Convective Cooling of Gases for Superheating of

Steam

By
P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
I I T Delhi

Generation of Most Bountiful

State of Working Fluid (Useful
Furnace Energy Balance
Enthalpy to be lost by hot gases:

m gas c p , gas Tad  TFEGT 

walls
Water

Economizer

Furnace
 Capacity of Flue Gas

Total Thermal Power available with flue gas:

m gas c p , gas Tad  Tchimney 

Rate of steam production:

m gas c p , gas Tad  Tchimney 

m steam 
hsteam
Steam Generator : Convective Heating Surfaces

HT thru Licking of tubes by Flue gas……..

 Distribution of Steam Generation

m mainsteam h3  h2 f  m reheatsteam h5  h4 

Heat Exchanging Diagram
 Capacity of Super heaters

• Super heater heats the high-pressure steam from its saturation

temperature to a higher specified temperature.
• Super heaters are often divided into more than one stage.
• The enthalpy rise of steam in a given section should not exceed
– 250 – 420 kJ/kg for High pressure. > 17 MPa
– < 280 kJ/kg for medium pressure. 7 Mpa – 17 MPa
– < 170 kJ/kg for low pressure. < 7 MPa
Platen Superheaters
 Paths of Steam and Gas
Drum

Water walls

Economizer
 Flow Arrangement of Super Heaters

Furnace Wall
 Thermal Balance Equation for PSH

• Energy given out by flue gas:

Q PSH  m g hgi , PSH  hgo, PSH 

 

• Energy absorption for a Platen SH

 
Q PSH m steam hsteam ,out  hsteam ,in 
 Mechanism of Heat Transfer :
Generalized Newton’s Law of Cooling
• Rate of heat transfer from hot gas to cold steam is
proportional to:
• Surface area of heat transfer
• Mean Temperature difference between Hot Gas and Cold
Steam.

Q NEWTON  Asur Tmean
Thot gas,in Thot gas,out

Tcold steam,out
Tcold steam,in
 Thermal Profiles of Fluids in A HX Thot gas,out

Thot gas,in

Tcold steam,out Tcold steam,in

Thot gas,in

Thot gas,out
Tcold steam,out

Tcold steam,in
 Log Mean Temperature Difference

Tmax  Tmin
TLMTD 
 Tmax 
2.3 log  
 Tmin 
• Rate of Heat Transfer

Q NEWTON U Asur TLMTD

• U Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, kW/m2.K

Tube Sizing for SH
 Platen Superheater

• Platen Superheater : Flat panels of tubes located in the upper part of

the furnace, where the gas temperature is high.
• The tubes of the platen SH receive very high radiation as well as a
heavy dust burden.
• Mechanism of HT : High Radiation & Low convection
• Thermal Structure:
– No. of platens
– No. of tubes in a platen
– Dia of a tube
– Length of a tube
 Convective Superheater (Pendant)
• Convective super heaters are vertical type (Pendant ) or horizontal types.
• The Pendant SH is always arranged in the horizontal crossover duct.
• Pendant SH tubes are widely spaced due to high temperature and ash is soft.
• Transverse pitch : S1/d > 4.5
• Longitudinal pitch : S2/d > 3.5.
• The outside tube diameter : 32 – 51mm
• Tube thickness : 3 – 7mm

S1
S2
 Convective Superheater (Horizontal)

• The horizontal SH are located in the back pass.

• The tubes are arranged in the in-line configuration.
• The outer diameter of the tube is 32 – 51 mm.
• The tube thickness of the tube is 3 – 7 mm.
• The transverse pitch : S1/d = 2 – 3.
• The longitudinal pitch :S2/d = 1.6 – 2.5.
• The tubes are arranged in multiple parallel sets.
• The desired velocity depends on the type of SH and operating steam
pressures.
• The outside tube diameter : 32 – 51mm
• Tube thickness : 3 – 7mm

S1
S2
 Thermal Balance in Super Heater

 
• The energy absorbed by steam Q abs ,con m steam (hsup,out  hsup,in )

• The convective heat lost by flue gas Q con,loss UASH T

• Overall Coefficient of Heat Transfer, U

Platen SH, U (W/m2 K) 120 – 140

Pendent SH, U (W/m2 K) 120 – 140

Convective SH, U (W/m2 K) 60 – 80

 Reheater

• The pressure drop inside reheater tubes has an important adverse

effect on the efficiency of turbine.
• Pressure drop through the reheater should be kept as low as possible.
• The tube diameter : 42 – 60mm.
• The design is similar to convective superheaters.

• Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient : 90 – 110 W/m2 K.

 Economizer

• The economizer preheats the feed water by utilizing the residual heat
of the flue gas.
• It reduces the exhaust gas temperature and saves the fuel.
• Modern power plants use steel-tube-type economizers.
• Design Configuration: divided into several sections : 0.6 – 0.8 m gap
 Thermal Structure of Economizer

• Out side diameter : 25 – 38 mm.

