Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

University of Baghdad
College of engineering
Mechanical department

Final examination (2019-2020(

(Research Report)
Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Name:- Abdullah Ahmed Nayyef

Class:- 4th
Subject:- Power Plant
E-Mail:- [email protected]
Data:- 13/7/2020

1
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Abstract :
The once-through heat recovery steam generator design is ideally matched to very high
temperature and pressure, well into the supercritical range. Moreover this type of boiler is
structurally simpler than a conventional one, since no drum is required. In a conventional design,
each tube plays a well-defined role: water preheating, vaporisation, superheating. Empirical
equations are available to predict the average heat transfer coefficient for each region. For once-
through applications, this is no more the case and mathematical models have to be adapted to
account for the disappearance of the conventional economiser, boiler and superheater. General
equations have to be used for each tube of the boiler, and the actual heat transfer condition in
each tube has to be identified. The mathematical complexity as well as the number of equations
is increased. A thermodynamic model has been selected and implemented to suit very high
pressure (up to 240 bar), sub- and supercritical steam properties. Model use is illustrated by two
case studies : a 180 bar once-through boiler (OTB) and a conventional boiler superheater and
reheater. Keywords :Once-through boiler; heat recovery steam generator (HRSG); water flow
pattern .

1. Introduction :
Nowadays combined cycle (CC) power plants become a good choice to produce energy, because
of their high efficiency and the use of low carbon content fuels (e.g. natural gas) that reduces the
greenhouse gases production. CC plants couple a Brayton cycle with a Rankine cycle. The hot
exhaust of the gas turbine (Brayton cycle) delivers energy to produce high-pressure steam for the
Rankine cycle. The equipment where the steam production takes place is named the heat
recovery steam generator (HRSG). High efficiency in CC (up to 58%) can be achieved for two main
reasons:
1 Improvements in the gas turbine technology (i.e. higher inlet temperature);
2 Improvement in the HRSG design
We focus here on the second point. The introduction of several pressure levels with reheat in the
steam cycle in the HRSG allows recovering more energy from the exhaust gas (usually available
between 600°C and 700°C). Exergy losses decrease, due to a better matching of the gas-cooling
curve with the water/steam curve in the heat exchange diagram (Dechamps, 1998). Going to
supercritical pressure with the OTB technology is another way to better match those curves and
thus improve the CC efficiency. New improvements are announced in near future to reach overall
cycle efficiency as high as 60%. In the present work we propose a mathematical model for the
simulation and design of the once-through boiler. The modelling approach used for the
simulation of a conventional boiler has to be revised, since the heat transfer regime in each tube
can not be fixed by the equipment design. General equations have to be used for each tube of
the boiler. Moreover there is a more significant evolution of the water/steam flow pattern type
due to the complete water vaporization inside the tubes (in a conventional boiler, the circulation

2
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

flow is adjusted to reach a vapour fraction between 20% and 40% in the tubes and the vapour is
separated in the drum). Changes of flow pattern induce a modification in the evaluation of the
internal heat transfer coefficient as well as in the pressure drop formulation. The right equation
has to be selected dynamically according to the flow conditions prevailing in the tube. The
uniform distribution of water among parallel tubes of the same geometry subjected to equal
heating is not ensured from the outset but depends on the pressure drop in the tubes. The
disappearance of the drum introduces a different understanding of the boiler’s behaviour. Effects
of the various two-phase flow patterns have to be mathematically controlled.

2.Thermodynamic model :
To estimate water and steam properties, we make use of "IAPWS Industrial Formulation for the
Thermodynamic Properties of Water and Steam" (Wagner et al, 1998). It replaces the previous
industrial standard IFC-67. This formulation provides a very accurate representation of the
thermodynamic properties of water and steam over a wide range of temperature and pressure
with a formulation that is designed for fast computation. The IAPWS Industrial Formulation 1997
consists of a set of equations for different regions that cover the following range of validity:
0°C < T < 800°C p<1000 bar
800°C < T <2000°C p<100 ba
r Figure 1 shows the 5 regions into which the entire range of validity of IAPWS-IF97 is divided.

3. Mathematical Model :
The model described hereafter should be applied to horizontal tube bundles (boilers with vertical
gas path, figure 6 shows a typical tube layout). It has been developed for once through boilers
but could also be used with conventional boiler. The complete set of equations developed here
after has to be applied to each tube row or part of tube row of the complete tube bundle (for a
tube bundle with 50 rows of tubes, the set has to be applied at least 50 times).

