Supercritical Boiler with Low Mass Flux, Vertical Wall Design

J. Franke, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany T. Balakrishnan, V. Balarathinam, CETHAR Vessels Limited, Tiruchirapalli, India Abstract
Supercritical Boiler technology is gaining acceptance worldwide as Clean Coal Technology due to its significant advantages like higher overall plant efficiency, reduced coal consumption, reduced gaseous emissions like SOx, NOx and CO2 and particulate emission. Large capacity units of size 600 to 1000 MW are now built up with supercritical parameters. In India, the trend is clearly towards large capacity Mega / Ultra Mega Power Projects based on supercritical technology. Evaporators of once through supercritical boilers are designed with either high mass flux spiral/ve rtical wall or low mass flux vertical wall. This paper deals with low mass flux vertical wall design developed by Siemens AG, Germany. The authors of this paper feel that the low mass flux vertical wall design has many distinct advantages over high mass flux spiral/vertical wall design. Introduction The major difference between a drum type boiler and once through supercritical boiler is the furnace wall design. An once through furnace wall design needs to take care of the temperature difference between tube-to-tube at furnace wall outlet due to the variation in furnace heat absorption. Also the occurrence of boiling crisis like DNB and Dryout and associated metal temperatures need to be critically analyzed and taken care in the furnace wall design. There are basically two types of furnace wall designs used namely helically wound spiral wall and vertical wall. The design aspects of these two types of furnace wall are discussed in this paper. Furnace wall design requirements Furnace sizing is decided by t he heat input, coal and ash characteristics like fouling & slagging tendency, initial deformation temperature, and furnace heat loadings which are derived from the experience of the boiler manufacturer in firing different types of coal. In short, furnace sizing philosophy is same for both drum type and once through boilers. However, the furnace wall design (evaporator system) is different in case of once through boilers. A drum type boiler operates with circulation ratio of normally around four to six (4 - 6). This results in a steam quality of about 17 25% (% of steam by weight) of the two phase flow at the outlet of the furnace walls. With this high water content of the two phase flow the tube walls remain wetted at all loads. The water and steam mixture leaves the furnace wall at saturation temperature and there is no temperature difference between adjacent furnace wall tubes. In once through boiler, the fluid passes through the furnace walls only once and enters superheater for further heating. When the boiler operates at supercritical pressure at higher loads (typically above 70 %), the furnace walls have single phase fluid. The supercritical fluid from economizer outlet enters the furnace walls and its temperature continuously increases along the fur nace height. When the boiler operates at lower loads (below 70%), it will operate at sub critical pressure. Hence at lower loads, single phase water from economizer outlet enters the furnace walls and upon addition of latent heat of evaporation, gets conve rted into a two phase mixture (water and steam). At certain height along the furnace wall, all the water will be evaporated into saturated steam. Further addition of heat will increase the temperature

of steam such that it becomes superheated at furnace wall outlet. In other words, the fluid temperature at furnace wall outlet in an once through boiler is not a fixed temperature and there is tube -to-tube temperature variation. The heat absorption of furnace wall tubes varies due to their location within the furnace enclosure, difference in length and hence difference in hydraulic resistance, variation in burner heat release pattern and furnace cleanliness. For example, the corner tubes receive less heat than the middle tubes. Due to this variation in heat absorption, the temperature of the medium at furnace wall outlet is different from tube -totube. A good furnace wall design of an once through boiler should take care of the following: 1. The furnace heat absorption variation and the temperature difference between tubes at furnace wall outlet 2. Boiling crisis like DNB and Dryout are properly addressed and associated peak tube metal temperatures are kept within allowable limits for the material selected. Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB) Under certain c onditions of heat flux, mass flux, tube geometry, steam quality and pressure, the steam bubbles formed inside the furnace walls do not collapse but coalesce to form a film of superheated steam over the inner wall of the tube. This condition is known as fil m boiling. The point at which film boiling occurs is known as departure from nucleate boiling (DNB). Refer fig 1. When DNB occurs, the tube metal temperature shoots up. For high heat flux, DNB may occur at low steam quality. Dryout As the water and steam mixture flows along the furnace wall, at higher steam quality boiling crisis known as Dryout occurs. During the occurrence of Dryout there is a sudden loss of

contact between the water and the tube wall which results in deterioration of heat transfer and rise in tube metal temperature. Refer Fig.1.

Fig.1 The occurrence of both boiling crisis (DNB and Dryout) must be considered in the evaporator design. In both cases the steam cooling must be sufficient to ensure a reliable cooling. Evaporator system There are mainly two types of evaporator system suitable for sliding pressure operation being used today namely spiral wall design and vertical wall design. Refer Fig.2.

Fig.2

Spiral wall high mass flux design In an once through boiler, the feed water f low matches the superheated steam output and hence the flow per tube is less compared to a drum type circulation boiler. In order to increase

the flow per tube or mass flux to ensure sufficient cooling of the tubes throughout the boiler operating regime, a spiral wall evaporator system with the following design concept is adopted. 1. Smaller OD tubes. 2. Helically wound spiral wall construction in which the tubes are inclined (15 to 25 deg.) and furnace tubes pass through the circumference of the furnace more th an one time and connected to a transition header above the burner zone. Above the transition header the furnace enclosure is made up of vertical water wall tubes. The spiral wall concept reduces the number of parallel tubes and hence increases the mass flux through the tubes. As all tubes pass through all the furnace walls, any variation in heat absorption is applicable to all these tubes and hence the temperature difference between these tubes is minimized. 3. To achieve reliable cooling the mass flux generally adopted is around 2000 kg/(m 2s) at full load. It may be chosen higher for other reasons, e.g. to lower the minimum load for once through operation. 4. Smooth tubes are adequate, as the mass flux is high.