• Tube thinckness: 3 – 5 mm
• Transverse spacing : 2.5 – 3.0
• Longitudinal spacing : 1.5 – 2.0
• The water flow velocity : 600 – 800 kg/m2 s
• The waterside resistance should not exceed 5 – 8 %. Of
drum pressure.
• Flue gas velocity : 7 – 13 m/s.
 Thermal Balance in Economizer.
 
• The energy absorbed by steam Q abs ,con m steam (heco,out  heco,in )

• The convective heat lost by flue gas Q con,loss UAeco T

• Overall Coefficient of Heat Transfer, U

 Air Pre-Heater

• An air pre-heater heats the combustion air where it is

economically feasible.
• The pre-heating helps the following:
• Igniting the fuel.
• Improving combustion.
• Drying the pulverized coal in pulverizer.
• Reducing the stack gas temperature and increasing the boiler
efficiency.
 Stockholm 1920
The Ljungström Air Preheater

The first installation in a commercial boiler saved as much

as 25% of the fuel consumption.
 Historical Significance of Landmark

• In a modern Steam generator the Ljungström Air Preheater

provides up to 20% of the total heat transfer in the boiler process.
• The Ljungström Air Preheater only represents 2% of the
investment.
• The Ljungström Air Preheater is a remarkable invention in many
ways.
• It saves the fuel so much that the cost of the preheater is generally
recovered after only a few months.
• It has been estimated that the total world-wide fuel savings
resulting from all Ljungström Air Preheaters which have been in
service is equivalent to 4,500,000,000 tons of oil.
• An estimate shows that the Ljungström Air Preheaters in
operation annually saves about $30 Billion US.
 The Idea: One Shot Two Birds

Data for the hand fired boiler before and after the installation of
Ljungström Air Preheater is as follows:
The Modern Air preheater
Multiple Channel RAPH
Introduction of Extra Thermodynamic Cycle
 Combustion Losses C & R losses
Hot Exhaust Gas
losses

Economizer APH
CSH
Pendent SH

Platen SH Reheater

Furnace absorption
 COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT
GAS INLET

P=10bar
CC
T=1500C T=8500C

P=10ba

TURBINE
COMP

r
G
T=1000C
T=50 C 0

P=2bar
P=1bar STACK
T=5500C HP IP LP
AIR
INLET T=5000C HRSG
P=170bar
T=500C
TURBINE

G PUMP

P=.1 bar P=1bar

T=600C T=500C
CONDENSER
Cogeneration HRSGs
 Types of HRSG
• Basic types of standard design of heat recovery steam
generators are differentiated by the direction of the flue gases
flow.
• Vertical HRSG
• Small footprint
• Simple concept of service
• Hanging design of heating surfaces

• Horizontal HRSG
• Small construction height
• High cycling ability
• Operational flexibility
• Hanging design of heating surfaces
Vertical HRSG
Horizontal HRSG
Vertical HRSG
 Heat Exchanging Curve

~5500C

~1000C

~400C
HRSG COMPONENTS
 Types of Evaporator Sections

• D-Frame evaporator layout

• O-Frame evaporator layout
• A-Frame evaporator layout
• I-Frame evaporator layout
• Horizontal tube evaporator layout
D-Frame evaporator layout

•This configuration is very popular for

HRSG units recovering heat from
small gas turbines and diesel engines.
•It is a very compact design and can be
shipped totally assembled.
• Main Drawback: The bent tube
arrangement quickly causes the
module to exceed shipping limitations
for units having a large gas flow
O-Frame evaporator layout
• This configuration has probably
been used for more years than any
of the others.
• It has the advantage of the upper
header being configured as the
steam separation drum.
• Alternately, The upper header can
be connected to the steam drum by
risers.
• This allows more than one O-
Frame evaporator to be connected
to the same steam drum.
• Results in shipable modules being
able to handle very large gas
flows.
A-Frame evaporator layout

• This configuration is simply a

variation of the O-Frame Evaporator.
• It was popular for services with a
large amount of ash, since the center
area between the lower drums could
be configured as a hopper to collect
and remove solid particles.
I-Frame evaporator layout

• In the past twenty years, this configuration

has become the most popular.
• This type module can be built in multiple
axial modules or in multiple lateral modules,
allowing it to be designed to accept any gas
flow.
• There are numerous variations of this design
where tube bundles may contain one, two, or
three rows of tubes per header.
• It is also, normally, more economical to
manufacture, ship and field construct.
• The tube bundles may be shipped to field
installed in the modules, or as loose bundles
which are installed into a field erected shell.
Horizontal tube evaporator layout

The horizontal tube evaporator is used,

not only for heat recovery from Gas
Turbine exhaust, but for recovery from
flue gases in Refinery and
Petrochemical furnaces also.

• It has similar size limitations due to shipping restrictions

similar to the O-frame modules.
• It is generally a less expensive unit to manufacture than the
other configurations.
Schematic Diagram of a Simple HRSG

~1000C

~5500C
 Single Pressure Rankine Cycle

~5500C

~1000C

~400C
Dual Pressure Rankine Cycle
Triple Pressure Rankine Cycle
Layout of Triple Pressure Rankine Cycle