3.1. Heat transfer

3.1.1. Water side
Heat transfer equations must be formulated for steady state, forced flow through tubes.
Mathematical models for conventional boilers are usually based on empirical equations
corresponding to each region of the boiler: the economizer, the boiler and the superheater.
Those three parts of boiler are clearly separated thus it is not difficult to choose the appropriate
equation. In a once-through boiler this separation is not so clear. We have first to estimate the
flow pattern in the tubes, and on this basis to select the appropriate heat transfer equation.
“Liquid single phase” and “vapour single phase” conditions are easily identified from

3
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

temperature and pressure data. According to Gnielinski (1993) the equation 1 applies for
turbulent and hydrodynamically developed flow.

(1)

During vaporization different flow patterns can be observed, for which the rate of heat transfer
also differs. In stratified-wavy flow pattern incomplete wetting has an effect on the heat transfer
coefficient. A reduction appears for this type of flow pattern. Computing conditions where a
change in flow pattern occurs is useful. Steiner (1993) clearly exposed a method to establish a
flow pattern map in horizontal tube for given pressure and flow conditions. This method has
been used in this study. The different flow pattern in the vaporisation zone of the OTB are given
in figure 2. The heat transfer coefficient is estimated from numerous data. It is a combination of
convective heat transfer coefficient and nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient.

(2)

(3)

(4)

4
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

The correction coefficients ψ and κ are functions of the heat conduction (λws) of the tube wall.
They have to be applied when (λws) < 0.7 W/K, which is the case for HRSG (Table 1) For bubble
flow, ψ is set to 1.
αLO is the heat transfer coefficient with total mass velocity in the form of the liquid.
αGO is the heat transfer coefficient with total mass velocity in the form of the vapour.
Evolution of the internal coefficients in a typical OTB is presented in figure 3.

3.1.2. Fumes side

The same set of equations can be used used for a conventional heat recovery boiler and a once
trough heat recovery boiler. The main contribution to the heat transfer coefficient is due to
convection, since the fumes temperature is rather low and the tube spacing is short. Radiative
heat transfer plays a secondary role. The effect of the turbulence has been introduced to reduce
the heat transfer coefficient in the first few rows of the tube bundle. The main difficulty to
evaluate the heat transfer coefficient for the fume side comes from the fins that enhance the
heat transfer, but could also produce other sources of resistance in the heat transfer, such as
fouling on the surface of fins or inadequate contact between the core tube and the fin base.
Several methods have been implemented in the model to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient
on the gas side. Equation 6 is a general equation, which evaluates the Nusselt number in cross
flow over pipes.

(6)

Values for parameters “C”, “m”, “n” and “l” are given in table 2. Fins efficiency is estimated from
following equations:

(7)

(8)

(9)

5
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Finally an apparent heat transfer coefficient is computed from equation 10:

(10)

Some tube manufacturers supply specific correlations whose coefficients have been tuned to
match extensive data for their specific tube design. For instance, the tube manufacturer ESCOA
recommends (ESCOA, 1979):

(11)

(12)

For solid fins and staggered arrangement for tubes :

(13)

(14)

(15)

3.1.3. Overall heat transfer coefficient

Finally the overall heat transfer coefficient is obtained from equation 16.

(16)

6
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

The overall heat transfer for each tube is computed with:

Q = α * A*ΔTsl (17)

We call ΔTsl “semi logarithmic temperature difference” (equation 18). It is the best compromise between
pure logarithmic temperature difference that has no sense here (only one tube) and pure arithmetic
emperature difference that does not allow following the evolution of water properties along the tube.

(18)

(19)

The heat exchange diagram of a typical OTB is presented in figure 4.

3.2. Pressure drop

3.2.1. Water side
Water flows in several parallel channels, submitted to slightly different heating patterns, thus
the flows distribution will be influenced by pressure drops.

(20)

The coefficient f depends on the Reynolds number for flow within the tube. In laminar flow, the
Hagen-Poiseuille law can be applied. In turbulent flow the Blasius equation is used. The main
difficulty is the evaluation of water pressure drop during transition boiling. The pressure drop
consists of three components: friction (ΔPf), acceleration (ΔPm) and static pressure (ΔPg).
In once-through horizontal tubes boiler ΔPg=0. The Lockard-Martinelli formulation is used to
estimate the friction term.

7
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

(21)

(22)

(23)

The acceleration term is defined with equation 24 where ε is the volume fraction of vapour
(void fraction defined by equation 25).

(24)

(25)

It is recommended to discretize each tube in several short sections in order to obtain more
accurate results. Figure 5 shows local pressure drop evolution in a tube, as calculated by this
model. The main pressure drop is observed where vaporisation takes place.

