Design Of Dual Pressure Heat Recovery Steam Generator

For Combined Power Plants

Abid-Al-Rahman.H.AL-Hobo

Ass.prof : Mechanical Engineering Department

Mosul University

Mosul ,Iraq

Maher.Saab.Salamah

M.Sc. Student : Mechanical Engineering Department

Mosul University , Mosul , Iraq

E-mail: mss_eng2005@yahoo.co

ABSTRACT

Heat recovery steam generator is considered as one of the most important components of combined cycle

power plants. Any change in its design would directly affect the performance of the steam cycle and therefore

the performance of combined cycle power plants. In current research focuses has been made to a suitable

engineering design of heat recovery steam generator to be used in simple gas turbine unit of a power output of

150MW such as those in Beijie gas turbine unit in north of Iraq .The study of heat transfer coefficient effect

between the exhaust gases leaving the turbine and the working fluid in steam generated was adopted for

engineering design . Results show, that the maximum heat transfer is occurred in the evaporator section for

high pressure level and it occurred in the economizer section for low pressure level. However ,the optimum

design pressure for high pressure level of steam generator is 60 bar ,while low pressure level is found to be

6.0bar . Moreover ,table (2) and (3) give the design results for heat recovery steam generator for high and low

pressure levels .

Keywords: combined cycle power plant; Design of HRSG; heat transfer coefficients

NOMENCLATURE

Transverse space between tow pipes(m) Exposed bare pipe outside surface area per

unit length (m2/m)

Ab

Longitudinal space between tow pipes(m) pipe outside surface area among fins per unit

length (m2/m)

Afo

Space between tow fins Fins surface area per unit length of

pipe(m2/m)

Af

Temperature (k) T Total cross section area of the duct enclosing

bundle(m2)

An

Velocity (m/s) V Total outside surface area of heat exchanger

(m2)

AT

(m2.k/kw )Overall heat transfer coefficient U Total outside surface area of pipe(m2) At

Vapor fraction x HRSG width (m) b

Number of fins per meter length(1/m) Z Specific heat capacity (KJ/kg.k) cp

Greek symbols Header fluid diameter (m) D f

Friction pressure drop(pa) Hydraulic gas diameter (m) Dg

hydrostatic pressure drop (pa)

Fin diameter (m) d2

Momentum pressure drop (pa) Outer pipe diameter (m) do

Fin efficiency inner pipe diameter (m) di

I. Introduction

The electrical energy demand worldwide in the

developed countries and under developed countries is

growing significantly as a result of rapid industrial

expansion and high population growth. Thus,

reduction of energy costs and pollutant emissions ,all

these demands encouraged researchers and engineers

to look for different efficient and environmentally

acceptable technologies for power generation[1]

.Among these technologies are Combined Cycle

Power Plants (CCPPs) which consist of gas cycle or

Brayton cycle (topping cycle) and steam cycle or

Rankine cycle (bottoming cycle) ,two cycles linked

by heat recovery steam generator (see fig 1). Exhaust

heat from the gas turbine is recovered in a Heat

Recovery Steam Generator(HRSG) to produce steam

at suitable pressure and temperature. The produced

steam is then used to produce further electricity in

steam turbines. HRSGs are classified into single,

dual, and triple pressure types depending on the

number of drums in the boiler. Dual pressure HRSGs

have been widely used because they showed higher

efficiency than single pressure systems and lower

investment cost than triple pressure HRSGs[3,4].The

power generation and thermal efficiency of

Combined Cycle Power Plants (CCPPs) depend

strongly on the Heat Recovery Steam Generator

design which links the gas cycle with the steam cycle.

