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One half of the cycle consists of the boiler (steam generator) and its auxiliaries. The other half,
the turbine cycle consists of turbine, generator, condenser, feed pump and feed water heaters.
Consider first the boiler plant involved in the cycle. Feed water is supplied to the boiler drum
through economizer, where water is boiled and converted into dry saturated steam. This dry steam is
further superheated in the superheater and then fed to the HP cylinder through main steam lines via
Emergency Stop Valves and Control Valves. The steam expands in the turbine giving up heat energy, a
high proportion of which is converted into work energy on the turbine shaft. The shaft turns an electrical
generator, which produces electric power. Steam leaving the HP cylinder returns to the boiler, where it is
reheated. The reheated steam is supplied to IP cylinder through hot reheat lines via Interceptor valves
and control valves. After doing the work on IP rotor, the steam exhausted from IP cylinder is directly fed
through cross-around or crossover pipes to L.P. Cylinder. Finally the steam exhausted by LP cylinder
In the condenser, which is a large surface-type heat exchanger, the steam is condensed by
transferring its latent heat of evaporation to the cooling water (KW). The steam having been condensed in
the condenser is now in the form of condensate at very low pressure and saturation temperature. This
condensate is pumped by condenser extraction pump from condenser hot well and passed through the
low pressure regenerative feed heating system and deaerator (direct contact heat exchanger) to increase
the temperature of water and remove dissolved gases such as O 2 and CO2 to form feed water suitable for
boiler. Boiler feed pump sucks feed water from deaerator and pumps to boiler drum via high pressure
regenerative feed heating system (HP Heater).
In modern regenerative cycle, some of the steam passing through the turbine cylinder is bled from
a series of extraction belts located after selected moving blade stages and fed to the condensate heater
(LP) and feed water heaters (HP), which are of surface type heat exchangers. The BFP increases the
feed water pressure to a level in excess of the drum pressure, to provide for the pressure loss in the boiler
circuit and HP feed heating train. The cycle is now completed.
Consider a simple Ranking Cycle for steam shown schematically in Fig. 2.2 and on T-S diagram
in Fig. 2.3. Water is pumped into boiler by the feed pump (process A-B). In the ideal Rankine cycle, there
is no temperature rise across the pump and points A-B are coincident. The water is then heated to
produce dry saturated steam (Process B-C). The dry saturated steam is expanded through the turbine
isentropically, i.e. without loss. This process (C-D) produces work along the turbine shaft. Finally the wet
steam exhausted by the turbine gives up its balance latent heat in the condenser and returns to water
state (Process D-A).
The area E-A-B-C-D-F on the T-S diagram represents the heat input to the boiler. The area
within the polygon A-.B-C-D represents the work done by the cycle. The heat rejected to the condenser is
represented by the rectangle A-D-F-E.
The economic implication of cycle efficiency is a major factor behind the development of the cycle,
whilst maintaining or reducing capital cost per electrical unit produced. The other criteria are changing
cycle terminal conditions with following considerations.
No saturated steam should enter the condenser, i.e., point D must be within the vapour boundary
(Ref. Fig. 2.3).
The exhaust wetness in the last turbine stage must not exceed 12%, i.e., D-D must be less than 12%
of AD.
In the superheat cycle, the saturated dry steam leaving the boiler drum is further heated in the
superheater coils before entering the turbine. For the same quality of steam entering the condenser (point
D of turbine exhaust as shown in T-S diagram for basic Rankine cycle, Fig. 2.3), the increase in work
done is shown by "area A" in Fig. 2.5. The quantity of the heat rejected to the condenser (area C) is the
same in both, basic Rankine cycle (Fig. 2.3) and superheat Rankine Cycle (Fig. 2.5). Hence, there is an
improvement in the cycle efficiency.
