steam inlet of the turbine, which is caused by similar flow directions of air and steam. Thus, temperatures in the last stages and in the casing stay well below material limits. This allows higher temperatures at the first blade groove of the turbine, which are highly loaded during a turbine startup and thus crucial to the lifetime.

Thermo-Structural Analysis of Steam Turbine Start-Up With and Without Integrated Pre-Warming System Using Hot Air

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Łuczyński ◽  
Lukas Pehle ◽  
Manfred Wirsum ◽  
Wolfgang F. D. Mohr ◽  
Jan Vogt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Contact ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Operating Modes ◽  
Hot Air ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Simulation Strategy ◽  
Transient Thermal

Abstract Motivated by the urgent need for flexibility and start-up capability improvements of conventional power plants in addition to extending their life cycle, General Electric provides its customers with a product to pre-warm steam turbines using hot air. In this paper, the transient thermal and structural analyses of a 19-stage IP steam turbine in various start-up operating modes are discussed in detail. The presented research is based on previous investigations and utilises a hybrid (HFEM - numerical FEM and analytical) approach to efficiently determine the time-dependent temperature distribution in the components of the steam turbine. The simulation strategy of the HFEM model applies various analytical correlations to describe heat transfer in the turbine channel. These are developed by means of extensive unsteady multistage conjugate heat transfer simulations for both start-up turbine operation with steam and pre-warming operation with hot air. Moreover, the complex numerical setup of the HFEM model also considers the thermal contact resistance (TCR) on the surfaces between vane and casing as well as blades and rotor. Prior to the analysis of other turbine start-up operating modes, the typical start-up turbine process is calculated and validated against an experimental data as a benchmark for subsequent analysis. In addition to heat transfer correlations, the simulation of a turbine start-up from cold state uses an innovative analytic pressure model to allow for a consideration of condensation effects during first phase of start-up procedure.

Model-Based Analysis of the Start-Up Improvement of a CCPP due to Steam Turbine Warm-Keeping With Air

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Toebben ◽  
Tobias Burgard ◽  
Sebastian Berg ◽  
Manfred Wirsum ◽  
Liu Pei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cold Start ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Water Steam ◽  
Hot Air ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Low Load

Abstract Combined cycle power plants (CCPP) have many advantages compared to other fossil power plants: high efficiency, flexible operation, compact design, high potential for combined heat and power (CHP) applications and fewer emissions. However, fuel costs are relatively high compared to coal. Nevertheless, major qualities such as high operation flexibility and low emissions distinctly increase in relevance in the future, due to rising power generation from renewable energy sources. An accelerated start-up procedure of CCPPs increases the flexibility and reduces the NOx-emissions, which are relatively high in gas turbine low load operation. Such low load operation is required during a cold start of a CCPP in order to heat up the steam turbine. Thus, a warm-keeping of the thermal-limiting steam turbine results in an accelerated start-up times as well as reduced NOx-emissions and lifetime consumption. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the potential of steam turbine warm-keeping by means of hot air for a typical CCPP, located in China. In this method, the hot air passes through the steam turbine while the power plant is shut off which enables hot start conditions at any time. In order to investigate an improved start-up procedure, a physical based simplified model of the water-steam cycle is developed on the basis of an operation data set. This model is used to simulate an improved power plant start-up, in which the steam turbine remains hot after at least 120 hours outage. The results show a start-up time reduction of approximately two-thirds in comparison to a conventional cold start. Furthermore, the potential of steam turbine warm-keeping is discussed with regards to the power output, NOx-emissions, start-up costs and lifetime consumption.

Coordinated Control of Gas and Steam Turbines for Efficient Fast Start-Up of Combined Cycle Power Plants

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Yoshida ◽  
Kazunori Yamanaka ◽  
Atsushi Yamashita ◽  
Norihiro Iyanaga ◽  
Takuya Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stress ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Coordinated Control ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Start Up

In the fast start-up for combined cycle power plants (CCPP), the thermal stresses of the steam turbine rotor are generally controlled by the steam temperatures or flow rates by using gas turbines (GTs), steam turbines, and desuperheaters to avoid exceeding the thermal stress limits. However, this thermal stress sensitivity to steam temperatures and flow rates depends on the start-up sequence due to the relatively large time constants of the heat transfer response in the plant components. In this paper, a coordinated control method of gas turbines and steam turbine is proposed for thermal stress control, which takes into account the large time constants of the heat transfer response. The start-up processes are simulated in order to assess the effect of the coordinated control method. The simulation results of the plant start-ups after several different cool-down times show that the thermal stresses are stably controlled without exceeding the limits. In addition, the steam turbine start-up times are reduced by 22–28% compared with those of the cases where only steam turbine control is applied.