Therefore, the HRSG must be carefully designed in

order to maximize the heat exchanged and to improve

the overall performance of the plant [6].The main

challenge in designing of the HRSG is proper

utilization of a gas turbine exhaust heat in the steam

cycle with minimum heat exchange area. Many

authors have directed their researches to improve the

performance of CCPP through the suitable design of

operative parameters for HRSG .P.K.Nag and

S.De[5]has done design and operation of a heat

recovery steam generator generating saturated steam

for a combined gas and steam power cycle with

minimum irreversibility .They concluded that,

operating the HRSG at full load reduces entropy

generation, and also increases the number of transfer

units of evaporator and economizer beyond certain

cut-off values will have marginal benefit .C.Casarosa

and Franco [7] investigated the thermodynamic

analysis to design the operating parameters for the

various configurations of HRSG systems to minimize

Exergy losses, taking into account only the

irreversibility due to the temperature difference

Effectiveness 𝜀 Economizer Eco

(kg/m.s) Viscosity μ Evaporator Ev

(kg/m3) density Thickness of fin (mm) e

(kg/m3 )at mean temperature density Friction parameter

(Kg/m3.s) Evaporation rate mass fluid velocity (kg/ m2.s) G

Tow phase Multiplier High pressure HP

(N/m2) Shear stress 𝜏

(m2.k/kw)heat transfer coefficient h

(N/m) surface tension (KJ/Kg) Enthalpy h

Subscripts

(kw/m.k) Thermal conductivity k

design des Low Pressure LP

fluid Pipe length (m) L

g gas Fin height (m)

inlet i Mass flow rate(kg/s)

Liquid phase Number of pipes in each row N

outlet o Number of rows in direction of flow nr

tow phase flow tp heat rate (kw) Q

Vapor phase v Reynolds number, dimensionless Re

Super heater SH

Fig 1. shows the sketch of combined cycle power plant (ccpp) with a dual pressure heat recovery steam generator

between the hot and cold streams (pressure drop not

accounting). All the solutions lead to the zero pinch

point and infinite heat transfer surface. B.V.Reddy et

al. [8] analyzed a single pressure HRSG to observe

the effects of various non-dimensional operating

parameters on the entropy generation number. They

showed that, the temperature difference between hot

gases and water has dominating effect on the entropy

generation rate. Franco and Giannini [9] show a

method based on hierarchical strategy for design of

the HRSG considering the maximization of the

compactness of the heat transfer sections and

minimization of the pressure losses. Valdes et al. [10]

proposed a methodology to identify the most relevant

design parameters that impact on the thermal

efficiency and the economic results of CCPP focusing

on the HRSG design. They proposed two different

thermoeconomic models aimed to determine whether

an increase in the investment is worthy from the

economic viewpoint .Zhixin Sun et al. [11] designed

conditions of A single pressure waste heat recovery

system when the temperature or flow rate of exhaust

gas fluctuates ,the results show that systems designed

at the upper boundary of fluctuation range of exhaust

gas could generate more power. Manassaldi et al. [6]

proposed a methodology for the HRSG design. Their

methodology applies a mixed nonlinear program

model to obtain the design according to three criteria:

net power maximization, the ratio between net power

and material weight maximization, and net heat

transfer maximization. From literature review, the

authors take some parameters in account and neglect

other else . The present study, aims to find the

suitable engineering design for dual pressure heat

recovery steam generator to reduce the Exergy losses

where the design included the dimensions of finned

tubes in each heat exchanger with minimum heat

exchange area and pressure drop.

II. HRSG description

The dual pressure heat recovery steam generator is

a series of heat exchangers, it consists of three heat

exchangers(economizer, evaporator ,Superheater) for

every pressure level (see fig 2). Economizers are used

to heat water close to saturation, evaporators to

produce saturated steam and superheaters to produce

superheated steam. Every heat exchanger is a bundle

tubes placed in-line or staggered arrangement

according to the manufacture. The flow of working

fluid(water or steam) in the pipes is horizontal flow

and the flow of exhaust is vertical flow that's mean,

each heat exchanger in the HRSG could be

considered a cross flow heat exchanger. The type of

circulation fluid in the evaporator is a forced

circulation by circulated pump for each pressure level

(fig2). Steam drums are used in HRSG to separate the

water from outlet steam from evaporator .The exhaust

gases of the gas turbine consider are a wake heat

transfer coefficients comparison with heat transfer

coefficients of working fluid in evaporator and

economizer therefore, finned tubes are used in HRSG.

