Enhancing Energy Efficiency of Induced Draft Fans in Thermal Power

Plants
R.P. Mandi and U.R. Yaragatti (India)
Keywords
Energy efficiency, Auxiliary power, fan efficiency, SE, !"#, exce$$ air, furnace air ingre$$
Abstract
%&i$ paper de$cri'e$ t&e (ariou$ )et&od$ for en&ancing t&e energy efficiency of induced draft fan$ in
coal fired t&er)al power plant$. %&e auxiliary power u$ed 'y induced draft fan$ for)$ a'out *.+ to *., -
of t&e total gro$$ energy generation. I# fan$ are t&e $econd large$t (in rating) )otor in a t&er)al power
plant after .oiler "eed Pu)p (."P). %&e detailed energy audit of auxiliary e/uip)ent in (ariou$ t&er)al
power $tation$, operational opti)i0ation and appropriate control $y$te) &ad $&own a)ple $cope for
i)pro(ing t&e energy efficiency of induced draft fan$. %&e i)ple)entation of energy con$er(ation
)ea$ure$ reduce t&e a(erage auxiliary power u$ed 'y I# fan$ for 1*2 M3 plant fro) *.45 - to 2.67 -
of gro$$ energy generation and t&e energy con$er(ation $c&e)e$ are econo)ically attracti(e wit& a
pay'ac8 period of * to 9 year$.
This is written to describe the type of machinery that can be found in a typical fossil fuel
(gas, oil or coal-fired) electric generating plant to better understand what type of
instrumentation is being used for vibration monitoring.

Typical Power Plant
A typical power plant will usually have 5 or 6 power generators of several sies. !t might
have " larger capacity units, " or # medium capacity units, and $ or " %pea&ing units% that
have a small generating capacity each. 'ea&ing units are used during periods of high
demand for electricity, li&e hot summer nights, thus the name. (therwise they sit idle in a
stand-by mode. 'ea&ing units use gas turbines or diesel engines to drive the electric
generators. )arge steam turbines are the most common type of machine used to drive
medium and large electric generators.

'ower plants are rated by the combined generating capacity of all of the units at the site,
in megawatts. *ollowing is a generalied sie brea&down based on the generating capacity
of each unit.
Size Megawatts
+mall )ess than 5,
-edium 5, to $5,
)arge $5, to #,,
.ery )arge -ore than #,,

Monitoring Practices
All power generating units consist of primary or ma/or machinery and secondary or 0('
machinery. 1ith little e2ception, all ma/or machinery is monitored with a permanently
installed continuous monitoring system. -ost plants monitor their 0(' machinery on a
periodic basis using a portable data collector and database program. The continuous
monitoring system for a medium or large steam turbine generator is called a Turbine
+upervisory !nstrumentation +ystem (T+! +ystem). A T+! +ystem includes the typical radial
displacement vibration and a2ial position measurements associated with high speed
rotating machinery but also includes measurements that are uni3ue to the long and heavy
rotors and machine cases re3uired for steam turbines. Among these are4 case e2pansion,
differential e2pansion, runout (shaft bow), ero speed, valve position, and absolute shaft
vibration.

'eriodic monitoring provides a great solution for power plants for 0(' machinery. This is
because of the large number of points to be monitored each month, usually 5,, or 6,,.
1hen you consider ta&ing vertical and horiontal readings at each bearing and one a2ial
reading on each machine case, the numbers add up 3uic&ly. Too many to have continuous
monitoring on all of them7
+till, some plants have moved some of their measurement points (on periodic monitoring)
to continuous monitoring (using vibration transmitters, signal conditioners, scanning
monitors and even A'! 65, type monitors) for various reasons. The reasons include4
machines with higher than normal maintenance, personnel safety (must climb to reach
measurement points), better operating condition visibility, hard to get to machines (li&e
cooling towers), and increased wor&loads for personnel.

*ollowing is a list of the typical machines found in a single unit in a power plant.
Name Qty Type Function
+team turbine generator $ 8ritical -ain generator
0oiler feed pump " 8ritical or 0('
depending on
sie
8irculate water to boiler
8ondensate pumps #-6 0(' 8ollect condensed steam and
feed water to boiler feed pumps
*eed water booster
pumps
#-6 0(' *eed water to boiler feed pumps
8irculating water pumps #-6 0(' -aintain cooling water flow to
turbine condensers
!nduced draft fans or
*orced draft fans
" 0(' 8irculate air through the boiler
and stac& optimiing use of heat
9as recirculation fans " 0(' :ecirculate partially burned gas
bac& through the boiler
8ooling towers fans 6-$, 0(' 8ool water from the turbine
condenser
(ther pumps, fans and
compressors
many 0(' Air supply, fuel supply,
lubrication, coal-fired plants
have coal handling and
processing machinery

