Introduction to Power Plant Design

1.

Steam turbine

1.1

The Rankine cycle

A simple steam power process consists of four partial processes in a closed cycle. The four
partial processes are represented by the four units:

Feed water pump

Steam generator / boiler
Turbine
Condenser

e
c

Boiler
Steam
Turbine

Condenser

b
Feedwater
Pump

At point a the working fluid is in liquid state at pressure pa. The feed water pump raises the
pressure to pb requiring power pa. The fluid is pumped to the steam generator. Here the fluid
is vaporized to steam at pressure pc and temperature Tc requiring heat qb. The steam is
superheated to temperature Tc, requiring qc. The steam is then allowed to expand through the
turbine to pressure pd and temperature Td while performing work to the turbine. The steam
after the turbine (normally in the two phase region) is condensed in the condenser generating
heat qcond. This completes the cycle.

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For a better understanding of the ideal steam cycle, it is convenient to draw the process on
both the T-s diagram (Temperature Entrophy) and the i-s (Enthalpy Entrophy) diagram.
T-s and i-s diagrams for a Rankine cycle

a-a:

Adiabatic (without losses or gain of heat) reversible compression by the pump of

condensate from the condenser pressure to the steam generator pressure. The
distance a-a in the diagram is shown exaggerated its actual length. In reality it is
very small and thus neglected (a-a).

a-b:

Heating of the water to the evaporation point (saturated water) at steam generator
pressure.

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b-c:

Evaporation (steam generation at constant pressure and temperature).

c-d:

Isentropic expansion through the turbine. The exhaust vapour is usually in the twophase region.

d-a:

Condensation of the steam in the condenser.

c-e:

Alternative with superheating the steam under constant pressure.

e-f:

Alternative expansion of superheated steam (isentropic expansion).

f-a:

Condensation of superheated steam.

e-f:

Real expansion of superheated steam because of thermodynamic losses in the turbine

(thermodynamic efficiency).

f-a

Condensation of superheated steam after real expansion.

The most important measures in order to raise the efficiency of the process are:

Preheating of the feed water, i.e. raising the mean temperature of the heat transfer.

Raising the pressure in the boiler. This will also raise the evaporation temperature.

Increasing the superheating temperature.

Re-heating. This means that the expansion is divided into several steps with intermediate
superheating.

Preheating of the combustion air.

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This simplified process must be completed with valves and auxiliary steam systems to work
practically. The following text explains the required key applications to change the theoretical
cycle into a practical system.

Turbine bypass system

This system is used for three purposes in a power plant.

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic11.cdr

1. Start-up
Before minimum pressure, temperature and flow are achieved to allow for flow through the
steam turbine, a bypass valve is used to circulate the flow.

2. Turbine trip
When the turbine is stopped quickly, the bypass valve opens to bypass the steam. Depending
on type of plant, fuel and use of ventilation valve and/or safety valves, the bypass is sized
from 15 100% capacity.

3. House load operation

Many plants are designed to produce the power for internal conumption in case the outer
electric grid fails in order to avoid emergency trip and allow for quick rephasing into external
grid. The bypass is in this case used to handle the excess steam flow until the produced steam
from the boiler has been reduced.

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Bypass prewarming system

As the bypass seldom is used and no flow is passing, it is necessary to prewarm the piping to
avoid a condensate build up. The condensate could cause damage to the bypass valve, piping,
supports etc.

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic12.cdr

Old valve types and cast valves need to be pre-warmed due to the risk of thermal stress
because of the non-uniform material distribution.

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De-aerator and de-aerator pegging system (auxiliary steam)

Next complement to the theoretical cycle is to introduce an auxiliary steam system that e.g. is
used for the de-aerator, steamturbine glands and vacuum ejector. The last two systems are not
shown.

