Air Preheaters and Heat Exchangers was Hot Topic May 5, 2011
According to experts in the field, the air heater on a fossil fuel-fired power plant is responsible for at least 10 percent of the overall thermal efficiency of the plant. A poorly operating air heater, however, will result not only in a direct reduction in air heater thermal efficiency but will also have detrimental downstream effects that can result in an additional loss in efficiency of 5 to 10 percent. The speakers at the Hot Topic Hour on May 5 discussed heat losses and efficiency.
John Guffre P.E., Research Scientist at Paragon Air Heater Technologies, Inc, provided insights on the direct thermal losses in the air heater and fan systems resulting from air heater leakage. The causes of this leakage include the nature of the process and the erosion from flyash. The injection of ammonia combined with the SO3 present in the flue gas result in a buildup of ammonium bisulphate. One solution is the use of catalytic baskets in the air heater. Jerry Radway asked whether the injection of a reagent in the boiler, which would eliminate the SO3, would be a solution. John said that it would because the bisulfate buildup would be avoided. Some heater-related combustion problems were outlined, as well as the air heater’s effect on downstream air pollution control equipment.
Philip Vincent, P.E., Senior Application Engineer at Thermal Engineering International (TEI), discussed heat exchanger efficiency. A thermal power plant converts the thermal energy of combustion to mechanical energy. A survey of feedwater heaters shows that just a few degrees variation in temperature has a big effect on boiler efficiency.
The Bios, Abstracts and Photos are linked below.
BIOS, PHOTOS and ABSTRACTS - May 5, 2011.htm
The individual presentations are as follows:
Air Preheaters and Heat Exchangers was Hot Topic May 5, 2011
According to experts in the field, the air heater on a fossil fuel-fired power plant is responsible for at least 10 percent of the overall thermal efficiency of the plant. A poorly operating air heater, however, will result not only in a direct reduction in air heater thermal efficiency but will also have detrimental downstream effects that can result in an additional loss in efficiency of 5 to 10 percent. The speakers at the Hot Topic Hour on May 5 discussed heat losses and efficiency.
John Guffre P.E., Research Scientist at Paragon Air Heater Technologies, Inc, provided insights on the direct thermal losses in the air heater and fan systems resulting from air heater leakage. The causes of this leakage include the nature of the process and the erosion from flyash. The injection of ammonia combined with the SO3 present in the flue gas result in a buildup of ammonium bisulphate. One solution is the use of catalytic baskets in the air heater. Jerry Radway asked whether the injection of a reagent in the boiler, which would eliminate the SO3, would be a solution. John said that it would because the bisulfate buildup would be avoided. Some heater-related combustion problems were outlined, as well as the air heater’s effect on downstream air pollution control equipment.
Philip Vincent, P.E., Senior Application Engineer at Thermal Engineering International (TEI), discussed heat exchanger efficiency. A thermal power plant converts the thermal energy of combustion to mechanical energy. A survey of feedwater heaters shows that just a few degrees variation in temperature has a big effect on boiler efficiency.
The entire May 5 recording can be heard at: Air Preheaters & Heat Exchangers
60 minutes Password: hth988
The Bios, Abstracts and Photos are linked below.
BIOS, PHOTOS and ABSTRACTS - May 5, 2011.htm