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Steam Generators for the Next Generation of Power Plants Aspects of Design and Operating Performance
Dr. J. Franke, R. Kral and E. Wittchow Siemens AG, Power Generation Group KWU

Introduction

The requirements to be met by the next generation of power plants are subject to various criteria depending on regional considerations. Whereas efficiency together with environmental protection, availability and power generating costs head the list of priorities in the highly industrialized countries, investment costs and financing are becoming increasingly important factors in the growth countries. Steam generators, as the most costly component and the component of fundamental importance to power plant availability, play a significant role in both cases. Against this background, Table 1 summarizes various development tasks which may give rise to new design and operating solutions for future steam generators.
Table 1: Development tasks for steam generators.

Adaptation to process with high power plant efficiency Improved materials for supercritical steam conditions Minimization of exhaust gas loss Utilization of exhaust gas heat for heating condensate and feed water Meeting increasingly stringent requirements for operating behaviour Low part loads with high steam temperatures Start-up process with low service life consumption despite shorter start-up times Low material stress even with large and rapid load changes Minimization of NOx-emissions with simultaneous increase in combustion efficiency Reducing investment costs Simplified combustion chamber tubing Reduced and simplified start-up system Optimized thermodynamic design

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Adapting the Steam Generator to the Power Plant Process

Figure 1 shows the correlation between main steam conditions (MS conditions) and the semi-net heat rate of a steam power plant. The semi-net heat rate in this context is the net heat rate corrected for the auxiliary power requirement for the turbine-driven feed pump. The lines of equal heat rate on this diagram refer to a 700 MW unit with single reheat and a condenser pressure of 0.04 bar. Intervals between lines of equal heat rate correspond to 100 kJ/kWh.
Main steam pressure upstream of turbine [bar]

400

When considering Fig. 1 we are confronted

100kJ/kWh

360

by

the

following

question: given the same heat

320

rate, for example, should main

280

steam
240 200

parameters

of

220

bar/610C or 300 bar/580C be selected? This question regarding

540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700 720

160
Main steam temperature upstream of turbine [C]

the

correct

main

steam

Figure 1: Lines of constant heat consumption (half net) for various main steam conditions.

parameters is answered by the degree of material stress

sustained by the most highly stressed thick-walled component, i.e. the main steam header. Studies performed in this field have produced interesting results, as discussed below.
Table 2: Materials for steam generators with high steam temperatures.

Possible
5

materials

for

future

Components

Material

Membrane wall

Superheater tubes

Headers

13CrMo4 4 7CrMoVTiB9 10 HCM 12 X3CrNiMoN17 13 Esshete 1250 TP 347 H FG Alloy 617 Alloy 625 P 91 E 911 / NF 616 NF 12 TP 347 H FG Alloy 617 modified

Temperature at 10 creep resistance at 100 mm/(s.t.p.) 515 C 580 C 600 C 630 C 640 C 655 C 690 C 740 C 590 C 615 C 645 C 655 C 700 C

steam generators are listed in Table 2. This consists of materials which are either already proven, are currently being developed or are under discussion. Figure 2
5 shows the 10 hours creep fatigue

values, based on VdTV material specifications, for a number of materials which are suitable for main steam headers. for The the

information

supplied

material NF12, a ferritic steel with a 12 % chrome content, which is still in development, is based
5 on a published anticipated value of "100 N/mm at 650C (10 h)". Straight line curves for the

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same level of material stress, i.e. same fatigue life, are plotted for these materials in Fig. 3. and provide information on possible MS pressure and MS temperature combinations at the turbine inlet. These values apply to MS headers with a 1.8 ratio of outside to inside diameter, a ligament efficiency of 0.8, and take appropriate design margins for pressure and temperature into account. The different gradients of the straight line curves reflect the corresponding profiles of the material strength curves in the relevant
Creep resistance [MPa]

200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 500 550 600 650 700 750 800
Temperature [C] 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 X20 P91 NF616 NF12 TP 347H FG Alloy 617

temperature range in a simplified form; other sizes of headers result in a minor parallel displacement of the straight line curves for the same level of material stress. On the basis of this, the level of material stress sustained by a P91 header, for example, is the same at main steam conditions of 250 bar/595C and 350 bar/568C.