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

Deaerator

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic6.cdr

The deaerator has two functions, i.e. to

evacuate air and noncondensable gases from the feed water

preheat the feed water

This steam is normally extracted from the turbine, but at start-up and part load, there is no
steam pressure at the extraction point or it could be too low to provide the deaerator with
steam (typically 7 20 bar[a]). This auxiliary steam system is also used for vacuum system,
steam gland system etc.
During periods when steam is extracted at non-sufficient conditions, an auxiliary system is
required that uses steam of higher pressure and temperature. This steam is conditioned to fit
the requirements.

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Water steam quality control

VDA-BD

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic5.cdr

In order to control the steam quality, water is removed from the drum. The water is saturated
and flashed when the pressure drops. This valve must be able to handle a high degree of
flashing, that could increase the volume of the fluid considerably. This specially designed
valve of multi-stage type requires for each step a larger area, thus compensating for the
increased volume. Traditionally, this is performed by means of an on/off system, consisting of
an on/off valve and diffuser plates downstream.
The system is also used as emergency system to prevent to high levels in the drum.

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Outlet temperature control (attemperator)

Water is injected between the superheater sections in order to control the outlet temperature of
the steam leaving the boiler.

DAM

VDA-BD

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic4.cdr

This desuperheater application is the most critical desuperheater application in a power plant.
The reasons are two:

Very high rangeability is normally required because of start-up conditions and oversizing
due to design reasons.

If the desuperheater is not functioning properly, the financial losses are much higher than
the installation cost if the plant has to be stopped for a couple of hours.

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HP heater bypass
In order to increase cycle efficiency, a feed water heater is installed before the boiler. This
heater is normally using extraction steam from the turbine (or the auxiliary system) to preheat
the feed water in a heat exchanger.

DAM

VDA-BD

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

VHB 3

VHB 2 (VS)

Condenser

HP heater
and bypass

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic3.cdr

In case there is a leakage between steam and water side in the exchanger or if the heat
exchanger is of line, a heater bypass system is required. The valves are typically only used for
on/off control.
In other systems, the feed water is preheated in an economizer, but the need of a heater bypass
valve is still there. In such an application, the heater bypass valves sometimes are modulating
instead of on/off.

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Feed water control valve

The purpose of a feed water control valve is to control the flow to the boiler.

DAM

VDA-BD

VFA
Feedwater
control valve

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

VHB 3

VHB 2 (VS)

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic2.cdr

At start-up the flow is very low and the p high compared with normal operation when the
flow is high and the p as low as possible. This dual specification has normally required two
separate valves, but modern valves like VFA can handle both conditions.

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Feed water pump recirculation valve

Recirculation of feed water is during start-up and part load necessary in order to provide
required pressure and flow. The reasons are two:

The pump p is proportional to the pump rotation speed to n and the flow is proportional
to n.

All pumps have a minimum flow to avoid cavitation and other problems.

A recirculation valve is used to solve this problem.

DAM

VDA-BD

Steam
Turbine

VLB
VSG1

VHB 3

VHB 2 (VS)

Condenser

Feedwater
Pump

Pump recirculation
valve

J:\ilg\tfd\handboken\Basic1.cdr

Cavitation is typically the most common problem in this application.

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Steam Power Plant in Pulp and

Paper Process Industry

Utility Power Plant - Conventional Reheat

Utility Power Plant Combined Cycle, Triple Pressure

Cogeneration Plant, Triple Pressure Combined Cycle

Cogeneration Plant, Combined Cycle

Arrangement for Dumping Steam

into the Condenser

Arrangement for Dumping Steam

into the Condenser Duct

Control Principle for Dumping Steam

with the Bypass Valve mounted on the
Condenser

Dump Tube

System for dumping steam into a condenser

Dump Tube
l

Optimized size of bypass valve and dump

tube gives low investment cost

The expensive large diameter pipe between

the bypass valve and the condenser can be
reduced and made very short

Accurate temperature control

Each dump tube is specially designed for

each application. The steam entering the
water-cooled condenser from the bypass
valve can be directed to avoid damage to
the condenser internals

Application

Fig 1

Dump tube

The dump tube is used together with a steam conditioning

valve in applications, such as turbine bypass where steam
is dumped into a condenser.