8
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

3.2.2. Fumes side

The pressure drop in a tube bundle is given by equation 26. In this case the number of rows (NR)
plays an important role in the pressure drop evaluation. For solid fins and staggered arrangement
for tubes, the ESCOA correlation has been selected (ESCOA, 1979):

(26)

(27)

(28)

(29)

(30)

(31)

(32)

9
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

4. Examples :
The following examples are based on CMI boilers design. CMI Utility Boilers is a company active
in the design, construction, erection and commissioning of heat recovery boilers associated with
high capacity gas turbines used in combined cycle power plant.

4.1.Once through boiler

The once through HRSG design features are:
 Vertical gas path.
 Economizer and vaporizer are combined (no intermediate header).
 Water is flowing down from top to bottom in countercurrent arrangement.
 Ready to work with the latest generation of gas turbines.
 Fuel can be natural gas, distillate, heavy oil or crude oil
Results have been obtained for an OTB of pilot plant size presented in figure 6. Main design
parameters of the steam generators is given in tables 3 and 4. The simulation model has been
implemented in VALI software (BELSIM, 2002). Each tube or tube section can be represented by
a separate simulation object. The graphical user interface allows easy modification of the tube
connections and the modeling of multiple pass bundles (figure 8).The simulation of the OTB
described here is performed by connecting at least 42 modules, one for each tube row. Since
VALI implements a numerical procedure to solve large sets of non-linear equations, all model
equations are solved simultaneously. Convergence is smooth and is achieved in a few iterations
(figure 7).

4.2. Conventional boiler and reheater

Other results were obtained for a superheater and a reheater of a conventional boiler. Boiler
description is given in table 5. This allowed comparison of the detailed modelling presented here,
with the more global design approach that has been applied previously. Although our design tool
has been developed to model once through boilers, there is no limitation and it can also be
applied to model conventional boiler. Figure 3 compares the predicted evolution of heat transfer
coefficient in each tube, with average values predicted with the design procedures applied in the
past. Economiser and vaporiser are well described with traditional empirical equations however
the extra modelling work required by the new method provides interesting information for
superheater and reheater. The example shown here allowed to understand some failures in the
tubes of a super heater. Figure 9 clearly shows that the fumes temperatures (shown in italic) does
not evolve homogeneously in the boiler. Gas temperature may vary by more than 30° across the
flue channel. Water temperature profiles also differ for parallel tubes thus pressure drops
patterns also differ. In order to balance the pressure drop in parallel tubes, the water flow rate

10
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

has to differ. The heat transfer might become degraded in some tubes, which results in
overheating and increases the risk of failure. The module is now used during the design to analyse
the water temperature profile when selecting between alternative tube patterns

5. Conclusions and Future Work :

The mathematical model of the once-through boiler has been used to better understand the
behaviour of the boiler. Future mathematical developments have still to be done to improve the
OTB design. The criteria for flow stability have to be reviewed since it is certainly different in an
OTB design or in an assisted circulation boiler design. Automatic generation of alternative bundle
layouts in the graphical user interface is also foreseen.

11
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

8. References :

BELSIM (2002) VALI III users guide, Belsim s.a., Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse, Belgium Dechamps, P.J.

(1998), Advanced combined cycle alternatives with the latest gas turbines,

ASME J. Engrg. Gas Turbines Power 120, 350–35

ESCOA (1979), Fin Tube Manual, ESCOA corp.

Gnielinski, V. (1993), VDI heat atlas, GA,GB, VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf, Germany

Rizhu, Li, Huaiming, Ju (2002), Structural design and two-phase flow stability test for the

steam generator, Nuclear Engineering and Design 218, 179-187 Steiner, D. (1993)

VDI heat atlas, VDI-Verlag, HBB, Düsseldorf, Germany

Wagner, W., Kruse (1998), Properties of Water and Steam / IAPWS-IF97, Springer-Verlag, Berlin,

Germany

12
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

9. Figures :

13
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Figure 3 : Internal heat transfer coefficient evolution in the once through boiler compared to
average coefficients of a conventional steam generator (large dots)

Figure 4 : Fumes and water temperature evolution through out the boiler with the “OTB”
mathematical formulation

14
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Figure 5 : local pressure drop evolution in a continuous flow path from inlet water to outlet
superheated steam

Figure 6 : Details of the pressure parts assembly of the once-through boiler

Figure 7: Convergence evolution for the OTB example

15
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

16
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

17
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

18
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

10.Tables :

19
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

20
Power Plant Heat Recovery Steam Generator

21