Numerical Methods Applied For Power Plant Calculations
Numerical Methods Applied For Power Plant Calculations
    Abstract: - The pre-dimensioning of a thermal power plant implies a lot of calculation for which the use of
numerical methods are a helpful instrument. The paper presents an application of a numerical method for the
determination of the steam flow rates necessary for heating the feed-water that enters into the steam generator.
Usually, these values are obtained by writing the equations of heat balance for each heater and by calculating the
rates one by one. The use of numerical methods for determining the unknown parameters consists in solving a
system of linear equations by using a numeric algorithm.The elements of the matrix that describes the system can
be easily determined by following specific rules, which resulted from writing the balance equations for the whole
system. The method proposed in the paper can be used in applications for optimization of the operation of a
power plant, maintenance issues or education purposes.
Key-Words: - regenerative circuit, specific flow rate, power plant, numerical method
    ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                   83
                                  Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
    ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                84
                                       Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
   The condensate resulted from the last low-                         ℎ𝑠7 ∙ [𝑎7] + ℎ𝑤7 ∙ [1] = ℎ𝑐7 ∙ [𝑎7] + ℎ𝑤𝐷𝑆6 ∙ [1]
pressure heater (LPH 3) enters into the former heater,                                                                 (1)
LPH2. Both condensates are then pumped into the
main feed-water circuit, between LPH 3 and LPH 2.                    where:
The condensate from the LPH 1 is exhausted to the                    ℎ𝑠7 , ℎ𝑐7 , ℎ𝑤7, ℎ𝑤𝐷𝑆6 – specific enthalpy of steam,
condenser.                                                           condense, water in and water out for HPH 7, in kJ/kg;
                                                                     [a7] – specific steam flow rate at HPH 7;
                                                                     [1] – specific feed-water flow rate to the steam
                                                                     generator.
3. Thermal balances for determination
of the steam specific flow rates
    In writing the heat balance equations for each heat              High pressure heater HPH 6: fig. 4 and eq. (2)
exchanger, the following assumptions [10] and
notations are made (see figure 2):                                                To
    The steam rate is calculated as a specific value,                       From HPH7
relative to the steam produced by the steam generator                       HPH 7
(entered into the turbine). Also, it is considered that
the steam generator produces 1 kg of steam from 1 kg
                                                                         C7                    W7:
of feed-water entered.                                                  [a7]                   [1]; ℎ𝑤7
    To determine the steam rate extractions from the                     ℎ𝑐7                                   HPH 6
turbine, the heat balance equations are written for
each heat exchanger, starting from the last heater                                                 S6:
(before the steam generator) to the first one (after the                                           [a6]; ℎ𝑠6
condenser).
    To understand and follow easily the notations in                     C6                W7:
figure 2, the names of the important points were                     [a6+a7]               [1]; ℎ𝑤6
given so as to suggest the passing fluid (W - water,                     ℎ𝑐6
S - steam, C - condensate) and the position of the                                   From
heater in the circuit (1 … 7).                                              To       HPH 5
                                                                           HPH 5
    Each heat exchanger receives a fraction of the
steam from the turbine. The number following the                                   Figure 4. Heat balance for HPH 6
letter “a” designates the number of the heater in the
regenerative circuit.
      According to these rules, the heat balances                     ℎ𝑠6 ∙ [𝑎6] + ℎ𝑤6 ∙ [1] + ℎ𝑐7 ∙ [𝑎7]
equations, written from the last heat exchanger to the               = ℎ𝑐6 ∙ [𝑎6 + 𝑎7] + ℎ𝑤7 ∙ [1]                      (2)
first one are [1], [10-11]:
                                                                     where:
High pressure heater HPH 7: fig. 3 and eq. (1)                       ℎ𝑠6 , ℎ𝑐6 , ℎ𝑤6 – specific enthalpy of steam, condense,
                                                                     entering water for HPH 6, in kJ/kg;
          To DS6 and steam generator                                 [a6] – specific steam flow rate at HPH 6.
                      WDS6:
                      [1]; ℎ𝑤𝐷𝑆6                                     High pressure heater HPH 5: fig. 5 and eq. (3)
      HPH 7
                                                                         ℎ𝑠5 ∙ [𝑎5] + ℎ𝑤5 ∙ [1] + ℎ𝑐6 ∙ [𝑎6 + 𝑎7]
                           S7:                                         = ℎ𝑐5 ∙ [𝑎5 + 𝑎6 + 𝑎7] + ℎ𝑤6 ∙ [1]              (3)
                           [a7]; ℎ𝑠7
                                                                     where:
    C7                W7:                                            ℎ𝑠5 , ℎ𝑐5 , ℎ𝑤5 – specific enthalpy of steam, condense,
  [a7];               [1]; ℎ𝑤7                                       entering water for HPH 6, in kJ/kg;
   ℎ𝑐7
                                                                     [a5] – specific steam flow rate at HPH 5.
