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Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
Some Preliminaries
A relationship between the net unit efficiency and net unit heat rate (HRnet) is presented in Figure 1. [Download this ppt file [1] to view all figures at a legible size.] Thermal efficiency, or efficiency (), is defined as the electric energy output as a fraction (or percentage) of the fuel energy input. Heat rate is an inverse of efficiency (multiplied by the unit conversion factor of 3,412). Both the efficiency and heat rate can be expressed on an HHV or a lower heating value (LHV) basis. In the U.S., HHV is used for the coal-fired power plants, while in Europe, efficiency calculations are based on LHV. A recent article in POWER [2] provided a comprehensive discussion of power plant efficiency. Bottom line: Be careful when comparing efficiencies from different data sources. To avoid confusion, a note on HHV basis or LHV basis should be added next to the numerical value of efficiency or heat rate. Reference also is often made in the literature to changes in efficiency by percentage points (%-points), which should be distinguished from relative changes in percentage. For example (Figure 1), a change of 1%-point in
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10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
efficiency (from 36% to 37%) represents a relative change of 2.7%. The difference in efficiency between HHV and LHV for bituminous coal is about 2%points (5% relative), while for the high-moisture subbituminous coals and lignites, the difference is about 3% to 4 %-points (8% to 10% relative, depending on the coal composition). Besides lower fuel cost, reduced fuel use results in lower emissions of NOx, SOx, Hg, PM, and other pollutants. Efficiency improvement, as the only practical option for reducing CO2 emissions in the short term, has become a key consideration when choosing technology for new plants and for upgrades of existing power plants. A relationship between heat rate improvement and reduction in CO2 emissions, presented in Figure 2, shows that CO2 reduction is proportional to the heat rate improvement. That is, 1% improvement in heat rate results in 1% reduction in CO2 emissions, regardless of the coal type or its rank. Savings in the fuel and CO2 emissions cost for a typical 580-MW power plant firing Illinois coal are presented in Figure 3 as functions of the heat rate improvement and cost per ton of CO2 over an assumed range of carbon allowance prices. The results show that 1% improvement in net unit heat rate (on a relative basis) results in annual fuel savings of $1.6 million, assuming an energy cost of $4/million Btu (MBtu) and unit capacity factor of 85%. With a CO2 cost of $30 per ton, annual savings are almost doubled ($2.8 million/year). The efficiency of a coal-fired power plant also will have a strong effect on the cost of carbon capture; with higher efficiency, the flow rate of flue gas that needs to be treated will be lower, resulting in a smaller and less-expensive carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) system. A smaller CCS will have smaller negative effect on plant efficiency. There are numerous opportunities and options for improving the efficiency of existing power plants. Utilization of waste heat for boiler efficiency improvement, improvement of steam turbine cycle heat rate, and stack reheat are described below. Boiler efficiency improvement achieved by using heat recovered from the flue gas for drying of high-moisture and washed coals will be discussed in Part II. The improvement in steam cycle performance achieved by using heat recovered from the flue gas for feedwater heating and preheating of combustion air will be discussed in Part III.
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10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
the Ljungstrom APH. In a Ljungstrom APH, temperature of the heat transfer surfaces located in the cold end layer of the APH are controlled by the inlet air temperature and are significantly lower than the acid dew point temperature. More details on the APH heat transfer, performance, and fouling and plugging will be presented in Part II. Besides acid deposition, the other impediment to recovering heat from the flue gas by additional cooling in the APH is the ESP performance. As presented in Figure 5, resistivity of flyash decreases as the flue gas temperature is reduced below 300F. However, in case of the high-resistivity ash (Figure 5), the temperature reduction would not be a problem, for the low-resistivity ash low flue gas temperatures will have a significant negative effect on the ESP performance. Steam generators that employ ammonia injection for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) or selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR) of NOx encounter an additional challenge in design and operation of low-temperature heat-recovery equipment, particularly APHs. Unreacted ammonia combines with SO3 in the flue gas stream and SO3 produced on the SCR catalysts to form ammonium bisulfate (ABS). The ABS forms in a temperature range between the APH flue gas inlet and outlet temperatures. The deposits are sticky and corrosive to steels commonly employed in the APHs. Upon exiting the ESP, it is common to cool the flue gas by evaporative cooling to a temperature close to the adiabatic saturation temperature by spraying water into the flue gas stream within a wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system. According to an FGD manufacturer, the optimal flue gas temperature for a desulfurization process is approximately 149F (65C). Cooling of the flue gas to the saturation temperature occurs in a spray area, and the flue gas leaves the FGD reactor at a temperature close to the saturation temperature. In same cases, the flue gas is leaving the FGD in a supersaturated state with a temperature slightly below the saturation temperature. This practice results in significant use of water for evaporative cooling. More importantly, the sensible heat of flue gas is not beneficially used. Saturation temperature is a function of the moisture content in the flue gas, which depends on the total coal moisture (TM) content of coal, and humidity of inlet air. The moisture content of the flue gas is presented in Figure 6 as a function of the total coal moisture content. Calculations were performed for the excess air coefficient (E) of 17.2% and humidity of inlet air of 0.01149 mole
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10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
H2O/mole air. The flue gas moisture content and saturation temperature for the bituminous and washed Illinois coals, subbituminous (Powder River Basin, PRB) coals, and lignites are summarized in Table 1. The saturation temperature is presented in Figure 7 as a function of TM. For these coals and combustion conditions, saturation temperature varies in the 104F to 134F range.
Table 1. Saturation temperature for various coals. Source: Energy Research Center
10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
As shown in Figure 9, most of the moisture can be removed from the flue gas by cooling it to a very low temperature. The chilled ammonia concept, developed by Alstom Power, employs cooling of the flue gas to a very low temperature using chillers. At the current state of technology development, such lowtemperature cooling of the flue gas is expensive due to high power requirements for the chillers. Condensation of the flue gas moisture liberates latent heat. The amount of latent heat released is a function of the flue gas temperature and coal type (Figure 10). The amount of released latent heat increases as TM content of the coal increases and temperature of the flue gas decreases. The latent heat can be recovered in condensing heat exchangers (CXEs), but due to the low temperature of a cooling fluid, there are practical temperature limits (approximately 100F to 110F) that impose limits on the amount of latent heat than can be economically recovered from the flue gas. Available heat sinks limit the amount of low-temperature heat that can be beneficially used. The total (sensible and latent) heat of the flue gas is presented in Figure 11. As the flue gas is cooled below its saturation temperature, the amount of total heat greatly increases. However, as discussed previously, there are practical limitations associated with cooling of the flue gas to low temperatures and beneficial use of the recovered low-temperature heat. To illustrate total amount of heat available in the flue gas, sample calculations were performed for a conventional supercritical pulverized coal-fired power plant and four different coals. The gross power output of a 642.18-MW, turbine cycle heat rate (HRcycle) of 7,467 Btu/kWh (cycle,gross = 45.69%), APH leakage of 10%, flue gas temperature at the boiler outlet of 680F, and coal TM content from Table 1 were assumed in the calculations. The results are presented in Table 2 and Figure 12. The sensible heat was determined for the case where the flue gas is cooled in a FGC located upstream of the FGD from a temperature of 310F (APH gas outlet) to 140F (FGD inlet).
10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
The total heat (including latent heat) was determined for the case where the flue gas was cooled in the FGC and CXE from a temperature of 310F (APH gas outlet) to 110F (inlet to a CO2 absorber). Flue gas cooling down to about 110F will be needed for efficient operation of the post-combustion CO2 capture system (CO2 absorber). Even deeper cooling is needed for the chilled ammonia process. The results show that for low-moisture bituminous and washed Illinois coals having low saturation temperatures, the benefit of cooling the flue gas down to 110F is small. As TM content of the coal increases, such for the PRB and lignites, the amount of total heat increases significantly, especially for the lignites. Therefore, for high-moisture coals it might be economical to recover the low-temperature heat. This is not the case for the low-moisture coals, where cooling of the flue gas in a FGC upstream of the FGD is most economical option.
10/13/13
Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
To illustrate the benefits of using heat recovered from the flue gas for the FW heating, and preheating of combustion air, analyses were performed for a baseline power plant configuration presented in Figure 13 and three coals: washed Illinois, PRB, and lignite. The baseline configuration is a conventional coal-fired power plant employing a boiler, steam turbine cycle with seven stages of regenerative heating of the condensate, and a FGD for SOx control. Temperature of the condensate leaving the main steam condenser is, in this example, 85.9F. Note that the condenser outlet temperature is highly sitespecific and depends on the temperature of the cooling water into the condenser, condenser cleanliness, and state of maintenance. Temperature of the cooling water is subject to seasonal variations and location of the plant. For plants equipped with a cooling tower, performance of the cooling tower adds another level of complexity, as its performance is affected by the ambient and process conditions. Combustion air is preheated in a steam air heater (SAH) using steam extracted from the steam turbine cycle. The flow and temperature data presented in Figure 13 correspond to lignite. The results for all three coals are summarized in Tables 3 through 5.