Figure 2: Creep resistance (105 h) of several highly heat-resistant materials for steam generators.

If the lines plotted in Fig. 1 and the straight line curves for ferritic chrome steels shown in Fig. 3 are now combined in Fig. 4, it is possible to mark the main steam conditions for every material which will produce the lowest heat rate for a certain header size assuming the same level of material stress. Combination of these points then produces a curve with optimum steam conditions for these chrome steels.
Main steam pressure upsteam of turbine [bar] 400

This method was used to ascertain

Do /Di =1.8 fv =0.8

360

the optimum main steam conditions for the individual material groups (Fig. 5). Allowing for the material

320

280

strength values given in Fig. 2, the

240 Alloy 617 200 X 20 160 540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700 720 Main steam temperature upstream of turbine [C] P 91 NF 616 NF 12 TP 347H FG

optimum main steam conditions are within the indicated range.

Austenitic steel was included here for reference purposes only as it is now rarely used for thick-walled

Figure 3: Lines of equal material stress for given main steam header dimensions.

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components because of its unfavorable characteristics with regard to operating flexibility. The same method can also be used in principle for the main steam line and produces two interesting results: Main steam pressures of around 300 bar upstream of the turbine should not be exceeded even with the newly developed chrome steels. This also applies to high-temperature projects which necessitate use of nickel-based alloys, such as the Advanced 700C PF Power Plant which is being discussed as part of the THERMIE project. Taking investment costs for the HP feed heater train and for a major part of the steam generator into consideration, cost-effective main steam pressures are below the optimum values given in Fig. 5.
Main steam pressure upstream of turbine [bar]
Main steam pressure upstream of turbine [bar]

360

Da / Di = 1.8 =0.8 fv
100kJ/kWh

360

NF 12 E 911/ NF 616 P 91 X 20 TP 347H FG

320

320

280

Optimum main steam conditions

280

Alloy 617

240

240

Ferritic

X 20
200 540 560 580

P 91
600

E911/ NF616
620

Austenitic

NF 12
640 660

Ni-based material
660 680 700 720

200 540

560

580

600

620

640

Main steam temperature upstream of turbine [C]

Main steam temperature upstream of turbine [C]

Figure 4: Optimum main steam conditions for ferritic chromium steels with given main steam header dimensions.

Figure 5: Optimum main steam conditions with given main steam header dimensions.

Further development of materials

51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 X20 X20 P 91 E 911/ NF 616 NF 12 Ni-based
167 bar 538/ 538C 250 bar 540/ 560C
1.5

Further development of processes and components

The optimum main steam conditions identified in

0,6

300 bar 700/ 720C 285 bar 600/ 620C

0.6

0,6 0,8 Double reheat 0,4 Steam turbine efficiency Auxiliary power requirements Boiler efficiency Pressure losses (vertical tubing Water / steam cycle

Waste heat utilization in steam generator

these studies will then produce efficiencies the shown net in

270 bar 580/ 600C

1.3

300 bar 625/ 640C

0.7

1.6

Fig. 6 subject to further advances in the field of materials development.

Fuel: bituminous coal Condenser pressure: 0.04 bar

Net efficiencies in the region of 50 % are

feasible in conjunction Figure 6: Measures for increasing efficiency of steam power plants. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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with appropriate process engineering measures and component improvements.

It is also necessary to examine the arrangement of heating surfaces in the flue gas path. Hightemperature corrosion and steam-side scaling become increasingly significant in heat exchanger tubes at steam temperatures above 600 C. Measurements published by the CEGB in 1988 show that maximum corrosion occurs in
Material thinning rate [10 m/h] 60 Gas temperature [C] 1400 50 1200 40 1000 800
-9

austenitic

materials

at

wall

temperatures of between 650 and 700C and that rates of material thinning rise with increasing flue gas
640 700 C

30

temperatures considerations

(Fig. are

7). therefore

Cost not

20

10

always the only criterion on which to

580 600 620 640 660 Tube wall temperature [C]

base

the

arrangement

of

final

Figure 7: High temperature corrosion in austenitic heat exchange surfaces.

superheater heating surfaces in the flue gas path.

