Real-Time Thermodynamic Performance Monitoring and Optimum Thermoeconomic Operation of Power Plants

The ability of modern power plant data acquisition systems to provide a continuous real-time data feed can be exploited to carry out interesting research studies. In the first part of this study, real-time data from a power plant is used to carry out a comprehensive heat balance calculation. The calculation involves application of the first law of thermodynamics to each powerhouse component. Stoichiometric combustion principles are applied to calculate emissions from fossil fuel consuming components. Exergy analysis is carried out for all components by the combined application of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. In the second part of this study, techniques from the field of System Identification and Linear Programming are brought together in finding thermoeconomically optimum plant operating conditions one step ahead in time. This is done by first using autoregressive models to make short-term predictions of plant inputs and outputs. Then, parameter estimation using recursive least squares is used to determine the relations between the predicted inputs and outputs. The estimated parameters are used in setting up a linear programming problem which is solved using the simplex method. The end result is knowledge of thermoeconomically optimum plant inputs and outputs one step ahead in time.

Genetic Algorithm-Based Searching Method for Piping Path Routing in Coal-Fired Boiler Buildings

Power plant design using digital engineering based on 3-D computer-aided design has become a mainstream technology because of possessing higher speed and improvement in design accuracy. To take a coal-fired boiler building as an example, it has many complex structures with several million parts including the boiler itself, large fans, steel structures, and piping in varying sizes. Therefore, it is not easy to maintain integrity of the whole design throughout all the many engineering processes. We have developed a smart design system for coal-fired boiler buildings to solve the integrity problem. This system is capable of creating and allocating 3-D models automatically in accordance with various technical specifications and engineering rules. Lately, however, there has been a growing demand for more effectiveness of the developed system. We have begun to look into the feasibility of further improvements of the system function. The first point to note, when considering effectiveness, is the piping path routing process in the coal-fired boiler building. The quantity of piping is large, and it has a considerable impact on performance of the whole plant because hot steam is fed into the steam turbine and cold steam is taken from it through the piping. A considerable number of studies have been made on automatic searching methods of piping path routing. Although, the decision of piping path routing by using the Dynamic Programming method is most commonly, a previously decided routing becomes an interference object because of the single searching method. Therefore, basically, the later the order of the routing becomes, the longer the length of the routing becomes. To overcome this problem, in this paper we have proposed a new searching method based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA). The GA is a multipoint searching algorithm based on the mechanics of natural selection and natural genetics. Virtual prohibited cells are introduced into the proposed search method as a new idea. The virtual prohibited cells are located in a search space. The different paths are generated by avoiding the virtual prohibited cells while searching for the piping path routing. The optimum locations of the prohibited cells which are expressed in a genotype are obtained by using the GA in order to get a lot of paths independent of the order of the routing. The proposed method was evaluated using a simple searching problem. The results showed that many effective paths are generated by making the virtual prohibited cells.

Fixed Duct Burner Heat Input Approach for Combined Cycle Power Plant ASME PTC 46 Performance Testing

Since its publication in 1996, ASME PTC 46 Performance Test Code on Overall Plant Performance has established itself as the premier test code for conducting overall plant performance within the power industry, especially for combined cycle power plants. The current text within ASME PTC 46, which is currently under revision by the ASME PTC 46 Committee, describes in Section 5.3.4 Specified Measured Net Power that “This test is conducted for a combined cycle power plant with duct firing or other form of power augmentation, such as steam or water injection when used for that purpose.” Further, the only example problem for a combined cycle with duct firing is provided in Appendix B of the code utilizing the Specified Measured Net Power Test Method. Though the text and example are correctly presented within the code, it resulted in misinterpretation within the industry that the only correct way to test a combined cycle plant with duct firing was to conduct a Specified Measured Net Power Test. Though the Specified Measured Net Power Test Method is an acceptable and accurate method in determining the performance of a combined cycle plant with duct firing in operation, it lends to being inflexible to the weather conditions for the plant operation. When the weather is too cold, the exhaust energy from the combustion turbines may be at such a magnitude as to not allow the duct burners to be fired due to limitations within the heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine systems to take the load, thus limiting the plant testing to take place when the weather is warm enough to allow the plant to be operated with duct firing. The opposite condition can also exist where the ambient conditions are too hot so that the duct burner capacity is unable to achieve the specified measured net power allowing the test to be conducted. The limitations stated herein are the reasons that an alternative approach with more flexibility is necessary. This paper will present an alternative approach referred to as the Fixed Duct Burner Heat Input Test Method to testing combined cycle plants where the duct burner heat input (Fuel Flow) is held fixed while the plant net power and heat rate are left to float with ambient conditions. Corrections for both power and heat rate will be developed for ambient conditions per ASME PTC 46 guidelines. This paper will further present a comparison between the Specified Measured Net Power Test Method and the Fixed Duct Burner Heat Input Test Method in the areas of the flexibility of the methods for various ambient conditions, and the method uncertainty associated with each method’s ability to correct to reference conditions.

