Air-cooled condensers eliminate plant water use

09/15/2008 | William Wurtz

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Many plants are being forced by changing environmental laws and public pressure to
retrofit existing power generating facilities to closed-circuit cooling water systems or
even dry cooling options rather than continue with once-through river or ocean cooling
water. In arid regions in particular, there just isn’t enough water available to
simultaneously satisfy the needs of power plants and people. (See POWER, January
2008, “Costlier, scarcer supplies dictate making thermal plants less thirsty.”)

The pragmatic developer may also select dry cooling early in a project because it
increases plant siting options and its use can significantly accelerate approval of
construction permits because water use issues are taken off the table. Shortening a
project schedule by even six months can completely change the economics of a
project and easily balance the increased capital cost of dry cooling options.

Dry cooling applications in the U.S. have not been limited to arid regions but have also
been specified for plants sited in eastern, northern, and mountain areas where water
is typically more abundant (Figure 1). Why is that? In recent years, there are many
more reasons to consider dry cooling in general, and the air-cooled condenser (ACC)
in particular, than just the lack of available water (see sidebar). For instance, there are
strong indicators that dry cooling applications are becoming a standard power plant
design option. In fact, even areas with abundant water resources–like England,
Ireland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and northern Italy (Figure 2)–are adopting the
technology. In fact, the largest combined-cycle plant in Europe is rated at 1,200 MW
and uses an air-cooled condenser.
1. Popular choice. Air-cooled condensers have been installed on power plants across
North America. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

Air-cooled condenser design fundamentals

The direct dry cooling option condenses turbine exhaust steam inside finned tubes,
which are externally cooled by ambient air instead of sea or river water, as in once-
through water-cooled plants. There are two options for circulating the ambient air for
condensate cooling: either use fans to move the air or leverage nature’s draft.

The natural draft system uses the familiar hyperbolic tower that can exceed 300 feet
in height with a series of heat exchangers (Figure 12). The other, more familiar design
option is the air-cooled condenser, which uses motor-driven fans instead of relying on
the natural buoyancy of warm air. The large size of hyperbolic towers make the natural
draft option a niche application for small sites in the U.S. Consequently, about 90% of
the dry-cooled power plants in the world use the air-cooled condenser option with
mechanical draft (Figure 13).
12. Free cooling. An indirect dry-cooling system was installed at the 6 x 686-MW
power plant in Kendal, South Africa. In this cooling system design, water is circulated
from a standard condenser to the tower, where it enters a series of heat exchange
elements on the base. Air enters the bottom periphery of the tower, passing over heat
exchange elements. The heated air rises inside the tower, pulling in more cool air. No
fans are required. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.
13. Waterless condensing. Steam enters the air-cooled condenser at the top (blue
pipe) of the heat exchangers, flows downward through the heat exchanger tubes, and
it condenses and is captured in pipes at the base of the heat exchangers. The
condensate is then returned to the boiler water system. Mechanical fans force air over
the heat exchangers. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

Steam discharged from the turbine exhaust enters a steam distribution manifold
located on top of the ACC structure. The steam is then distributed into the fin tube
heat exchangers arranged in a “roof structure” with an A-shape configuration. Flowing
down inside the tubes, steam condenses due to the cooling effect of ambient air drawn
over the external finned surface of the tubes by the fans. The fans are located at the
bottom part of the A-shape framework. Condensate drains from the fin tube heat
exchangers into condensate manifolds and then drains to a condensate tank, before
being pumped to the conventional feed heating plant, or to the boiler.

An ACC operates under vacuum just as a conventional surface condenser does. Air
and other noncondensable gases enter the steam from several sources, including
leaks through the system boundary, and from the steam turbine. Noncondensable
gases are evacuated in a separate section of the ACC called the “secondary” section,
which is connected to vacuum pumps or air ejectors that exhaust the noncondensable
gases to the atmosphere.
The principle difference between ACC designs from different suppliers is in the details
of the heat exchanger and its finned tubes. There are basically two types of heat
exchangers: single-row and multi-row. There are many arguments regarding the
advantages of each concept. The single-row design is inherently more suitable in
extreme freezing ambient conditions (Figure 14). There are also three tube shapes
available in the market: round, oval, and flat. Oval and flat tubes are the most
sophisticated and perform better under just about all conditions.

14. Tube configurations. Compare the tube configurations for a single-row design (top)
and a multiple-row design (bottom). Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

The fin shape also varies between suppliers. Some fin types are less susceptible to
fouling and are mechanically more resistant in transient conditions. The best quality
fins have a strong bond to the bare tube, which guarantees a useful life expectancy
comparable to that of the power plants.

The final important design factor is the material selected for the finned tubes.
Aluminum fins brazed on flat bare tubes coated with aluminum, or oval galvanized
finned tubes bundles, are generally recognized as the two most reliable technologies
for use in power plants.
2. Strong European market. An air-cooled condenser was used at the gas-fired 460-
MW Bruges Power Plant in Belgium. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

China is very concerned about further stressing its water supplies and has adopted
dry cooling for many of its new power plants. In fact, China has installed air-cooled
condensers on over 35,000 MW of its burgeoning fleet of new plants and has
dominated the market in installations over the past several years (Figure 3). Over the
past two years, China has purchased an average of one new ACC per month for new
coal-fired power plants, with typical capacities of 2 x 300-MW or 2 x 600-MW (Figure
4).
3. Most popular market. This map shows the geographic market distribution for power
plants equipped with air-cooled condensers over the past four years in Europe.
Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.
4. Growing market. An air-cooled condenser was installed at China’s 2 x 300-MW
coal-fired Zhangshan Power Plant. The market for air-cooling equipment in China
continues to be very strong thanks to the country’s focus on building coal-fired power
plants. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

In China, as well for other locations across the world, a plant site no longer has to be
located close to a water source if ACC is selected. Instead, the location can be
optimized with regard to transmission lines and either gas distribution lines (for
combined-cycle plants) or rail lines (for coal-fired plants). In China, solid fuel plants
are generally located near coal mines, which explains that country’s recent interest in
air cooling.

