Consider dual-driven boiler feed pumps for coal plants with capacity greater than 500 MW

Coal plants have traditionally relied on boiler steam to drive their boiler feed pumps. And as you know, this is a chicken-and-egg scenario-the boiler needs the pump to feed it water before it can generate the steam and the pump needs that steam so it can feed the boiler water. To provide black start capability, many large coal-fired power plants include a motor driven start-up boiler feed pump. Then once adequate steam is available, condensing turbines operating in parallel with the main unit LP casing come on line to drive the boiler feed pump. This setup can be inefficient and expensive. It is also prone to mechanical problems associated with the long blade lengths required in the last turbine stages and the need to inject high pressure steam (2400 to 4500 PSIG) into a turbine designed for a pressure around 150 PSIG when the plant is operating at low loads. Switching to motor driven pumps with variable frequency drives (VFD) addresses some of these problems; however, this has a high cost and reflects harmonics into the power lines. Resolving the harmonics problem can add 50% to the cost of the VFD. An alternative to either of these arrangements is to use a dual driven boiler feed pump. During startup, an electric motor drives the pump, then as the pressure builds, a back pressure turbine takes over driving the pump, and the motor shuts down. Or, if the boiler requires one, the motor would stay on line and drive a booster pump. Using a dual driven boiler feed pump eliminates the need for a separate startup pump and motor while improving plant efficiency and reliability. Double flow condensing turbines Typically condensing turbines operating in parallel with the main unit LP casing are used to drive the boiler feed pumps and could be used as the main driver in the proposed dual driven pump scheme. However, for these large plants, the relatively high rotating speed of the feed pump (e.g. up to 7300 RPM for a Sulzer HPT Multistage Barrel Casing Boiler Feed Pump) does not match well with a condensing steam turbine. The high steam flow required to meet the pump power requirements, and the resulting large exhaust volume, means a large last stage exhaust annulus area resulting in long last stage turbine blades. At the required pump RPM, blade velocities are well above the optimum for best efficiency. In addition to poor efficiency, the combination of high tip speeds and long blades often results in mechanical problems, such as blade failures.

To avoid these problems, some manufacturers have provided turbines with the last two blade rows "double flowed" with the flow splitting between two sets of smaller diameter last-row blades. This sometimes solves the blade mechanical problems, but due to the flow losses in splitting the steam, the efficiency is no better. In fact, the efficiency of the condensing boiler feed pump turbine is often 6 to 7 percentage points lower than the efficiency of the main unit steam turbine. Some manufacturers, including Siemens with its SST-500 model, provide a full, double-flowed reaction type boiler feed pump turbine with the steam inlet in the middle and exhausting at both ends. This results in a long rotor, but it is not a problem given the large diameter rotors inherent in the reaction design. This double flowed design resolves the blade mechanical problems and provides efficiency levels within 2 to 3 percentage points of the main unit LP casing. However, these are expensive machines, and exhausting at both ends makes it unwieldy and expensive to duct the exhaust back to the main unit condenser. Low steam flow problems Low steam flow is another problem with using condensing turbines as the drivers for the boiler feed pumps. At low plant loads, there is usually not enough steam flow through the main unit LP turbine to prevent it from overheating due to blade windage losses. The usual way to resolve this problem is to divert the IP steam from the boiler feed pump turbine to the main unit LP turbine. In this situation the boiler feed pump turbine must then somehow accommodate high pressure and temperature steam direct from the boiler. To handle this high pressure steam (2400 to 4500 PSIG, depending on the plant design) in a turbine designed for a pressure close to 150 PSIG, requires either a special high pressure insert and valve directing this high pressure steam to a small arc segment of the control stage, or a separate external throttling valve and desuperheater. The separate throttle valve and desuperheater, with its associated piping, is the more common and expensive approach, but, of course, the high pressure insert approach offered by some manufacturers is usually priced on a value rather than cost basis. Because of these reasons, many recent plants have turned to motor driven pumps with variable frequency drives rather than steam turbines. Even with the efficiency losses of generating the electric power and the losses in the VFD and motor, these systems are often more efficient than driving the feed pump with a condensing steam turbine. Dual flow pumps To provide black start capability without incurring the costs and problems previously described, a dual drive mechanism for the main boiler feed pump is proposed, eliminating the need for the startup pump. The system consists of using a steam turbine as the main driver and a 2-pole motor as the startup driver. The steam turbine would connect through a clutch to the normal drive end of the boiler feed pump. A 2pole induction motor, running at approximately 3600 RPM for a 60 HZ plant, would drive the other end of the pump through a second clutch. During startup, when no steam is available, the steam turbine clutch would be disengaged; the motor side clutch would automatically engage as soon as the motor starts to turn. The 3600 RPM pump speed is a good match for the water flow and pressure required by the boiler during plant startup. When steam does become available, the turbine would be brought up to speed under governor control. When the turbine speed starts to exceed the motor speed, the turbine-to-pump clutch would automatically engage, and the motor-to-pump clutch would automatically disengage. The engagement of the one clutch and disengagement of the other is a positive automatic mechanical feature. The turbine and pump would

continue to accelerate up to full speed as the plant is brought to full load. The startup motor would now be shut down. For plant designs that require a booster pump, the 2-pole starting motor could be designed as a double end motor and also drive the booster pump. For this plant design, the motor would continue to run after the steam turbine brings the boiler feed pump up to speed. The clutch between the feed pump and the 2pole motor would be disengaged and over running. Back pressure vs. Condensing turbine An alternative solution is to use the dual driven pump as described, but using a back pressure turbine instead of a condensing turbine. The back pressure turbine is piped in parallel with the main unit IP casing, taking inlet steam from hot reheat, and exhausting into the inlet of the main LP turbine. This approach offers greater efficiency, higher reliability, and lower cost than the electric drive option. At the same time, it eliminates the light load steam problem, providing flexibility in locating the boiler feed pumps, and eliminating the start-up pump. The back pressure turbine is aerodynamically better matched to the pump operating speed than a condensing turbine, resulting in efficiency very close to that of the main unit IP turbine. The exhaust end steam volume is much reduced compared to the same power condensing turbine, eliminating the large diameter, high tip speed last stage blades. The minor inefficiencies of the back pressure turbine show up as a slightly higher exhaust temperature. Most of this energy is recovered when the steam is further expanded in the main unit LP turbine. None of the inefficiencies of the condensing turbine can be recovered, but instead show up as additional heat load in the condenser and cooling system. Advantages of the dual-driven boiler feed pump with back pressure turbine drive The method of switching from a separate starting pump to dual driving the main pump offers plant operators a number of advantages including: Eliminating the need for the startup pump and motor (and associated foundation), high pressure piping, valves, and switchgear. Improving overall plant efficiency compared to either a condensing turbine drive or an electric motor drive with VFD. Eliminating the need for a secondary steam source for the boiler feed pump turbine and the associated piping, valves, and de-superheater. Saving money-the back pressure turbine is less expensive than the equivalent power condensing turbine, offsetting most of the cost. Eliminating the large diameter duct from the condensing turbine exhaust to the main unit condenser. Gaining flexibility-the location of the boiler feed pump skid is not constrained by the requirements of the turbine exhaust connection to the main unit condenser. Improving plant reliability. For plants with a booster pump, the starting motor can be used to continuously drive the booster pump, eliminating a motor and switchgear.