Sept 17, 1968

Filed Sept. 20, 1966

D. PALCHIK

3,401,674
'

STEAM GENERATOR RECIRCULATING PUMP OPERATION

3 Sheets-Sheet l

FIG-1
/20
DAV/D PALCH/K
. INVENTOR

AGENT

United States Patent 0

1
STEAM GENERATOR RECIRCULATING PUMP QPERATION

3,401,674
Patented Sept. 17, 1968
2

rnum recirculation consistent with the circulating pump

3,401,674

drive power consumption limitations.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be

come apparent to those skilled in the art as the description
proceeds. .

David Palcliik, Bloom?eld, Conn., assignor to Combus O1 tion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, Conn., a corporation
of Delaware

With the aforementioned objects in view, the invention

comprises an arrangement, construction and combination of the elements of the inventive organization in such a
manner as to attain the results desired, as hereinafter more

Filed Sept. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 580,765 10 Claims. (Cl. 122-406)
10

particularly set forth in the following detailed descrip

tion of an illustrative embodiment, said embodiment

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A once-through supercritical pressure steam generator of the recirculating type, employing a centrifugal pump
to effect recirculation. A measure of the density of the

being shown by the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a once-through recirculating type
steam generator having a mixed ?ow pump with the pump speed being controlled by use of a motor generator set in a ?uid coupling, and the control being responsive to the power consumption of the motor driving the recirculat

?uid passing through the pump is determined and the

pump speed is regulated in response to this measure

ment. The measure of density may be the density itself, temperature, power consumption of the pump drive motor, or any other reliable parameter under the particular

ing pump;
FIG. 2 is a curve illustrating velocity conditions enter
20 ing the waterwall with constant pump speed; FIG. 3 is a curve illustrating the mass ?ow rates at

operating conditions.
This invention relates to recirculating type super

the waterwall inlet for different pump speeds; FIG. 4 illustrates the kilowatt input to the motor for various pump speeds; critical pressure steam generators and in particular to a FIG. 5 illustrates the motor revolutions per vminute method and apparatus for operating a recirculating pump 25 for a constant kilowatt input; and
so as to obtain the maximum recirculation consistent with

pump drive power consumption limitations. US. Patent 3,038,453 to W. H. Armacost illustrates
a once-through steam generator with a recirculation sys tem superimposed on the through-?ow circuit. The re
30

FIG. 6 illustrates a steam generator wherein the vari

able speed motor driving the circulating pump is con trolled in response to the temperature of the ?uid passing

through the circulating pump.

Water from the hot well 2 passes through feedwater line 4 which includes the condensate pump and low pres that it withdraws ?uid from a location downstream of the sure feedwater heaters (not shown). Feedwater pump 6 heating surface and reintroduces it upstream of the heat raises the pressure of the water to about 4000 p.s.i. with ing surface. This pump is controlled to obtain a constant the water then ?owing to the steam generator through pressure drop across the heating surface. feedwater valve 8. US. Patent 3,135,252 to W. W. Schroedter also de This high pressure water is passed through the econo scribes a once-through boiler with a recirculation system mizer 10 to the mixing vessel 12 and continues through superimposed on the through-?ow circuit. The recirculat the circulating pump 14 and the furnace wall circuits 16. ing pump used to produce or induce recirculation is a These furnace wall circuits are in the form of a plurality free-?oating centrifugal pump. The free-?oating pump 40 of parallel tubes which line the walls of a radiant furnace. on the system produces a generally uniform velocity of Fuel burner 18 ?res coal or oil into the furnace for com the ?uid entering the waterwall system over the operating bustion with the heat being radiantly transmitted to the range of the pump. This patent illustrates the pump as furnace wall circuits 16. located not only in the recirculating line but alternately in The through-?ow of water continues through the the through-?ow line in such a location that ?ow is induced furnace wall outlet line 20 and the superheater 22 to the from a location downstream of the heat absorbing loca main steam line 24. Combustion gases formed by the tion to a location upstream of the recirculating pump. In combustion form burner 18 pass over the surface of super such a location the hot recirculated ?uid is mixed with heater 22 heating the steam passing through that surface the incoming feedwater so that the temperature at the re as well as over the surface of economizer 10 thereby circulating pump is lower than the temperature of the 50 heating the water passing through that surface. ?uid naturally being recirculated. Turbine control valve 26 controls the steam ?ow through The temperature of the ?uid entering the Waterwall cir steam line 24 to turbine 28. Thisturbine is directly con~ cuits varies substantially over the load range even though nected to electric generator 30 for the generation of power. the velocity of the ?uid is approximately constant. This Steam is exhausted from the turbine 28 and condensed in difference in temperature results in a considerable change the condenser 32 so that it returns to the hot well 2. in density so that the mass ?ow of the water entering the The water is then again recycled as in the conventional waterwall circuits is considerably reduced at low loads power plant cycle. where high temperatures exist at the pump. Since the Recirculating line 34 is connected to withdraw a por resistance of the internal ?lm inside the boiler tubes to tion of the through-?ow from the furnace wall outlet line transfer heat is a function basically of the mass ?ow rate 20 and return this portion to the mixing vessel 12 which rather than velocity, a relatively poor conductance re is located upstream of the furnace wall circuit 16. The sults when high temperatures exist at the waterwall inlet. circulating pump 14 adds pressure energy to the Water Even though relatively low average absorption rates exist passing therethrough, and in conjunction with the re atthis time, local rates may be relatively high with re circulating line 34 operates to maintain a flow in the sultant high metal temperatures. It is desirable to increase 65 furnace wall circuits higher than the normal through the mass ?ow rate at this time to increase the factor of ?ovv as explained in US. Patent 3,135,252 to W. W.

