Economizer Replacement Restores Boiler

Efficiency
Issue 3 and Volume 102.
3.1.98

  
  


Economizer Replacement Restores Boiler Efficiency

By Ronald W. Elsner, Northern States Power, George H. Harth, Ernst H. Mayer and
Daniel P. Schaper, Babcock & Wilcox Co.

A Boiler`s Economizer is, by Definition, Intended to Reduce Operating Costs by

Recovering Energy from

flue gas. This heat energy is transferred to water entering the boiler. Since overall
boiler efficiency is increased one percent for every 40 F reduction in flue gas stack
temperature, the design of the economizer and its interaction with the boiler`s fuel
and flue gas are important concerns to power plant operators.

Equipment manufacturers fitted many utility boilers now in service with continuous fin
surface (CFS) economizers, with tubing installed in a staggered arrangement. This
type of surface uses a 2-inch high, 0.25-inch thick fin welded to the top and bottom of
each tube (usually 2-inch outside diameter) parallel to the tube axis. CFS
economizers originally appealed to many plant designers because the tortuous path
created for the flue gas enhanced heat absorption, and the fins could capture heat
and transfer it to the tubing. This made the CFS economizer less costly and provided
for installation in a relatively small space.

With the increasing use of western and lower quality fuels over the past few
decades, however, the very factor that had been an advantage of the CFS
economizer design became a disadvantage, as the design`s spacing proved more
susceptible to plugging and flyash erosion and required more frequent cleaning.

Boiler Problems

In late fall 1995, Northern States Power (NSP)–cognizant of the operational benefits
an economizer redesign could achieve–solicited competitive bids and selected
Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W) to supply replacement economizers in two of three
coal-fired boilers at its Sherburne County (Sherco) power station in Becker, Minn.
Sherco`s Units 1 and 2 are powered by identical 750 MW (gross), pulverized coal-
fired, balanced draft boilers. At maximum continuous rating, original design
conditions were 4,985,000 lb/hr main steam flow at 2,400 psig throttle pressure and
1,007 F.

The units burn several blends of Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. As is the case with
a number of PRB coals, the ash of the particular blends fired at Sherco tends to be
reflective. This characteristic suppresses heat transfer, especially in the furnace, and
leads to flyash plugging of the tightly spaced convection heating surfaces. The
inhibition of heat transfer raises flue gas temperatures and often results in some loss
of thermal efficiency.

Both of Sherco`s CFS economizers experienced ash plugging problems with PRB
coal, making them unable to achieve the design main steam temperature at higher
loads. The ash plugging resulted in periodic shutdowns for cleaning and
maintenance. Because of the economizers` staggered, finned tube design, plant
operators could not use sootblowers to restore heat transfer capabilities.

The elevated gas temperatures also led to long-term overheating of the non-cooled
mechanical economizer support hangers, causing premature failure. Under some
conditions, the temperature of the flue gas leaving the economizer exceeded the
design temperature of the casing enclosure and flues between the economizer and
the air heater downstream. The high gas temperature also elevated economizer
outlet water enthalpy, which caused cavitation problems in the boiler circulation
pumps.

At higher loads, the superheater temperature could not reach design levels, leading
to a reduction in boiler efficiency. The resulting low main steam temperature to the
turbine is equivalent to a reduction in cycle efficiency. While not seen at Sherco, a
lower cycle efficiency is known to cause problems with differential thermal expansion
of turbine components.

Economizer Retrofit

NSP selected Unit 2 for the first Sherco economizer upgrade. The primary goal of
the upgrade project was to replace the worn and increasingly unreliable economizer
with a design that corrected the existing problems and, in doing so, returned the
main steam temperature to its original design level. B&W designed and
manufactured the components necessary for the job. Additional project tasks
included complete boiler modeling, pressure part design and fabrication (including
the complete redesign of the economizer support system), supply of sootblower
equipment and hangers, and the fabrication and supply of steam-cooled wall
openings for the sootblowers and access doors.

B&W and NSP agreed that Sherco`s existing boiler economizers did not work well
with the chosen PRB fuel. To address this deficiency, B&W decided to replace the
existing economizer with a bare tube, in-line design (see figure). The bare tube, in-
line economizer design minimizes the erosion and ash trapping problems that are
common to staggered arrangements. It is also a geometry for which sootblowers can
be used to maintain adequate heat transfer to the heating surfaces.
To maintain the necessary amount of heat transfer surface, B&W increased the
number of economizer elements by about 25 percent. The installation of a new inlet
header and a number of intermediate headers accommodated the increased number
of water flow circuits. The manufacturers factory-fitted the economizer elements with
tube shields to protect the tubes in the sootblower lane and with erosion barriers to
protect the tube ends.