To get a perspective of how much machinery a power plant has, multiply the number of
steam turbine generators times the numbers in this table for each group of machines7
New Monitoring Opportunities
1hen a plant decides to move monitored points to continuous monitoring, ;ardy has
several good solutions7 These are4 ;! 55,$.T .ibration Transmitter, <! 55,, +eries +ignal
8onditioners, and the ;! "6,$ -onitoring +ystem.
8hoosing the best measurement solution will depend on the measurement ob/ective. *or
e2ample, if the <8+ system is going to monitor the vibration channels (and do the alarming)
then the options are to use .ibration Transmitters or +ignal 8onditioners. 0oth of these will
connect to the <8+ using analog input channels (=-", mA). *orm and function will help
choose which is appropriate for the application. The following guidelines will help.
Type -easurements and *unctions
;! 55,$.T .ibration
Transmitter
)arger sie re3uires more mounting room
$ inch >'T fle2 conduit attachment
.elocity range4 ,-$ ips (;! 55,$.T-# is ,-# ips)
*re3uency range4 #6,-6,,,, cpm
;as %raw% data output for data collector
<! 55,, +eries +ignal
8onditioners
+eparate industrial accelerometer is smaller
"-pin -+ connector used at sensor
+ignal 8onditioner clips on %<!>% rail
-easure Acceleration, .elocity or <isplacement
*ull scale range choices, some field ad/ustment
*re3uency range4 6,-6,,,,,, cpm
*iltering for selective measurement ranges
+ensor and wiring %(?% indication
0uffered %raw% data output for data collector
(ptional set point and relay modules
<! 55,= and <! 55,5 used with eddy probes

-ost of the 0(' machinery will not be shut down automatically, based on vibration. The
one e2ception to this is the cooling tower fans. These can do a lot of damage if they throw
a blade because they become severely out of balance. A lot of damage would result if they
were not stopped. Additionally, one cell in a cooling tower can usually be ta&en out of
service without stopping the generation of power. +et point -odules and :elay -odules can
be added to the signal conditioner %building bloc&s% to provide alarm and shutdown
capabilities.

The ;! "6,$ -onitoring +ystem would be a good choice if the user wants a local display. !t
has a $6 channel capability so it can measure $6 points. This monitoring system can be
configured with individual relays. That means alarms or trips can be configured per
machine or alarms can be configured per groups of machines, as may be re3uired.


Summary of Power Plant Machinery


+team is generated in the 0oiler that is sent to the ;igh 'ressure section of the +team
Turbine. The waste steam is passed through a regenerator which heats it prior to entering
the !ntermediate 'ressure and )ow 'ressure sections of the +team Turbine, turning the
9enerator.

8ondensate is collected from the 8ondenser (as well as from the +team Turbine directly)
and is pumped by the 8ondensate 'umps to the *eed 1ater 0ooster 'umps where the
pressure is raised. 1ater is then pumped to the 0oiler *eed 'ump which feeds the 0oiler. !n
large plants, the 0oiler *eed 'ump might be driven by a small steam turbine. This s&etch
shows a large electric motor driven 0oiler *eed 'ump.

!nduced <raft *ans (!< *ans) and *orced <raft *ans (*< *ans) are used to control air flow
through the stac&, ma2imiing the efficiency of the 0oiler. 9as :ecirculation *ans collect
unburned gas and send it bac& to be burned again, reducing the particulates that are
emitted to the air.

8irculating 1ater 'umps &eep water moving through various functions in the system. The
s&etch shows water from the 8ooling Tower being circulated through the 8ondenser.
8irculating 1ater 'umps are also used to feed fresh water to the plant from a pond as well
as return e2cess water bac& to its@ source.
0oiler *eed 'umps - )arge horiontal pumps that are driven by large electric motors. (!n
some cases, a small steam turbine is used as the driver). The motor is coupled to the pump
through a hydraulic coupling which acts, in a sense, li&e an automatic transmission.
!nduced <raft and *orced <raft *ans - )arge fans driven by large electric motors developing
",,,, to 6,,,, hp. The motor is coupled to the fan through a hydraulic coupling (as
described above).

9as :ecirculation *ans - +maller than !* or *< *ans, driven by electric motors developing
",5,, hp.
8ondensate 'umps - A medium sie vertical pump driven by an electric motor. The motor is
direct coupled to the pump which may be $, to $5 feet below the surface. +uction is at the
bottom and output is at dec& level, /ust below the motor.
8irculating 1ater 'umps - -uch li&e the 8ondensate 'umps, medium sie vertical pump
driven by an electric motor. The motor is direct coupled to the pump which may be $, to
$5 feet below the surface.

*eed 1ater 0ooster pumps - A medium sie horiontal pump driven by an electric motor.
The motor is usually direct coupled to the pump.

8ooling Towers - *ans are slow turning using long blades (much li&e a large #-bladed
propeller) that are made out of aluminum or fiberglass. -edium sie motors drive gear
assemblies through long drive shafts. -otor speeds are $,",, to $,6,, rpm while the fans
speeds are "5, to #,, rpm. The fans &eep air moving to cool the water as it flows down
from the top of the cells. A cooling tower is usually made up of = to 6 cells. Aach cell has a
motor, gear assembly, and fan.

'lants located along the coasts may use seawater for cooling and therefore will not have
cooling towers. !n this case, there are additional pumping re3uirements
Coordinated control for power plant forced and induced draft fans
during startup and fan speed changes
Document Type and Number:
United States Patent 4181099
Abstract:
In a power pant! a soid state se"uence is pro#ided $or startin% an &D or ID $an! or $or
c'an%in% t'e $an speed in response to t'e position o$ t'e $an inet #anes( T'e
se"uentia process is se$)caibrated since process e#ents contro t'e steppin%
operation o$ t'e se"uencer( At t'e operatin% $an speed! boier air $ow and pressure are
controed by $an inet #ane position in accordance wit' pant oad demand( *'en t'e
$an speed is c'an%ed! a mutipier circuit causes t'e $an inet #anes to reposition so as
to minimi+e air $ow c'an%es as t'e $an speed c'an%es( *'en one o$ mutipe &D $ans
or mutipe ID $ans 'as its speed c'an%ed at a time a $an baancer contro! w'ic'
normay e"uai+es air $ow! is biased to permit di$$erent $an $ows t'rou%' t'e
di$$erent speed &D or ID $ans(