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Richard E. Putman
Technical Director
Conco Consulting Corp.
Verona, PA 15147 USA
CONCO SYSTEMS, INC. 530 Jones Street Verona, PA 15147 USA 1-800-345-3476
Getting To The Bottom Line Chapter 8 of Putman(1) outlines the variety
You may already suspect that your plant of operating problems to which steam
is not operating at peak performance. surface condensers are prone, principal
You want to incorporate the latest tech- among these being the fouling of con-
nologies to improve efficiency because denser tubes with its negative impact on
your gut feeling tells you that improv- heat transfer rate and turbine back pres-
ing your systems will have a payoff, yet sure. The condenser condition can also
you need a concrete process to justify an affect generation capacity. Air ingress
investment. into the turbine/condenser subsystem
has similarly negative effects.
This White Paper summarizes a decade
of research by Conco Systems, Inc. to In this White Paper, we will discuss the
obtain a better understanding of the thermodynamic considerations that make
behavior of steam surface condensers the condition of the condenser such an
and their impact on your plants bottom important element in determining the
line. This research was followed by the performance of the turbogenerator. We
development of techniques to model will also outline condenser maintenance
condenser performance, with a view strategies that can be adopted to mini-
to converting deviations from proper mize annual unit operating costs and,
behavior to the equivalent avoided ultimately, maximize plant revenue.
costs. Mathematical techniques were
also developed to ascertain the optimum Condenser operation also has a direct
frequency of condenser cleaning to impact on power plant emissions. The
minimize these avoided costs. The full heat rejected by the condenser is a
details of this work are published in a source of thermal pollution; however,
book by ASME Press, New York(1) if it can be reduced by improved con-
entitled, Steam Surface Condensers: denser maintenance, then the emission
Basic Principles, Performance Monitoring of carbon dioxide and other atmospheric
and Maintenance. pollutants is also reduced due to the
lower consumption of fuel.
Minimizing turbogenerator unit heat rate
and maximizing generation capacity are Another important condenser mainte-
among the guiding principles in power nance problem is the inleakage
plant operation strategy. In fossil plants, of cooling water into the condensate,
heat rate is greatly affected by the contaminating it chemically (EPRI(2)).
efficiency with which the fuel is burnt. However, since it principally affects the
However, the heat rate of fossil plants, corrosion of boilers and heat exchangers
along with nuclear and combined cycle and since the main topic of this
plants, may also be affected by the state document is the economics and return
of the condenser. Its condition is also a on investment as a result of the effect
factor in determining whether the design of the condenser on heat rate and/or
MW load can be achieved. power generation, we will not further
address water inleakage here.
1
The Condenser/Turbine Subsystem The enthalpy of the vapor entering the
All nuclear and fossil plants are based condenser depends on condenser back
on some variation of the Rankine Cycle pressure. It should be understood that the
the steam/water conditions through magnitude of the enthalpy drop between
the low-pressure stage of the turbine for the reheater outlet and the condenser
a fossil-fired plant (illustrated in Figure 1). inlet determines the amount of energy
converted to mechanical work (in this
Here, expansion lines are shown for a case, the generation of power).
number of loads, steam from the outlet
of the reheater passing through the If the flow of steam is determined at the
intermediate and low pressure stages steam generator or boiler(s), as occurs in
of the turbine and expanding finally nuclear power or combined cycle units
into the condenser. operating in the boiler-follow mode, then
raising the back pressure will reduce the
amount of power generated by that fixed
amount of steam. This will negatively
affect unit heat rate and, in some cases,
will limit the amount of power that can
be generated. Conversely, a drop in
back pressure will increase the amount
of generated power.
2
Figure 1 illustrates a design back standard(5). Based upon the sum of ther-
pressure on which all the appropriate mal resistances, the ASME method calcu-
original cycle calculations were based; lates the clean single-tube heat transfer
but the actual back pressure experienced coefficient as a function of current operat-
can be lower or higher than this. For ing conditions and compares this with
instance, it can be lower if the cooling the effective heat transfer coefficient cal-
water inlet temperature is low and the culated from present condenser duty.
water flow is at or higher than its design
value. One of the uncertainties in condenser
performance monitoring is the actual
If the tubes in the condenser become value of the cooling water flow rate.