Fins can be sold or serrated .The most important

parameters of HRSGs are pinch point, approach point

and gas side pressure drop through the heat recovery

system, which affect the effectiveness of heat

exchange. Pinch point is the difference between the

gas temperature leaving the evaporator section of the

Fig 2 .The dual pressure heat recovery steam generator with temperature distribution on (Temperature - Enthalpy) diagram.

system and the saturation temperature corresponding

to the steam pressure in that section. Approach point

is the difference between the saturation temperature

of fluid and inlet temperature of fluid in evaporator.

Temperature-Enthalpy diagram showing the

temperature profiles with two pressure levels is

illustrated in Fig. 2.

III. Design of the HRSG

The design of HRSG depend on thermodynamic

parameters of exhaust gases from gas turbine in

simple cycle mode such as temperature ,pressure and

mass flow rate of gases to evaluate the operations

parameters and geometric design of HRSG .In this

research, operation parameters of gas turbine type

V94.2 Siemens are depended and listed below in

table 1 (sample at 27°C ) .

table 1 Technical data and operation parameters of

gas turbine at 27°C

A. Assumed assumptions

some of the main assumptions to derive the

mathematical model are listed as follows:

The system is assumed to be steady state.

The exhaust gas mass flow rate, temperature and

chemical composition are obtained during the

simulation of simple gas cycle at different

atmospheric conditions.

Unfired HRSG is considered.

No cooling between heat exchangers is

considered

Stack temperature no less than 100°C while feed

water temperature 30°C to avoid dew point[13] -

The forced circulation is assumed for horizontal

tubes in evaporator.

The pressure drop in exhaust gas side and

working fluid side are taken into accounts.

In-line tubes with solid fins are considered .

Mass flow rate of working fluid in ECO,EV,SH

are taken equal in each pressure level.

B. Mathematical model

The simulation of the system can be achieved when

the actual processes are represented by mathematical

model .The modeling of HRSG depend on mass and

heat transfer ,fluid dynamics and energy balance. By

adopting the assumptions listed above the following

mathematical model was derived .the nomenclature

of the main geometric variables are illustrated in

fig.3.

Base load Unit Type :V94.2

Distillate

oil

Natural

gas Fuel

4200 42217 KJ/kg Low heat value LHV

….. ….. KJ/kg Fuel enthalpy

0 0 ppm Vanadium concentration

1 1 …. Fuel factor f

134.7 138.6 MW Nominal output at generator

33.0 33.3 % Nominal efficiency at

generator

480 481 Kg/s Exhaust gas flow

545 545 °C Exhaust gas temperature

9.7 9.9 Kg/s Fuel consumption

100 % Inlet guide vanes

Fig 3.Deatails of main geometric variables in HRSG.

C. Energy balance

The first step to simulate the design of HRSG is to

balance the mass and energy between the hot and cold

streams(gas side and water/steam side) on different

heat exchangers where the designed parameters (the

flow rate, temperature, pressure of superheated steam

and outlet temperature of exhaust gases ) can be

obtained .From fig 2,energy balance can be expressed

as equations below:

= + (1)

= = . ( - ) (2)

= = . ( - ) (3) = = . ( - ) (4)

= = . ( - ) (5) = = . ( - ) (6) = = . ( - ) (7)

C .Modeling heat transfer coefficients and heat

exchange area

The designing method in this study is based on heat

transfer coefficients to obtain the heat transfer area

for each heat exchanger in high and low pressure

level of HRSG. Overall heat transfer coefficient U

by the total heat exchange area is calculated as flows:

( 8)

Where j: refer to ECO, EV,SH in L.P&H.P and F is a

correct factor

F: calculated from charts in reference [18]

logarithmic mean temperature difference estimated

from following equation:

[( ) ( )

[ ( )

]

] (9)

Effectiveness of heat exchanger in high and low

pressure are obtained as flows:

𝜀

(10)

𝜀

(11)

The overall heat transfer coefficient for each pipe is

obtained from Eq. (12).

