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893 Low Noise Solutions For Turbine Bypass To Air Cooled Condensers
893 Low Noise Solutions For Turbine Bypass To Air Cooled Condensers
Solutions for
Turbine Bypass
to Air-Cooled
Condensers
ASME
Introduction
In a power plant with an air-cooled condenser (ACC), steam is
carried from the steam turbine exhaust to the condenser via a
large, thin wall, uninsulated duct. Noise sources that discharge into
the ACC duct have much less attenuation than in a water-cooled
condenser. The ACC duct is typically external to the turbine building
and has a very large surface area. High noise levels at the ACC duct
surface can generate unacceptable noise levels at the plant boundary
and in neighboring communities.
This problem is especially important in combined cycle power
stations. Combined cycle power stations have 100% turbine bypass
from the bypass system discharges nearly 50% more mass flow
into the duct than the steam turbine, and at a higher enthalpy. This
large amount of mass flow is discharged into a dump device that is
much smaller than the steam turbine exhaust, concentrating noise
energy into a very small area. Single-stage control valves and dump
elements can generate external noise levels in excess of 130 dBA
at a distance of 1m from the ACC duct surface, and 75 dBA up to
a kilometer from the plant. With many combined cycle plants on
daily cycling, start-up noise can become a severe constraint in plant
operation.
Combined cycle power stations are also relatively compact, and are
much more likely to be sited in a sensitive environment than a large
coal-fired boiler. Plants with excessive noise levels may face financial
penalties and, in some cases, suspension of plant operation. Due to
the large size of the ACC duct, traditional noise treatment methods
like acoustic enclosures or insulation are impractical or insufficient.
The source noise must be treated in order to meet plant noise
requirements.
Complete Noise and Bypass System Specification
It is important to establish correct and complete noise specifications
for ACC systems. Almost all plants establish near field sound
pressure levels of 90 dBA for insulated pipes in order to provide a
safe working environment. In ACC plants the far field requirements
will usually dictate the near field requirements. Far field
requirements of 60 dBA at 400 feet from duct may require near
field requirements of 85 dBA at 3 feet from duct. Since the duct is
fish mouth device, or a dump tube (Figures 3 and 4). These designs
can generate noise levels in excess of 130 dBA at a distance of 1m
from the ACC duct surface. The large amount of concentrated sound
power creates vibration that can cause cracks in the duct walls and
dump element mounting ring (Figure 5).
The noise generated by the dump element at the ACC duct surface
Sound Power, dB
140.0
120.0
100.0
sizes shift the peak frequency of jets discharging from the dump
element. Multi-stage pressure reduction reduces the discharge
80.0
60.0
40.0
10
100
DRAG Resistor
1000
Frequency, Hz
Low Noise Dump Tube
10000
100000
discharges all steam flow and spraywater flow into the ACC duct.
Figure 7: Comparison of far field noise performance for a CCPS with ACC duct. The first figure shows the noise field around
a plant when the plant is in normal operation, with 85 dBA ambient noise level. The second figure shows the noise field
around a plant when the bypass system is in operation. The bypass system generates 117 dBA at 1m from the duct surface,
and significant far field noise.
technology.
disks use a special version of the DRAG flow path that has been
optimized for discharge to the condenser applications.
Figure 10: Schematic of a standard DRAG resistor and a typical bell housing assembly.
Nominal
Diameter (DN)
Resistor Height
(HR)
Max Resistor
Diameter (DMAX)
Bell Housing
Diameter
33 (82 cm)
100000 - 300000 lbm/hr
(45450 - 136360 mt/hr)
24 (61 cm)
39 (99 cm)
47 (120 cm)
70 100
40 (102 cm)
(180 254 cm)
54 (137 cm)
40 (102 cm)
175000 - 450000 lbm/hr
(79545 - 204550 mt/hr)
30 (76 cm)
48 (122 cm)
55 (140 cm
85 125
44 (112 cm)
(216 318 cm)
64 (163 cm)
49 (125 cm)
300000 - 675000 lbm/hr
(136360 - 306820 mt/hr)
36 (91 cm)
57 (145 cm)
66 (168 cm)
105 150
51 (130 cm)
(267 381 cm)
76 (193 cm)
57 (145 cm)
450000 - 900000 lbm/hr
(181800 - 450000 mt/hr)
42 (107 cm)
66 (168 cm)
76 (193 cm)
125 175
60 (154 cm)
(318 445 cm)
86 (219 cm)
Notes:
The size of the DRAG resistor may require the use of a bell housing to avoid excessive ACC duct blockage.
- The bell housing diameters above assume that the DRAG resistor is 100% contained in the bell housing and
assumes an ACC duct pressure of 2 psia (.13 bara), and an enthalpy of 1170 BTU/lbm ( 2720 kJ/kg).
- The bell housing diameter may be reduced if the DRAG resistor is only partially contained.
dif
bre
CCIs DRAG
multi-stage valve trim
minimizes noise generation
through velocity control.
Alternate Configurations
SUMMARY
ACC plants can be a noise problem because:
n Turbine bypass systems dump into a large-diameter,
uninsulated, thin-walled duct.
n They are commonly located very close to residential areas.
Total ACC noise is a product of many individual sources:
n Bypass valves
n Regions of area expansion
n Dump Devices
DRAG Technology
Two-Stage Desuperheating
documents:
CCI Installation Guidelines
CCI Preventative Maintenance
Program
Preventative
Maintenance
Program for
Turbine Bypass
Systems