Finally, the cost of land can be reduced when a lake-, river-, or oceanfront plant site
isn’t required.

Market trends positive

Between the 1960s and 1990s, Europe had a very small market for large or midsize
power plants. Instead, it relied on large coal-fired central station and nuclear plants.
In contrast, dry-cooling designs grew in popularity in the Middle East, China, South
Africa, and the U.S., driven by the lack of water (at coal mine locations, in desert
environs, or for other similar reasons). After 1990, the world market for dry cooling
began to explode and has multiplied about 20 times in the past 13 years alone (Figure
5).
5. Bursting at the seams. The world market for air-cooled condensers has exploded
over the past 15 years. The European growth can be attributed to the recent spike in
new gas-fired combined-cycle power plants. Source: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

In the very short term, the market for dry-cooling equipment will probably continue to
be quite active in China, considering the huge electrical requirements of this rapidly
growing country. Reasonable growth is also expected in Europe, as many European
Union countries have a renewed interest in managing their future water supplies. The
Middle East (Emirates area) and India will certainly also become two very important
markets in the near future. In the U.S., the market has been steadily growing since
the middle of 2005.

Case study: The Astoria Energy plant, New York City

Perhaps one of the most challenging combined-cycle projects on record was the 550-
MW Astoria Energy project, constructed on a 23-acre site along the East River, in
Astoria, Queens, New York City (NYC). The ACC design used 36-foot-diameter fans
designed for low noise, because the tuning rooms of the world-famous Steinway Piano
factory are directly across the street from the plant. The project entered commercial
service in May 2006.

The $565 million Astoria Energy was the largest plant built in NYC in over 25 years.
The plant is a 2 x 1 configuration anchored by two GE 7FA gas turbines, two Alstom
heat-recovery steam generators (HRSGs), an Alstom steam turbine, and an SPX
Cooling Technologies air-cooled steam condenser.

The project was completed less than 24 months after the first shovel of dirt was turned.
This schedule may seem like a stroll in Central Park to an experienced plant
constructor–if you’ve got a greenfield site in the Midwest. Not so in NYC, where trucks
have limited access to this small industrial site with no significant laydown area. That
means the construction sequence had to be supported by daily, on-time material
deliveries, making it a just-in-time construction project. What the plant site provided,
however, was deep water access to accommodate barge delivery of equipment. The
Astoria Energy project pushed the limits of off-site equipment modularization, and the
two-year project timeframe attests to its success.

The major contractors on the project–which included The Shaw Group, Alstom Power,
and SPX Cooling Technologies–transformed typical construction practices by
assembling major modules, including fully assembled HRSGs and the air condenser,
out-of-state and then barging them to the site. One interesting practical reason the
project was approved: NYC requires that 80% of all electricity be generated within the
five boroughs because of limited transmission capacity into the city.

One of the major NYC permit hurdles was to design a plant that eliminated use of the
East River for once-through cooling. In fact, the final permit specifies that the ACC will
not consume or reject any water into the environment.

Ship prefabricated assemblies. The ACC for this project consisted of 24

modules/fans and was preassembled 300 miles south of NYC in a shipyard located
near Norfolk, Virginia. This off-site facility allowed space and time to pre-erect the
ACC modules well in advance of when they were needed at the Astoria site. The more
temperate climate increased labor productivity in Virginia, and just as important, the
site had more-than-adequate room for material laydown and lifting equipment (Figure
6).

6. Step 1. The Astoria Energy project’s air-cooled condensers (ACC) were

preassembled in Norfolk, Virginia. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

The 24-module ACC was built in 12 side-by-side module sections (Figure 7). Each of
the 12 ACC sections measured almost 43 feet wide x 85 feet long x 49 feet tall, and
each weighed approximately 300 metric tons. Two sections of the ACC were lifted
onto a barge and then two barges were shipped together from Virginia to the job site
by tugboat (Figure 8).
7. Step 2. A total of 12 ACC modules, each with two fans, were required for the project.
Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

8. Step 3. The preassembled modules were then barged to the Queens, New York
job site. Each barge carried two completed sections plus additional, large-diameter
steam pipe. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.
Rapid assembly and start-up. Only nine months after the contract award, the ACC
sections started to arrive at the Astoria site for final assembly. When the barges
arrived at the job site, they were immediately offloaded onto a low-profile industrial-
strength motorized dolly and rolled into position next to the ACC steel support
structure that had already been erected on site (Figure 9). A 1,000-ton crane lifted
each of the 12 modules into place, at the rate of about two sections per week (Figure
10).

9. Step 4. Each ACC section was rolled from the barge landing to the adjacent job
site. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.
10. Step 5. A crane was used to place each of the 12 ACC sections onto a field-
erected steel support structure. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

The steam duct, also preassembled off-site, arrived for final assembly at the job site
in lengths determined by the long barge dimension. In all, 80% of the total man-hours
required to assemble the ACC were worked in Virginia, resulting in significant cost
savings compared to job site fabrication (Figure 11). Also, compared to other ACC
combined-cycle projects in the area, the modularization approach easily reduced the
time required for installation of the ACCs by 50%.

11. Open for business. Astoria Energy Project’s completed air-cooled condenser is
ready for service. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

–William Wurtz (william.wurtz@spx.com) is vice president and general manager of

Dry Cooling, Americas for SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.