Work done
Superheat =
Total Heat Added
Area A - B - C 1 - D
=
Area E - A - B - C 1 - D - F
Area (A + B)
=
Area (A + B + C)
Since W.D. Area (A+B) in above equation is greater than W.D. Area in basic Rankine Cycle (Fig.
2.3) and the heat rejected are in constant in both the cases, the efficiency of superheat cycle improves.
Another major advantage of superheating steam is that for increasing cycle temperature and
pressure, the exhaust wetness in the turbine can be maintained within 12% as mentioned earlier.
Alternatively, from Carnot Cycle, which is the ideal thermodynamics cycle, the efficiency is given by -
Where,
T1 = Highest temperature of heat addition
T2 = Lowest temperature of heat rejection
So from thermodynamic point of view there is upper limit for increasing temperature T 1 and
T1
Carnot Cycle = ( 1 - )
T2
achieving gain in cycle efficiency. But the limitation is mainly due to material consideration. Up to 400 oC,
plain carbon steels can be used and up to 480 oC, low alloy steels can be used. Above 480 oC and up to
600oC heat resistant ferrite steels can be used. It gives limiting value of initial steam temperature to be
565oC after leaving margin for temperature variations during operation. However, practical limit for initial
steam temperature is kept as 540oC toFig.2.4
reduce Superheated Cycle
the frequency plant outages.
of boiler
In the reheat cycle, steam at a given initial conditions is partially expanded through the turbine
(Process C-D) doing some work, and then fed back to the boiler, where it is reheated to about original
temperature (Process D-D). The reheated steam is then fed through the remainder of the turbine
(Process E-F) before exhausting to condenser.
The reheat cycle incorporates an improvement in thermal efficiency over the superheat cycle.
The thermal efficiency from the T-S diagram is -
Among the most important disadvantages of the reheat cycle are the complication and high cost
of the piping and fittings. Due to increase in capital cost of the plant, the efficiency improvement
advantage is partly offset. Further there is a pressure drop of about 4-5 kg/cm 2 of steam in reheater
piping. If the pressure drop in reheater is more than 12-15% almost all increase in efficiency is offset by it.
Steam after partial expansion is usually reheated to initial steam temperature at pressure 0.15 to
0.3 times initial pressure (M.S. Pressure). Absolute increase in thermal efficiency of thermal power plant
by reheating is approximately 1.5 to 2% respectively/
Fig. 2.8 illustrates the improvement in thermal efficiency for a simple Rankine cycle, by virtue of
addition of feed water heaters. There will be a small loss of work available from the bled-steam not
expanding in the turbine. However, this loss is out weighed by the gain in cycle efficiency. The
improvement in efficiency takes place due to reduction in heat rejection in the condenser per unit of work
done by the turbine as compared to cycle without regenerative feed water heating.
The greater the number of feed heaters installed, the greater the improvement in thermal
efficiency. However, the incremental gain for each additional feed heater reduces as the number of
heaters for a particular size of plant is calculated on viability basis.
The additional benefits of regenerative feed water heating can be listed as follows:
i) Increased steam flow in initial stages resulted in increased blade heights, which improves internal
efficiency of turbine.
ii) Reduced flow at turbine exhaust demand lesser exhaust area, resulting in smaller blades in last
stages, which is limiting factor in turbine design.
iii) The decrease in steam flow at turbine exhaust also reduces flow of working fluid in condenser,
condensate pumps, ejectors and low-pressure heaters, thereby reducing their sizes and saving in
capital investment.
However, the overall efficiency of the unit is a product of efficiencies of the boiler, turbine,
generator and thermal efficiency. The overall efficiency, therefore, will be reduced to 39 - 41% at rated
parameters. Various efficiencies are listed as follows:
The deviation of actual expansion line from isentropic expansion is due to losses or irreversibilites
corresponding to an increase in entropy. It can be seen from Mollier diagram (Fig. 2.11) that for an
expansion between two pressures, the greater the entropy rise (more losses), the less energy there is
available for work. Refinement in turbine design aims to reduce the losses and increases the available
energy.
