761

Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t an d

gas-sid e velocity in h eat recover y stea m gen er ator s
A Beh b a h an i-n ia 1∗, S Sayad i 1 , an d M Soleym an i 2
1
Dep artm en t of Mech an ical En gin eerin g, K N Toosi Un iversity of Tech n ology, Teh ran , Iran
2
Fan n Azm ayan Pooyan deh (FAP) Com p an y, Teh ran , Iran

Th e m a n u script wa s received on 3 Ja n u a ry 2010 a n d wa s a ccepted a fter revision for pu blica tion on 22 April 2010.
DOI: 10.1243/ 09576509JPE953

Ab str a ct: In th e p resen t article, th erm od yn am ic an d th erm oecon om ic an alysis are ap p lied to fin d
th e op tim u m valu es of d esign p aram eters for water-tu be h eat recovery steam gen erators (HRSGs)
in com b in ed cycle p ower p lan ts. Design variables op tim ized in th is article are p in ch p oin t an d gas-
side velocity. Op tim ization is carried ou t based on two differen t objective fu n ction s. Th e first on e
is th erm od yn am ic, wh ich is th e su m m ation of exergy loss du e to an ou tflow of h ot gas escap in g
from th e HRSG th rou gh stack, an d exergy d estru ction du e to in tern al irreversibility in side th e
HRSG. Th e secon d on e is a th erm oecon om ic objective fu n ction , wh ich is th e su m m ation of exergy
loss an d destru ction in term s of exp en ses in clu din g th e cost of fu el an d electricity, an d th e cap ital
cost of HRSG in term s of th e fu tu re valu e of m on ey accordin g to th e in terest rate. Th e cap ital
cost of HRSG in clu des p rocu rem en t an d erection of p ip in g an d in su lation , electrical p an els an d
wirin g, con trol an d in stru m en tation equ ip m en t, in su ran ce, tax, en gin eerin g, an d su p ervision .
Th e effects of p in ch p oin t an d gas-sid e velocity on th e com p on en ts of ob jective fu n ction s are
in vestigated in details. Th e p in ch p oin t an d gas-side velocity th at m ake th ese ob jective fu n ction s
m in im u m are called op tim u m valu es.

Keyword s: h eat recovery steam gen erator, com b in ed cycle, th erm odyn am ic, th erm oecon om ic,
p in ch p oin t, op tim ization

1 INTRODUCTION con sidered in th is article. Water an d gas tem p eratu re

Heat recovery steam gen erators (HRSGs) are sign ifi-
can t com p on en ts of com bin ed cycle p ower p lan ts
u sed to recover waste h eat from h igh -tem p eratu re
exh au st gas leavin g gas tu rbin es an d th en gen erate
steam . Th e gen erated steam is u sed to ru n a steam
tu rbin e (Fig. 1, relative to an HRSG with two p ressu re
levels of evap oration ). High efficien cy, low en ergy loss,
an d lon g exp ected life are factors associated with com -
bin ed cycle p ower p lan ts an d m ake th em u n iqu e in
com p arison with th e oth er kin ds of p ower station s [1].
HRSGs stron gly affect th e total p erform an ce of th e
p lan t. A sin gle p ressu re HRSG with an extra low-
p ressu re evap orator as a p reh eatin g loop h as b een
∗Correspon din g a u th or: Depa rtm en t of Mech a n ica l En gin eerin g,
KN Toosi Un iversity of Tech n ology, No. 17, Pa rdis Street, Molla sa dra
Aven u e, Va n a k Squ a re, Teh ra n 19991-43344, Ira n .
em a il: a libeh ba h a n in ia @kn tu .a c.ir
p rofiles across th e HRSG for th is typ e of HRSG are
illu strated in Fig. 2, relative to an HRSG with on ly on e
p ressu re level. Th e tem p eratu re differen ce b etween
th e satu ration tem p eratu re of water an d th e gas tem -
p eratu re leavin g th e evap orator is called p in ch p oin t.
On on e h an d, a red u ction in p in ch p oin t leads to a
redu ction in th e HRSG exh au st gas tem p eratu re tran s-
latin g in to lower exergy loss th rou gh stack. On th e
oth er h an d , p in ch p oin t redu ction m ay be obtain ed
by larger h eat tran sfer su rface areas, wh ich m ean s
h igh er cap ital cost of HRSG as well as h igh er exergy
destru ction du e to p ressu re d rop. An op tim u m valu e
for th e p in ch p oin t m ay be fou n d by m akin g a trad e-off
between th ese effects.
An oth er im p ortan t p aram eter in th e d esign of
HRSGs is th e gas-side velocity. On on e h an d , an
in crease in gas-side velocity leads to a h igh er h eat
tran sfer coefficien t, wh ich m ean s sm aller h eat tran s-
fer su rface areas tran slatin g in to lower cap ital cost of
HRSG. On th e oth er h an d, th is in crease cau ses a h igh er
p ressu re d rop. An op tim u m valu e for th e gas-side