Table 3. Increase in power output compared to baseline shown in Table 2. Source: Energy Research Center
Table 4. Improvement in net unit heat rate compared to baseline shown in Table 2. Source: Energy Research Center
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Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
Table 5. Increase in net unit efficiency compared to baseline shown in Table 2. Source: Energy Research Center The first investigated configurationConfiguration A, for using lowtemperature heat from the flue gas, involving a FGC upstream of the FGDis presented in Figure 14. Instead of using steam extracted from the steam turbine cycle for the combustion air preheat, combustion air is preheated by the heat recovered from the flue gas stream. This increases steam flow through the lowpressure (LP) turbine with a resulting increase in the steam turbine power output. The increase in the turbine power output results in an improvement in turbine cycle heat rate and, ultimately, in the net unit heat rate. One effect was that the heat rejected by the condenser and the condensate flow increased. Also, the amount of heat supplied by the extraction steam and recovered from the flue gas were matched to achieve the same level of combustion air preheat. Finally, the feedwater temperature entering the boiler was kept constant for all analyzed cases. The second configuration, Configuration B, uses low-temperature heat from the flue gas and includes a FGC upstream of the FGD (Figure 15). One hundred percent of the condensate flow leaving the main steam condenser flows through the FGC, where it is heated. The heated condensate is circulated back to the steam turbine cycle, bypassing low-pressure feedwater heaters (FWH) 6 and 7. This arrangement eliminates low-pressure steam extractions, and the steam that would normally be used in the FWH6 and FWH7 is expanded in the LP turbine. The result is an increase in the steam turbine power output, increase in steam flow to the condenser and main condensate flow, and increase in heat rejected by the main steam condenser. The increase in turbine power output results in an improvement in turbine cycle and net unit heat rates. In this example, the flue gas is cooled to a temperature of 135F. Combustion air is preheated by steam extracted from the steam turbine cycle. Configuration C represents a combination of Configurations A and B, where a portion of heat recovered from the flue gas is used for FW heating, while the
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Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
remaining heat is used for the combustion air preheat. A schematic of Configuration C is shown in Figure 16. For clarity, the FGC is divided into two parts, where FGC1 is used for the combustion air preheat and FGC2 is used for the FW heating. Configurations D and E allow cooling of the flue gas to the 105F to 110F range, which is required for post-combustion CO2 capture. Configuration D (Figure 17) is a variant of Configuration B and incorporates a CXE downstream of the FGD and upstream of the CO2 absorber (indicated as CCS). Sensible heat of the flue gas is recovered in the FGC. The first stage of the condensing heat exchanger (CXE1) is recovering sensible and latent heat from the flue gas. The recovered heat is used for the FW heating. The second CXE stage (CXE2) is used to further reduce the flue gas temperature and decrease the flue gas moisture content. Please note that the flue gas is exiting the FGD in a saturated or supersaturated state. Reduced moisture content in the flue gas has a positive effect on the efficiency of the CO2 absorption/desorption process. Cooling the flue gas to approximately 105F removes about half of the moisture from the flue gas stream. The recovered heat is very low in temperature and has limited use, such as building heating. The alternative is to use a spray cooler instead of CXE2. However, in such cases the flue gas is entering the CO2 absorber in a saturated or supersaturated state. The high moisture content of the flue gas has a negative effect on the efficiency of the CO2 absorption/desorption process and equipment size. A tradeoff analysis is needed to determine the most costeffective configuration, and that is outside of the scope of this article. Configuration E (Figure 18) is a variant of Configuration C. Similar to Configuration D, it employs a FGC and a two-stage CXE. The recovered latent and sensible heat is used for the FW heating and preheating of combustion air. The results are summarized in Tables 3 through 5 and are presented in Figures 19 through 21 for the cycles discussed above. The potential improvement depends on the configuration and coal type. The heat rate improvement varies from 1.24% to 3.65% relative, considering all configurations. Please note that reductions in CO2 emissions are directly proportional to the heat rate improvements. For configurations not including the CXE, the improvement is lower, from 1.24% to 3.18% relative, but still significant. The corresponding improvement in net unit efficiency is from 0.51%-points to 1.39%-points considering all
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Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
configurations. For configurations not employing the CXE, the improvement in net unit efficiency ranges from 0.51%-points to 0.90%-points. Performance improvements for Configuration A are relatively insensitive to the coal. For Configurations B, C, D, and E, potential performance improvement typically increases with the increase in coal moisture content and is highest for lignites. At another subcritical unit, the higher temperature of the condensate leaving the condenser (105.3F vs. 85.9F) for low- and mid-moisture fuels showed approximately 0.2% lower improvement in net unit heat rate compared to our finding summarized in Figure 20. In summary, performance improvements achievable by using heat recovered from the flue gas for FW heating and combustion air preheat can be significant and should be considered as measures for improving performance and reducing emissions for existing and newly constructed power plants. For existing power plants, where it is difficult or impossible to raise steam parameters to improve performance of the steam turbine cycle, using heat recovered from the flue gas is an attractive alternative. Optimization of the system configurationsuch as temperature of the preheat air leaving the APH and FW bypass (fraction of the FW flow bypassing low-pressure FWHs [100% bypass was used in this work])is a necessary part of any robust plant design.
More to Come
In Part II, well examine the types of coal-drying technologies available, their performance, and operating economics. In Part III, well look at options for flue gas reheat, feedwater heating, and combustion air preheating. Nenad Sarunac (ns01@lehigh.edu [3]) is principal research engineer and associate director at Energy Research Center, Lehigh University. The Illinois Clean Coal Institute funded a portion of this work. Print Mode [4] : ON
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Power 101: Flue Gas Heat Recovery in Power Plants, Part I | POWER Magazine
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