SUPER CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGY


 Presented
By:
 Amit Joshi
 UPES
Dehradun,India
Introduction
"Supercritical" is a thermodynamic expression
describing the state of a substance where
there is no clear distinction between the
liquid and the gaseous phase.
Supercritical Power plants operate at higher
temperatures & higher pressure resulting in
higher efficiencies i.e., up to 46 percent for
supercritical plants and lower emissions than
traditional (subcritical) coal-fired plants.
WHAT IS A SUPERCRITICAL
BOILER?
 Supercritical steam generators (also known as Benson
boilers) are frequently used for the production of electric
power.
 In contrast to a "subcritical boiler", a supercritical steam
generator operates at such a high pressure (over 3,200
psi/22.06 MPa 3,200 psi/220.6 bar that actual boiling
ceases to occur, and the boiler has no water - steam
separation.
 There is no generation of steam bubbles within the water,
because the pressure is above the "critical pressure" at
which steam bubbles can form.
 It passes below the critical point as it does work in the high
pressure turbine and enters the generator's condenser.
 This is more efficient, resulting in slightly less fuel use. The
term "boiler" should not be used for a supercritical pressure
steam generator, as no "boiling" actually occurs in this
device.
 WHAT IS SUPERCRITICAL

TECHNOLOGY?
 Above 221 bars, two phase mixtures of water and steam
cease to exist
 They are replaced by a single supercritical fluid.
 This eliminates the need for water/steam separation in drums
during operation
 Thus allowing a simpler separator to be employed during
start-up conditions.
 The transition to steam temperatures of 600°C and higher is
now a further major development step, which decisively
affects many aspects of the design of the power plant,
especially of the boiler
 Critical Point
 22.1MPa-373ºC




Special feature of supercritical
boilers
Capacity to operate under low load.
Suitability for continuous variable loads.
Suitability for cyclic operations.
Suitability for two shift operations.
Quicker start up and shut down capability.
Larger unit size.
Advantages of Supercritical
technology
Today supercritical units can achieve thermal
efficiency of more than 45 percent, compared
with a typical subcritical plants 30-38
percent.
Higher firing temperatures and pressures
translate into better efficiency, defined as
more electricity generated per BTU of coal
consumed. 
super critical technology will result in saving of
about 4% of fuel and correspondingly less
emission.
The Benson design offers a number of
advantages, including simplified start up and
 “LIMITATIONS”
vEconomy of scale.
v
vProblem with the metallurgical limit .
v
vAn increase in steam temperature (> 700 C ) is
possible but without NICKEL based materials it
is not possible to obtain more than 10K to 20K.
v
vDouble reheating is required to prevent Inlet
pressure turbine exhaust wetness
vExtremely high initial build cost.
vMore complicated to operate.
vMuch higher O&M costs.
vNot very flexible, generation changes are
slow and minimal, usually only for
"base-load" generation.
vEnvironmental considerations.

International Scenario of Supercritical Technology

SUB- SUPERCRITICAL ULTRA SUPERCRITICAL

CRITICAL 382-700/720
Parameters

285-630/650

285-600-620
R&D-
245-580/600 Advance
Super critical 245/540/540 USC

Induction
245/540/565

Under
Inducted
Already
Subcritical
170/540oC/540o

Mature
Technology

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Year
 CO2 Reduction Scenarios
1400

1200

1000
Super Critical
Emissions （ kg/MWh ）

USC
800 A-USC

600

400
CO2

200

0
30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Plant Net Efficiency
 Capacity addition based on
Supercritical technology
Ø11 number supercritical units totaling to
7,540 MW under construction during 11th Plan.
Ø
Ø20 number supercritical units totaling to
14,000 MW ordered so far for 12th Plan
Ø
Ø13 number UMPP, each of about 4,000 MW
capacity, based on supercritical technology
planned. Four UMPP already awarded
Ø
ØAbout 62 number supercritical units
totaling to 44,000 MW likely to be added
during 12th Plan.
Ø
Super Critical Technology in NTPC
oUPCOMING PLANTS
q North Karanpura, Jharkhand – 3x660 MW
q Darlipali, Orissa – 4x800 MW
o Lara, Chattisgarh – 5x800 MW
o Marakanam, Tamilnadu – 4x800 MW
o Tanda-II, Uttar Pradesh - 2x660 MW
o Meja, Uttar Pradesh - 2x660 MW
o Sholapur – 2x660 MW
o New Nabinagar-3x660 MW
o Many more projects including 800 MW ultra super critical
units under consideration
o