Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Analysis of an improved economizer system for active control of the

coal-fired boiler flue gas temperature
Pengcheng Xiao, Yanping Zhang*, Yuanjing Wang, Jizhou Wang
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong Uni. of Sci. and Tech., Wuhan, 430074, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of a low pressure economizer (LPE) is an effective way to recover waste heat from the exhaust
Received 11 September 2018 flue gas in thermal power plants. In this paper, an improved bypass staged economizer scheme is pre-
Received in revised form sented for China's 600-MW ultra-supercritical power units. The simulation models of the bypass staged
28 November 2018
economizer and traditional LPE were established based on a 600-MW unit. The simulation results
Accepted 19 December 2018
showed that when the presented economizer system was adopted, the temperature of the exhaust flue
Available online 19 December 2018
gas was reduced to near the flue gas acid dew point, thereby greatly improving the energy-saving effects.
Compared with the traditional LPE system, the improved economizer system can reduce standard coal
Keywords:
Bypass staged economizer system
consumption rate by an additional 1.1 g/kWh. The bypass ratio under different loads could be adjusted to
Waste heat recovery achieve the best energy-saving effect. The optimum bypass ratio was analyzed under different loads. The
Off-design condition results showed that the improved economizer system had a better energy-saving effect by actively
Coal-fired power plant controlling the exhaust flue gas temperature.
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction meeting the requirements of China's national environmental pro-

In China, coal consumption accounts for 62% of the total energy
consumption, with coal being mainly used as a boiler fuel. To the
best of our knowledge, boiler exhaust heat loss accounts for the
largest proportion of total heat loss [1]. High exhaust gas temper-
atures will affect the economic operation of the boiler. In the actual
long-term operation of coal-fired power plants (CFPPs), the degree
of pollution of the heating surface increases with the boiler running
time, so that the exhaust gas temperature of the long-term oper-
ation boiler is higher than the design temperature of 10e30
C. As
shown in Ref. [2], when the exhaust gas temperature of a 400 t/h
ultra-high pressure boiler increases 10e15
C, the exhaust heat loss
will increase 1%, and standard coal consumption rate will increase
2e3 g/kWh.
Currently, the emissions requirements for air pollutants in CFPPs
are increasingly strict. Some CFPPs have begun to use lower tem-
perature electrostatic precipitator (ESP) technology, which requires
that the inlet flue gas temperature of the ESP be lower than the acid
dew point temperature. The lower temperature ESP technology can
not only capture sulfur trioxide but also reduce PM2.5 emissions to
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zyp2817@hust.edu.cn (Y. Zhang).
tection regulations. It is more desirable to decrease the exhaust flue
gas temperature and make full use of waste heat of the exhaust flue
gas.
The utilization of waste heat of flue gas in thermal power plants
can effectively increase the efficiency of power generation. There
are numerous methods to recover the flue gas waste heat. The
organic Rankine cycle system can use the low grade heat from the
exhaust gas to produce high grade energy and improve the unit
efficiency. The use of the organic Rankine cycle has been analyzed
by many researchers [3e5]. Heat pump heat recovery technology is
mainly aimed at gas boilers with high water vapor content in
exhaust flue gas. The heat pump is used to recover heat of
condensation to heat feedwater in regenerative system [6e10].
Moreover, a method has been developed to extract the latent heat
of water vapor from the flue gas to recover the waste heat [11e14].
There is also system for waste heat recovery integrated with an
SeCO2 cycle for CFPPs [15].
Compared to the waste heat recovery methods mentioned
above, the LPE is the most widely used to recover waste heat from
the exhaust flue gas to heat the feedwater. The LPE is usually
installed at the end of the flue and similar to the high pressure
economizer in structure. The water side of the LPE is connected to
the low pressure feedwater heater (FWH) of the regenerative sys-
tem to allow a part of the extraction steam to be saved and continue