                From
      To        HPH 6
     HPH 6
     ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                    85
                                        Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
    C6                 W6:                                                                      W4:
  [a6+                 [1]; ℎ𝑤6                                                                 [1-a4-a5-a6-a7]
   a7]                                  HPH 5                                                   ℎ𝑤4
   ℎ𝑐6                                                                       LPH 3
                           S5:
                           [a5]; ℎ𝑠5                                                                S3:
                                                                                                    [a3]; ℎ𝑠3
   C5                 W5:
[a5+a6                                                                     C3
                      [1]; ℎ𝑤5                                                              W3:
  +a7]                                                                   [a3];              [1-a4-a5-a6-a7]; ℎ𝑤3
   ℎ𝑐5          From                                                      ℎ𝑐3
         To      DT                                                                    From
         DT                                                                            LPH 2
                                                                             To
              Figure 5. Heat balance for HPH 5                              LPH 2
                                                                                     Figure 7. Heat balance for LPH 3
         Wpump
                                                                         The balance is made for the dashed line contour,
             [1]                   TD                                 in the hypothesis that the condensate that exits
         ℎ𝑤𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝                                                       LPH 2 enters into the feed-water stream with the
                                       W4                             output enthalpy of the water (ℎ𝑐2 = ℎ𝑤3 ).
                            [1-a4-a5-a6-a7]                                                        To
                                       ℎ𝑤4                                   From                 LPH3
                                                                             LPH 3
                                               From                                       C2
                                                                                                          W3:
                                               LPH 3                                   [a2+a3]
                                                                                                          [1-a4-a5-a6-a7]; ℎ𝑤3
                                                                          C3          ℎ𝑐2 = ℎ𝑤3
               Figure 6. Heat balance for TD                             [a3]
                                                                          ℎ𝑐3                                   LPH 2
  ℎ𝑠4 ∙ [𝑎4] + ℎ𝑤4 ∙ [1 − 𝑎4 − 𝑎5 − 𝑎6 − 𝑎7] +
 +ℎ𝑐5 ∙ [𝑎5 + 𝑎6 + 𝑎7] = ℎ𝑤𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 ∙ [1]         (4)                                                                 S2:
                                                                                                                  [a2]; ℎ𝑠2
where:
ℎ𝑠4 , ℎ𝑤4 , ℎ𝑤𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 – specific enthalpy of steam,                                                          W2:
entering and leaving water for DT, in kJ/kg;                                                             [1-a2-a3-a4-a5-a6-a7];
[a4] – specific steam flow rate at DT.                                                                   ℎ𝑤2
                                                                                                  From
    Note that for the deaerator, the condensate flow                                              LPH 1
and the feed-water flow are one and the same thing
(as they mix themselves in the heat exchanger).                                      Figure 8. Heat balance for LPH 2
    ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                      86
                                            Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
Low pressure heater LPH 1: fig. 9 and eq. (7)                                4. Numerical   methods    for    the
                                                                             determination of the specific steam
                                                                             flow rates
                 To LPH 2                                                       The determination of the specific steam flow rates
                                                                             extracted from the turbine is based on the heat
                       W2:                                                   balance equations given in chapter 3, but written as a
                       [1-a2-a3-a4-a5-a6-a7]                                 system of equations. For the regenerative circuit
                       ℎ𝑤2                                                   considered in fig. 2, it results a linear system of seven
      LPH 1                                                                  equations with seven unknown values (a1,…, a7).
                                S1:
                                                                                After rearranging the terms in a matrix form, a
                                [a1]; ℎ𝑠1                                    matrix of 7 rows and 8 columns is obtained (table 1).
                                                                                The result is a lower triangular matrix that
    C1                                                                       contains the coefficients of the specific flow rates.
                       W1:                                                   The matrix is extended with a column vector that
  [a1];                [1-a2-a3-a4-a5-a6-a7]; ℎ𝑤1
   ℎ𝑐1                                                                       contains the coefficients that correspond to the unit
                   From                                                      specific flow rate (the independent terms).
                 condenser                                                      The rules for completing the matrix can be
                                                                             observed in table 1:
        To                                                                      - The rows correspond to the heaters, beginning
     condenser                                                                       from the last one (row 1 = heater 7) towards
                                                                                     the first one (row 7 = heater 1);
               Figure 9. Heat balance for LPH 1
TD hc5 – hw4 hc5 – hw4 hc5 – hw4 hs4 – hw4 0 0 0 hwpump – hw4
LPH3 hw4 – hw3 hw4 – hw3 hw4 – hw3 hw4 – hw3 hs3 – hc3 0 0 hw4 – hw3
LPH2 hw3 – hw2 hw3 – hw2 hw3 – hw2 hw3 – hw2 hc3 – hw2 hs2 – hc2 0 hw3 – hw2
LPH1 hw2 – hw1 hw2 – hw1 hw2 – hw1 hw2 – hw1 hw2 – hw1 hw2 – hw1 hs1 – hc1 hw2 – hw1
    ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                            87
                                            Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
    ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                          88
                                      Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
       ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6                                    89
                                Modern Computer Applications in Science and Education
ISBN: 978-960-474-363-6 90