(

) (

(

)

)

(12)

The thickness of pipe is considered very small but it

has high thermal conductivity therefore, its resistance

can be neglected and eq.(12) become as flows:

(

)

(13)

Several methods have been implemented in the model

to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient on the gas

side. Eq. (14) is a general equation, which evaluates

the Nusselt number in cross flow over pipes.[15]

= .

(14)

Equation. 14 can be written in another form :

(

)

(

)

(15)

The velocity of exhaust gases is function of a cross

section area of HRSG and written as flows:

= . (16)

Sub eq. (16) in eq. (15) we get :

(17)

For a heat recovery, , and are 0.3, 0.625 and

1/3 respectively (Weir [15])

Effective heat transfer coefficients for gas side

calculated from following equation:

(18)

Where is the effectives of heat exchange surface

and calculated as flows[13] :

( ) (

) (19)

Fins efficiency is estimated from following equations:

[14]

(20)

(21)

(

) (

)

The ratio between surface of bare tube and finned

tube is estimated from following equation:

Ф

(

)

(23)

Total heat transfer area in each heat exchanger is

calculated as flow:

) (24)

To estimate the Heat transfer coefficient of working

fluid ,the following equation can be used [15]

μ

(

) (25)

Where =0. 3 =1/3 =0.625

The width of HRSG is calculated from following

equation:

( ) (26)

D. Gas side pressure drop

The calculation of pressure drop in gas considered is

very important to test the design and to avoid the

back pressure of gas in HRSG. In this case the

number of rows (nr) plays an important role in the

pressure drop evaluation. In this research ESCOA

correlation has been selected to estimate the pressure

drop of the gas inside HRSG as follows:

( ) ʲ

(

)

(28)

(

) ( 29)

β

(30)

For solid fins and in-line arrangement for tubes

C2,C4,C6 are calculated as follows[13]:

(31)

(

)

(

)

(32)

(

)

(33)

D. Working fluid side pressure drop

Water pressure drop in economizer is

calculated as flows:

ƒ

g

(34)

ƒ

(Laminar), ƒ

√ (turbulent)]

Vapor pressure drop in super heater calculated as

flow:

(

)

ƒ

(

) (35)

But the calculation of pressure drop in evaporator is

considered very complex because different regimes of

two phases flow during transition boiling[12]

.however, the governing equations of pressure drop in

evaporator represented by mass and momentum

equations . mass conservation of the vapor and liquid

phases for the steady flow in one-dimension can be

written as

(vapor) (36)

(liquid) (37)

momentum equation of liquid and vapor phase is

combined

𝜏

(38)

Total

pressure drop in tow phase flow can be written as:

(39)∆ +∆ + ∆ =

[(

)

(

)

]

is void fraction calculated from Rouhani

&Axelsson correlation as follows [16] : where

[( ) (

)

(

)]

The Lockard–Martinelli formulation is used to

estimate the friction term:[17]

(

)

(

)

(42)

(41)

neglected in horizontal pipes[12]. Phs∆

IV. Simulation of the design

Engineering Equation Solver program was used in the

simulation .EES program is one of modern program

in mechanical engineering applications, Moreover, it

has large data base of physical conditions for a lot of

fluids such as(enthalpy ,density, thermal

conductivity..etc.).The simulation used in two stages

the first included simulate the operation parameters of

HRSG, and the second stage used to simulate the

geometric variables where one pipe is selected in

each bundle relative to another neighbor pipe in the

same row. In each iteration (UA) product is

calculated and compassion with( UAT) in equation (8)

and the iterations continuous until (UA) desired is

achieved .Successive substitute iterative method was

used in simulation. After the design of each heat

exchanger for both levels, the gas side pressure drop

calculated to test the design with different conditions

of gases from turbine . working fluid pressure drop in

economizer and super heater estimated directly from

eq. (33) and(34) but in evaporator, the pipe is divided

into many equal increments and uses the finite

difference to solve the governing equations

numerically ,Gauss-Seidel iterative method was

implemented.