THE LIFE ASSESSMENT OF STEAM TURBINE ROTORS FOR FOSSIL POWER PLANTS

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (25n27) ◽  
pp. 4371-4376
Author(s):  
SUNGHO CHANG ◽  
GEEWOOK SONG ◽  
BUMSHIN KIM ◽  
JUNGSEB HYUN ◽  
JEONGSOO HA
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Rotational Speed ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Life Extension ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Operational Life

The operational mode of thermal power plants has been changed from base load to duty cycle. From the changeover, fossil power plants cannot avoid frequent thermal transient states, for example, start up and stop, which results in thermal fatigue damage at the heavy section components. The rotor is the highest capital cost component in a steam turbine and requires long outage for replacing with a new one. For an optimized power plant operational life, inspection management of the rotor is necessary. It is known in general that the start-up and shutdown operations greatly affect the steam turbine life. The start-up operational condition is especially severe because of the rapid temperature and rotational speed increase, which causes damage and reduction of life of the main components life of the steam turbine. The start-up stress of a rotor which is directly related to life is composed of thermal and rotational stresses. The thermal stress is due to the variation of steam flow temperature and rotational stress is due to the rotational speed of the turbine. In this paper, the analysis method for the start-up stress of a rotor is proposed, which considers simultaneously temperature and rotational speed transition, and includes a case study regarding a 500MW fossil power plant steam turbine rotor. Also, the method of quantitative damage estimation for fatigue-creep damage to operational conditions, is described. The method can be applied to find weak points for fatigue-creep damage. Using the method, total life consumption can be obtained, and can be also be used for determining future operational modes and life extension of old fossil power units.

Validation of Advanced Steam Turbine Technology: A Case Study of an Ultra Super Critical Steam Turbine Power Plant

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Quinkertz ◽  
Thomas Thiemann ◽  
Kai Gierse
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Operational Experience ◽  
Internal Cooling ◽  
Steam Turbines

High efficiency and flexible operation continue to be the major requirements for power generation because of the benefits of reduced emissions and reduced fuel consumption, i.e. reduced operating costs. Ultra super critical (USC) steam parameters are the basis for state of the art technology of coal fired power plants with highest efficiency. An important part of the development process for advanced steam turbines is product validation. This step involves more than just providing evidence of customer guaranteed values (e.g. heat rate or electric output). It also involves proving that the design targets have been achieved and that the operational experience is fed back to designers to further develop the design criteria and enable the next step in the development of highly sophisticated products. What makes product validation for large size power plant steam turbines especially challenging is the fact that, due to the high costs of the required infrastructure, steam turbine manufacturers usually do not have a full scope / full scale testing facility. Therefore, good customer relations are the key to successful validation. This paper describes an extensive validation program for a modern state of the art ultra supercritical steam turbine performed at an operating 1000 MW steam power plant in China. Several measuring points in addition to the standard operating measurements were installed at one of the high pressure turbines to record the temperature distribution, e.g. to verify the functionality of the internal cooling system, which is an advanced design feature of the installed modern high pressure steam turbines. Predicted 3D temperature distributions are compared to the actual measurements in order to verify and evaluate the design rules and the design philosophy applied. Conclusions are drawn regarding the performance of modern 3D design tools applied in the current design process and an outlook is given on the future potential of modern USC turbines.

Numerical and Analytical Investigation of Heat Transfer Mechanisms and Flow Phenomena in an IP Steam Turbine Blading During Startup

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Bohn ◽  
Christian Betcher ◽  
Karsten Kusterer ◽  
Kristof Weidtmann
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Convective Heat ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Computational Effort ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Transfer Mechanisms

Abstract As a result of an ever-increasing share of volatile renewable energies on the world wide power generation, conventional power plants face high technical challenges in terms of operational flexibility. Consequently, the number of startups and shutdowns grows, causing high thermal stresses in the thick-walled components and thus reduces lifetime and increases product costs. To fulfill the lifetime requirements, an accurate prediction of the metal temperature distribution inside these components is crucial. The objective of this paper is to understand the predominant basic heat transfer mechanisms during an IP steam turbine startup. Convective heat transport is described by means of HTC's as a function of dimensionless parameters, considering predominant flow structures. Based on steady-state and transient CHT- simulations the HTC's are derived during startup and compared to correlations from the literature. The simulations outline that the local HTC generally increases with increasing axial and circumferential Reynolds' number and is mostly influenced by vortex systems such as passage and horseshoe vortices. The HTC's at the turbine stage surfaces can be modeled with a high accuracy using a linear relation with respect to the total Reynolds' number. The comparison illustrates that the correlations underestimate the convective heat transfer by approx. 40% on average. Results show that special correlation-based approaches from the literature are a particularly efficient procedure to predict the heat transfer within steam turbines. in the design process. Overall, the computational effort can be significantly reduced by applying analytical correlations while maintaining a satisfactory accuracy.