Function
The dump tube is welded to the steam pipe downstream
of the bypass valve. See fig 2.
The dump tube is a fixed orifice, which reduces the
bypass steam pressure down to the pressure of the
condenser.

Steam inlet
Water inlet

There are two main applications for the dump tube:

BTG

Air-cooled condenser. The dump tube is mounted in

the bypass line which is connected to a header
going from the turbine outlet to the air-cooled
condenser. See fig 5.

Min.
6xD
(> 2 m)
Condenser wall
>200 mm
BTG

Fig 2

Dump tube

Bypass valve VLB with dump tube

PS579.01e

Water-cooled condenser. The dump tube is mounted

in the condenser. See fig 4.

Product sheet

System
The cooling water required for reducing the live steam temperature to condenser condition, is injected into the steam
conditioning valve. No cooling is required in the condenser.

This flow signal is used to limit the flow through the valve at
turbine trip, in case the valve is designed with a larger KV
than needed at turbine trip. (The KV-value is calculated in
accordance with the typical start-up conditions.)

The steam flow through the dump tube contains some percentage of free water, due to the overspray in the valve to
ensure condenser condition after the dump tube.

Design

Therefore, it is not possible to measure the outlet temperature

after the bypass valve.

The dimensions of the dump tube and the orientation of the

orifice area are determined by the following factors:

BTG has developed a feed forward algorithm, which is part

of the scope of supply together with bypass valve and dump
tube, for calculation of the required spray water flow. The
algorithm is to be used in customers Distribution Control
System - DCS. See fig 3. Inlet steam pressure (P), temperature (T), and bypass valve position (Z) give the actual steam
flow into the valve.

Operating conditions of the steam conditioning valve

(pressure, temperature, flow, pipe dimensions, percentage of free water through the dump tube).

Operating conditions of the condenser (pressure, temperature).

Condenser design.

Required spray water flow, to reach the desired outlet temperature, is calculated and compared with the actual spray
water flow, measured via a flowmeter, FT. The result is a
control signal to the positioner on the spray water valve.

In most cases, the dump tubes are made in single-tube versions. For special applications, double-tube versions can be
made.
Material 13CrMo44 is used for normal turbine bypass
operation.

The pressure transmitter (2), measures the steam pressure

before the dump tube. Since the dump tube is a fixed orifice,
the signal from PT 2 indicates the flow through the dump
tube.

Stainless steel is selected for longer operational time.

Z
(1)

(2)

PT = Pressure Transmitter
TT = Temperature Transmitter
FT = Flow Transmitter
Fig 3

Principle control scheme. Feed forward system

PS579.01e

BTG 1999

Fig 4

Dump tube installation. Water-cooled condenser

In this type of installation it is common to arrange the holes in the dump tube like this, two 90-sectors. It is not allowed to
direct the steam up to the turbine exhaust, or directly down onto the tubes in the condenser.

Fig 5

Dump tube installation. Air-cooled condenser

In this type of installation it is common to drill holes around the complete circumference, 360.

BTG 1999

PS579.01e

Phone: +54-382-2771
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Fig 7

Typical installation of steam conditioning valve type VLB with dump tube in a
power station

Example: Combined cycle, triple pressure.

Fig 8

Printed on G-Print 115 g/m2 coated on a

BTG BILLBLADE-HSM and DUROBLADE
or TWIN-HSM coaters

Fig 6

BTG 1999

Australia

Argentina

PS579.01e

Product sheet

Dump Tube
Installation examples

Typical applications of the steam conditioning valve type VLB with dump tube. These applications can also include
VLB, VLBS, VST and VST-SE. See separate product sheet. Always contact the BTG representative for further information.

Typical installation of steam conditioning valve type VLB with dump tube in a power station

Example: Conventional reheater.

Typical installation of steam conditioning valve type VLB with dump tube in the
process industry

Example: Combined cycle.

BTG reserves the right to make technical improvements.