Experimental Study on a Cascade Flapping Wing Hydroelectric Power Generator

In this paper, a hydroelectric power generator that can extract the water flow energy from the hydroelastic response of an elastically supported rectangular wing is experimentally investigated. An electric motor is used to excite pitching oscillations of the wing. The wing and the electric motor are supported by leaf springs that are designed to function both as a linear guide for the sway oscillations and as elastic elements. The wing mass in the sway direction necessary to achieve a hydroelastic response is obtained by utilizing a mechanical snubber mechanism. The load to generate electricity is provided equivalently by magnetic dampers. In a previous paper, the power generation rate and the efficiency of a single-wing model were examined through experiments, and the feasibility of a flapping wing hydroelectric power generator was verified. In this paper, the influence of neighboring wings is examined by using two experimental apparatuses with the intention of achieving a practical cascade-wing generator. Tests showed that a cascade moving in-phase with neighboring wings with smaller gaps between the wings has a higher rate of electric power generation.

Technical and Engineering Decisions That Drive Choices for Predictive Analytics of Plant Data

Power generation has the goal of maximizing power output while minimizing operations and maintenance cost. The challenge for plant manager is to move closer to reliability limits while being confident the risks of any decision are understood. To attain their goals and meet this challenge they are coming to realize that they must have frequent, accurate assessment of equipment operating conditions, and a path to continued innovation-. At a typical plant, making this assessment involves the collection and effective analysis of reams of complex, interrelated production system data, including demand requirements, load, ambient temperature, as well as the dependent equipment data. Wind turbine health and performance data is available from periodic and real-time systems. To obtain the timeliest understanding of equipment health for all the key resources in a large plant or fleet, engineers increasingly turn to real-time, model-based solutions. Real-time systems are capable of creating actionable intelligence from large amounts and diverse sources of current data. They can automatically detect problems and provide the basis for diagnosis and prioritization effectively for many problems, and they can make periodic inspection methods much more efficient. Technology exists to facilitate prediction of when assets will fail, allowing engineers to target maintenance costs more effectively. But, it is critical to select the best predictive analytics for your plant. How do you make that choice correctly? Real-time condition monitoring and analysis tools need to be matched to engineering process capability. Tools are employed at the plant in lean, hectic environments; others are deployed from central monitoring centers charged with concentrating scarce resources to efficiently support plants. Applications must be flexible and simple to implement and use. Choices made in selection of new tools can be very important to future success of plant operations. So, these choices require solid understanding of the problems to be solved and the advantages and trade-offs of potential solutions. This choice of the best Predictive Analytic solution will be discussed in terms of key technology elements and key engineering elements.

Beyond Smart Grid: Alternatives for Transmission and Low-Cost Firming Storage of Stranded Renewables as Hydrogen and Ammonia Fuels via Underground Pipelines

We must soon “run the world on renewables” but cannot, and should not try to, accomplish this entirely with electricity transmission. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world’s richest RE resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in surface tanks, both pressurized and refrigerated. “Smart Grid” is emerging as primarily a DSM (demand side management) strategy to encourage energy conservation. Making the electricity grid “smarter” does not: 1. Increase physical transmission capacity; 2. Provide affordable annual-scale firming storage for RE; 3. Solve grid integration problem for large, time-varying RE; 4. Alleviate NIMBY objections to new transmission siting; 5. Reduce the high O&M costs of overhead electric lines. The “smarter” grid may be more vulnerable to cyberattack. Adding storage, control, and quality adjunct devices to the electricity grid, to accommodate very high renewables content, may be technically and economically inferior to GH2 and NH3 RE systems. Thus, we need to look beyond “smart grid”, expanding our concept of “transmission”, to synergistically and simultaneously solve the transmission, firming storage, and RE integration “balancing” problems now severely constraining our progress toward “running the world on renewables”.