JPE953 Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Pa r t A: J. Power an d En er gy

762 A Beh b ah an i-n ia , S Sayad i, a n d M Soleym an i
Fig. 1 Sch em e of a com b in ed cycle p ower p lan t
Fig. 2 Typ ical tem p eratu re p rofiles for a sin gle p ressu re
HRSG with a p reh eatin g loop
velocity m ay be fou n d by m akin g a trade-off between
th ese two effects.
In variou s referen ces, differen t m eth ods are u sed
to op tim ize HRSG design p aram eters. Som e of th em
are based on design ers’ exp erien ce an d th e oth ers are
fou n ded on op tim ization tech n iqu es. In referen ce [2],
th e effects of p in ch p oin t on th e first an d secon d law
efficien cy of th e HRSG is stu died. In referen ce [3],
op tim al th erm od yn am ic p erform an ce con dition s for
HRSGs are calcu lated u sin g a gen etic algorith m . In
Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Par t A: J. Power an d En er gy
referen ces [4] an d [5], a two-step m eth od is su ggested ,
in wh ich th e first on e aim s to m in im ize th e p ressu re
drop for a given h eat flow an d th e secon d on e leads to a
redu ction of overall d im en sion s. Th u s, th ey m ain tain
th e requ ired HRSG p erform an ce by workin g on h eat
flow an d p ressu re drop. In referen ce [6], th e ap p rop ri-
ate p in ch p oin t for HRSGs is su ggested to be between
11 an d 28 ◦ C accordin g to design ers’ exp erien ce.
As m en tion ed , in th is article, op tim u m valu es of
th e p in ch p oin t an d gas-side velocity m ay b e fou n d
by a trad e-off b etween th e cap ital cost of HRSG an d
exergy loss. An y m eth od b ased on p u re th erm od y-
n am ic an alysis m ay lead to u n reason able cap ital cost
as well as m islead in g op tim ized p in ch p oin t. Alth ou gh
referen ces [7] an d [8] con sidered th is con cep t, th ey
failed to get to th e p ractical op tim ized p in ch p oin t. In
th ese two referen ces, th e op tim al p in ch p oin t is fou n d
u sin g th e th erm oecon om ic m eth od an d it is between
0.3 an d 0.9 ◦ C wh ich is very far from wh at is su ggested
by exp erien ce an d seem s to b e im p ractical an d u n rea-
son able. In th is article, a sim p le system (see Fig. 1)
h as been con sidered as an exam p le an d th e p rop osed
calcu lation m eth od to op tim ize th e p in ch p oin t an d
gas-sid e velocity in HRSGs m ay be easily exten ded to
m ore com p lex geom etries.
In th e p resen t article, an op tim u m valu e for th e
p in ch p oin t is fou n d by th e th erm oecon om ic m eth od
an d it seem s m ore reason able owin g to th e follow-
in g m odification s with resp ect to wh at is don e in
referen ces [7] an d [8].
1. In referen ces [7] an d [8] a sim p le lin ear h eat tran sfer
ap p roach is ap p lied by con siderin g typ ical valu es
JPE953
 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t a n d ga s-sid e velocity in h eat recover y steam gen er ator s
for overall h eat tran sfer coefficien ts in th e eco-
n om izer, evap orator, an d su p er-h eater. However,
h eat tran sfer p h en om en a in HRSGs, is n on -lin ear
becau se of n on -lu m in ou s rad iation . Sin ce a redu c-
tion in p in ch p oin t leads to a redu ction in gas
tem p eratu re, n on -lu m in ou s radiation , wh ich is sig-
n ifican tly d ep en den t on th e gas tem p eratu re, m ay
h ave d ifferen t valu es at d ifferen t gas tem p eratu res.
Th erefore, con siderin g th is m isleadin g assu m p -
tion m ay u n d erestim ate th e op tim u m p in ch p oin t.
In th is article, m ore accu rate calcu lation on h eat
tran sfer is p erform ed , in wh ich con vective an d n on -
lu m in ou s h eat tran sfer coefficien ts are fou n d as a
fu n ction of th e HRSG geom etry, gas tem p eratu re,
an d th erm op h ysical p rop erties.
2. Pressu re drop is an im p ortan t factor in th e design
of HRSGs wh ich is d ep en den t on th e geom etry of
HRSG. Th is factor h as a sign ifican t in flu en ce on
th e gas tu rb in e p ower gen eration . Destru ction of
exergy du e to p ressu re drop is n ot calcu lated in
referen ces [7] an d [8]. In th e p resen t article, p res-
su re drop is con sid ered as a factor th at affects th e
