Turbines steam

A more complex utility is combined heat and power (or cogeneration). Here, the heat rejected hy a heat engine such as a steam turbine, gas turbine, or diesel engine is used as the hot utility. 

Steam turbine integration. Figure 6.32 shows a steam turbine expansion on an enthalpy-entropy plot. In an ideal turbine, steam... 

Figure 6.33 shows a steam turbine integrated with the process above the pinch. Heat Qhp is taken into the process from high-pressure steam. The balance of the hot utility demand Qlp is taken... 

Figure 6.33 Integration of a steam turbine with the process.

The process requires (Qup + Qlp) to satisfy its enthalpy imbalance above the pinch. If there were no losses from the boiler, then fuel W would be converted to shaftwork W at 100 percent efficiency. However, the boiler losses Qloss reduce this to below 100 percent conversion. In practice, in addition to the boiler losses, there also can be significant losses from the steam distribution system. Figure 6.336 shows how the grand composite curve can be used to size steam turbine cycles. ... 

As with the steam turbine, if there was no stack loss to the atmosphere (i.e., if Qloss was zero), then W heat would he turned into W shaftwork. The stack losses in Fig. 6.34 reduce the efficiency of conversion of heat to work. The overall efficiency of conversion of heat to power depends on the turbine exhaust profile, the pinch temperature, and the shape of the process grand composite. 

In this accident, the steam was isolated from the reactor containing the unfinished batch and the agitator was switched ofiF. The steam used to heat the reactor was the exhaust from a steam turbine at 190 C but which rose to about 300°C when the plant was shutdown. The reactor walls below the liquid level fell to the same temperature as the liquid, around 160°C. The reactor walls above the liquid level remained hotter because of the high-temperature steam at shutdown (but now isolated). Heat then passed by conduction and radiation from the walls to the top layer of the stagnant liquid, which became hot enough for a runaway reaction to start (see Fig. 9.3). Once started in the upper layer, the reaction then propagated throughout the reactor. If the steam had been cooler, say, 180 C, the runaway could not have occurred. ... 

Steam costs vary with the price of fuel. If steam is only generated at low pressure and not used for power generation in steam turbines, then the cost can be estimated from local fuel costs assuming a boiler efficiency of around 75 percent (but can be significantly higher) and distribution losses of perhaps another 10 percent, giving an overall efficiency of around 65 percent. 

Exampie A.3.1 The pressures for three steam mains have been set to the conditions given in Table A.l. Medium- and low-pressure steam are generated by expanding high-pressure steam through a steam turbine with an isentropic efficiency of 80 percent. The cost of fuel is 4.00 GJ and the cost of electricity is 0.07 h. Boiler feedwater is available at 100°C with a heat capacity... 

Cost of 10-barg steam. Here, 41-barg steam is now expanded to 10 barg in a steam turbine. Details of steam turbine calculations were gpven in Sec. 6.7. From steam tables, inlet conditions at 41 barg and 400 C are... 

Speidel M O, Denk J and Scarlin B 1991 Stress Corrosion Craoking and Corrosion Fatigue of Steam-Turbine Rotor and Blade Materials (Luxembourg Commission of the European Communities)... 

Space needs to be provided for the auxiliaries, including the lube oil and seal systems, lube oil cooler, intercoolers, and pulsation dampeners. A control panel or console is usually provided as part of the local console. This panel contains instmments that provide the necessary information for start-up and shutdown, and should also include warning and trouble lights. Access must be provided for motor repair and ultimate replacement needs to be considered. If a steam turbine is used, a surface condenser is probably required with a vacuum system to increase the efficiency. AH these additional systems need to be considered in the layout and spacing. In addition, room for pulsation dampeners required between stages has to be included. Aftercoolers may also be required with knockout dmms. Reference 8 describes the requirements of compressor layouts and provides many useful piping hints. 

The widespread availabiHty of electrical energy completely transformed modem society and enabled a host of breakthroughs in manufacturing, medical science, communications, constmction, education, and transportation. Centralized fossil fuel-powered, steam-turbine-based power plants remain the dominant means of electricity production. However, hydropower faciHties such as the 1900-MW Hoover Dam Power Project located on the Arizona—Nevada border, commissioned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation during the 1930s, have also made significant contributions. 

In most utibty boilers, steam pressure regulation is achieved by the throttling of turbine control values where steam generated by the boiler is admitted into the steam turbine. Some modem steam generators have been designed to operate at pressures above the critical point where the phase change between Hquid and vapor does not occur. 

Fossil Fuel-Fired Plants. In modem, fossil fuel-fired power plants, the Rankine cycle typically operates as a closed loop. In describing the steam—water cycle of a modem Rankine cycle plant, it is easiest to start with the condensate system (see Fig. 1). Condensate is the water that remains after the steam employed by the plant s steam turbines exhausts into the plant s condenser, where it is collected for reuse in the cycle. Many modem power plants employ a series of heat exchangers to boost efficiency. As a first step, the condensate is heated in a series of heat exchangers, usually sheU-and-tube heat exchangers, by steam extracted from strategic locations on the plant s steam turbines (see HeaT-EXCHANGETECHNOLOGy). 

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