Assessment and Planning of the Electrical Systems in Mexican Refineries by 2014

Nowadays the refining sector in Mexico needs to increase the quantity and quality of produced fuels by installing new process plants for gasoline and ultra low sulphur diesel. These plants require the provision of electricity and steam, among other services to function properly, which can be supplied by the power plants currently installed in each refinery through an expansion of their generation capacity. These power plants need to increase its production of electricity and steam at levels above their installed capacity, which involves the addition of new power generating equipment (gas or steam turbo-generators) as well as the raise of the electrical loads. Currently, the Mexican Petroleum Company (PEMEX) is planning to restructure their electrical and steam systems in order to optimally supply the required services for the production of high quality fuels. In this paper the present status of the original electrical power systems of the refineries is assessed and the electrical integration of new process plants in the typical schemes is analyzed. Also this paper shows the conceptual schemes proposed to restructure the electrical power system for two refineries and the strategic planning focused on implement the modifications required for the integration of new process plants that will demand about 20 MW for each refinery by 2014. The results of the analysis allowed to identify the current conditions of the electrical power systems in the oil refining industry or National Refining Industry (NRI), and thereby to offer technical solutions that could be useful to engineers facing similar projects.

Effects on Boiler Efficiency Standards of Pulverizing Coal

This paper examines the effects of particle size on the calorific value of hydrocarbons, shedding light on the thermodynamics of pulverizing coal in a commercial power plant. Both laboratory testing results and energy balances around an actual pulverizer are presented. Although tacitly known to any power plant engineer, efficient combustion is seen in two parts: preparation of the material’s surface/mass ratio, and then its combustion with the proper air/fuel mix and associated mechanics. This work attempts to put a thermodynamic face on the first part. A theory is presented which demonstrates that a hydrocarbon’s surface/mass ratio affects its potential to release its full chemical energy. This theory has been generally supported in this work by laboratory testing of pure substances; however this testing was not conclusive and should be repeated. If an optimum surface/mass is not achieved, unburned combustibles will result — and this regardless of subsequent air/fuel mixtures and/or burner sophistications. This work is suggests that a unique optimum surface/mass ratio exists for each hydrocarbon substance (and coal Rank); that once its full potential is reached, a higher ratio provides no further benefit. Since surface tension describes a material’s free energy, an aspect of surface tension, termed hydrogen bonding free energy, was shown to relate to the A¨calorific value penalty associated with non-optimum surface/mass ratio. A correlation was developed relating surface/mass ratio to observed an A¨calorific value penalty and hydrogen bonding free energy. This correlation’s form may be applied to coal if supported with additional research. The impetus for this work was the ASME Performance Test Code 4’s allowance of pulverizer shaft power to influence boiler efficiency’s “credit” term, thus affecting efficiency. It was demonstrated that surface/ mass affects calorific value and thus efficiency. However, there is no observable difference between grinding a hydrocarbon to a given surface/mass ratio, versus manufactured spheres. Although laboratory preparation of coal samples should emulate pulverizer action, this work suggests that a renewed and careful review of laboratory procedures is required. Recommendations are provided for critique and debate.

Flow and Structural Analysis of a Straight and Swept Blade Near Stall Region

The aerodynamics of a straight edged and a swept edged blade are investigated using a commercial CFD code. RANS equations with SST k-ω equation were utilized to study the flow separation along the blades span in a stall region. The analysis results will be used to provide inputs to future designs to improve and to enable better prediction of the stall region. The computations were carried out in a narrow wind speed range of 14 m/s to 16 m/s which as per earlier analysis was near the stall point to further understand the locations of flow separations along the blade span. The study provides some insights in to the flow physics in the region around the wind turbine blade. An FE Analysis was also performed to further understand the maximum stress and displacement regions to further provide inputs to future designs. A comparison of maximum stress, deformation and structural vibration modes for the two blades were also done.

Performance of a Self-Circulating Thermosyphon

A series of laboratory experiments on self-circulating thermosyphon (SCT) was carried out. The thermosyphon system consists of heating section, condenser, reservoir, and heat exchanging section. The basic performance was elucidated. The present thermosyphon system works by itself under certain conditions of tilting angle of the condenser, the water filling rate, and the input power. The startup time of the present system is remarkably improved. The effect of the buoyancy on the driving force is indicated through the tilting angle of the condenser.