op tim u m valu e of th e p in ch p oin t. In add ition , op ti-
m u m valu e of th e gas-sid e velocity can be fou n d
by a trad e-off between th e p ressu re d rop an d cap -
ital cost of HRSG. Meth ods exclu din g th e p ressu re
drop m ay n ot be u sed to fin d th e op tim u m gas-side
velocity.
3. A com p reh en sive econ om ic stu d y is don e in th is
article in clu din g all p aym en ts for con stru ctin g a
n ew HRSG. Th ese p aym en ts con sist of h eat tran s-
fer su rface areas, casin g an d stru ctu res, equ ip m en t,
an d oth er p aym en ts wh ich are tabu lated in Tab le 1.
Ign orin g an y of th ese p aym en ts, as don e in refer-
en ces [7] an d [8], leads to u n derestim atin g th e cap -
ital cost of HRSG. In th e p resen t article, econ om ic
stu dy is d on e based on in form ation wh ich h as b een
p rovided by FAP Com p an y (Fan n Azm ayan Pooyan -
deh ) as an in tern al rep ort in clu din g all exp en ses to
con stru ct HRSGs for th ree differen t p rojects in Iran .
Ta b le 1 Coefficien ts to estim ate th e cost of h eat
recovery steam gen erators ∗
Item Associated valu e for α
Heat tran sfer area 1 vation of exergy, exergy destru ction m ay be fou n d by
Casin g an d stru ctu re 0.205
Processin g equ ip m en ts 0.216
Pip in g an d in su lation 0.078
Con trol an d in stru m en tation 0.098
Electrical p an els an d wirin g 0.093
En gin eerin g an d su p ervision 0.031
Tax 0.075
In su ran ce 0.115
Profit of th e p roject 0.095
Oth er costs 0.125
Total 2.31
∗ Given data is from referen ce [9].
JPE953
763
4. Exergy loss th rou gh stack is n eglected in p reviou s
works. As a p ractical p oin t of view, p rofession al
design ers ten d to fin d op tim al ways to redu ce th e
p in ch p oin t in order to keep th e stack th erm al loss
sm aller. Neglectin g th is loss in an y op tim ization
tech n iqu e is m ean in gless. In th is work, th e su m of
exergy destru ction an d exergy loss th rou gh stack is
con sidered as a com p on en t of objective fu n ction s.
2 FIRST AND SECOND LAW OF
THERMODYNAMICS IN HRSGS
Th e first step in th e design of HRSGs is u sin g th e first
law of th erm odyn am ics to fin d u n kn own p aram eters
by u sin g oth er given data. Kn owin g th e in let gas m ass
flow an d tem p eratu re, p in ch p oin t, an d ap p roach
p oin t, th e steam m ass flow m ay be calcu lated by tak-
in g a con trol volu m e arou n d th e su p er-h eater an d
evap orator as follows
ṁ g CP g H L (Tg1 − Tg3 ) = ṁ s (h s − h w3 ) (1)
Kn owin g th e tem p eratu re of water en terin g th e
econ om izer, th e gas tem p eratu re leavin g th e econ o-
m izer m ay be fou n d by takin g a con trol volu m e arou n d
th e econ om izer as follows
ṁ g CP g H L (Tg3 − Tg4 ) = ṁ s (h w 3 − h w 2 ) (2)
By takin g a sim ilar con trol volu m e arou n d p re-
h eater, exh au st gas tem p eratu re m ay b e fou n d too
ṁ g CP g H L (Tg4 − Tg5 ) = ṁ s (h w 2 − h w 1 ) (3)
In a HRSG, in let exergy con sists of ch em ical an d
p h ysical exergy of th e h ot gas. Ch em ical exergy m ay
n ot be recovered an d it will b e exh au sted to th e atm o-
sp h ere th rou gh th e stack. Th erfore, th e in let p h ysical
exergy of th e h ot gas is con sidered as th e fu el exergy.
Th is p h ysical exergy is u sed to gen erate h igh -p ressu re
h ot steam in side th e HRSG. Th e in crease in th e exergy
of water is con sidered as th e p rodu ced exergy.
Du e to th e irreversibility of th e h eat tran sfer p ro-
cess, a fraction of th e fu el exergy is destru cted . Also, an
ou tflow of th e h ot gas exh au sts an oth er fraction of th e
fu el exergy to th e atm osp h ere wh ich is con sidered in
th is article as th e exergy loss. Accordin g to th e con ser-
u sin g th e followin g equ ation
ĖDestru ction = ĖFu el − ĖProdu ction − ĖLoss (4)
in wh ich accordin g to referen ces [10] an d [11] th e
am ou n t of ĖFu el , ĖProdu ction , an d ĖLoss can be fou n d as
follows
ĖFu el = ṁ g [CP g (Tg1 / T0 ) − T0 (CP g ln (Tg1 / T0 )
− R ln (P g1 / P 0 ))] (5)
Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Pa r t A: J. Power an d En er gy
764 A Beh b ah an i-n ia , S Sayad i, a n d M Soleym an i