To raise the superheat steam temperature, B&W added relatively small and
inexpensive horizontal primary superheater loops above the economizer. The
existing economizer support tubes had to be modified to provide water-cooled
support for the small bank of new primary superheater surface loops.

The project team also incorporated eight new sootblowers into the retrofit design.
Limited outboard space prohibited the installation of full travel, long retract
sootblowers and required the use of extended lance, “half track” sootblowers. Gas
temperatures entering the economizer exceeded the traditional maximum
temperature for these extended lances, so Diamond Power Specialty Co., the
selected sootblower supplier, manufactured the lances from a high-temperature alloy
material.

The eight sootblowers are equipped with Diamond`s Progressive Helix Mechanism
to reduce the potential for boiler tube erosion. This patented sootblower
enhancement reduces tube erosion by shifting the nozzle cleaning path on every
blowing cycle–more than 400 cycles occur before any nozzle path is repeated.

To simplify installation and to provide a support system that did not rely on tension
welds, B&W designed an economizer support system that created small banks of
elements, and supported the banks with pins and collector plates. In turn, brackets
attached to the modified existing support tubes provided mounting support for the
new banks. The project team selected stainless steel and Incoloy 800 for the pins
and plates to ensure high-temperature strength and oxidation resistance.

The use of factory-installed pins and plates reduced on-site erection times.
Construction crews removed the pins as the sections were brought up to elevation,
and then re-installed the pins after the collector plates had been mated to the
support brackets. Because the process required no field welding of supports, the
entire installation proceeded very smoothly. After the sections had been hung in
place, project personnel performed tube-to-tube welds between banks as time and
space permitted.

The Sherco Unit 2 project required more than 50 truckloads of economizer and
superheater sections, headers and associated parts. An electronic inventory log,
which cross-referenced more than 270 line items by part number, drawing number
and vendor, helped NSP locate parts during the outage.

Installation Challenges

As a rule, large pulverized coal-fired boiler internals are not designed with routine
replacement in mind, and Sherco was no exception. Two issues–access to the boiler
and internal handling of the components (both old and new)–provided significant
challenges.

A mobile tower crane and a permanently installed gantry system resolved the
external access issue. The mobile tower crane provided the most economical
method for lifting materials in the limited real estate available between Units 1 and 2.
To transport materials and equipment, the project team constructed a gantry with
twin trolley beams on the roof of the air heater building adjacent to the rear of the
boiler building. Each trolley serviced one of two access openings cut in the rear wall
of the boiler. Existing elements were taken out through the rear wall, trollied to the
crane access, and then lowered to the ground. The process was reversed to install
the new elements.

The use of trolley beams and electric hoists addressed handling of the components
inside the boiler proper. Construction crews installed two trolley beams, extending
from sidewall to sidewall, above the existing economizer. Spreader beams in the
penthouse could then be used to transfer the trolley beams` loads to the boiler roof.
Electric chain hoists on each trolley moved the elements (old and new) to and from
the access openings in the rear wall.

The entire project resulted in the following enhancements to Sherco Unit 2:

replacement of a worn and increasingly unreliable economizer,

reduced maintenance and cleaning requirements,

reduced draft loss,

reduced economizer exit gas temperatures and

return of main steam temperatures to original design conditions

During the summer of 1997, NSP conducted performance tests on Unit 2. The
results showed that the resurfacing project met or exceeded all performance
guarantees. B&W will be duplicating the economizer upgrade for Sherco`s Unit 1
during a planned outage in spring 1998. p

Click here to enlarge image

Northern States Power`s newest and largest plant, Sherburne County in Becker,
Minn., operates three coal-fired boilers. Units 1 and 2, each rated at 700 MW,
required economizer upgrades to address recurring boiler operational problems.
Photo courtesy of Northern States Power.

Click here to enlarge image

Click here to enlarge image

Babcock & Wilcox Co. supplied a specially designed pin connection to prevent
damage caused by erosion and oxidation, problems common to welded supports in
economizers. Photo courtesy of Babcock & Wilcox Co.

Authors–

Ronald W. Elsner is project manager for capital improvement projects at Northern

States Power`s Sherburne County Plant in Becker, Minn.

George H. Harth is a senior technical advisor at The Babcock & Wilcox Co.

Ernst H. Mayer and Daniel P. Schaper are project managers for The Babcock &
Wilcox Co.