Now consider the whole turbine expansion process through HP, IP & LP cylinders on a mollier diagrams,
as shown in Fig. 2.12.
The actual turbine expansion line includes the major losses encountered as follows:
i) HP throttling losses through the control valves and associated pipe work.
ii) Reheater pressure losses through pipe work (cold reheat, hot reheat pipe lines and reheater
coils).
iii) The leaving and hood losses at the last stage of the LP turbine.
H1 - H 2 H3 - H 4 H 4 - H5
HP Cylinder IP Cylinder LP Cylinder
H1 - H'2 H 3 - H'4 H 4 - H'5
On small advantage of the irreversibilites in the IP & LP turbines is the reduction in exhaust steam
wetness, causing less erosion on the final stages of blading. The condition of the plant can be monitored
by measuring the temperature and pressure of the steam at points between the cylinders, hence deriving
the steam enthalpy. It is then possible to compare cylinder efficiencies with the original design values.
Turbine blade erosion or steam leakage results in reduced cylinder efficiency. In practice, the LP cylinder
exhaust enthalpy is not directly measurable and it must be derived from an overall heat balance.
The heat rate is determined by measurement of various plant operating parameters. These include:
Flow rate, using a differential pressure device
Enthalpy, based on calibrated pressure and temperature measurement.
Electric power, based on calibrated voltage and current measurements.
Consider a steam cycle with single reheat and regenerative feed heating shown in Fig. 2.13, using
measurements around the cycle, heat rate is calculated as follows:
M 1 (H1 - H f ) M 3 (H 3 - H 2 )
Heat Rate KJ/KWh
Pg
Where,
M1 Flow rate of superheated steam from boiler (Kg/h)
H1 Enthalpy of superheated steam based upon pressure and temperature T1 (KJ/Kg)
H2 Enthalpy of HPT exhaust steam (KJ/kg.)
H3 Enthalpy of reheated steam (KJ/Kg)
M3 Flow rate of reheated steam
Hf - Enthalpy of feed water to boiler.
Pg Generator power output from generator terminals
3600 ( Kw)
Thermal x 100%
Heat Rate (KJ/s)
860 Kw
x 100%
Heat Rate K Cal/hr
Heat rate is the means of monitoring turbine cycle performance by comparing the actual heat rate with the
design values provided by the manufacturers.
First consider the variation of the hourly heat consumed by the turbine generator with the load produced.
This characteristic is known as Willans line (fig. 2.14), which is based on turbine test runs at 100%, 80%,
60% and 40% load. This gives the linear relationship between load and heat consumption and
extrapolation below 40% load (dotted line) reveals a no-load heat consumption of about 3% of the full load
value.
output (100% load). The major contributory loss comes from the throttling loss across the turbine control
valves.
Operating the unit at part-load is one of the "external" factors preventing the achievement of the design
rate. The other major external factor, which increases average heat rate, is the need to re-start the unit as
required by the operating regime after trip out. During start-up, the unit is unloaded and additional
works/power is needed for start-up systems.
Plant operating losses cause the other major increase in design heat rate. In practice turbine heat rate
increases (deterioration of efficiency) due to:
- Deterioration of cylinder clearances
- Deterioration in feed heating efficiency
- Poor control of superheat and reheat temperature (particularly in older designs)
These factors are more prevalent as the plant ages.
In light of above considerations lower steam pressures are used for smaller turbines (resulting in simple
design and quicker start-ups) and higher initial steam pressure are used for larger turbines (resulting in
higher efficiency).
The following are typical recommended values of initial steam pressure for various rating turbines:
50 MW 50 90 Kg/cm2
50 100 MW 90 130 Kg/cm2
100 200 MW 130 Kg/cm2
200 300 MW 130 170 Kg/cm2
300 500 MW 170 240 Kg/cm2
The effect of increase in initial steam pressure keeping the temperature constant is shown in Fig. 2.16.