ĖProdu ction = ṁ s [(h s − h w1 ) − T0 (ss − sw 1 )] (6) ho = hN + hc (18)

ĖLoss = ṁ g [CP g (Tg5 − T0 ) − T0 (CP g ln (Tg5 / T0 ))] (7) Tg4 − Tt4
h N = σ εg (19)
Tg − Tt
In equ ation (7), th e gas p ressu re en terin g th e HRSG 0.5 0.25
is equ al to th e p ressu re drop in sid e th e HRSG add ed d o + 2h f Tg
h c = C1 C3 C5 × ×
to atm osp h eric p ressu re do Tf
0.67
k
P g1 = P 0 + Pg (8) × GCP g × (20)
μ CP g
Exergy destru ction m ay be divid ed in to two
com p on en ts; exergy destru ction d u e to irreversible ε g can be fou n d th rou gh ap p rop riate diagram s
T
h eat tran sfer ( ĖDestru p resen ted in referen ce [13] an d C1 , C3 , an d C5 are
ction ) an d exergy destru ction du e
to p ressu re drop ( ĖDestru P defin ed in referen ce [6]. All h eat tran sfer su rface
ction ) wh ich m ay be written
as follows areas in clu din g p re-h eater, econ om izer, evap orator,
an d su p er-h eater are con sid ered as fin n ed tu be typ es
P
ĖDestru ction = ĖDestru T an d equ ation s p resen ted in th is section are b ased on
ction + ĖDestru ction (9)
th is assu m p tion .
T
ĖDestru ction = ṁ g [CP g (Tg1 − Tg5 ) − T0 CP g ln (Tg1 / Tg5 )]

− ṁ s [(h s − h w1 ) − T0 (ss − sw 1 )] (10) 3.2 Pip in g ar r a n gem en t

P
ĖDestru ction = ṁ g T0 R ln (P g1 / P 0 ) (11)
Th e two m ain p ossib le p ip in g arran gem en ts in side
Ch em ical exergy of th e h ot gas m ay be fou n d u sin g HRSGs are p resen ted in Fig. 3. Th e staggered arran ge-
th e followin g equ ation s m en t is u su ally u sed owin g to h igh er overall h eat
tran sfer coefficien t [1].
k
ĖCh em ical = xk ĖCh em ical + ṁ g RT0 xk ln xk (12)
k e 3.3 Gas p ressu re d r op
ĖCh em ical = − ṁ g RT0 ln xk (13)
R̄ 8.3145 Exh au st gas leavin g th e gas tu rbin e an d en terin g th e
R= = (14) HRSG sh ou ld be in atm osp h eric p ressu re in an ideal
M M
case, bu t in com bin ed cycle p ower p lan ts, b ecau se of
Exergy loss th at corresp on ds to th e zero valu e of th e con tact b etween flu e gas an d h eat tran sfer su rface
th e p in ch p oin t is th e m in im u m am ou n t of exergy areas, gas p ressu re d rop in side th e HRSG is in evitable.
loss th rou gh stack. Sin ce th is am ou n t of exergy loss Th erefore, th e exh au st gas sh ou ld leave th e gas tu rb in e
is u n avoid ab le even if th e p in ch p oin t is very close to with a p ressu re h igh er th an atm osp h eric to overcom e
zero, it is called u n avoidable exergy loss. th is p ressu re drop in th e HRSG. As a resu lt, an in crease
in p ressu re drop leads to a decrease in th e gas tu rbin e
p ower gen eration . Con sequ en tly, th e am ou n t of p res-
3 HEAT TRANSFER
su re drop in side HRSG p lays an im p ortan t role in th e
design of HRSGs as it can easily d eclin e th e p ower gen -
3.1 Hea t tr a n sfer cor relation s
eration . Equ ation (21) m ay be u sed to calcu late th e gas
Th e overall h eat tran sfer coefficien t m ay be fou n d p ressu re drop [6]
u sin g th e followin g equ ation [6]
G2 Nd
P g = (fg + a ) (21)
1 At 1 At 500ρ
= × + × ffi
U Ai hi Ai 12.2M
ρ= (22)
At do do Tg
+ × × ln
Aw 200 k t di
th e tech n ical p roced u re to fin d fg an d a is illu strated
1
+ ffo + (15) in referen ce [1].
ηh o

in wh ich At , Ai , an d Aw are defin ed in referen ce [6], 4 OPTIMIZATION

an d h i an d h o m ay be fou n d u sin g th e followin g
equ ation s [12] Th e first step to op tim ize a system is sp ecifyin g
an ap p rop riate ob jective fu n ction wh ich can b e
Nu k
hi = (16) eith er th erm odyn am ic or th erm oecon om ic. Th erm o-
di dyn am ic ob jective fu n ction can b e defin ed as th e
Nu = 0.023Re 0.8 Pr 0.4 (17) loss of available work th at is u n d ou btedly b etter to

Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Par t A: J. Power an d En er gy JPE953