fouled, then the thermal resistance causes The design value can be affected by
the effective heat transfer coefficient of the aging of the pumps or by the effects
the tubes to decrease to the point where of both tube and tube sheet fouling.
the back pressure will rise for the same Putman(6) shows that a reliable estimate
duty, cooling water flow rate, and inlet of the actual cooling water flow rate
temperature. can be obtained from the cooling water
temperature rise, together with the
Similarly, air ingress increases the condenser duty calculated from the
thermal resistance of the condensate film turbine thermal kit data.
on the outside of the tubes, decreasing
the effective tube heat transfer coefficient The conditions that could be expected if
and with the same effect on back the condenser were cleaned requires the
pressure. The proper management of solution of a set of nonlinear equations
tube fouling and air inleakage has appropriate to the specific condenser
important consequences on condenser configuration and constructing a Newton-
and unit operating costs, as well as on Raphson matrix that reflects the details.
the scheduling decisions made by the
maintenance department. The cost that could be avoided if the
condenser were to be cleaned can be
Monitoring Condenser estimated by using this simple equation:
Performance
The basic principles used to calculate the Condenser duty The condenser Fuel
when fouled duty when clean x cost
performance of a condenser based on
both design and current operating data
Note that this avoided cost does not
are detailed in Putman.(3) One method
distinguish between the back pressure
has been developed by the Heat
that results from fouling or from that due
Exchange Institute (HEI(4)) and uses the
to any air ingress that may be present.
cleanliness factor as the performance
An estimate of the severity of air ingress
criterion.
can be obtained by calculating the total
change in heat transfer coefficient due to
The other method is that originally
both fouling and air inleakage. This can
proposed in ASME PTC 12.2-1983 and
be obtained by subtracting the present
updated in the 1998 revision of that
Absolutely the Best.
3
single-tube U-coefficient value (Ueff) from
that calculated if the condenser were
cleaned (Uclean).
Figure 2
Method For Estimating Tube From the data obtained, the mean fouling
Fouling Resistance resistance Rf can be estimated using the
The principle of the method developed by
method outlined in the EPRI(7) report.
Bridger Scientific under EPRI sponsorship
The value of Ra can then be calculated
for estimating tube fouling resistance Rf is
using equation (1) to the left.
described in EPRI(7) and illustrated in
Figure 2 (where tube pairs are used).
4
Types Of Fouling Deposit Particulate Fouling
A tendency toward condenser tube For particulate fouling to occur, there
fouling is a constant problem. Tube corro- must already be a deposit substrate
sion is also a concern and is sometimes to which particulates become attached.
initiated by fouling, as in under-deposit A common substrate is bacterial slime.
corrosion. The maintenance of unit Once the particulates become attached,
performance, availability and life the deposit layer accumulates rapidly.
expectancy depends on a multi-level
interaction between tube metallurgy, Salt Deposition
water chemistry, and the fouling Salts of various kinds can become
mechanisms involved, together with deposited due to changes in their
the thermodynamics and kinetics of the concentrations. This is largely a result
condenser system. of the increase in water temperature as
it passes through the tubes. Examples
In cleaning condensers over a long peri- of crystalline fouling include calcium
od of time, at least 1,000 different types carbonate, silica, calcium sulfate,
of fouling deposits have been encoun- manganese, and calcium phosphate.
tered. Each plant has its own idiosyn- Many of these types of fouling are
crasies and it is not unusual to find each difficult to remove once they have
unit within a plant behaving differently. become deposited. Some salts also
exhibit an inverse solubility. The solubility
Furthermore, different tube materials in decreases while the temperature increas-
the same condenser also foul in different es. This is especially true of calcium
ways. For example, copper alloys in the carbonate, the deposits of which often
main tube bundles foul differently than increase toward the tube outlets.
the stainless steel tubes in the air removal
section. Microbiological Fouling
All sources of power plant cooling water
As such, fouling deposits typically fall contain bacteria, many of which exude
into five major categories: a gelatinous substance that allows the
bacteria to attach themselves to the tube
Sedimentary or silt formation walls. Because these slimes contain some
Particulate fouling 90 percent water, they have a high resist-
Deposits of organic or ance to heat transfer. The organisms are
inorganic salts often rich in metal compounds, such as
Microbiological fouling those of manganese, which produce
Macrobiological fouling an impermeable layer and can cause
under-deposit corrosion, even with stain-
Sedimentary Deposits less steels. Microbiological fouling is also
Sedimentary fouling occurs when sensitive to both velocity and tempera-
particulates entrained in the cooling ture. The deposits tend to increase in
water deposit on the tube walls are thickness as the velocity falls.
lower than the design value due to the
water velocity. The remedy is to raise the
water velocity closer to the design value. Absolutely the Best.
