Vol 63, No 7 (2016)

This article presents the results of the research carried out at the All-Russia Thermal Engineering Institute (VTI) aimed at using saline coal, municipal solid waste and bark waste, sunflower husk, and nesting/ manure materials from poultry farms. The results of saline coal burning experience in Troitsk and Verkhny Tagil thermal power plants (TPP) show that when switching the boiler to this coal, it is necessary to take into account its operating reliability and environmental safety. Due to increased chlorine content in saline coal, the concentration of hydrogen chloride can make over 500 mg/m³. That this very fact causes the sharp increase of acidity in sludge and the resulting damage of hydraulic ash removal system equipment at these power stations has been proven. High concentration of HCl can trigger damage of the steam superheater due to high-temperature corrosion and result in a danger of low-temperature corrosion of air heating surfaces. Besides, increased HCl emissions worsen the environmental characteristics of the boiler operation on the whole. The data on waste-to-energy research for municipal solid waste (MSW) has been generalized. Based on the results of mastering various technologies of MSW thermal processing at special plants nos. 2 and 4 in Moscow, as well as laboratory, bench, and industrial studies, the principal technical solutions to be implemented in the modern domestic thermal power plant with the installed capacity of 24 MW and MSW as the primary fuel type has been developed. The experience of the VTI in burning various kinds of organic waste—bark waste, sunflower husk, and nesting/manure materials from poultry farms—has been analyzed.

The technology of manufacture of live steam lines and hot reheat lines at FINOW Rohrsysteme GmbH are discussed. These pipelines are designed for high-performance CCGT units and are made from high-chromium martensitic steel X10CrMoVNb9-1 (P91). The principles of certification and evaluation of conformance of thermal and mechanical equipment made from new construction materials with the TRCU 032-2013 technical regulation of the Customs Union are detailed. The requirements outlined in Russian and international regulatory documents regarding the manufacture of pipes and semifinished products for pipeline systems are compared. The characteristic features of high-chromium martensitic steel, which define the requirements for its heat treatment and welding, are outlined. The methodology and the results of a comprehensive analysis of metal of pipes, fittings, and weld joints of steam lines are presented. It is demonstrated that the short-term mechanical properties of metal (P91 steel) of pipes, bends, and weld joints meet the requirements of European standards and Russian technical specifications. The experimental data on long-term strength of metal of pipes from a live steam line virtually match the corresponding reference curve from the European standard, while certain experimental points for metal of bends of this steam line and metal of pipes and bends from a hot reheat line lie below the reference curve, but they definitely stay within the qualifying (20%) interval of the scatter band. The presence of a weakened layer in the heat-affected zone of weld joints of steel P91 is established. It is shown that the properties of this zone govern the short-term and long-term strength of weld joints in general. The results of synthesis and analysis of research data support the notion that the certification testing of steam lines and other equipment made from chromium steels should necessarily involve the determination of long-term strength parameters.

Gas turbine plants (GTP) for a long time have been developed by means of increasing the initial gas temperature and improvement of the turbo-machines aerodynamics and the efficiency of the critical components air cooling within the framework of a simple thermodynamic cycle. The application of watercooling systems that were used in experimental turbines and studied approximately 50 years ago revealed the fundamental difficulties that prevented the practical implementation of such systems in the industrial GTPs. The steam cooling researches have developed more substantially. The 300 MW power GTPs with a closedloop steam cooling, connected in parallel with the intermediate steam heating line in the steam cycle of the combined cycle plant (CCP) have been built, tested, and put into operation. The designs and cycle arrangements of such GTPs and entire combined cycle steam plants have become substantially more complicated without significant economic benefits. As a result, the steam cooling of gas turbines has not become widespread. The cycles—complicated by the intermediate air cooling under compression and reheat of the combustion products under expansion and their heat recovery to raise the combustion chamber entry temperature of the air—were used, in particular, in the domestic power GTPs with a moderate (700–800°C) initial gas turbine entry temperature. At the temperatures being reached to date (1300–1450°C), only one company, Alstom, applies in their 240–300 MW GTPs the recycled fuel cycle under expansion of gases in the turbine. Although these GTPs are reliable, there are no significant advantages in terms of their economy. To make a forecast of the further improvement of power GTPs, a brief review and assessment of the water cooling and steam cooling of hot components and complication of the GTP cycle by the recycling of fuel under expansion of gases in the turbine has been made. It is quite likely in the long term to reach the efficiency for the traditional GTPs of approximately 43% and 63% for PGUs at the initial gas temperature of 1600°C and less likely to increase the efficiency of these plants up to 45% and 65% by increasing the gas temperature up to 1700°C or by application of the steam cooling in the recycled fuel cycle.