V. Results and discussion:

The results showed that the heat transfer coefficient

of gas decrease when pipe length increase with

different numbers of fins fig (4) ,this case can be

explained that increase length pipe leads to increase

the hydraulic diameter of gas reduced the velocity

which caused decrease Reynolds number leading to

decrease heat transfer coefficient. From fig (5),it can

be noticed that pressure drop increase while fin

diameter increase with different number of rows

because of increasing friction parameter of gas with

the surfaces. Heat exchange area increase directly

with increase the designed stem pressure fig (6)

when the inlet feed water temperature about 420k

,this means that the enthalpy of working fluid

decrease with increase designed steam pressure,

therefore the heat exchange area is required to

achieve steam at designed conditions. Fig (7) shows

the effectiveness of heat exchangers are reduced

when the designed pressure increase with constant the

area and different inlet feed water temperature

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08 0.085

diameter of Fin (m)

gas p

ressu

re d

rop

(p

a)

nr=10nr=20nr=30nr=40

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Length of pipe (m)

heat

tran

sfe

r co

eff

icie

nt(

KW

/m².

k)

Z=150Z=180Z=210

53600

53800

54000

54200

54400

54600

54800

55000

40 50 60 70 80 90 100

pressure design (bar)

Are

a (

m² )

TW=420(k)

0.7

0.72

0.74

0.76

0.78

0.8

0.82

0.84

0.86

40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Pressure design (bar)

eff

ecti

ven

ess H

P H

RS

G

TW=300(K)

TW=350(K)

TW=400(K)

TW=430(K)

370

372

374

376

378

380

382

384

386

40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Pressure design (bar)

Sta

ck t

em

pera

ture

(k)

Tw=420 (k)

SH HP

EV HP

ECO LP

SH LP

ECO LP

EV LP

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

1 2 3 4 5 6

He

at

Ex

ch

an

ge

(k

W)

because the heat exchange isn’t sufficient to recover

the required heat. In fig (8) the stack temperature

increase with increase designed steam pressure when

the area and mass flow rate of working fluid are

constant where the heat transfer from gas becomes

little. Fig (9) and fig (10) show the heat transfer rate

and heat exchange area respectively in each heat

exchanger. Table (2) and(3) show results of

geometric design in both levels. .

Fig.4. Effect length of pipe on heat transfer

coefficient of gas.

Fig.5. Effect diameter of fin on gas pressure drop.

Fig.6. Effect of pressure design an heat exchange

area .

Fig.7. Effect pressure design on the effectiveness of

heat exchangers.

Fig.8. Effect pressure design on the stack temperature Fig.9. Heat transfer rate in each heat exchanger for both

pressure levels

SH HP

EV HP

ECO HP

SH LP

EV LPECO LP

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

1 2 3 4 5 6

AR

EA

(m

2)

VI .Conclusion

The main conclusions of this research can be listed

below:

1)The heat transfer coefficients of gas are weak

therefore ,the HRSG designed at large heat exchange

to produce steam at high pressure and temperature.

2) Increase the heat exchange area about 2% lead to

increase heat transfer rate about (721kw) and in the

same time the pressure drop increase about (3pa)

3) According to exhaust gases conditions at different

ambient temperature, from the simulation the

optimum design pressure for high pressure level of

steam generator is 60 bar ,while low pressure level is

found to be 6.0bar.

4)The simple cycle gas turbine which is depended in

this research proved agreement to work in a

combined cycle used dual pressure heat recovery

steam generator.

SH EV ECO parameter

0.078 0.079 0.078 (m)

192 190 210 z(1/m)

20 21 20 N

0.053 0.0565 0.053 (m) 22.78 22.78 22.78 (m)

13 44 26 nr 498 1616 1078 UA(Kw/k)

0.0598 0.0624 0.069 hg(kw/ k) 5.12 5.12 5.12 b(m) 60 Drum H.P(bar)

791 Superheated

temperature(k)

63.82 63.82 63.82 Steam mass flow

(kg/s)

142 307.8 144.7 P gas(pa)

0.62 1.54 0.723 P in

water/steam(bar)