5
Macrobilogical Fouling
Macrobiological fouling occurs when
mollusks, zebra mussels or similar aquat-
ic organisms pass through the screens
and attach themselves either to the tube
sheet or to the insides of the tube walls.
The reduction in water velocity not only
increases the thermal resistance to heat
transfer, but can also make the tubes
susceptible to other types of fouling. The
rate at which these fouling mechanisms
develop is site-specific and depends on
the chemical treatment methods that are
employed. Aggressive cleaning of tubes
and tubesheets is necessary to control
macrofouling.
Figure 3
Optimizing Condenser Cleaning
Frequency
Chapter 7 of Putman(1) discusses the
technique for calculating the optimum
cleaning frequency necessary to
minimize the avoided costs incurred by
fouling. The site-specific data required
includes knowledge of the fouling model
experienced by that particular unit, as
well as understanding the historic
monthly load profile and the cooling
water inlet temperature profile for the
unit over the past 12 months.
6
Condenser duty is principally a function the savings if there are to be two clean-
of generator load, cooling water inlet ings during the year, and establishes the
temperature, and its flow rate. It has been months in which they should occur. The
found that, at a given load, the avoided procedure is then repeated for three and
losses are a linear function of the fouling four cleanings per year.
resistance vs. inlet water temperature, and
a different linear function of the fouling Return on Investment
resistance vs. load. The results of a typical case are summa-
rized in Table II. Note that additional
Given the load and inlet temperature cleanings always improve performance;
profiles of Figure 4, and a fouling model but the amount of increase per cleaning
similar to one of those shown in Figure 3, decreases.
it is possible to calculate the cost of losses
vs. fouling factor for each of the months The optimum frequency selected is that
in that profile. The initial data table for a which causes the incremental return on
typical case is shown in Table I. investment to match a threshold criterion
(for example, an ROI of 2). In Table II, the
An optimization program can be used to incremental cost of cleaning is shown to
test the savings to be obtained with only be $13,500, while the corresponding
one cleaning during the course of the incremental savings (or return on cleaning)
year, and even establishes the month in are shown in Column 5. The maximum
which it should occur. In then calculates frequency corresponding to an ROI = 2 is
CW Days Cost
temp, Duty, Duty, Fouling in Specific Fouling without
MW in clean fouled losses month cost resistance cleaning
7
1 2 3 4 5
Cost of Cost of Total cost Annual Return on
losses cleaning of fouling savings cleaning
shown to be three cleanings per year, jet of water, delivered by a pump operat-
since four cleanings per year would offer ing at 300 psig, to propel the cleaners
an ROI of <2. through a tube with greater hydraulic effi-
ciency. Figure 6(a), Model 200B Pump
Mechanical Methods For System, shows a typical pump, mounted
Removing Fouling on a portable skid, complete with the
Spring-loaded carbon steel cleaners have handheld-triggered device (Figure 6(b),
long been recognized as the most effec- also known as a water gun), which
tive tube cleaner available to the indus- permits the operator to direct the water
try. They come in various forms designed to the tube being cleaned.
for multi-deposit removal, hard deposit
removal, or thin and tenacious deposit
removal. Since the blades of these clean-
ers are spring-loaded with a determined
force at the surface of contact, they can
be engineered to perform the intended
function while also improving the smooth-
ness of the tube surface to restore the
tube to its as new condition.
8
Since the earlier cleaner designs thus retarding underdeposit corrosion.
behaved as stiff springs, loading the Each cleaning tool is custom-made to
cleaners into the tubes was sometimes fit snugly inside a tube having a stated
rather tedious. To speed up this opera- diameter and gage or wall thickness.
tion, while also providing the blades This allows the blade contact pressure
with more circumferential coverage of to be controlled within tolerances and
the tube surface, the hexagonal or Hex also ensures that as much of the tube
cleaner shown in Figure 5(b) was devel- circumference as possible is covered as
oped by Saxon and Krysicki. This design the cleaner passes down a tube of the
not only reduced the cleaning time for corresponding size.