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.147
0360-5442/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
186 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198
to perform work in the steam turbine. In terms of thermodynamics,
the first law and the second law were used to evaluate the effi-
ciencies of the LPE installed in a CFPP. The thermal equilibrium
efficiencies and the second law efficiencies increased, whereas the
first law efficiency decreased after applying the LPE [16]. Different
connections of the LPE with the steam turbine recovery heat system
have been discussed [17e19]. Analysis results show that very little
increase in the back pressure of the steam turbine occurs when a
proper LPE is installed, i.e., there are few negative impacts on the
operation of the boiler thermal system. Moreover, the recovered
heat from heating the high temperature feedwater has a better
energy saving effect than heating the low temperature feedwater.
There are many in-service units that have been retrofitted with the
traditional LPE in China, such as the Yudong power plant [20] and
the Shangdu power plant [21]. However, the traditional LPE has a
defect in terms of the larger heat transfer temperature difference,
which leads to not making full use of waste heat. Therefore, it is
shown that greater benefits resulted from installing the two stages
air preheater system proposed in Ref. [22]. A lignite-fired power
plant was transformed by adding an additional high pressure
economizer to increase the unit gross efficiency [23]. A bypass flue
scheme that can effectively recover waste heat was constructively
proposed in the 1000-MWe lignite-fired power plant Nieder-
aussem Unit K [24]. The exhaust flue gas is cooled from approxi-
mately 160
Ce100
C. Based on this scheme, different plant
configurations and the relevant cost analyses were simulated by
Aspen Plus under low temperature exhaust flue gas [25,26].
However, most relevant studies have focused on the energy-
saving effects through structural improvement and the analysis of
thermodynamics. Only a few studies have shown the operational
strategy of a reliable scheme. For example, when the heat transfer
area of the LPE is fixed, the exhaust gas temperature cannot be
controlled because of the fluctuations in the flue gas temperature
caused by long-term operation, which may cause low temperature
corrosion.
In this paper, an efficient flue gas waste heat recovery system is
proposed. The simulation model was built to analyze the perfor-
mance of the presented heat recovery system and the traditional
LPE system. The optimum bypass ratio was analyzed under
different loads. The results showed that the improved economizer
system had a better energy-saving effect by actively controlling the
exhaust flue gas temperature.
2. Design of improved economizer system
The boiler discussed in this paper is China's most widely used
600-MW supercritical once-through boiler, which produces
531.4 kg/s of superheated steam at 25.4 MPa and 571
C and 440 kg/
s of reheated steam at 3.83 MPa and 569
C in BMCR working
condition. The coal used is bituminous with 62.83% carbon, 3.62%
hydrogen, 9.94% oxygen, 0.70% nitrogen, and 0.41% sulfur, and the
lower heating value (LHV) is 22760 kJ/kg. The boiler efficiency is
estimated as 93.55% (LHV basis). Fig. 1 shows a diagram of the
power plant system structure. There are three high pressure FWHs,
one deaerator and four low pressure FWHs. The overall perfor-
mances of the unit are included in Table 1, and the details of the
steam parameters are showed in Table 2.
In this study, an improved bypass staged economizer system is
proposed to recover the waste heat of the exhaust flue gas. To
facilitate the comparison and analysis, the calculation and analysis
of the original design system and the traditional LPE system are
conducted at the same time. Table 3 shows the descriptions of the
three case studies. The minimum exhaust flue gas temperature is
restricted by the dew point of SOx to prevent low temperature acid
corrosion. The exhaust flue gas temperature design of case study 1
and case study 2 should be higher than the low temperature acid
dew point to prevent corrosion of the heat transfer surfaces.
The baseline case is the original design system for comparison,
as shown in Fig. 2. The schematic thermal system of Case study 1 is
shown in Fig. 3. The extracted steam for heating the feedwater in
FWH No. 6 is replaced by the heat recovered by the LPE. The LPE
inlet of the feedwater is connected with the outlet of FWH NO.7 and
the LPE outlet of feedwater is connected with the inlet of FWH
NO.5. The LPE is installed between the air preheater and the ESP.
The schematic thermal system of Case study 2 is shown in Fig. 4.
The flue separation system is built at the downstream of the high
pressure economizer. The flue is divided into a main flue and a
bypass flue by adding separate flue baffles and a control valve. A
part of the high temperature flue gas from the outlet of the high
temperature economizer is bypassed. First, the bypassed flue gas is
used to heat the feedwater from the outlet of the feedwater pump
in the first-stage bypass economizer. The heated feedwater is led to
the outlet of FWH NO. 2. The cooled flue gas is led to the second-
stage bypass economizer to heat the condensate from the outlet
of FWH NO. 6. The heated condensate is led to the outlet of FWH
NO. 5. The main flue gas is cooled by the air preheater and then
mixed with the bypassed flue gas. A new device named pre-air
preheater is set up in the position after the flue gas mixture to
heat the air and cool the flue gas to ensure the exhaust flue gas
temperature and air temperature are appropriate. The mixed flue
gas passes through the pre-air preheater and finally leads to the
ESP. The air passes through the pre-air preheater to the main air
preheater and eventually to the boiler furnace. This approach can
not only make full use of boiler exhaust heat to reduce exhaust flue
gas temperature but also reduce the heat rate of the steam turbine
system.
3. Model approach
3.1. Model of the prototype unit
To study the thermal economic performance of the bypass
staged economizer system, a simulation model of a 600-MW pro-
totype unit is established by MATLAB/Simulink (version 7.0.1) in
this paper. The thermal system model of the CFPP is constructed
according to the structure shown in Fig. 1. The whole plant model
consists of three main modules, namely, the boiler, the steam tur-
bine and the regenerative system. First, the parameters of the main
steam and reheat steam are simulated from the boiler and input to
the steam turbine model. The steam turbine model simulates the
pressure and enthalpy of each extraction port and input to the
regenerative system, and the boiler simulation results are corrected
by calculating the exhaust parameters of the high pressure cylinder.
The regenerative system simulates the extraction steam flow to
feedback to the steam turbine model and the feedwater parameters
to feedback to the boiler model. The main working parameters of
the whole unit can be simulated by inputting the wind, coal
parameter and steam flow from the boiler side. The prototype unit
simulation model is shown in Fig. 5.
The simulation model of the supercritical once-through p type
boiler is divided into spiral water wall, vertical water wall, partition
screen superheater, high temperature reheater, the finishing su-
perheater, low temperature reheater hot forging, coated tube, low
temperature reheater cold section, economizer, and air preheater,
as shown in Fig. 6. The model building methods in these sub-
modules are similar. According to the structure of the boiler and
the thermodynamic process, the boiler is divided into several
coupling horizontal layers, and the simultaneous equations are
used to represent the inner horizontal layer of the thermodynamic
process. Parameter changes exist in the vertical direction, and
 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198 187