 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t a n d ga s-sid e velocity in h eat recover y steam gen er ator s
Fig. 3 Pip in g arran gem en ts in HRSGs
be m in im ized in ord er to m axim ize th e efficien cy of
th e p lan t. Th is m eth od of op tim ization m ay lead to
u n reason able an d im p ractical cap ital cost, becau se
econ om ic an alysis is on e of th e m ost im p ortan t fac-
tors th at sh ou ld b e taken in to accou n t. Th erefore,
an oth er typ e of op tim ization is con sidered in th is arti-
cle, stan din g for th erm od yn am ic con cep ts com b in ed
with econ om ic issu es. In th is m eth od, th e HRSG is
th erm oecon om ically op tim ized by u sin g an objective
fu n ction in clu din g cost of equ ip m en t, exergy loss an d
destru ction , an d oth er associated item s as m en tion ed
in Table 1. In th e p resen t article, in order to m ake a
com p arison between th erm od yn am ic an d th erm oe-
con om ic op tim ization s, both of th em are stu d ied .
4.1 Th er m od yn a m ic op tim ization
Th e ob jective fu n ction defin ed in th is section is th e
su m m ation of exergy loss an d destru ction divided by a
fixed term ( ṁ g Cp g T0 ) to redu ce th e am ou n t of objective
fu n ction an d m ake it n on -dim en sion al
ĖLoss + ĖDestru ction
f =
ṁ g Cp g T0
as m en tion ed before, th e op tim ized gas-sid e velocity
m ay be fou n d by m akin g a trade-off b etween th e p res-
su re drop an d cap ital cost of HRSG. Th erefore, a p u re
th erm odyn am ic fu n ction su ch as equ ation (23) m ay
n ot be u sed to fin d an op tim u m valu e for th e gas-side
velocity.
4.2 Th er m oecon om ic op tim iza tion
In th is m eth od, th e ob jective fu n ction con sists of two
com p on en ts: th e first on e (f1 ) rep resen ts th e cost of
irreversib ility an d exergy loss th rou gh stack an d th e
JPE953
765
secon d on e (f2 ) sp ecifies cap ital cost of th e HRSG
f1 = ( ĖLoss + ĖDestru ction )ηn et HCe (24)
Sin ce th e cap ital cost of HRSG in clu des variou s com -
p on en ts, u n it p rices of h eat tran sfer su rface areas are
defin ed as follows an d oth er p aym en ts h ave b een
con sidered as a m u ltip le of th ese p rices accordin g to
Tab le 1 in order to m ake th e objective fu n ction m ore
p recise
⎧ 2
⎪⎪ k Eco = 103.24 $/ m p re-h eater
⎨
k Eco = 103.24 $/ m 2 econ om izer
(25)
⎪⎪ k Eva = 86.38 $/ m 2 evap orator
⎩ 2
k SH = 218.96 $/ m su p er-h eater
Oth er p aym en ts in clu de p rocu rem en t an d erection
of n on -p ressu re p arts (casin g, stru ctu re, an d p lat-
form ), con trol an d in stru m en tation equ ip m en t, elec-
trical p an els an d wirin g, p rocessin g equ ip m en t, p ip in g
an d in su lation , in su ran ce, tax, en gin eerin g, su p ervi-
sion , an d oth er costs su ch as tran sp ortation , etc. It is
im p ossib le to h ave a gen eral form u la to fin d th e exact
valu es of th ese p aym en ts sin ce th ey dep en d on m an y
differen t p aram eters. Th e m eth od u sed in th is article
(23)
is to con sid er an y of th ese p aym en ts p rop ortion al to
th e cost of h eat tran sfer su rface areas. Th ese p aym en ts
are listed in Table 1.
Coefficien ts sh own in equ ation (25) are extracted
from th e cost an alysis rep ort p u blish ed by th e FAP
Com p an y to estim ate th e total cost of HRSG for th ree
differen t p rojects in Iran [9]. Con siderin g all ab ove
con cep ts, th e cap ital cost of HRSG m ay b e fou n d by
th e equ ation (26)
f2 = α(k Pre APre + k Eco AEco + k Eva AEva + k SH ASH )CRF
(26)
in wh ich CRF stan ds for th e cap ital recovery factor,
wh ich m ay b e fou n d by equ ation (27) [11]. An d α is th e
Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Pa r t A: J. Power an d En er gy
766 A Beh b ah an i-n ia , S Sayad i, a n d M Soleym an i

