THERMAL BALANCE STUDIES WITH

ECOSIMPRO

EcosimPro
E i P - Empresarios
E i Agrupados
A d
Magallanes 3
Madrid 28015 (Spain)
Phone: 34.91.3098142
EA web : www.empre.es
EcosimPro web: www.ecosimpro.com

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -1-

 Plant/System Heat Balance

The energy production is very important in nowadays. The

i
increasing
i cost off energy has
h causedd the
h industries
i d i to try to
reduce the energy consumption in processing.
The companies
p look for the optimum
p consumption
p of energy
gy
sources.

Energy balances
E b l are usedd in
i the
th examination
i ti off the
th various
i
stages of a process, over the whole process and even extending
over the total production system .

To have simulation tools to carry out thermodynamic studies and

thus be able to solve different problem will be very useful for this
purpose.

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -2-

 THERMAL_BALANCE Lib_1
• The THERMAL_BALANCE Library, developed in EcosimPro, has the
necessary components to carry out the thermal balance(total or partial)
of the cycle and operational studies .
• This library constitute a very powerful tool for modeling steady state
thermal balance studies for any type of power plant:
• Coal
• Combined Cycle
• Nuclear

• This actual thermal balance takes into account the real configuration
and design of the power plant,
plant in contrast to the ideal balances
provided by the manufacturer of the main equipment.

• Power Plant Heat Balances can be easily performed, and System

Heat Balance and many other type of studies with a slow dynamics, as
it is shown hereafter

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -3-

 THERMAL_BALANCE Lib_2

• Component
p Formulation accordingg to accepted
p codes ((ASME,, HEI,, etc))
including steady state and some dynamic behaviour and controls. Exsiting
formulation and new components can be modified/developed by advanced
users.
• Sufficient modules exist to simulate almost any type of plant: see attached
palette of components.
• Maximum flexibility in data input variable initialization and presentation of
results: information on representative equipment in the cycle (turbine,
boiler, condenser, heaters, etc), modelled currents and overall balance
• The library is prepared to work not only with water,water but also with air,
air
oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, helium, argon, methane,
propane, butane and sulphur dioxide. Users will also find it easy to add
new fluids.

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -4-

THERMAL_BALANCE Lib_Components Palette

-The components
p
can be easily
adapted to each
real system
introducing the
actual data

- New components
can be added if it
is required
q

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -5-

 1 – Coal Power Plant Heat Balance (Global)

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -6-

 1 – Coal Power Plant Heat Balance (Partial)/1

Turbine steam extraction to a heat exchanger

g

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -7-

 1 – Coal Power Plant Heat Balance (Partial)/2
System Partial Heat Balances

Steam
Extraction to
a Heater

Fossil Power
Plant Boiler

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -8-

 2 – Combined Cycle Power Plant Heat Balance/1
The schematics generated with EcosimPro are similar to the layout of the
plant, which allows to easily identify any part of the model.

BOILER

STEAM
TURBINE

GAS Flow diagram of aCombined Cycle

CONDENSER
TURBINE

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro -9-

 2 – Combined Cycle Power Plant Heat Balance/2

BOILER

STEAM
TURBINE
CONDENSER
GAS
TURBINE

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 10 -

 3 – Nuclear Power Plant Heat Balance

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 11 -

 Heat Balance Study Results

For each operation

p unit and flow,, the main variables are showed (pressure,
(p , mass
flow and enthalpy)

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 12 -

Use of Macrocomponents in THERMAL_BALANCE Lib

Equivalent MACROcomponent

Components lumped in a macrocomponent

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 13 -

 Simulating Bypass Operation of Circulation Water Tower

Cooling Tower By-pass modeled with EcosimPro

Cooling tower, Condenser

& by pass Temperature
along an operation month

Condenser inlet
mass flow in inlet
pipes (kg/s) vs. time
Mass flow in inlet p
pipes
p (kg/s)
( g ) vs. time (days)
( y ) (days)

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 14 -

Simulating the Spent Fuel Pool Cooling in a NPP_1

Thermohydraulic model of a Fuel Pool Cooling in EcosimPro

Level control

Fuel Pool
Heaters

Pumps

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 15 -

Simulating the Spent Fuel Pool Cooling in a NPP_2

Residual Heat (ºC) vs. time (h)

Pool Cooling Temperature ((ºC)

C)
vs. time after shutdown (h)

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 16 -

 Simulation of Feed Water Heaters in a NPP_1

Problem Description:
• It is planned to increase the power in a nuclear power
plant.

• The problem to solve is which operation units will work

properly? Which units have to be changed?

• In particular, the thermo-hydraulic study is focused in the

feedwater heaters. And, in this case, no data are available
for the thermo-hydraulic behavior feedwater heaters at
higher loads to the fully open valve

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 17 -

 Simulation of Feed Water Heaters in a NPP_2

Using the THERMAL_BALANCE library the following schematics are

developed:
EcosimPro Condensate
water System

EcosimPro Feed-water
System

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 18 -

 Simulation of Feed Water Heaters in a NPP_3

First step: Model Validation

The manufacturer supplied
pp terminal temperature
p difference (TTD)
( ) and
approach subcooling temperature drains (DCA) versus water flow
condensate.
The q
question is:
Will they original manufacturer curves without more than an extrapolation?

DCA vs. condensate

d t TTD vs. condensate

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 19 -

 Simulation of Feed Water Heaters in a NPP_4

Second step: Model Simulation

Once the validation is correct,, several simulation cases are run increasing
g
the water flow.
Through the simulation results the TTD and DCA obtained can be analyzed
in order to see if the operation unit can work under the new conditions.

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 20 -

 Simulation of Feed Water Heaters in a NPP_5

Conclusions

• The simulation models obtained using the

THERMAL_BALANCE library have a thermohydraulic
behavior very accurate to the real system.

• New TTD and DCA values can be calculated for higher

loads and different configurations.

• Also, these simulation models can be applied to check

the clogging of pipes effect on the TTD and DCA curves
heaters.

Thermal Balance Studies with EcosimPro - 21 -