Sootblowing Optimization Improves Heat Rate and Enhances Operational Flexibility at Hawthorn Unit 5

Coal-fired units are increasingly expected to operate at varying loads while simultaneously dealing with various operational influences as well as fuel variations. Maintaining unit load availability while managing adverse effects of various operational issues such as, flue gas temperature excursions at the SCR inlet, high steam temperatures and the like presents significant challenges. Dynamic adjustment of sootblowing activities and different operational parameters is required to effectively control slagging, fouling and achieve reliability in unit operation. Closed-loop optimizers aim to reduce ongoing manual adjustments by control operators and provide consistency in unit operation. Such optimizers are typically computer software-based and work by interfacing an algorithmic and/or artificial intelligence based decision making system to plant control system [1]. KCP&L is in the process of implementing Siemens SPPA-P3000 combustion and sootblowing optimizers at several Units. The Sootblowing Optimizer solution determines the need for sootblowing based on dynamic plant operating conditions, equipment availability and plant operational drivers. The system then generates sootblower activation signals for propagation in a closed-loop manner to the existing sootblower control system at ‘optimal’ times. SPPA-P3000 Sootblowing Optimizer has been successfully installed at Hawthorn Unit 5, a 594-MW, wall-fired boiler, firing 100 percent Powder River Basin coal. This paper discusses implementation approach as well as operational experience with the Sootblowing Optimizer and presents longer-term operational trends showing unit load sustainability and heat rate improvement.

Transient Simulations of Spouted Fluidized Bed for Coal-Direct Chemical Looping Combustion

Chemical-looping combustion holds significant promise as one of the next generation combustion technology for high-efficiency low-cost carbon capture from fossil fuel power plants. For thorough understanding of the chemical-looping combustion process and its successful implementation in CLC based industrial scale power plants, the development of high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools becomes essential for analysis and evaluation of efficient and cost effective designs. In this paper, multiphase flow simulations of coal-direct chemical-looping combustion process are performed using ANSYS Fluent CFD code. The details of solid-gas two-phase hydrodynamics in the CLC process are investigated by employing the Lagrangian particle-tracking approach called the discrete element method (DEM) for the movement and interaction of solid coal particles moving inside the gaseous medium created due to the combustion of coal particles with an oxidizer. The CFD/DEM simulations show excellent agreement with the experimental results obtained in a laboratory scale fuel reactor in cold flow conditions. More importantly, simulations provide important insights for making changes in fuel reactor configuration design that have resulted in significantly enhanced performance.

Mill Steam Inerting System Review and Performance Validation

NFPA 85, Chapter 9.5.4 states “A pulverizer that is tripped under load shall be inerted and maintained under an inert atmosphere until confirmation that no burning or smoldering fuel exists in the pulverizer or the fuel is removed”. Pulverizer systems with the potential for a resident inventory of combustible material upon trip must be designed and equipped with an inerting system that is capable of maintaining an inert atmosphere to meet this requirement. Proper design of the inerting system and operating procedure, integrated with the mill operation during start-up, shut down and emergency trip is critical for safe mill operation. This paper presents a mill steam inerting system review and performance validation. The technology has been applied to ball tube mill systems at Hoosier Energy’s Merom Generating Station. A testing technique, used to validate performance of the steam inerting system at this generating plant, is described. It quantifies the compliance of the steam inerting system to meet NFPA requirements during start-up and shut down of the pulverizer. This type of operation is considered to be the most difficult for inerting as the primary air is flowing through the system. The developed testing approach can be applied to evaluate the performance of either existing or newly installed steam inerting systems. The validation technology, developed based on a ball tube mill system, can be readily applied on other types of mill systems, since the steam inerting principle is the same and inerting system requirements are similar, regardless of different mill types.

Wind System Reliability and Capacity

Capacity measures a system’s ability to survive stress. For example, structures are engineered in part to have the capacity to survive the worst wind loads expected over the life of the structure. Likewise wind electric power systems should have the capacity to reliably survive the worst combination of high load and low wind. A superior approach for quantifying wind’s contribution to system capacity is well known. It is to view wind as a negative load and use the Effective Load Carrying Capacity (ELCC) methodology for a given year. A frequent mistake is to average these annual ELCC estimates. A main contribution of this paper is to explain why the system design criteria should take the worst of the annual ELCC estimates over a number of years and not an average of annual ELCC estimates. Based on extreme events, wind generation contributes little to system capacity (<6.6% of wind nameplate). The empirical evidence shows that wind generation is an energy source, not a capacity resource.

Understanding the Reactive Power Problem and a Mechanical Solution Using Peaking or Retired Generators

Reactive power is an unwanted but unavoidable part of alternating current electric power delivery systems. Governed by the laws of physics, it occurs due to the inherent nature of the components of these systems. This article develops an understanding of reactive power and the control of it to reduce its adverse effects and to improve the efficiency of an electric power delivery system. The article begins by identifying and representing electric power circuit components, real power, and reactive power. These are then mathematically shown how they interact and affect the power delivery system. Control and mitigation of the effects of reactive power are then developed with emphasis on mechanical solutions using rotating machines. In particular, peaking or retired generators are identified for use as rotating condensers as well as new installations. A description of the gear type synchronous self-synchronizing (SSS) overrunning clutches used to connect and dis-connect a generator from the peaking prime mover or the retired generator from a starting system is included.

Go With the Flow: The Evolvement of Geothermal Wellhead Maintenance at the Hellisheidi Power Plant

Iceland relies greatly on geothermal energy, for electricity, district heating and industrial activities. It is therefore of great importance that the maintenance on site is carried out quite successfully to minimize down time. Reykjavik Energy is the largest energy company in Iceland utilizing geothermal energy. The company operates two cogenerating geothermal power plants, Hellisheidi (303 MWe and 133 MWt) and Nesjavellir (120 MWe and 300 MWt). In this study we investigate the development of the wellhead maintenance at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. We look at the maintenance recommendations provided to on-site employees and how maintenance procedures have developed since the power plant began its operations. We investigate real data retrospectively and use it to calculate expected waiting times between repairs. The result is a maintenance model based on the observed and statistically analyzed data provided by the power company on the maintenance procedures. Such model should prove of great significance to other geothermal power plants in the early stages of planning the wellhead maintenance.

Soot Formation Reaction Effect in Modeling Thermal Partial Oxidation of Jet-A

The results obtained from the modeling of thermal partial oxidation of kerosene based Jet-A fuel are presented using one dimensional chemical modeling. Two detailed kinetic models for alkenes chemistry ranging between C8 to C16 were evaluated and compared against experimental data of thermal partial oxidation of Jet-A fuel. The key difference between these two kinetic models was the inclusion of model for soot formation reactions. Chemical modeling was performed using dodecane to represent Jet-A fuel. The results showed that the model with soot reactions was significantly more accurate in predicting reformate products from Jet-A. In particular, the formation of carbon monoxide, methane and acetylene closely followed the experimental data with the model that included soot formation reactions. The results revealed that the soot formation reactions promoted the smaller hydrocarbons to decompose via the alternate kinetic pathways and from additional radical formation. The results also reveal that the inclusions of soot formation reactions are critical in the modeling of thermal partial oxidation of fuels for fuel reforming.

Xylene Addition Effects in Thermal Stage of Claus Reactors

Experimental results are presented on the effect of xylene addition to H2S/O2 flames at equivalence ratio of 3.0 (Claus Condition) with respect to H2S and complete combustion of xylene. The results from the combustion of H2S/xylene mixture is compared with the baseline case of 100% H2S combustion to isolate the role of xylene addition in the Claus reactor. Combustion of H2S alone showed a decrease in its mole until it reached to an asymptotic minimum mole fraction value. This resulted in the formation of SO2 to a maximum mole fraction which subsequently decomposed from the formation of elemental sulfur through its reaction with H2S. Addition of small amount of xylene (0.5% and 1%) increased the asymptotic minimum value of H2S as well as the formation of H2 which provided oxidation competition between the formed H2 and H2S. Presence of xylene also triggered the formation of CH4 and CO which provided pathway on the formation of COS and CS2. The oxidation of CH4 and CO by SO2 and other sulfur radicals reduced the maximum mole fraction of SO2 but increased the subsequent rate of SO2 decomposition to increase the formation rate of elemental sulfur. These results show the direct impact of trace amounts of xylene in the feed stream on sulfur formation to reveal direct impact on the Claus reactor performance for sulfur capture.

Copper Deposition in Stator Cooling Water Systems

Water cooled steam turbine-generator stator systems are subject to flow restrictions and pluggage by copper that originates from within the stators. Deposition may occur within hollow stator bars or coils, or in filters or screens in the water flow circuit. In extreme cases of deposition, flow restriction can cause the generator to overheat due to reduction of cooling flow, resulting in unit outages and potentially serious equipment damage. Chemistry programs to minimize corrosion and transport of copper within the system include high oxygen, low oxygen, and alkaline (pH elevation). In all cases high purity water is required for the application. Examination of copper deposits can provide clues to the adequacy of the chemistry treatment program for minimizing system corrosion.

CFD Simulations of Flow and Heat Transfer Through the Porous Interface of a Metal Foam Heat Exchanger

This paper offers numerical modelling of a waste heat recovery system. A thin layer of metal foam is attached to a cold plate to absorb heat from hot gases leaving the system. The heat transferred from the exhaust gas is then transferred to a cold liquid flowing in a secondary loop. Two different foam PPI (Pores Per Inch) values are examined over a range of fluid velocities. Numerical results are then compared to both experimental data and theoretical results available in the literature. Challenges in getting the simulation results to match those of the experiments are addressed and discussed in detail. In particular, interface boundary conditions specified between a porous layer and a fluid layer are investigated. While physically one expects much lower fluid velocity in the pores compared to that of free flow, capturing this sharp gradient at the interface can add to the difficulties of numerical simulation. The existing models in the literature are modified by considering the pressure gradient inside and outside the foam. Comparisons against the numerical modelling are presented. Finally, based on experimentally-validated numerical results, thermo-hydraulic performance of foam heat exchangers as waste heat recovery units is discussed with the main goal of reducing the excess pressure drop and maximising the amount of heat that can be recovered from the hot gas stream.