DEAERATOR,HP

HEATERS & FRS

DHIRENDRA GOYAL
ENGINEER (OPERATION)
 DEAERATOR
 HP HEATERS

 FEED REGULATING STATION

 BOILER DRUM LEVEL CONTROL

 What is Deaerator?
 Deaerator is a device for air
removal from water to make it non-
corrosive. Deaerator generally
implies not only the deaerator but
also the feed water tank below
where deaerated water is stored and
fed to the suction of boiler feed
pumps.
 Deaerator
 The presence of certain gases,
principally oxygen and carbon-di-oxide
dissolved in water is generally
considered harmful because of their
corrosive attack on metals, particularly
at elevated temperatures.They form iron
oxide.
 Function is to remove dissolved gases

from the feed water by mechanical

means.
 The Mechanical Deaerator
 The removal of dissolved gases from boiler feedwater is
an essential process in a steam system.
 Carbon dioxide will dissolve in water, resulting in low pH
levels and the production of corrosive carbonic acid.
 Low pH levels in feedwater causes severe acid attack
throughout the boiler system.
 While dissolved gases and low pH levels in the feedwater
can be controlled or removed by the addition of chemicals,
it is more economical and thermally efficient to remove
these gases mechanically.
 This mechanical process is known as deaeration and will
increase the life of a steam system dramatically.
 Principle of Deaeration:
 Solubility Law: Solubility of gases
decreases with increase in solution
temp. and becomes zero at the
boiling or saturation temp.Feed
water is sprayed from the top so as
to expose large surface area and
bled steam is fed from the
bottom.O2 and CO2 get released
through vents.
 The deaerator comprises of two
chambers:
 Deaerating column.

 Feed storage tank.

DEARATOR WITH STORAGE
TANK
DEAERATOR
Water Spray in Deaerator
 Feedwater Heaters

 Feedwater heaters increases the cycle

efficiency by increasing the average
temperature of heat addition.
 Typically 6 heaters ; 2 HP, 3 LP and 1
Deaerator used in a 200 / 500 MW unit.
 Heaters can be either open or close
 Deaerator is an open feedwater heater
 Feedwater heaters are either horizontal or
vertical
 Mostly shell and tube type heaters are used
 Extraction Source
 DEA
1. IPT exhaust
2. Auxiliary Steam
3. CRH
 HPH-5
IPT-11 STAGE

 HPH-6
CRH
 DRIP SYSTEM

HP HEATERS
A
HPH 6

N A HP
DEAERATOR FLASH BOX

N
HPH 5
A
 3 Zones of HP Heater
 Desuperheating :-This is
the first zone where steam
loses its heat. Also this is
the last zone through
which feedwater passes.

 Condensing :-This is the

second zone for both feed
water and steam. The heat
transfer takes place at
constant temperature.

 Drain/Sub Cooling :- The

condensed steam is further
sub-cooled by incoming
feedwater.
 Tbi, pbi, Tbsi
Condensing Shell Drain Cooler

Desuperheater
Tfi Tfi+1

TRAP

Tf

Tube length
 Operating Parameters
Bled
Temperature

Steam
TTD

Feed Water
DCA

DC DS
Condensing

TTD = Tsat– T fw o/l DCA = Tdrain o/l–T fw i/l

 Desuperheating Zone - The integral
desuperheating zone envelopes the final feed
water pass and is thermally engineered to
assure dry wall tube conditions with a minimum
zone pressure loss.
 Dry wall conditions in this zone provide
maximum heat recovery per square foot of
transfer surface by taking full advantage of the
available temperature differential between the
superheated steam and the feedwater.
 Dry wall conditions also prevent flashing, which
is detrimental to proper desuperheating zone
operation.
 Drain Subcooling Zone - When the heater drains temperature
is required to be lower than the heater saturation temperature,
a drain subcooling zone is employed.
 The drain subcooling zone may be either integral or external,
and as a general rule, it is integral.
 The integral drain subcooling zone operates as a heat
exchanger within a heat exchanger, since it is isolated from the
condensing zone by the drain subcooling zone end plate,
shrouding, and sealing plate.
 This zone is designed with generous free area for condensate
entrance through the drains inlet to minimize friction losses
which would be detrimental to proper operation.
 The condensate is subcooled in this zone, flowing up and over
horizontally cut baffles.
 TTD
 Used to measure heat transfer capability
 The top heater TTD has the most
significant impact
 1 ºC deviation in HPH/TTD = +1.8
kCal/kWh loss of Heat rate
 TTD is maintained negative for HP Heaters

 Increased TTD leads to more steam

demand in succeeding Heater, resulting in
reduced turbine o/p, pre-mature tube
failure and condensation in Desuperheating
zone
 DCA
 DCA is an indicator of heater level & is
used primarily as diagnostic tool for tube
pluggage, leaking tubes, or a cracked
sub cooling baffle Plates
 Increased heater level leads to reduced
heat transfer
 1 ºC deviation in HPH/DCA = +0.25
kCal/kWh loss of Heat rate
 Low level of heater can cause flashing of
the drain due to exposure to high
temperature and high velocity steam
 Monitoring Parameters
 The parameters to be monitored for
optimum operation can enumerated
as :
1. Heater shell side pressure
2. Feedwater inlet/outlet temperature
3. Feedwater drain cooler condensate
outlet temperature
4. Shell side drip level
 Contd...
 From the previously mentioned
parameters TTD and DCA can be
easily calculated and the heat
transfer problem can be diagnosed.
 The most likely problems that affect

these parameters are :-

 Steam side Fouling
 Exfoliation → most common cause (tube surface material
flakes off like dead skin)

 “Progressive and gradual” increase of TTD and DCA

 Results in poor heat transfer

 Eventual tube failure due to mechanical weakening

Remedy:-Use of SS tubes and inspection during an outage

through a
safety v/v flange or retubing of the heater nest
in case of worst situation.
 Inadequate Venting
 It results in accumulation of non-
condensable gases (insulating effect)
which inhibit heat transfer to feedwater

 It causes high TTD and low DCA

Remedy:-Opening the shell side start up

vent to see if performance improves. On
confirmation piping and valving should be
inspected.
 Low shell pressure
 The presence of any restriction in the extraction line
causes the steam pressure on shell side to reduce.

 This in turn reduces heater performance, because at

low pressure steam loses its enthalpy and hence a
low heat transfer

 The heaters flange pressure should be compared to

associated turbine extraction pressure (max. 4-5 %
drop)

Remedy:-If there is high pressure drop then NRVs

should be checked for freedom of operation,
counterweight position and that the dump v/v closing
mechanism is free
 FEED REGULATING STATION
 It consists of 3 streams
1. 30% line for low load(BLI<180 t/hr)
2. 100% line
3. 100% line
any one of 100% line is sufficient
for full load but both stream can be
kept in service simultaneously