1,000 tubes, but was also found to be
more efficient in removing tenacious
deposits like those consisting of various
forms of manganese.
9
C3S. The C3S cleaner is designed
for heavy duty use and is very
effective in removing all kinds of
tenacious deposits. Its reinforced
construction also allows it to remove
hard deposits, corrosion deposits,
and obstructions.
10
e.g., spirally indented or finned, or those Westinghouse Electric Corp. used to
with thin-wall metal inserts or tube coat- recommend that air inleakage levels be
ings. The brush (Figure 5(d), Brush) held to 1 ft3/min per 100 MW of gener-
length can be increased for more ation capacity, but other minima are
effective removal of lighter deposits. given in the ASME and HEI standards.
An increase in the dissolved oxygen
Cleaning Productivity
concentration in the condensate can
in the Field
Using the methods outlined earlier in this also indicate that air is leaking into
section, it is possible for 5,000 tubes to the suction of the condensate pumps
be cleaned during a 12-hour shift, utiliz- below the condenser hot well.
ing a crew of four operators with two Tracer gases are used to locate the
water guns supplied from one pump. source of air inleakage, two of the
Clearly, an increase in crew size, in most common being helium and sulfur
the number of water guns available, Hexafluoride (SF6). SF6 was first used
or in the number of mechanical cleaners effectively as an airborne tracer in atmos-
supplied for the project can increase the pheric research and demonstrated its
number of tubes which can be cleaned greater sensitivity as a tracer gas.
during a shift, provided there is adequate
space in the waterbox(es) for the crew to Sulfur hexafluoride, discovered in 1900,
work effectively. is a colorless, tasteless, and incom-
bustible gas which is practically inert
Some Limitations of Mechanical from a chemical and biological stand-
Cleaning Methods
point. It does not react with water, caus-
Each type of off-line cleaning device has
tic potash, or strong acids and can be
its own limitations. For instance, brushes
heated to 500C without decomposing.
may be effective only with the softest
fouling deposits, whereas metal cleaners Two of its common uses within the utility
are more effective against tenacious industry are for arc suppression in high-
foulants. voltage circuit breakers and the insula-
tion of electric cables. SF6 also has many
However, all methods may need
other uses, such as etching silicon in the
assistance where the deposits have been
semiconductor industry, increasing the
allowed to build up and become hard.
wet strength of kraft paper and protect-
In such cases, it may still be necessary
ing molten magnesium from oxidation in
to acid-clean, followed by cleaning with
the magnesium industry.
mechanical cleaners to remove any
remaining debris. The fundamental property of SF6 is that
it can be detected in very low concentra-
AIR INLEAKAGE DETECTION
tions-as low as 1 part per 10 billion
Air inleakage can be inferred from an
(0.1 ppb)-compared with the lowest
increase in the air concentration in the
detectable concentration of helium of
gases drawn off by the air-ejector system.
1 part per million above background.
It is often associated with an increase in
It was later found that on-line injections
condenser back pressure. Note that there
utilizing SF6 also allowed leaks as small
is always a minimum air inleakage that
as one gallon per day to be detected.
cannot be eliminated. Absolutely the Best.
11
Analyzer to Detect SF6 in
Condenser Off-Gas
In the early 1980s, EPRI sponsored the
development of an analyzer to detect the
presence of SF6 in condenser off-gas.
Known as the FluorotracerTM Analyzer, it
was based on mass spectrometer technol-
ogy. Figure 7(a), FluorotracerTM Analyzer,
is a general view of the SF6 analyzer,
while Figure 8 provides a schematic flow
diagram of a sampling system.
Figure 8
For the analyzer to detect the presence The dried sample gas is then pumped
of tracer gas in the received sample, it is into an electron capture cell, where it
important that it be free from both mois- passes between two electrodes and is
ture and free oxygen. This diagram ionized by a radioactive foil. Ionized
shows how the off-gas sample is first nitrogen in the sample supports a current
cooled, then shows how the moisture is across the electrodes, the current level
removed in a water trap and passed being reduced in proportion to the
through a dessicant tower to remove any concentration of SF6.
residual moisture. The diagrams also
show how the sample is finally received
by the analyzer.