Prh
P0

HP IP P5 LP LP

Pc
Boiler
P2 P1 P3 P4
P6 P7
P8
Condenser

Tc

DEA

1FWH 2FWH 3FWH 5FWH 6FWH 7FWH 8FWH

Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of a 600-MW generation unit.

Table 1 vertical direction. According to this structure and mathematical

The overall performance of the unit on THA condition. equations [27,28], the boiler system is modeled successfully.
Main steam kg/s 465.3 The steam turbine adopts single reheat structure consisting of a
Reheat steam kg/s 389.0
high pressure cylinder, a medium pressure cylinder and two low
Flue gas mass flow rate kg/s 615.6 pressure cylinders. The input parameters of the steam turbine
Coal input rate kg/s 59.8 system model are steam pressure, temperature and flow, and then,
Lower heating value of coal kJ/kg 22760 the system is simulated using the following sub-modules in turn:
Gross electrical output MWe 607.3
the control valve, the governing stage, the grade group 1, the grade
Total auxiliary power MWe 30.4
Net electrical output MWe 576.9 group 2, the boiler reheater, the grade group 3, the grade group 4,
Gross efficiency % 44.64 the connected pipe and the grade group 5 to 9. The parameters of
steam extraction of the steam turbine can be simulated. The
regenerative system mainly includes the following sub-modules:
parameter changes in every horizontal layer can be ignored. The feedwater heater model, deaerator model, condenser model, pipe
thermodynamic process in one layer is simplified by means of the model and pump model. Among them, the small steam turbine
lumped-parameter method, and the thermal parameters of the model is the same as the turbine pressure stage model modeling
boiler are lumped in the horizontal direction and coupled in the process. The mathematical modeling process of each system of
steam turbine was described in detail in Ref. [29], and the system

Table 2
Details of the steam performance.