Realization of the ecologically safe technologies for fuel combustion in the steam boiler furnaces and the effective ways for treatment of flue gases at modern thermal power plants have been analyzed. The administrative and legal measures to stimulate introduction of the technologies for air protection at TPPs have been considered. It has been shown that both the primary intrafurnace measures for nitrogen oxide suppression and the secondary flue gas treatment methods are needed to meet the modern ecological standards. Examples of the environmentally safe methods for flame combustion of gas-oil and solid fuels in the boiler furnaces have been provided. The effective methods and units to treat flue gases from nitrogen and sulfur oxides and flue ash have been considered. It has been demonstrated that realization of the measures for air protection should be accompanied by introduction of the systems for continuous instrumentation control of the composition of combustion products in the gas path of boiler units and for monitoring of atmospheric emissions.

Efficient radiation protection of the public and personnel requires detecting an accident-initiating event quickly. Specifically, if a heat-exchange tube in a steam generator is ruptured, the ¹⁶N radioactive nitrogen isotope, which contributes to a sharp increase in the steam activity before the turbine, may serve as the signaling component. This isotope is produced in the core coolant and is transported along the circulation circuit. The aim of the present study was to model the transport of ¹⁶N in the primary and the secondary circuits of a VVER-1000 reactor facility (RF) under nominal operation conditions. KORSAR/GP and RELAP5/Mod.3.2 codes were used to perform the calculations. Computational models incorporating the major components of the primary and the secondary circuits of an NPP-2006 RF were constructed. These computational models were subjected to cross-verification, and the calculation results were compared to the experimental data on the distribution of the void fraction over the steam generator height. The models were proven to be valid. It was found that the time of nitrogen transport from the core to the heat-exchange tube leak was no longer than 1 s under RF operation at a power level of 100% N_nom with all primary circuit pumps activated. The time of nitrogen transport from the leak to the γ-radiation detection unit under the same operating conditions was no longer than 9 s, and the nitrogen concentration in steam was no less than 1.4% (by mass) of its concentration at the reactor outlet. These values were obtained using conservative approaches to estimating the leak flow and the transport time, but the radioactive decay of nitrogen was not taken into account. Further research concerned with the calculation of thermohydraulic processes should be focused on modeling the transport of nitrogen under RF operation with some primary circuit pumps deactivated.

The research is aimed at development and implementation of methods and devices to control critical sections of the oil system of the power equipment that operates in the real time mode. The task was to develop a method for rapid detection of volatile impurities in turbine oils. The approach to the study is based on quantitative assessment of the short-term thermal stability of the substance that is formally associated with the content of the volatile impurity. The approach was selected on the basis of the results of search experiments taking into consideration the formulation of requirements for the method and the device, viz., (1) the method should reliably determine the moisture content in the range of 10–150 g of the impurity per ton of oil and (2) the device is to be applicable “in situ.” For this purpose, a variant of the method of the controlled pulse heating of a wire probe, a resistance thermometer, has been developed. The advantages of the method are its speed, sensitivity to small contents of volatile impurities regardless of the nature of the impurity, and smallness of methodologically contributed perturbation. The heating conditions of the probe most sensitive to the appearance of moisture— including its trace amounts—in the system, has been defined. The duration of the measurement is on the order of milliseconds; the heat flux density through the surface of the probe reaches 1 MW/m². The essence of the method consists in measuring, in the characteristic time interval, the temperature of the thermal instability onset associated with the content of the volatile impurity. The approach proposed by the authors is aimed at increasing the lifetime of the oil and preventing unpredictable failures of the operating equipment.