circulating pump is located in the recirculating line so

safety in the design of the boiler tubing.

It is an object of my invention to provide a method and

Schroedter. This recirculating line includes the stop check

valve 36 which operates to prevent reverse ?ow in the

apparatus for operating a recirculating pump which is located intermediate the mixing vessel and the waterwall
heating surface in such a manner as to obtain the maxi

recirculating line.
The circulating pump 14 is of the conventional centri fugal type having an impeller which is rotated at 1800

3,401,674
3

4.

r.p.m. Since the pressure of the water at this'location is tions. . ' ' "' '. about 3900 p.s.i., it is difficult to properly seal a shaft In order to obtain this characteristiathe pump speed passing to the pump from an external motor. Accordingly, must be changed. Throttling of the ?ow through the pump a motor of the canned type is used to drive this pump or throttling of the recirculating ?ow will'not su?ice, since with the rotor of the motor being contained within a thin this will not effectively change the power consumption metallic structure. This rotor is of the squirrel cage de of the motor driving the pump. ' sign With no electrical connections to the rotor. While the pump speed may be controlled manually,v With this motor driving the pump at constant speed, FIG. 1 illustrates an .automatic control for maintaining the velocity characteristic is as indicated by curve 38 in FIG. 2 and more fully described in US. Patent 3,135,252 10 the maximum mass ?ow consistent with power consump-' tion requirements. The circulating pump 14 is driven by to W. W. Schroedter. In this curve the ordinate indicates directly connected canned motor 60. The constant speed velocity in feet per second of the ?uid entering the tubes alternating current motor 62 is connected to the line and of the furnace wall section 16. The abscissa generally operates to rotate alternating current generator 64 which indicates the quantity of through-?ow through the steam is connected through the ?uid coupling 66. The output generator as a percentage of design full load ?ow. Since from the generator 64 passes to the motor 60 through these units are generally started up by initiating ?ow at Watt meter 68. By changing the frequency ofthecurrent' 10 percent While the steam generator is cold and then generated by generator 64, the speed of rotation of "the ?ring to warm up the unit before increasing flow, the 10 pump 14 is changed. Watt meter 68 senses the kilowatt percent condition is shown at two locations along the abscissa. The ?rst condition indicates 10 percent ?ow 20 consumption of the motor 60 and passes acontrol signal representing this power consumption through control line with cold water in the steam generator while the second 70. At set point 72 this signal is compared to a signal 10 percent point indicates the conditions with the furnace

is obtained compatible withpumpv motor power limita

wall circuit up to full temperature (in the order of 800 F. at the outlet). It can be seen that the velocity entering

