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Heat Rate Improvement
Heat Rate Improvement
Heat Rate Improvement
Steve Scavuzzo
Babcock & Wilcox Co.
Technical Consultant
• Plant Efficiency = Net Plant Heat Rate (NPHR)
• Combined = 30-38%
On the Steam Side
Cycles and the Second Law
In 1823 Carnot Said: Max Efficiency = ≈ 65% for typical rankine cycles
T0 = Heat Sink Temperature
T1 = Temperature at which heat is added
EMISSIONS
BURNERS
COMBUSTION
Air Heater Performance
Poorly maintained Air Heaters could degrade plant heat rate by 0.7 to 0.9%.
Air Heater Performance
Minimize Boiler Setting Air In-leakage
Penthouse Roof Seals
Access and Observation doors
Expansion Joints
Furnace Hopper Seal
Setting Leakage
• Degrades Air Heater
Performance
3% air leakage ≈ +10F ≈ - 0.25% Eff
• Implement Intelligent
sootblower control to
optimize absorption
distribution and heat rate
Air Heater Performance
Operation and Maintenance of Coal Pulverizers
• Proper maintenance of pulverizer wear
parts will increase fineness and decrease
drive motor power consumption.
Increased fineness reduces unburned
carbon loss (UBCL) and possibly
emissions
• Requires boiler heating surface modifications to match the boiler to the revised
turbine conditions
Heat rate degrades as load is reduced
• Split / Sliding Pressure Operation
Once Through Boiler
• Allows the furnace to operate at full
pressure with turbine throttle valves
wide open - full steam temperature
to the 1st stage - at all loads
• In a typical modern coal fired power plant, air and gas fans consume
2-3% of gross generator electric output
Opportunity
• Condensing heat exchanges could be used to reclaim a large
percentage of this lost energy
Opportunities
New burners and OFA systems optimized with CFD
• Reduce total excess air: 5% reduction ≈0.2%
NPHR
• Reduce UBCL
• Maintain or reduce NOx and CO emissions
Subcritical Supercritical (Both at 1000/1000F)
2950
Specific Coal Consumption (g/kWh)
2.4%
Heat
rate
2900 imprvm.
5.5%
Heat
rate
imprvm.
2850
2800
2750
• Selected older units with original equipment -- turbine steam path upgrades
combined with boiler heating surface modifications are the most likely
opportunity to improve heat rate by multiple percentage points (≈4%)
• Opportunities are available to improve reduced load heat rate and load cycling
capability