ENERGY CONSERVATION IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS

CONDENSING SYSTEM

CONDENSING SYSTEM

CONDENSER
C.W. PUMPS
AIR EJECTORS
COOLING TOWERS

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE
Cleanliness of the tube surface
The amount of air in Steam Space
Flow / Velocity of Circulating Cooling Water
Temp. of Circulating Water

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE

EFFECT OF AIR INGRESS IN CONDENSER STEAM

SPACE

Air Ingress in the Steam Space reduces the

heat transfer, thereby increasing the
temperature of condensing steam.
1mm of air blanket is equivalent to 250 mm of
Copper slab
This results in poor vacuum and lower power
output.

PROBLEM OF POOR CONDENSER

VACUUM
A CASE STUDY
Unit-1 (200MW) of
an Indian Thermal Power Station
was facing
poor condenser vacuum problem
resulting in
load reduction
for a long time.

DESIGN & OPERATING PARAMETERS

Parameters

Design

Actual

CW Inlet Temperature

(C)

33.0

31.1

CW Outlet Temperature

(C)

40.81

38.2

CW Temperature Rise

(C)

7.81

7.1

Condensate Temperature

(C)

46

51

76

98.5

Condenser Pressure

(mm of Hg Column)

Saturation Temperature

(C)

46.09

51.26

Terminal Temp. Diff. (TTD)

(C)

5.28

13.06

Condenser Extraction Temp.

(C)

46

50.2

Load

(MW)

200

199.9

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE
CURVE

The Curve between

CW Inlet & Outlet Temperatures;
CW Outlet & Saturation Temperatures;
and
Saturation Temperature & Condenser
Vacuum.

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE
CURVE

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE

CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

PLOTTING OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

CW Temp. Rise (C)

The R.H.S. of the Graph is the plot
between CW Inlet & Outlet
Temperatures for the Design &
Operating Conditions.
DESIGN LINE:

Join the Points (0, 7.81) & (33, 40.81)

OPERATING LINE:

Join the Points (0, 7.1) & (31.1, 38.2)

PLOTTING OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

Terminal Temp. Difference (C)

The L.H.S. of the Graph depicts the
TTD Lines for the Design & Operating
Conditions.
DESIGN TTD LINE:

Join the Points (5.28, 0) & (46.09, 40.81)

OPERATING LINE:

Join the Points (13.06, 0) & (51.26, 38.2)

CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

DEVIATION DUE TO CW INLET TEMPERATURE

It is observed that the actual CW Inlet Temp. (31.1C)

is lower than
the specified Design Temp. (33.0C).
This should give us advantage in terms of Condenser
Vacuum.

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

DEVIATION DUE TO CW INLET TEMPERATURE

Draw a vertical line from Operating Inlet CW

Temp. of 31.1C until it intersects the Design CW
Temp. Rise Line. This point is horizontally
transferred to the Design TTD Line to get the
Saturation Temp. of 44.5 C and corresponding
Vacuum is 70 mm of Hg Column.
Hence, the gain due to Lower CW Inlet Temp. is 6
mm of Hg Column (the difference of design Back
Pressure and Operating Back Pressure)

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

CONDENSER PERFORMANCE
CURVE

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

DEVIATION DUE TO CW FLOW

Draw a vertical line from Operating Inlet CW

Temp. of 31.1C until it intersects the Operating
CW Temp. Rise Line. This point is horizontally
transferred to the Design TTD Line to get the
Saturation Temp. of 43.1C and corresponding
Vacuum is 65 mm of Hg Column.
Hence, the gain due to Higher CW Flow is 11 mm
of Hg Column (the difference of design Back
Pressure and Operating Back Pressure)

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

DEVIATION DUE TO CONDENSER FOULING / AIR INGRESS

The effect of dirty tubes and air ingress on heat transfer is to

increase the TTD.
Draw a vertical line from Operating Inlet CW Temp. of 31.1C
until it intersects the Operating CW Temp. Rise Line. This point
is horizontally transferred to the Operating TTD Line.The
reference point when transferred vertically downwards gives
the Saturation Temp. of 51.26C and the corresponding Vacuum
is 98.5 mm of Hg Column.
The net deterioration in Vacuum is (98.5-76) = 22.5 mm of Hg
Column.
Hence, the Overall Reduction (due to all effects) is
22.5 mm of Hg Column (the difference of design Back Pressure
and Actual Operating Back Pressure)

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

ANALYSIS OF CONDENSER CONDITION GRAPH

The net deterioration in Vacuum is

(98.5-76) = 22.5 mm of Hg Column.
As there was a Gain due to Lower CW Inlet Temp. and
Higher CW Flow,
the Total Reduction due to dirty Condenser tubes and
Air Ingress is {22.5+(6+11)} = 39.5 mm of Hg Column.
It was also revealed by the O&M Staff that operating
the Standby Ejector had hardly any positive effect on
the condenser backpressure.
Hence, it was proved that condenser tube fouling
was the main contributing factor to the problem of
poor condenser vacuum.

CONCLUSION

From the graphs, it was obvious that the

condenser tubes were heavily fouled and this
was responsible for poor vacuum and hence,
load reduction.

Accordingly, it was decided to acid clean the

tubes.
This was done and the problem was solved.

The possibility of installing an on-line tube

cleaning system was also to be explored.

Thanks
a lot!