su m m ation of oth er p aym en ts in term s of h eat tran sfer Tab le 3 Fixed design p aram eters ∗
su rface areas listed in Tab le 1.
Item Valu e
i(1 + i) Lf
CRF = (27) Ou tsid e tu b e diam eter (cm ) 5
(1 + i) Lf − 1 In side tu be d iam eter (cm ) 4.25
Pip in g arran gem en t In lin e
Th e n on -dim en sion al form of th e th erm oecon om ic Lon gitu d e an d tran sverse p itch (cm ) 10
ob jective fu n ction m ay be written as follows Fin con figu ration s in th e p re-h eater (No. of fin s p er 3/ 0.2/ 1.5
in / fin th ickn ess (cm )/ fin h eigh t (cm ))
f1 + f2 Fin con figu ration s in th e econ om izer (No. of fin s 4/ 0.2/ 1.5
f = p er in / fin th ickn ess (cm )/ fin h eigh t (cm ))
ṁ g Cp g T0 H ηn et Ce Fin con figu ration s in th e evap orator (No. of fin s p er 5/ 0.2/ 1
in / fin th ickn ess (cm )/ fin h eigh t (cm ))
ĖLoss + ĖDestru ction αCRF Fin con figu ration s in th e su p er-h eater (No. of fin s 2/ 0.1/ 1
= + p er in / fin th ickn ess (cm )/ fin h eigh t (cm ))
ṁ g Cp g T0 ṁ g Cp g T0 H ηn et Ce
∗ Fin con figu ration in each section is extracted from referen ce [6].
× (k Pre APre + k Eco AEco + k Eva AEva + k SH ASH ) (28)

In th e above equ ation , n et efficien cy of th e p lan t is
assu m ed as 45.6 p er cen t accordin g th e referen ce [14]
an d th e cost of sellin g electricity in Iran is assu m ed as
0.03 $/ kWh .
5 RESULTS
5.1 Th er m od yn a m ic op tim ization
In itial in form ation n eeded to design a sam p le HRSG,
in clu din g th e gas an d steam sp ecification s is given
in Tables 2(a) an d (b). In ad dition , som e fixed design
p aram eters su ch as th e HRSG geom etry are listed in
Table 3.
Heat tran sfer su rface area of th e p re-h eater, eco-
n om izer, evap orator, an d su p er-h eater versu s p in ch
p oin t is illu strated in Fig. 4. As seen , su rface areas of th e
p re-h eater an d su p er-h eater do n ot vary sign ifican tly,
as th e p in ch p oin t ch an ges; bu t a m ean in gfu l in crease
in th e econ om izer an d evap orator su rface areas are
ob servable. Pressu re drop versu s p in ch p oin t, wh ich
is on e of th e m ost sign ifican t diagram s, p resen ted in
Fig. 5. As seen , p ressu re d rop is in creased by th e redu c-
tion of th e p in ch p oin t. Figu res 4 an d 5 sh ow effects of
th e m islead in g assu m p tion u sed in referen ces [7] an d
[8]. Th ey illu strate th at zero p in ch p oin t, wh ich m ay
be obtain ed from exclu d in g of p ressu re drop, is n ot
really p ossible, b ecau se it leads to in fin ite h eat tran sfer
su rface areas.
Th erm odyn am ic objective fu n ction versu s p in ch
p oin t is sh own in Fig. 6. As seen , th e m in im u m valu e
of th e objective fu n ction corresp on ds to th e op ti-
m al valu e of th e p in ch p oin t wh ich is abou t 4.4 ◦ C.
In referen ces [7] an d [8] zero valu e is su ggested for
th e p in ch p oin t op tim ized th erm od yn am ically. Th is
u n d erestim ation is du e to n eglectin g p ressu re drop
in side th e HRSG.
5.2 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization
Th erm oecon om ic objective fu n ction versu s p in ch
p oin t is p resen ted in Fig. 7. As seen , th e m in im u m
valu e of th e objective fu n ction corresp on ds to th e
op tim u m p in ch p oin t wh ich is abou t 14.9 ◦ C. Th e cal-
cu lated valu e seem s reason able as com p ared to wh at
is su ggested by design ers’ exp erien ce.
Th e secon d op tim ized p aram eter is gas-side velocity
wh ich is d efin ed as equ ation (29)

Ta b le 2 (a) In itial sp ecification s to design G

V= (29)
a sam p le h eat recovery steam ρ0 A
gen erator ∗; (b) tu rb in e exh au st gas
an alysis
ρ 0 is den sity of th e gas at am bien t tem p eratu re an d
p ressu re. Gas-sid e velocity as defin ed in equ ation (29)
Item Valu e is a p aram eter in d icatin g a cross-section of th e gas
ch an n el. An in crease in gas-side velocity lead s to an
(a)
Steam p ressu re (MPa) 3.7 in crease in th e am ou n t of overall h eat tran sfer coef-
Tw1 (◦ C) 45 ficien t. Th erefore, in a sp ecific HRSG, if th e gas-side
Tw2 (◦ C) 130 velocity in creases, regard in g growth in th e overall h eat
Ts (◦ C) 480
Tg1 (◦ C) 525 tran sfer coefficien t, th e requ ired h eat tran sfer su rface
m g (kg/ s) 288.5 area will declin e. Th erefore, th rou gh in creasin g th e
gas-sid e velocity (or decreasin g th e ch an n el wid th ) th e
(b)
CO 2 (%) 3.2 cost of p rocu rem en t, erection , an d oth er associated
H 2 O (%) 7.9 item s in cap ital cost of th e HRSG d ecreases. On th e
N 2 (%) 75.2 oth er h an d , gas-side velocity an d p ressu re d rop are
O 2 (%) 13.7
p rop ortion al. It m ean s th at an in crem en t in gas-side
∗ Given data is in accord an ce with referen ce [14]. velocity in creases exergy d estru ction d u e to p ressu re

Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Par t A: J. Power an d En er gy JPE953

 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t a n d ga s-sid e velocity in h eat recover y steam gen er ator s 767

Fig. 4 Heat tran sfer su rface areas versu s p in ch p oin t

Fig. 5 Pressu re drop versu s p in ch p oin t

Fig. 6 Th erm od yn am ic objective fu n ction versu s p in ch p oin t

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768 A Beh b ah an i-n ia , S Sayad i, a n d M Soleym an i

Fig. 7 Th erm oecon om ic objective fu n ction versu s p in ch p oin t

drop, an d tran slates in to an in crem en t at th e cost can n ot b e p lotted in a th ree-dim en sion al diagram ,
of exergy destru ction . Th u s, in creasin g th e gas-side becau se th e n u m ber of p aram eters wou ld be m ore
velocity affects b oth ; p ositive (decrease of equ ip m en t th an th ree. Th u s, op tim u m valu es of th e design p aram -
costs) an d n egative (in crease of irreversibility costs). eters an d th e corresp on din g valu e of th e objective
Th erefore, th ere sh ou ld be an op tim u m valu e for th e fu n ction in th is case, m ay be fou n d by u sin g th e
gas-side velocity. software develop ed by th e au th ors. Resu lts are listed
Alm ost all design ers u se a u n iform cross-section in Table 4.
alon g th e HRSG wh ich m ean s th e u n iform gas-side
velocity th rou gh p re-h eater, econ om izer, evap orator,
an d su p er-h eater. Th erefore, by m akin g th is assu m p - Tab le 4 Op tim u m valu es for th e p in ch p oin t
tion , a th ree-dim en sion al diagram can be drawn in an d gas-side velocity u sin g th erm o-
order to fin d op tim u m valu es for design p aram e- econ om ic objective fu n ction
ters of th e HRSG sim u ltan eou sly. Figu re 8 rep resen ts
th is diagram . As seen , th e m in im u m objective fu n c- Item Valu e
tion corresp on d s to th e p in ch p oin t of 16 ◦ C an d th e Pin ch p oin t(◦ C) 14.9
gas-side velocity of 15 m / s. Gas-side velocity in th e p re-h eater (m / s) 13.9
Assu m in g d ifferen t cross-section s for th e p re- Gas-side velocity in th e econ om izer (m / s) 14.7
h eater, econ om izer, evap orator, an d su p er-h eater, Gas-side velocity in th e evap orator (m / s) 14.1
Gas-side velocity in th e su p er-h eater (m / s) 12.3
th e objective fu n ction versu s th e design p aram eters

Fig. 8 Th ree-d im en sion al op tim ization d iagram

Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Par t A: J. Power an d En er gy JPE953

 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t a n d ga s-sid e velocity in h eat recover y steam gen er ator s 769

In Figs 9 to 11 p ie diagram s in clu din g com p on en ts of

exergy for th ree differen t p in ch p oin ts are illu strated .
Based on cited con cep ts, as p in ch p oin t in creases,
requ ired h eat tran sfer su rface areas decrease. Th ere-
fore, th e gas p ressu re drop redu ces. On th e oth er
h an d , as p in ch p oin t in creases, exergy destru ction
du e to irreversibility of th e h eat tran sfer p rocess
between h ot gas an d water in creases too. In oth er
words, an in crease in th e p in ch p oin t leads to an
in crease in exergy destru ction th at stem s from h igh er
tem p eratu re differen ce between h ot gas an d water.
Gen erally, th e am ou n t of gen erated exergy wou ld
be m ore, wh en th e p in ch p oin t is derived th rou gh
th erm odyn am ic op tim ization . It m ean s th at a HRSG
op eratin g at th erm oecon om ic op tim u m p in ch p oin t
cau ses m ore irreversib ility in com p arison with an oth er
Fig. 9 Pie diagram for exergy com p on en ts (p in ch p oin t sim ilar HRSG th at op erates at th erm odyn am ic op ti-
is n ear zero) m u m p in ch p oin t. However, from econ om ic p oin t of
view, th erm oecon om ic op tim u m p in ch p oin t is m ore
ju stified.