12
An analyzer for use with SF6 as a tracer
gas is commercially available for use in
both fossil fuel and nuclear generating
stations. The analyzer is also provided
with an SF6 dispenser (shown in Figure
7(b) SF6 Pak.) Weighing approximately
eight pounds, the flow of the dispenser
can be adjusted to obtain the SF6
concentration needed to perform the
leak detection task under current plant
conditions.
13
Air inleakage inspections are best pre- helium detectors give readouts, one in
ceded by a test shot to establish the level millivolts, the other in an arbitrary scale.
of any background contamination and
to ensure the instrumentation is function- Plant personnel can determine a plan
ing correctly. It is recommended that all of action to repair the leaks after compar-
air inleakage inspections begin on the ing millivolt or scale readouts. These are
turbine deck, usually starting with the relative values, not calibrated in engi-
rupture disks. When on the mezzanine neering units such as ft3/min. It is of no
level, the tester should start spraying importance to have exact leakage values.
tracer gas at the condenser and work
outward along the hood, the expansion Generating stations already know what
joints, and other potential sources of air their total air inleakage is. Because of the
inleakage. margin of error due to all the variables of
a condenser under vacuum, quantifying
It is important to keep track of everything leaks does not add any information to
that is sprayed with the tracer gas. what the plant personnel already know.
During a typical air inleakage inspection, Therefore, it is not cost-effective. What is
it is not uncommon to spray tracer gas useful is the exact location of each leak
on literally hundreds of suspected leak- and its subsequent repair and retest.
age paths within the condenser vacuum
boundary. When the turbine is not under power, it
is very likely that the background concen-
In order to isolate a leak as quickly as tration of the tracer gas will become so
possible, technicians should know where high that it eliminates any chance of
they have been and what they have isolating a leak. Both air inleakage and
seen. If a large leak is found on the man- condenser tube leakage inspections
way on, say, the west side of the turbine, require vapor flow to carry the tracer
an indication of this must be made on the gas out of the condenser with the rest of
strip chart recorder. When the technician the non-condensibles.
goes to the west side of the condenser
and sprays a suspected penetration into If a sprayed tracer gas is sucked into the
the condenser on the mezzanine level, condenser, it will begin to accumulate,
the large leak could very well cause an and the background concentration will
erroneous indication of leakage there. rise and saturate the detectors. There are
Technicians can also waste a lot of some occasions when, in an effort to
inspection time searching for a leak that bring a unit back up on-line as soon as
they have already found on the turbine possible, a station has no choice but to
deck. This is another reason the response attempt a tracer gas inspection with the
time must be known. unit shut down, and many have been
successful in doing so. However, a
Once the inspection results are in, it is minimum 20 percent turbine power is
important to understand what can and recommended in order to perform a
cannot be done with them. A leak detec- tracer gas inspection effectively.
tion program is useful only if there is a
follow-up repair program. Both SF6 and Absolutely the Best.
14
CONCLUSION REFERENCES
This White Paper has provided examples 1. Putman, R.E., (2001), Steam Surface
and guidelines to help you understand Condensers: Basic Principles,
the factors that impact a return on invest- Performance Monitoring and
ment analysis. These illustrations focus on Maintenance, publ. May 2001,
the basic components necessary to under- ASME Press, New York, NY.
stand a simple ROI analysis when consid-
ering the payback for regular condenser 2. Condenser Inleakage Guideline, EPRI
maintenance within your plant. Report TR-112819, publ. EPRI,
January 2000.
In summary, it is about operating efficien-
cy within your plant systems doing 3. Putman, R.E. (2001), Ibid, Chapters
more with less. While it is difficult to 2 thru 6.
assign a hard number to improving your
plants operating performance, you can 4. HEI (1995), Standards for Steam
certainly calculate how much annual Surface Condensers, 9th. edition,
revenue is at risk should you fail to keep publ. Heat Exchange Institute,
your systems operating at peak Cleveland.
performance.
5. ASME, (1998) Performance Test
When you are ready to investigate Code for Steam Surface
regular maintenance systems and Condensers, ASME PTC.12.2-1998,
options, we recommend that a more publ. American Society of
detailed assessment be performed Mechanical Engineers, New York,
specific to your plants unique NY.
requirements.
6. Putman, R.E. (2001), Ibid, pp. 75-76.
15