representing the desired kilowatt consumption with the

the waterwalls is essentially constant throughout the

range in which the pump operates. Curve 40 indicates the velocity without recirculation. At 78 percent load the output of the pump is insuf?cient to induce recirculation and from this point on the through-?ow alone causes the 'velocity to increase. The solid line 44 in FIG. 3 indicates the mass ?ow characteristics at constant pump speed of 1800 r.p.m. throughout the same operating range. The ordinate in
this case is the mass ?ow of the ?uid entering the furnace

error signal passing through control line 74 to controller 76. This controller then operates on the ?uid coupling 66 changing the speed of the generator 64 and therefore

the speed of motor 60. This is automatically readjusted

until pump 14 is operating at such a speed that the kilo watt consumption remains at the desired value. This con trol circuit could be arranged in such a manner that the

kilowatt speed of the motor is changed in steps, allowing

some deviation from the desired kilowatt consumption rather than using the exact approach illustrated here.
FIG. 6 illustrates a power plant which is identical with that illustrated in FIG. 1 except for the method of con

wall tubes expressed in pounds per hour per square feet.

It can be seen that at the 10 percent through-?ow condi tion as the Water is heated up, while the velocity increases slightly, the mass ?ow rate decreases substantially. At increasing through-?ows a mass ?ow rate generally in creases again.

trolling the speed of the circulating pump 14. The density

of the ?uid ?owing through the pump is affected by tem
perature at a constant pressure. In most circumstances

nominal variations of pressure do not signi?cantly affect

the density. Therefore when operating in the usual pres

sure range, temperature alone may be used as an indica

FIG. 4 using the same abscissa indicates the kilowatt

input to the canned motor in curve 46 for the same

1800 r.p.m. impeller speed. Due to the natural characteris tic of centrifugal pumps, the kilowatt input decreases as the water density decreases and subsequently increases 45 temperature may be used as an indication of the kilowatt consumption of the motor. A variable speed motor 80 in a manner similar to the mass ?ow. which drives the circulating pump 14 is of the two-speed Curves 48 and 50 in FIG. 3 show the mass ?ow enter two-winding type. This motor will operate at either 1800 ing the furnace wall circuits for impeller speeds of 2250

tion of the density. The kilowatt consumption of the motor driving a circulating pump is directly proportional to the density of the ?uid being pumped. Therefore, this

r.p.m. or 2700 r.p.m. This motor is connected through and 2700 r.p.m. respectively. Similar curves are illustrated controller 82 to the line power supply. This controller is 50 in FIG. 4 where curve 52 shows the kilowatt input for operative to activate the motor 80 selectively on the 2250 r.p.m. and curve 54 the kilowatt input at 2700 r.p.m. 1800 or 2700 r.p.m. windings. While the curves are shown for only a few of the impeller

Temperature transmitter 84 senses the temperature speeds, obviously there are an in?nite number of speeds of the ?uid passing through the conduit 13 and the circu which could be used and a corresponding in?nite number lating pump 14 and sends a signal indicative of this tem of curves. An inspection of FIGS. 3 and 4 will show that 55 perature through control line 86 to the controller 82. As when the mass ?ow is low, the kilowatt input for a given indicated before, this temperature signal is a function impeller speed is also low. Therefore in order to improve of the density of the ?uid being pumped. When the tem the mass ?ow conditions, the impeller speed is increased perature of this ?uid drops below 540 F., the controller where the mass ?ow increases. It, however, is desirable 82 operates to activate the 1800 r.p.m. windings of pump to limit the kilowatt input to the motor. This kilowatt 60 80. When the temperature rises to about 550 F., the con input affects not only the cooling requirements of the troller operates to increase the speed of the motor 80 to motor but also the power plant switch gear and trans 2700 r.p.m. With various multiple winding motors, this. former capacity which must be installed to supply the operation may be used to select any desired steps in energy requirements for the pump. In FIG. 4 line 56 65 motor speed. Where pressure varies to such. an extent represents a constant kilowatt input to the motor driving and in such a range that it signi?cantly affects the density the circulating pump. By interpolating between curves of the ?uid being pumped, the pressure transmitter must also be included so that the pressure and temperature 44, 48 and 50 the appropriate r.p.m. can be obtained to signals are both used to determine a signal representative maintain this constant kilowatt input. This motor speed is shown by curve 57 in FIG. 5. Its effect on the mass 70 of the density of the ?uidpassing through the motor. . While I have illustrated and described a preferred ;em~ ?ow is illustrated by line 58 shown on FIG. 3. It can bodiment of my invention is Y to be understood that be seen that by operating the circulating pump in such a such is merely illustrative and not restrictiVeJand that manner the particularly low mass ?ow operating condi variations and modifications may be made therein with tion is avoided with no increase in the power requirements out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. of the pump. At all Conditions the maximum mass flow