6 CONCLUSIONS

In th is article, exergy an alysis an d th erm oecon om ic

Fig. 10 Pie diagram for exergy com p on en ts (p in ch p oin t
is th erm odyn am ically op tim ized)
m eth od are su ccessfu lly ap p lied to op tim ize a sp e-
cific HRSG u sed in com bin ed cycle p ower p lan ts. It
is sh own th at alth ou gh th e th erm od yn am ic objective
fu n ction m ay b e u sed to fin d an op tim u m valu e for th e
p in ch p oin t, th is op tim al valu e d oes n ot seem reason -
able as com p ared to th e valu es su ggested by d esign ers’
exp erien ce. As a resu lt, an oth er objective fu n ction
sh ou ld be d efin ed to cover all p aym en ts associated
with HRSG d esign , p rocu rem en t, an d m ain ten an ce. In
addition to th e p in ch p oin t, op tim ized gas-side veloc-
ity m ay be fou n d u sin g th is th erm oecon om ic objective
fu n ction . In th is article, th e calcu lated valu e for th e
p in ch p oin t is abou t 14.9 ◦ C wh ich seem s m ore rea-
son able in com p arison with resu lts from referen ces
[7] an d [8].
Referrin g to resu lts, it can b e con clu ded th at a con -
siderable am ou n t of exergy d estru cted du e to gas
p ressu re drop, esp ecially wh en p in ch p oin t is very
close to zero. For th is typ e of HRSG with sp ecific
data, exergy destru ction du e to p ressu re drop is 16.64
p ercen t wh ich is m ore th an 25 p ercen t of exergy p ro-
du ction . Th u s, it is clear th at th ose th erm odyn am ic
op tim ization m eth od s exclu d in g p ressu re d rop an d
obtain in g zero for th e op tim u m p in ch p oin t n eglect
a n oticeable am ou n t of exergy destru ction .

© Au th ors 2010

REFERENCES

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2 Bu tch er, C. J. an d Red d y, B. V. Secon d law an alysis of a hi h eat tran sfer coefficien t in sid e tu bes
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En ergy, 2006, 31, 3342–3361. (kJ/ kg)
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gen era tors, 1st edition , 2003 (Marcel Dekker, New York). (h / year)
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cien cy in crease b ased on th e op tim ization of th e h eat
H L = 0.99)
recovery steam gen erator op eratin g p aram eters. In t. J.
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8 Ca sa r osa , C., Don a tin i, F., an d Fr a n co, A. Th erm oeco- k th erm al con du ctivity (W/ m K)
n om ic op tim ization of h eat recovery steam gen erators k Eco econ om izer u n it p rice of su rface area ($/ m 2 )
op eratin g p aram eters for com b in ed p lan ts. En ergy, 2004, k Eva evap orator u n it p rice of su rface area ($/ m 2 )
29, 389–414. k Pre p re-h eater u n it p rice of su rface area ($/ m 2 )
9 Soleim an i, M. Cost a n a lysis of h ea t recovery stea m k SH su p er-h eater u n it p rice of su rface area
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a n d optim iza tion , 1996 (Joh n Wiley an d Son s, Can ada).
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13 Stu ltz, S. C. an d Kitto, J. B. Stea m , its gen era tion a n d u se, R gas con stan t (kJ/ kg K)
40th edition , 1992 (Th e Bab cock an d Wilcox Com p an y, Re Reyn olds n u m b er
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Tu lsa). V velocity (m / s)
xk p artial p ressu re of com p on en ts in th e gas
(atm )
APPENDIX xke p artial p ressu re of com p on en ts in th e
en viron m en t (atm )
Notation
α cost factor u sed in th erm oecon om ic
A h eat tran sfer su rface area (m 2 ) ob jective fu n ction
Ce cost of electricity ($/ kWh ) P p ressu re drop (kPa)
CP sp ecific h eat (kJ/ kg K) εg gas em issivity
CRF cap ital recovery factor η fin effectiven ess (%)
d d iam eter (cm ) ηn et n et efficien cy of th e p lan t (%)
Ė exergy (kW) μ viscosity (Pa s)
f th erm oecon om ic ob jective fu n ction ρ den sity (kg/ m 3 )
f th erm od yn am ic objective fu n ction σ Steffan –Boltzm an con stan t
ff fou lin g factor (m 2 K/ W) (5.669 × 10 − 8 W/ m 2 K4 )
fg friction factor u sed in gas p ressu re drop
fu n ction Su bscripts
G m ass velocity (kg/ m 2 s)
hc con vective h eat tran sfer coefficien t 0 en viron m en tal con dition s
(W/ m 2 K) Eco econ om izer
hf fin h eigh t (cm ) Eva evap orator

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 Th er m oecon om ic op tim ization of th e p in ch p oin t a n d ga s-sid e velocity in h eat recover y steam gen er ator s 771

f fin Pre p re-h eater

g gas o ou tside tu bes
g1 gas en terin g th e su p er-h eater S steam
g2 gas en terin g th e evap orator SH su p er-h eater
g3 gas en terin g th e econ om izer T tu b e
g4 gas en terin g th e deaerator w1 feed water en terin g th e deaerator
g5 gas leavin g th e stack w2 water en terin g th e econ om izer
i in side tu bes w3 water leavin g th e econ om izer

JPE953 Pr oc. IMech E Vol. 224 Pa r t A: J. Power an d En er gy