Thermal Modeling of a Solar Steam Turbine With a Focus on Start-Up Time Reduction

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Spelling ◽  
Markus Jo¨cker ◽  
Andrew Martin
Keyword(s):  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
The Body ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Turbine Casing ◽  
Main Steam

Steam turbines in solar thermal power plants experience a much greater number of starts than those operating in base-load plants. In order to preserve the lifetime of the turbine whilst still allowing fast starts, it is of great interest to find ways to maintain the turbine temperature during idle periods. A dynamic model of a solar steam turbine has been elaborated, simulating both the heat conduction within the body and the heat exchange with the gland steam, main steam and the environment, allowing prediction of the temperatures within the turbine during off-design operation and standby. The model has been validated against 96h of measured data from the Andasol 1 power plant, giving an average error of 1.2% for key temperature measurements. The validated model was then used to evaluate a number of modifications that can be made to maintain the turbine temperature during idle periods. Heat blankets were shown to be the most effective measure for keeping the turbine casing warm, whereas increasing the gland steam temperature was most effective in maintaining the temperature of the rotor. By applying a combination of these measures the dispatchability of the turbine can be improved significantly: electrical output can be increased by up to 9.5% after a long cool-down and up to 9.8% after a short cool-down.

Investigation of Steam Turbine Warm-Keeping by Use of Air

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Toebben ◽  
Piotr Luczynski ◽  
Manfred Wirsum ◽  
Wolfgang F. D. Mohr ◽  
Klaus Helbig
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Calculation Model ◽  
Heat Radiation ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Contact Heat ◽  
Start Up

AbstractThe changing energy landscape leads to a rising demand of more flexible power generation. A system for steam turbine (ST) warm-keeping provides the ability to shutdown conventional power plants during periods with a high share of renewable power. Simultaneously, these power plants are ready for grid stabilization on demand without an excessive consumption of lifetime during the start-up. One technical solution to keep a ST warm is the use of hot air, which is passed through the turbine. In addition, the air supply prevents corrosion during standstill and also enables the prewarming after maintenance or long outages. This paper investigates the warm-keeping process of an intermediate pressure (IP) ST (double-shell configuration) through the use of dynamic numerical finite element (FE) simulations. As a representative test case, warm-keeping calculations during a weekend shutdown (60 h) are conducted to investigate the temperatures, their distribution, and gradients within the rotor and the casing. For this purpose, an improved numerical calculation model is developed. This detailed three-dimensional FE model (including blades and vanes) uses heat transfer correlations conceived for warm-keeping with low air mass flows in gear mode operation. These analytical correlations take heat radiation, convection, and contact heat transfer at the blade roots into account. The thermal boundary conditions (BCs) at the outer walls of the rotor and casing are determined by use of experimental natural cool-down data. The calculation model is finally compared and verified with this dataset. The results offer valuable information about the thermal condition of the ST for a subsequent start-up procedure. The warm-keeping operation with air is able to preserve hot start conditions for any time period. Most of the heat is transferred close to the steam inlet of the turbine, which is caused by similar flow directions of air and steam. Thus, temperatures in the last stages and in the casing remain well below material limits. This allows higher temperatures at the first blade groove of the turbine, which is highly loaded during a turbine startup and thus crucial to the lifetime.

Flexible and Economical Operation of Power Plants: 25 Years of Expertise

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Greis ◽  
Edwin Gobrecht ◽  
Steffen Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Operating Experience ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Hot Start ◽  
Fast Cooling ◽  
Short Time

Within the last years the idea of running a conventional power plant has changed. Fluctuating power generation by solar power and wind parks creates a need for highly flexible backup power plants. This need quickly arose within the last 5 years and the market is still searching for a solution. Single steam turbine manufacturers can provide features to react more flexibly, quickly and to prolong component life time. Thus, considerable operating experience has already been in existence for many years. New highly efficient steam turbines are already equipped with solutions to serve an ambitious market. But also, for existing units, different modernization packages can be provided along with hardware and software modifications which allow power plants to supply power at a moment’s notice. This paper presents the overall approach and the possible field of application for the well-established features of Siemens steam turbines. Starting a power plant within a short time to fill the gap of fluctuating power generation is an important capability in order to participate in today’s and tomorrow’s energy market. A fully automated start-up procedure to avoid any delays contributes in fulfilling this requirement. Optimized component geometries guarantee the shortest start-up times. Furthermore, a parallel start-up of gas and steam turbines (Hot Start on the Fly) has already been proven for many years. Regarding flexibility, the improvement of start-up time is only one major aspect. Another important task is to provide the opportunity to influence scheduled maintenance outages. Therefore, steam turbines can be equipped with software which allows the customer to plan the power plant’s outages in accordance with single components requirements, e.g. GT outages. The lifecycle counter enables customers to evaluate the optimum between start-up time and life time consumption based on dynamic equivalent operating hours. In addition, fast cooling procedures help to keep outage times to a minimum.

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