Improved Utilization of Exhaust Heat

Feedwater temperatures will remain at around 280C to 300C in future. Because of thermodynamic considerations and the problems associated with the dew point of sulfuric acid, this places strict limits on any further reduction in the flue gas temperature to below 120C which can be achieved through use of larger air heater heat exchange surfaces. One potential solution to this problem is the heat recovery system in which the flue gases are cooled to 80 C directly upstream of the flue gas desulfurization plant. With this process, either the flow of flue gases through the air heater is decreased or the flow of air increased. In both cases, the slopes of the temperature curves plotted for flue gas and air converge because some of the heat output is transferred to the water-steam cycle (Fig. 8). In a coal-fired steam generator without a high-dust DeNOx system, this can be implemented with a gasside air heater bypass with feedwater and condensate heating surfaces. However, a hot gas recirculation system is useful in steam generators with high-dust DeNOx systems in order to prevent fouling of the feedwater and condensate heating surfaces with corrosive ammonium hydrogen sulfate, which is difficult to remove.

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This heat recovery system allows efficiency improvements of up to 0.6 percentage points in hardcoal-fired power plants and in excess of 1 percentage point in lignite-fired plants due to the larger
Combustion air
340 C

Flue gas
380 C

Temperature [C]
Air heater, Bypass heater Indu- Flue gas ced- cooler draft

specific flue gas flows. It should be borne in mind, however, that this system is only appropriate for power
Flue gas Air Feedwater

400

HP heater LP heater

Air heater
120 C 93 C

300

plants which do not use flue gas heat to reheat the flue gases downstream of the flue

Bypass heater

200
125 C

Condensate

Flue gas cooler 42 C 80 C

100

gas desulfurization system, i.e. where the flue gases are discharged via the cooling tower.

38 C

Figure 8: Exhaust gas heat recovery system Configuration and temperature profile in air heater.

Design and Process Engineering Measures to Improve Operating Performance

Use of rifled tubes for water walls of the combustion chamber can significantly improve operating performance. Rifled tubes have two important advantages over smooth tubes:

1. At pressures below 200 bar, heat transfer is so efficient that the tubes are safely cooled even at extremely low mass flow densities. The difference between smooth tubes and rifled tubes is particularly evident in terms of their impact on tube wall temperatures in areas of high heat flux in the burner region, for example (Fig. 9).

2. The amount of heat transferred from the inner wall surface to the fluid is also higher in the pressure range between 210 and 220 bar that is unfavorable for heat transfer. Given the same boundary conditions, the same wall temperatures as in a smooth tube are achieved at about half the mass flow density.

Use of rifled tubes for the water walls therefore allows the "BENSON minimum load" to be reduced from the previous value of 35 % (smooth tubes) to 20 %. This permits the operating range with high main steam temperatures to be extended downwards without necessitating additional control and changeover actions. Thanks to this low "BENSON minimum load", night-time or weekend shutdowns with their associated increased life expenditure are no longer necessary, even for
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intermediate peaking duty. This is an important advantage particularly for the future generation of high-temperature plants.

A "BENSON minimum load" of 20 % simultaneously means that the mass flow rate through the evaporator during startup can be reduced to 20 %. Transition to BENSON mode operation can therefore already take place at 20 % load; rapid elevation of main steam temperature up to the necessary conditions for turbine rolloff for a warm or a hot start takes less time and entails lower startup losses than previously. A superheater bypass is worth thinking about again for high-temperature plants. This reduces dips in main steam temperature during the initial startup phase and supports the main steam temperature setpoint controller while the plant is being run up to temperature. This reduces material stresses throughout the power plant unit during startup.
Inner wall temperature [C] Smooth tube Rifled tube
Main steam temperature [C] 500

400
Minimum BENSON load [%] 35 700 250 700
200 Temperature difference [K] 40

Upper limit curve

380

20 200

360

Mass flux [kg/ms] External heat flux [kW/m] Pressure [bar]

Lower limit curve

340

320

300 Burner range 280

Fluid
Max. allowable temperature difference
-40

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7 0.8 Steam fraction [-]

25

50 Time [min]

Figure 9: Tube wall temperatures in burner area at low loads.