SH EV ECO parameter

0.0705 0.08 0.08 (m)

124 190 204 z(1/m)

19 20 20 N

0.0531 0.0565 0.0535 (m)

22.78 22.78 22.78 (m) 16 32 26 nr 25.66 1001 1099 UA(Kw/k)

0.0586 0.0611 0.0692 hg(kw/ .k) 5.12 5.12 5.12 b(m)

6 Drum high

pressure (bar)

466.8 Superheated

temperature(k)

13.79 13.79 13.79 Steam mass flow

(kg/s)

108.9 129.4 85.95 P gas(pa)

0.09 0.13 0.124 P in

water/steam

(bar)

Fig.10. Heat exchange area in each heat exchanger for

both pressure levels.

Table.3. Details geometric design of high pressure level

Table.2. Details geometric design of low pressure level

REFERENCES

[1]- A. Giuffrida, M.C. Romano "Thermodynamic

assessment of IGCC power plants with hot fuel gas

desulfurization "Applied Energy 87 (2010)3374-

3383.

[2]A.L. Polyzakis, C. Koroneos, G. Xydis, " Optimum

gas turbine cycle for combined cycle power plant"

Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 551–

563

[3]- P.R.Kumar,V.D.Raju"Offdesign performance

analysis triple pressure of heat recovery steam

generator" Int.J.of

research&technology,vol.1,iss5,2012

[4]-Franco, C. Casarosa "On some persepective for

increasing efficiency of combined cycle power

plants "Applied thermal engineering,22,2002,1501-

1518.

[5]- P. K. Nag and S. D e "design and operation of a

heat recovery steam generator with minimum

irreversibility" Applied Thermal Engineering Vol. 17,

pp. 385- [3911997

[6]- J. I. Manassaldi, , N J. Scenna, "Optimal

synthesis and design of Heat Recovery Steam

Generation (HRSG) via mathematical

programming" Energy 36(2011) 475-485

[7]CASAROSA and A. FRANCO "Thermodynamic

Optimization of the Recovery in Combined Power

Plants Int.J. Applied Thermodynamics" Vol.4,

(No.1), pp.43-52,March-2005.

[ 8]-B.V Reddy, G. Ramkiran, Ashok Kumar, P.K.

Nag "Second law analysis of a waste heat recovery

steam generator" International Journal of Heat and

Mass Transfer 45 (2002)1807-1814.

[9]- A. Franco_, N. Giannini "A general method for

the optimum design of heat recovery steam

generators" Energy 31 (2006),3342-3361.

[10]-M.Valdes,A.Rovira,M.Dolores "Influence of the

heat recovery steam generator design parameter on

the thermoeconomic performances of combined

cycle gas turbine power plants" Int.J.Energy Res.

Vol. 28, pp. 1243-1254, 2004

[11]- Zhixin sun, Lin Gao " Dynamic Optimal design

of power generation system utilizing industrial waste

heat considering parameter fluctuations of exhaust

gas" Eergy 44 (2012) 1035-1043.

[12]- M.Nolle, G.Heyen"Mathematical modeling and

design advanced once-through heat recovery steam

generator "computer and chemical

engineering,28,2004,651-660

[13] Ganapathy V." Industrial boilers and heat

steam generators. Design applications and

calculations". New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., ISBN

-82470814-; Copyright 2003.

[14]-Escoa engineering manual. "Fin Tube

Technology Inc.",www.fintubetech. com;2000

[15]- CD. Weir, "Estimating the performance of

gas turbine heat-recovery boilers off-design". Proc.

Inst. Mech. Eng. 202 (1988) 269-277.

[16]-Z. Rouhani, E. Axelsson , Calculation of

volume void fraction in the sub cooled and quality

region", Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 13 (1970) 383393

[17]- R.W. Lockhart, R.C. Martinelli," Proposed

correlation of data for isothermal two-phase two-

component flow in pipes" Chem. Eng. Prog. 45 (1)

(1949) 39–48

[18]-Incropera,F.P ,Dewitt "Fundamental of Heat

and Mass Transfer "John wily and sons,2002