Items NO.1 FWH NO.2 FWH NO.3 FWH Deaerator NO.5 FWH NO.6 FWH NO.7 FWH NO.8 FWH

Extracted steam pressure (MPa) 5.977 4.047 1.829 0.951 0.392 0.119 0.059 0.019
Extracted steam enthalpy (kJ/kg) 3054.8 2970.1 3376.2 3189.1 2974.9 2733.8 2621.1 2493.7
Extracted steam flow rate (kg/s) 28.95 40.50 16.91 21.91 22.92 11.29 15.17 9.87
Outlet feedwater temperature (
C) 275 249.2 206.4 180.8 138.2 100.3 81.21 54.81
Drain temperature (
C) 254.8 211.9 186.4 0 105.9 86.87 60.19 42.52

Table 3
Descriptions of the case studies.

Cases Descriptions

Baseline The designed power plant system without waste heat recovery
Case study The power plant system with traditional LPE with one-stage LPE to heat the feedwater
1
Case study The power plant system with a bypass staged economizer system and with a control valve to divide the flue, the first-stage LPE to heat the feedwater, the
2 second-stage LPE to heat the condensate, and the pre-air preheater to preheat the air
188 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

Flue gas
Economizer

FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH

NO. 1 NO. 2 NO. 3 Deaerator NO. 5 NO. 6 NO. 7 NO. 8
$LU

Flue gas
Pump

Air preheater
$LU

Flue gas

ESP

Fig. 2. Schematic of the thermal system of the baseline case.

Flue gas

Economizer

FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH

NO. 1 NO. 2 NO. 3 Deaerator NO. 5 NO. 6 NO. 7 NO. 8
$LU

Flue gas

Pump

Air preheater
Flue gas
$LU

LPE
Flue gas

ESP

Fig. 3. Schematic of the thermal system of case study 1.

diagram of each subsystem of steam turbine system established in further calculate the operating characteristics of the bypass staged
MATLAB/Simulink is given in Fig. 5. economizer system and calculate the energy-saving effect, a suit-
The boiler system and the steam turbine system simulation able unit simulation computing platform is established.
model are coupled and connected to establish the simulation
model of the coal-fired unit; the model intuitively reflects the
3.2. Unit model with bypass staged LPE systems
operating characteristics of the coal-fired unit and accurately sim-
ulates the operating parameters of equipment. According to the
An economizer model is developed to investigate the perfor-
design data of a 600-MW supercritical unit, the calculation results
mance of different LPE systems under all conditions by the water-
of the model are verified. The model calculation results have high
wall heat exchange surface mathematical method [27]. Case
accuracy compared with the design data. Among the data points
studies 1 and 2 can be modeled based on the prototype unit model
used to verify the calculation, the data points with error less than
built above. The bypass staged economizer system simulation
3% accounted for 97% of all data points, as shown in Table 4. To
model of case study 2 is introduced in Fig. 7. The import parameters
 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198 189

Flue gas
Economizer
FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH FWH
NO. 1 NO. 2 NO. 3 Deaerator NO. 5 NO. 6 NO. 7 NO. 8

Flue gas Pump

$LU

First-stage
economizer
Air preheater
Second-stage
economizer
$LU

Control
valve
Pre-air preheater
Flue gas
$LU

ESP

Fig. 4. Schematic thermal system of case study 2.