Figure 10: Typical startup behaviour on cold start with forecasting load margin computer.

Instrumentation and Control Measures for Improved Operating Performance

There is also still scope for I&C measures to significantly enhance the steam generator's operating performance. Out of the measures listed in Table 3, this report will be looking at only the newly developed predictive load-margin computer and the combustion diagnostics system.

The load-margin computers used to date make insufficient allowance for the significant thermal inertia of thick-walled components during startup, and stress limits are frequently exceeded. Wall temperature measurements are also subject to considerable time lags.

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table 3: I & C measures for improved operating behaviour.

The predictive load-margin computer uses a computer model which predicts future differential temperature and thermal stresses from the measured variables steam temperature, steam

Forecasting load margin computer Steam temperature behaviour is calculated in advance with a model, from which setpoints for steam temperatures pressure and output are determined. Condensate throttling for frequency stabilization Step changes in unit load are transferred to the steam generator only as a continuous load change. New feedwater control Accounting for evaporator storage behaviour prevents unnecessary temperature changes at the evaporator outlet on load changes. Improved main steam pressure control on start-up Smooth transition from pressure increase to maintaining constant pressure prevents temperature fluctuations. Combustion diagnosis Measurement and evaluation of spectral lines in combustion chamber enables determination of flame temperatures and gas concentrations and analysis of combustion process.

pressure and steam mass flow for set time intervals (Fig. 10), producing a

continuously forecast. permitted The

updated maximum is

temperature

calculated from the results of this forecast by means of parameter variation. The temperature computed in this way is used to control the setpoints for steam temperature, pressure and firing rate resulting in a straightforward startup and shutdown strategy with minimized material stresses.

Not only the water-steam cycle but also the combustion process is likely to see further improvements in operating performance. The keyword here is combustion diagnostics.

Besides visual observation of the flame pattern, the quality of the combustion process has always been evaluated to date by measurement of input parameters - air flow and delivery rate of coal feeder system - and by analysis of the flue gases (O2, CO, NOx) at the steam generator outlet. Combustion processes are optimized during the planning phase using simulated computer models and by specialist teams during commissioning and subsequent operation. None of these methods, however, has ever involved acquisition and subsequent evaluation of metrological data on the combustion process. The combustion diagnostics system developed by Siemens now fills this gap (Fig. 11). Special cameras - one camera per burner - measure the spectral lines of the gas in the furnace. A software program uses this data to compute temperatures and gas concentrations, so producing an analysis of the combustion process.

The major advantages this gives the operator are self-evident: The commissioning phase for the combustion system, which generally takes several months to complete, can be shortened considerably.
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Burner and classifier settings are easily adjusted to match the burnout behavior of different types of coal; material thinning of furnace walls resulting from CO spiking is avoided. Low NOx operation, even during dynamic processes, reduces costs for NH3 and catalyst consumption. It may also be possible to reduce the total excess air requirement because all burners can now be supplied with the correct air flow with greater precision than previously.

The suitability of this innovative

Standard Control
Operation Observation Evaluation

New Measurement
Sensor Combustion Analysis

Boiler

technology

has

already

been

demonstrated in a number of power plants. As the next step it is planned combustion into the to integrate this system control

diagnostics combustion

Closed-Loop Control

Air Control Damper

system. This would allow it to initiate automatic actions to control

Figure 11: Combustion Diagnosis Optical Measurement with Combustion Analysis.

air distribution if changes in the combustion process are required.

Reduced Investment Costs

Increased power plant efficiency achieved by raising main steam parameters and/or by installing a heat recovery system entails a higher level of investment. However, this additional outlay can be offset by various cost-reducing factors, some of which will be discussed below.

One interesting cost-cutting option is the provision of vertical tubing for water walls of the combustion chamber (Fig. 12). Membrane walls of this type with rifled tubes are considerably easier and therefore more cost effective to manufacture and install than water walls with spiralwound, smooth tubing. This is in addition to the operating advantages discussed earlier and illustrated in Fig. 10.