3,401,674

I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes as fall

within the purview of my invention. What I claim is: 1. A supercritical pressure steam generator comprising:
a heat exchange section; means for establishing a through ?ow of water through said heat exchange section; a mix ing zone upstream of said heat exchange section and conduit means for conveying ?uid from said mixing zone to said heat exchange section; means for withdrawing a portion of the through?ow from a location downstream of said heat exchange section and reintroducing said por tion in said mixing zone; a centrifugal pump having an impeller located in said conduit means; driving means

relation, and mixing the returned portion with the through-?ow; increasing the pressure of said mixed flow portion by mechanically adding pressure energy to the
mixed ?ow portion of water ?ow; determining a measure of the density of said mixed ?ow portion of the water flow before heating the water flow; and regulating the increase in pressure in response to said measure of density. 7. A method as in claim 6 wherein the measure of

density of the mixed ?ow portion is determined by deter mining the energy required to mechanically add pressure
energy to the mixed ?ow portion of Water ?ow. 8. A method as in claim 7 wherein the increase in pressure is regulated in response to the energy required,
in such a manner as to maintain at a constant value of

for rotating the impeller of said centrifugal pump; sensing

energy required to mechanically add pressure energy.

means for sensing a measure of the density of the ?uid 9. An apparatus as in claim 6 wherein the measure of as it passes through said conduit means and centrifugal density of the mixed ?ow portion is determined by meas pump; means for varying the speed of rotation of said uring the temperature of the mixed ?ow portion. 10. A supercritical pressure steam generator compris impeller in response to said sensing means. 2. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said sensing 20 ing: a heat exchange section; means for establishing a

means comprises means for sensing the power input to:

said driving means. 3. An apparatus as in claim 1 having a furnace, and means for burning fuel within said furnace; said heat

through-?ow of Water through said heat exchange section;

a mixing zone upstream of said heat exchange section and conduit means for conveying ?uid from said mixing zone

exchange section comprising tubes lining the Walls of

said furnace. ~

4. An apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said driving means comprises a canned squirrel cage motor; the means

for varying the speed of rotation of said pump comprising

a constant speed electric motor, an alternating current

electric generator, a ?uid coupling connecting said alter nating current motor and said alternating current genera tor, and electrical connections for conveying the output of
means comprises means for sensing the temperature of the ?uid passing through said conduit means. 6. A method of operating a supercritical pressure re

to said heat exchange section; recirculating pipe means for withdrawing a portion of the through-?ow from a location downstream of said heat exchange section and reintroducing said portion in said mixing zone; said re circulating pipe means and said conduit means comprising a ?rst portion of a recirculating loop; a centrifugal pump having an impeller located in said ?rst portion; driving means for rotating the impeller of said centrifugal pump;
sensing means for sensing a measure of the density of the ?uid in the condition in which it passes through said

said alternating current generator to said canned motor. centrifugal pump; means for varying the speed of rotation 5. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said sensing 35 of said impeller in response to said sensing means.

circulating type steam generator comprising: establishing

a through-?ow of Water; heating said through-?ow to a

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS

2,255,612 2,324,513
3,135,252 3,194,219

temperature level by passing the water in heat exchange

relationship with a heat source; forming a mixed ?ow

9/1941 7/1953
6/1964 7/1965

portion of water ?ow by returning a portion of the

through-?ow at said temperature level to a location in

Dickey _______ .._ 122451 XR Junkins _______ __ 12l2~451 XR Schroedter _______ __ 122406 Henzalek ________ __ 122--406

said through-?ow path upstream of said heat exchange 45 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner.