Industrial Boilers and Heat Recovery Steam Generators Design, Applications, and Calculations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Industrial Boilers and Heat Recovery Steam Generators Design, Applications, and Calculations V. Ganapathy ABCO Industries Abilene, Texas, U.S.A. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York • Basel TM Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. ISBN:0-8247-0814-8 Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper. Headquarters MarcelDekker,Inc. 270MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016 tel:212-696-9000;fax:212-685-4540 EasternHemisphereDistribution MarcelDekker,AG Hutgasse4,Postfach812,CH-4001Basel,Switzerland tel:41-61-260-6300;fax:41-61-260-6333 WorldWideWeb http:==www.dekker.com The publisher offers discounts on this book when ordered in bulk quantities. For more infor- mation, write to Special Sales=Professional Marketing at the headquarters address above. Copyright # 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Current printing (last digit): 10987654321 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. To all professionals involved in steam generation and energy conservation. Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. Preface The role of boilers and heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) in the industrial economy has been profound. Boilers form the backbone of power plants, cogeneration systems, and combined cycle plants. There are few process plants, refineries, chemical plants, or electric utilities that do not have a steam plant. Steam is the most convenient working fluid for industrial processing, heating, chilling, and power generation applications. Fossil fuels will continue to be the dominant energy providers for years to come. This book is about steam generators, HRSGs, and related systems. There are several excellent books on steam generation and boilers, and each has been successful in emphasizing certain aspects of boilers and related topics such as mechanical design details, metallurgy, corrosion, constructional aspects, main- tenance, or operational issues. This book is aimed at providing a different perspective on steam generators and is biased toward thermal and process design aspects of package boilers and HRSGs. (The terms ‘‘waste heat boiler’’ and ‘‘HRSG’’ are used in the same context.) My emphasis on thermal engineering aspects of steam generators reinforced by hundreds of worked-out real-life examples pertaining to boilers, HRSGs, and related systems will be of interest to engineers involved in a broad field of steam generator–related activities such as consulting, design, performance evaluation, and operation. Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. DuringthelastthreedecadesIhavehadtheopportunitytodesignhundreds ofpackageboilersandseveralhundredwasteheatboilersthatareinoperationin theU.S.andabroad.Basedonmyexperienceinreviewingnumerousspecifica- tionsofboilersandHRSGs,Ifeelthatconsultants,plantengineers,contractors, anddecisionmakersinvolvedinplanninganddevelopingsteamplantsoftendo notappreciatesomeoftheimportantandsubtleaspectsofdesignandperfor- manceofsteamgenerators. Manyengineersstillfeelthatbyraisingtheexitgastemperatureinboilers witheconomizers,onecanavoidaciddewpointconcerns.Itisthefeedwater temperature—notthegastemperature—thatdeterminesthetubewall temperature(andhencethecorrosionpotential). Softenedwaterissometimessuggestedforattemperationforsteamtempera- turecontrol,eventhoughitwilladdsolidstosteamthatcancauseproblems suchasdepositionofsolidsinsuperheatersandsteamturbines. Tooperatesteamplantsmoreefficiently,plantengineersshouldbeableto understandandappreciatethepartloadcharacteristicsofboilersandHRSGs. HoweverwhilespecifyingboilersandHRSGs,oftenonlytheperformanceat 100%loadisstressed. HRSGsteamgenerationandtemperatureprofilescannotbearbitrarilyarrived at,aspinchandapproachpointsdeterminethis.Forexample,Ihaveseen severalspecificationscallfora300Fexitgastemperaturefromasingle pressureunfiredgasturbineHRSGgeneratingsaturatedsteamat600psig usingfeedwateratabout230F.Asimpleanalysisrevealsthatonlyabout 340–350Fisthermodynamicallyfeasible. SupplementaryfiringingasturbineHRSGsisanefficientwaytogenerate steamcomparedwithsteamgenerationinapackagedboiler.Thebookexplains whythisisso,withexamplesinChapters1and8.Cogenerationengineerscan make use of this information to minimize fuel costs in their plants. A few waste heat boiler specifications provide the flue gas flow in volumetric units instead of mass units, leading to confusion. Lack of information on molecular weight or gas pressure can lead to incorrect evaluation of density and hence the mass flow. Also, volume of flue gas is often given in cfm (cubic feet per minute) and one is not sure whether it is acfm (actual cubic feet per minute) or scfm (standard cubic feet per minute). The difference in mass flow can be significant depending on the basis. Although flue gas analysis affects gas specific heat, heat transfer, boiler duty, and temperature profiles, these data are often not given in specifications for waste heat boilers. For example, the ratio of specific heats of flue gases from combustion of natural gas and fuel oil is about 3.5%, which is not insignif- icant. This is due to the 18% volume of water vapor in natural gas products of combustion versus 12% in fuel oil combustion products. Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. AfewconsultantsselectboilersandHRSGsbasedonsurfacearea,although itcanvarysignificantlybasedontubegeometryorfinconfiguration.With finnedtubes,ascanbeseenfromseveralexamplesinthisbook,thevariation insurfaceareascouldbeintherangeof200–300%forthesameduty. Operatingcostduetofuelconsumptionorgaspressuredropacrossheating surfacesisoftenignoredbymanyconsultantsintheirevaluationandonly initialcostsarecomparedwhilepurchasingsteamgeneratorsorHRSGs, resultinginapoorselectionfortheenduser.Afewplantsarenowrealizing thattheitemsofsteamplantequipmenttheypurchasedyearsagobasedonlow initialcostsaredrainingtheircashreservesthroughcostlyfuelandelectricity billsandhencearescramblingtoimprovetheirdesignandperformance. Manyengineersarenotawareofrecentdevelopmentsinoil-andgas-fired packagedboilersandarestillspecifyingboilersusingrefractorylinedfurnace wallsandfloors! Plantengineersoftenassumethataboilerdesignedfor600psig,forexample, canbeoperatedat200psigandatthesamecapacity.Thepotentialproblems associatedwithsignificantchangesinsteampressureandspecificvolumein boileroperationarediscussedinChapters1and3. Condensing exchangers are being considered in boilers and HRSGs not only for improvement in efficiency but also to recover and recycle the water in the flue gases, which is a precious commodity in some places. Emission control methods such as flue gas recirculation increase the mass flow of flue gases through the boiler; yet standard boilers are being selected that can be expensive to operate in terms of fan power consumption. Many are not aware of the advantages of custom-designed boilers, which can cost less to own and operate. A few steam plant professionals do not appreciate the relation between boiler efficiencies and higher and lower heating values, and thus specify values that are either impossible to accomplish or too inefficient. As a result of this ‘‘knowledge=information gap’’ in process engineering aspects of boilers or HRSG, the end user may need to settle for a product with substandard performance and high costs. This book elaborates on various design and performance aspects of steam generators and heat recovery boilers so that anyone involved with them will become more informed and ask the right questions during the early stages of development of any steam plant project. This will give the best chance of selecting the steam generator with the right design and parameters. Even a tiny improvement in design, efficiency, operating costs, or performance goes a long way in easing the ‘‘energy crunch.’’ The first four chapters describe some of the recent trends in power generation systems, a few aspects of steam generator and HRSG design and performance, and the impact of emissions on boilers in general. The remaining Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. chaptersdealwithcalculationsthatshouldbeofinteresttosteamplantengineers. IauthoredtheSteamPlantCalculationsManual(MarcelDekker,Inc.)several yearsagoandhadbeenthinkingofaddingmoreexamplestothisworkforquite sometime.Thisbookbuildsonthatfoundation. Chapter1isanintroductorydiscussionofpowerplantsanddescribessome oftherecentdevelopmentsinpowersystemssuchasthesupercriticalRankine cycle,theKalinacycle,theChengcycle,andtheintegratedcoalgasificationand combinedcycle(IGCC)plantthatisfastbecomingareality. Thesecondchapterdescribesheatrecoverysystemsinvariousindustries. TheroleoftheHRSGinsulfurrecoveryplants,sulfuricacidplants,gasturbine plants,hydrogenplants,andincinerationsystemsiselaborated. Chapter3,onsteamgenerators,describesthelatesttrendsincustom- designedpackageboilersandthelimitationsofstandardboilersdeveloped decadesago.Emissionregulationshaveresultedinchangesinboileroperating parameterssuchashigherexcessairandFGRratesthatimpactboilerperfor- mancesignificantly.Itshouldbenotedthattherecanbeseveraldesignsfora boilersimplybecausetheemissionlevelsaredifferent,althoughthesteam parametersmaybeidentical.IfanSCRsystemisrequired,itnecessitatesthe additionofagasbypasssystem,addingtothecostandcomplexityofboiler design.Theseareexplainedthroughquantitativeandpracticalexamples. Chapter4,onemissions,describesthevariousmethodsusedinboilersand HRSGstolimitNOxandCOandhowtheirdesignsareimpacted.Forexample,