Introduction to Supercritical Technology

India have a considerable potential for adding up new power generation capacity based on coal, having proven reserves of over 202 billion tones. Substantial demand for adoption of supercritical steam technology is developing, driven largely by the need to minimize the environmental impact of power generation by achieving higher efficiencies of energy conversion.In Asia, particularly in India and the Far East, environmental requirements are tightening and look set to tighten further. The conventional power plant will not be able to meet the environmental norms and efficiency demands of the future. Thus there is a need for introduction of technologies which can meet the environmental norms and the efficiency demands.Supercritical technology is one of the chief alternative and sort after method for such power generation.

The principal advantages of supercritical steam cycles are:

Reduced fuel costs due to improved thermal efficiency CO2 emissions reduced by about 15%, per unit of electricity generated, when compared with typical existing sub-critical plant Well-proven technology with excellent availability, comparable with that of existing sub-critical plant Very good part-load efficiencies, typically half the drop in efficiency experienced by sub-critical plant Plant costs comparable with sub-critical technology and less than other clean coal technologies

Very low emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulates achievable using modern flue gas clean-up equipment.

There always lies a darker side to a bright side, so are the short comings or constraints that we face during the application of this technology.Some of which can be given as :
Development of high temperature creep resistant alloy steels. Turbine material development Alternative boiler technology for gasification cycles. like FBCs etc., Advanced controls & Instrumentation Stringent Boiler Water Quality Control Transfer of Technology (TOT)

The major consideration is to be given to the MATERIALS AND METTALLURGY that can withstand such intense condition of temperature and pressure because the major factor that determines the efficiency is the high temperature and pressure itself.
The steam conditions and hence the thermal efficiency of advanced supercritical steam cycles are primarily limited by the available materials. The trend towards progressively higher thermal efficiencies can only be achieved if better materials can be identified for a number of critical components. The recently developed high creep strength martensitic 9 to 12 percent Cr steels, such as P91, P92 (NF616) and P122 (HCM12A), used for thick section boiler components and steam pipes, are the key new materials that have driven forward the supercritical

technology to steam

temperatures over 565 degrees Centigrade into the USC range. High strength ferritic 9-12Cr steels for use in thick section components are now commercially available for temperatures up to 620 degrees

Celsius. Field tests are in progress, but long-term performance data are not yet available Initial data on two experimental 12 Cr ferritic steels indicate that they may be capable of long-term service up to 650 degrees Celsius, but more data are required to confirm this.

Advanced austenitic stainless steels for reheater and super-heater tubing are available for service temperatures up to 650 degrees Celsius and possibly 700 degrees Celsius. The ASME Boiler Code Group has approved none of these steels so far. Higher strength materials are needed for upper water construction of plants with steam pressures above 24 Mpa. A high strength 1-1/2 percent Cr steel recently ASME Code approved as T-23 is the preferred candidate material for this application. Field trials are in progress.

R&D IN METALLURGY
The main R&D efforts are in Japan, the USA (funded by the US Department of Energy, USDOE) and Germany (including the MARCKO Program). Japanese manufacturers claim to have already demonstrated materials suitable for 650C steam temperatures.

Furnace wall tubing, T23, developed by Sumitomo Metal industries and MHI, and 7Cr. Mo.V.Ti.B1010 (Ti: titanium; B: boron), developed by Mannesmann and Valourec, are the most likely materials to be selected for steam conditions up to 625C/325 bar.

Short-term creep rupture data suggest that these steels may have equivalent creep properties to T91 steel whilst requiring no post-

weld heat treatment. For steam conditions >625C/325bar stronger materials will be required. Candidate materials currently at the most advanced stage of development are P92, P122 and E911. All three steels offer considerably enhanced creep-rupture properties over more conventional equivalent steels, T91 and X20Cr.Mo.V121, but all require post-weld heat treatment during fabrication More highly alloyed steels under development, such as NF709, HRBC and HR6W, may allow operation at steam temperatures of 630C, but again more advanced work is needed. The recent ASTM/ASME-approved P92 and P122 steels should allow construction of thick-section components and steam lines for PF plant operating with steam parameters up to 325bar/610C. Circumferential water wall cracking has been the major source of boiler tube failures for supercritical units. The objective of EPRI project on this aspect was to determine the root cause(s) of the circumferential cracking experienced on the fireside of water wall tubes of supercritical steam boilers in the United States. Information is now available from detailed monitoring to provide guidance on controlling these failures.

Boiler Design
Considerable research effort into plant damage, including thermal fatigue has been under way, aimed at supporting existing operating plant. This is leading to new designs of, for example, headers and steam chests that are much more resistant to thermal fatigue and where thermal fatigue can be better predicted. To prevent problems, multiple components can be used to reduce component sizes and hence wall thickness.

Turbine Material Development

New alloys based upon 10% Cr. Mo.W.V.Nb.Ni B (W: tungsten; Nb: niobium) are becoming available for turbine rotors and casings for construction of 300-325bar/600-610C steam turbines. Creep testing to 40,000h, together with large-scale fabrication trails, has so far demonstrated reliable results. Hence, turbine parameters of 600C/325bar can be considered achievable.

By the addition of cobalt to 12%Cr.W steel (i.e. NF 12 and HR 1200), Japan expects to be able to manufacture steam turbines capable of handling final steam conditions of 650C/325bar.

A number of design changes are also being developed to allow higher temperatures and pressures to be used are (a) Partial triple-casing on turbines or use of inlet guide vanes to reduce the peak pressures seen by the HP cylinder (b) Steam inlets and valves welded rather than flanged to give reduced leakage and fewer maintenance problems (c) Use of heat shields and cooling steam in the IP turbine inlet

(d) New blade coatings to reduce solid particle erosion where highvelocity inlets are used to minimize pressure effects

Turbine Cycle Development

Some of the highlights of the development are:

Improved blading profiles making use of modern CFD techniques Higher final feed temperatures and bled-steam temperatures bled-steam tapping off the HP cylinder

Improved efficiency of auxiliaries

Lower condenser pressures using larger condensers and larger LP exhaust areas (this requires site-specific cost optimization for each project)

OTHER OPTIONS Trend to larger unit sizes improving turbine efficiencies

Increasing automation and levels of control

Optimizing plant layout, e.g. to shorten pipe runs and ductwork.

Control & Instrumentation

Advanced control techniques should be developed to optimize plant operation and maintenance. These include intelligent control systems to: Maintain uniform temperatures across the boiler by control of burner parameters Minimize carbon-in-ash or NOx formation in the same way Better match of load and firing during load changes, to avoid temperature excursions and improve ramp rates Improve reliability and repeatability of cycling procedures Condition-monitor both boiler and turbine components Forecast damages accumulation and allows targeted preventative maintenance. Ensure higher reliability of temperature sensors Monitor high temperature fire side corrosion in super-heater section March towards maximum allowable operating point from metallurgical point of view requires use of advanced control, as normal PID control is

intolerable. These are; Fuzzy logic control, State Variable Control, Predictive Adaptive Control etc.

Alternative Boiler Technology

In principle, supercritical steam cycles can be used for any technology using a steam cycle to generate electricity. Supercritical plant can therefore be incorporated into:

gasification cycles FBCs any process involving an HRSG to power a turbine generator

However, in order to be commercially viable, supercritical cycles need to be of a certain size, and also to be able to generate hightemperature steam.

For all the above cycles, one or both of these factors have been missing to date, so no supercritical version has been constructed