The BENSON boiler with vertical tubing, which has attracted major interest worldwide, is supplied by BENSON licensees with the usual function-based warranties. An expert's report commissioned by a bank in connection with the financing of a specific project also rates this concept positively in comparison with conventional water wall designs.
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Moreover, use of rifled tubes - regardless of whether the water walls are spirally or vertically tubed - means that the startup system can be dimensioned for a 20 % evaporator flow rate. Circulating pumps are no longer necessary provided that an adequate water inventory can be stored for the startup procedure. Since it is known from previous experience that steam pressure is generally between 60 and 120 bar prior to a warm or hot start, cheap, rugged centrifugal pumps of standard design and dimensioned for pressures of up to 130 bar can be used in other cases, irrespective of the type of evaporator tubing and the BENSON minimum load, instead of expensive circulating pumps with wet-rotor motors. These pumps, which are installed in a secondary loop, merely have to be fitted with an additional safety valve (Fig. 13).
Turbine Turbine

35% minimum BENSON output

Mass flux reduction from 2000 to 1000 kg/m2s flow characteristic as in drum boilers: increased heat input to an individual tube increases throughput in that tube Cost-effective fabrication and assembly Minimum BENSON output: 20% Simple startup system for 20% evaporator throughput Reduced slagging on combustion chamber walls

20% minimum BENSON output

Figure 12: Vertical tube combustion chamber for BENSON steam generators Principle and characteristics.

Figure 13: Startup systems for BENSON steam generators.

A standard feature of two-pass steam generators of American or Japanese design is the inclusion of widely spaced platen walls to form part of the furnace heating surfaces. Only when the flue gases come into contact with heating surfaces with a transversal spacing of less than 300 to 400 mm is it necessary for the average flue gas temperature to have decreased to around 50 K below the ash softening point. By bringing the central European approach into line with this design philosophy it would be possible to raise the temperature of the flue gases as they enter the platen heating surfaces, thereby reducing investment costs. One particular reason for the apparent feasibility of this approach is that improved combustion due to finer coal pulverization and more highly differentiated admixture of air is known to reduce the tendency of the platen heating surfaces to become clogged with slag.

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Other potential methods of reducing costs which have already been proposed by other parties are included only briefly here: Avoidance of excessive design margins Economizer with externally ribbed tubes Simplified platform design and construction Single-train air and flue gas path Warranties to be restricted to most frequently burned coal types (e.g. acceptance of load restrictions when burning adverse types of coal)

Summary

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that state-of-the-art steam generator technology still has considerable potential for further development which can be exploited for the steam generators of the next generation of power plants (Fig. 14). This applies not only to the steam generators themselves but also to their integration into the power plant process.

Startup system for 20% output

Optimum combination of main steam pressure and main steam temperature Additional implementation of intelligent I&C systems

Combustion diagnosis Rifled combustion chamber tubes Vertical tube combustion chamber

Finned economizer tubes Heat recovery system

Figure 14: Features of modern steam generators Summary.

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References

|1|

Naoi, H., Ohgami, M., Mimura, H., Fujita, T.: Mechanical properties of 12Cr-W-CO ferritic steels with high creep rupture strength. Materials for Advanced Power Engineering 1994. Liege October 3 - 6, 1994

|2|

Meadowcroft, D. B.: An introduction to fireside corrosion experience in the Central Electricity Generating Board. Werkstoffe und Korrosion 39, 45 - 48 (1988)

|3|

Griem, H., Khler, W. and Schmidt, H.: Heat Transfer, Pressure Drop and Stresses in Evaporator Water Walls - From Experiment to Design. VGB Kraftwerkstechnik 79 (1999), Vol. 1, p.

|4|

Franke, J., Khler, W. and Wittchow, E.: Evaporator Designs for BENSON Boilers, State of the Art and Latest Development Trends. VGB Kraftwerkstechnik 73 (1995), Number 4.

|5|

Franke, J., Cossmann, R. and Huschauer, H.: BENSON Steam Generator with VerticallyTubed Furnace, Large-Scale Test under Operating Conditions Demonstrates Safe Design. VGB Kraftwerkstechnik 73 (1993) Vol. 4, pp. 353 - 359

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