of the model are the flue gas temperature at the outlet of the high
pressure economizer, the flue gas flow rate, the condensate inlet
temperature and the feedwater inlet temperature. The heat transfer
area under rated load can be calculated by assuming the heat
transfer end difference. When the share of the bypass flue gas is
given, the temperature increase in the condensate and feedwater,
the heat of the flue gas being cooled and the temperature of the flue
gas before entering the pre-air preheater can be calculated.
The simulation model of the baseline case is the prototype unit,
as shown in Fig. 5. The traditional LPE is connected with the pro-
totype unit model between the ESP and the air preheater in the
simulation model of case study 1. The detailed simulation model of
scheme 1 is omitted here. The unit simulation model of case study 2
is shown in Fig. 8; a part of exhaust flue gas is sent to the bypass
economizers to heat the condensate and the feedwater. The heated
feedwater and condensate are returned to the regenerative system.
Therefore, the heat consumption of the steam turbine system and
the standard coal consumption rate of the entire unit will be
reduced. The model of the steam turbine system also must increase
the input of heat at the corresponding location.
4. Model of performance
4.1. Acid dew point
To avoid corrosion caused by a low temperature heating surface
to ensure boiler operation safety and improve boiler efficiency, low
temperature acid corrosion is one of the important factors that
must be considered when reducing the exhaust gas temperature.
When the temperature of the wall surface is lower than the acid
dew point, the sulfuric acid vapor produced by sulfur trioxide and
water vapor will condense on the wall, resulting in the low tem-
perature acid corrosion.
The following equations given by “Boiler Unit Thermal Calcu-
lation Standard Method” of the former Soviet Union is widely used
to calculate the flue gas dew point:
pffiffiffiffiffi
b  3 Sn
tsld ¼ tld þ (1)
1:05ah A
n
tld ¼ 1:2102 þ 8:4064gh  0:4749g2h þ 0:01042g3h (2)
Sn ¼ 4187Sar =Qnet (3)
An ¼ 4187Aar =Qnet (4)
where t sld is the flue gas acid dew point, tld is the water vapor dew
point in the flue gas calculated by Eq. (2). b is a constant associated
with the excess air ratio aT , aT < 1.25, b ¼ 121; aT > 1.25,
and b ¼ 129. Sn is the converted share of the flue sulfur; Sar is the
share of the sulfur in the as received flue. An is the converted share
of the flue ash. Aar is the share of the ash in the as received flue. Qnet
is the LHV of as received flue. ah is the fly ash content of the flue ash,
generally taken as 0.9 in China. gh is the share of water vapor in the
flue gas.
Eq. (1) showed that the flue gas acid dew point t sld is mainly
related to the water vapor dew point t ld . t ld varies with the share of
water vapor in flue gas under different loads. The flue gas acid dew
point of the boiler discussed in this paper under different loads is
calculated, as shown in Table 5.
190 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198
D_MS, P_MS, T_MS The flow, pressure and temp of the main steam
P_RS, T_RS The pressure and temp of the reheated steam
D_FW, P_FW, T_FW The flow, pressure and temp of the feed water
The flow of the primary and secondary
D_PDW, D_SDW
desuperheating water
Fig. 5. The prototype unit simulation model.
4.2. The heat rate and standard coal consumption rate
Because the accurate model of the whole unit mentioned above
can be used, relevant accurate data can be extracted directly from
the model when the economizer model is connected to the steam
turbine model and the regenerative system model. Coal, wind, and
water-related input parameters can be calculated when the load
and coal quality are entered. After the calculation of the boiler
model, the parameters of the pressure, temperature and flow of the
main steam and reheated steam can be calculated. When the
output parameters of the boiler are used as the input parameters of
the steam turbine system model, the power generation and the
enthalpy of the inlet reheated steam can be calculated.
The heat rate and standard coal consumption rate can be
calculated by Eq. (5) and Eq. (6):
Q0    .
q¼ ¼ D0 h0  hfw þ Drh ðhrh  h1 Þ Pe (5)
Pe
Bcp BQnet
bcp ¼ ¼ (6)
Pe 29270Pe
where q is the heat rate; Q0 is the heat consumption; Pe is the unit
power; D0 and Drh are the main steam flow and the reheat steam
flow, respectively; h0 and hfw represent the enthalpy of the main
steam and the enthalpy of the boiler feedwater, respectively. hrh
and h1 represent the enthalpy of the reheat steam and the enthalpy
of the high pressure cylinder outlet, respectively.
T_DW The temp of the primary desuperheating water
D_PA, T_PA The flow and temp of the primary air
D_SA, T_SA The flow and temp of the secondary air
The flow and temp of the outlet flue gas of
D_FG_Eco T_FG_Eco
economizer
4.3. The bypass ratio
The bypass flue gas flow is controlled by the flue baffle. The
bypass ratio is actually a mathematical description of the opening
degree of the flue baffle. The bypass ratio is the proportion of the
flue gas flow entering the bypass flue to the outlet flue gas flow of
the high temperature economizer and can be calculated by Eq. (7):
Fby
R¼ (7)
Ft
where R is the bypass ratio; Fby is the bypassed flue gas flow; Ft is
the outlet flue gas flow of the high temperature economizer.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Performance analysis of THA condition
The performance parameters of three cases are simulated at the
turbine heat-rate acceptance (THA) condition with electric power
output at 600 MW. The temperature parameters of the baseline
case can be extracted in the prototype unit model. In case study 1,
the outlet temperature of the high pressure economizer is 347.4
C.
The air is heated from 25 to 313.3
C. The flue gas side temperature
of the air preheater will drop to 135.8
C. The feedwater from the
outlet of the FWH NO. 7 is heated by the exhaust flue gas then sent
to the outlet of FWH NO. 6. The flue gas temperature will drop to
95.4
C.
 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198 191