The available energy increases with exhaust at higher wetness.
Fig. 2.18 shows the effect of increasing initial steam pressure and temperature both at constant
condenser exhaust pressure, which illustrates the significant advantage in achieving higher thermal
efficiency with normal wetness at exhaust.
Fig.2.17 Effect of Increasing Steam Temperature Fig.2.18 Effect of Increasing Steam Pressure
On Available Energy & Temperature Both on Available Energy
Although reducing LP exhaust wetness is desirable, too high a temperature could lead to some difficulties
with materials. The common practice has been to reheat the steam to the original superheat steam
condition i.e. 540oC.
Another important factor in the design of the reheater is the effect of pressure losses in the pipe work.
The pressure loss results from a throttling effect, which reduces the available energy for work. The
pressure at which steam is reheated is about 25% of the stop valve condition of main steam, representing
approximately a four-fold increase in volume. This necessitates the use of increased pipe sizes, which
Control valves at the inlet to the HP & IP turbines are used to regulate the inlet mass flow and hence the
load on the machine by a throttling process. Fig. 2.21 shows a Mollier diagram comparing the condition
lines of a reheat turbine at full load with all the valves wide open and one at part load, where the load has
been reduced by 40% by throttling on the inlet valves to the HP turbine, other pressure losses are
neglected. The throttling effect is to reduce the inlet pressure by a constant enthalpy process
(represented by horizontal line AB). The result is a increase in entropy and also a slight fall in
temperature with some reduction in the available heat drop. This accounts for a small loss of efficiency.
However, the major flow reduction that results in the main reason for the reduction of work done in the HP,
IP and LP cylinders.
The efficiency of the cycle is strongly influenced by the LP turbine exhaust pressure. The back pressure
of the condenser sets the saturation temperature at which the expanded steam rejects its Latent heat of
vapourisation to the cooling water. Consequently, changes in back pressure affect the temperature of
cycle heat rejection. The effect of change in condenser saturation temperature on the cycle work done is
shown in a T-S diagram in Fig. 2.22. Generally, a low exhaust pressure is sought as it improves cycle
efficiency.
However, there are several plant constraints affecting the selection of design exhaust pressure consider
the effect of lowering the exhaust pressure on the turbine condition line on the Mollier diagram (Fig. 2.23).
Expansion to a lower pressure results in increased wetness and increased specific volume at the exhaust.
The increase in exhaust wetness tends to increase the erosion of the last-stage blades. However, more
significant is the effect of increased specific volume, implying the need for a higher volume flow rate. The
volume flow rate through the condenser is the product of the mean steam axial velocity and the annular
exhaust area. The annular exhaust area is limited by the maximum length of LP blade. At 3000 rpm, the
centrifugal forces on the long blades become very high and there is a limit to mechanical stresses which
blade roots can sustain. Hence, having established a maximum annular area, the increase in volume flow
rate must be accommodated by an increase in exit velocity. Steam leaving the last stage of the turbine
with high residual velocity represents a loss of Kinetic energy. This Kinetic energy performs no useful
work on the turbine blades and therefore is a loss of available energy, known as the "leaving loss", and
varies with the square of velocity. The other loss associated with the turbine exhaust is the "hood loss",
Finally, a major factor affecting the choice of exhaust pressure is the ambient temperature at which CW
can reject heat. This factor seasonally affects the thermal efficiency of the plant.
The variation of turbine heat rate with exhaust pressure (Fig. 2.24) is obtained from the basic turbine
design data relating to the turbine exhaust area, exhaust mass flows and the heat rejected. Fig. 2.25
shows the corresponding characteristics for the change in power output with change in condenser
exhaust pressure.
Keeping these characteristics in view, the turbine load should be reduced when the condensate back
pressure increases due to problems in condenser cooling water system or air ejection system to prevent
the overheating of condenser and LPT last stages.
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