3. A mass flux of around 1000 kg/(m 2s) is used and this is known as low mass flux design. 4. Rifled tubes with optimized tube geometry are used in the lower furnace and smooth tubes are used in the upper furnace. The vertical wall low mass flux design is based on an important flow characteristic known from natural circulation boilers and therefore called Natural flow characteristic which is illust rated in figure.3 In a parallel tube water / steam flow circuit, the system hydraulic resistance i.e. pressure drop is the same in all tubes which come from the same inlet header and have the same outlet header. However, there is variation in heat absorption among these tubes as explained earlier. A tube which receives more heat produces more steam. But since the mass flux is already low by design, the increase in frictional pressure loss (dynamic head) is low compared to the decrease in static head and therefore draws more flow to maintain the system pressure drop in the circuit. Similarly, a tube having less absorption will receive lower flow. Thus a natural flow characteristic is established with the low mass flux design. This ensures that the temperature difference between adjacent tubes at furnace wall outlet is kept to a minimum. Refer Fig.3
Behaviour of Individual Tubes with Higher Heat Input

In a spiral wall design with high mass flux, a tube which receives more heat draws less flow due to higher frictional loss. The fluid flow response with respect to heat absorption variation is illustrated in Fig.3. Vertical wall low mass flux design In vertical wall evaporator system the following design concept is adopted. 1. Smaller OD tubes 2. Furnace wall construction is made up of vertical single pass upward flow tubes.

Fig.3 Use of Rifled tubes in the lower furnace

As the heat release rate is high in the lower furnace particularly in the burner region, it is essential to ensur e sufficient cooling of the tubes in order to protect them at the location of boiling crisis and associated peak metal temperatures. To reduce the peak metal temperatures, BENSON low mass flux vertical wall design uses specially developed Optimized Mult i Lead Rifled (OMLR) tubes in the lower furnace region. Fig.4 illustrates that an OMLR vertical tube ensures wetting of the inner wall such that the Dryout occurs - compared to a smooth tube - at a safer elevation above the burner zone and at higher steam quality with higher steam velocities.

lowest for OMLR tubes compared to smooth tubes and standard rifled tubes w ith the same mass flux. For identical wall temperatures the mass flux in an OMLR tube can be halved compared to a smooth tube.

Fig.5 Vertical wall, high mass flux design: There are some designs with vertical single pass upward flow tubes with higher mass fluxes. This design does not exhibit the natural circulation characteristics as in low mass flux design. Standard rifled tubes with orifices are used in this design to take care of the tube -totube temperature differences.

Fig.4 The advantages of using OMLR tubes are illustrated in Fig.5. It can be observed from the figure that the peak metal temperature is the Vertical wall vs. spiral wall de sign

Following table gives a comparison of the different evaporator designs.

Parameter Spiral wall High mass flux, Vertical wall High 1800 to 2000 kg/(m2-s) at at full load Rifled tubes & Orificing Low mass flux Vertical wall Low (around 1000 kg/(m2-s) at full load)

Mass flux

High (around 2000 kg/(m2-s) at full load or above) Smooth tubes

Furnace wall tube

Optimized Multi Lead Rifled Tubes (OMLR) Lower ; Good savings in BFP power consumption

Pressure drop in furnace wall

Higher

Higher

Furnace wall attachments & buckstays

Complex Simple, Typical increase in weight for a 660 MW Self supporting boiler is approx. 400 MT.

Simple Self supporting

Manufacturing and construction

Difficult compared to vertical design Easier

Easier

Experience of vertical low mass flux design Yaomeng power station in China had 2 x 300MW subcritical units. The first unit was refurbished by Doosan Babcock into an once through vertical wall low mass flux design based on BENSON boiler tec hnology and commissioned in year 2002. The operating experience has proved successful and thus established the vertical low mass flux design concept. Based on the success in unit -1, order for refurbishment of unit -2 also has been placed on Doosan Babcock in 2007. Lagisza, 1 x 460MW CFB Boiler has been built with vertical wall low mass flux design by Foster Wheeler, Finland. The unit is commissioned in 2009. Baima, 1 x 600MW CFB Boiler by Dongfang China is under construction. Foster Wheeler is constructing a pulverized coal fired Boiler of 750 MW capacity using vertical low mass flux design for Longview project, USA. The unit is planned for commissioning by 2011. In addition, many Anthracite fired once through supercritical boilers are in various stages of execution in China. Conclusions Once through boiler with supercritical parameters improve the overall plant cycle efficiency and heat rate which results in reduced coal consumption, reduced gaseous emissions and pollutants. The vertical wall low mass flux design developed based on the test results of vast number of experiments conducted by Siemens AG, Germany offers significant advantages like natural flow characteristic, reduced feed water pump power consumption, a furnace wall design simpler to fabricate , erect, operate and maintain ensuring the reliability and availability on par with drum type units. The concept is also validated by the experience gained from some of the operating units. References 1. BENSON training manual by Siemens AG, Germany 2. The worlds first supercritical boiler FW -Benson vertical PC Boiler The Long view power project by Stephen J. Goidich, Richard J. Docherty, Kenneth P.Melzer Powergen Europe, Colonge, Germany, May 26-28, 2009 3. Seven Years On The worlds first commercial low m ass flux vertical tube Benson boiler by P J Bell, C H Chen & I R Torkington, Doosan Babcock Energy - Electric Power 09. 4. Introduction of supercritical / Ultra supercritical technology in India by T.Balakrishnan & V.Balarathinam Energex 2008, Tiruch irapalli, India.