Low
temper-
Division High ature
Final
panel tenper- reheater Coated
super-
Flue gas parameters super- ature (high pipes
heater
(flow temperature heater reheater temperat
component) ure HP Cylinder Exhaust
section)

Low temper-
Vertical ature
water wall Steam parameters reheater
(flow temperature (low
model pressure)
Reheat temperature )
steam FWH NO. 1 Outlet
Super-
heated
steam
Spiral water
wall model
Economizer

Coal parameters
(consumption
Gas
ingredient content)

Air
preheater
Air parameters
(flow temperature)
Air Feedwater parameters
(flow temperature
pressure)

Fig. 6. The boiler system model.

Table 4
Value of operating parameters.

Parameter (THA condition) Design value Simulation value Relative error (%)

Main steam P_MS (MPa) 25.4 25.22 0.71

T_MS (
C) 571 570.6 0.4a
Reheat steam P_RS (MPa) 3.83 3.79 1.04
T_RS (
C) 569 568.3 0.7a
Power Generator power (MW) 600238 602010 0.30
No. 1 FWH P1 (MPa) 5.977 6.111 2.24
h1 (kJ/kg) 3054.8 3056 0.04
D1 (kg/s) 28.95 28.76 0.66
No. 2 FWH P2 (MPa) 4.047 4.237 4.69
h2 (kJ/kg) 2970.1 2977 0.23
D2 (kg/s) 40.50 40.37 0.32
No. 3 FWH P3 (MPa) 1.829 1.833 0.22
h3 (kJ/kg) 3376.2 3374 0.07
D3 (kg/s) 16.91 17.05 0.83
DEA P4 (MPa) 0.9513 0.9593 0.84
h4 (kJ/kg) 3189.1 3188 0.03
D4 (kg/s) 21.91 21.84 0.32
No. 5 FWH P5 (MPa) 0.3915 0.3967 1.33
h5 (kJ/kg) 2974.9 2978 0.10
D5 (kg/s) 22.92 22.90 0.09
No. 6 FWH P6 (MPa) 0.1189 0.1221 2.69
h6 (kJ/kg) 2733.8 2738 0.15
D6 (kg/s) 11.29 11.30 0.09
No. 7 FWH P7 (MPa) 0.05871 0.05953 1.40
h7 (kJ/kg) 2621.1 2623 0.07
D7 (kg/s) 15.17 15.30 0.86
No. 8 FWH P8 (MPa) 0.01874 0.01915 2.19
h8 (kJ/kg) 2493.7 2540 1.86
D8 (kg/s) 9.87 9.91 0.41
a
Absolute error.
192 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

Flue gas flow Flue gas flow Flue gas flow Air temperature

Flue gas temperature Flue gas temperature Air flow

Pre-Air
Air flow Air preheater Flue gas temperature Mixture
Air flow preheater Exhaust flue gas flow

Air Temperature Air temperature Air temperature Exhaust flue gas temperature

Bypass ratio

Bypass flue gas flow Flue gas flow Flue gas flow

Flue gas temperature Flue gas temperature

First-stage Feedwater flow Second-stage Flue gas temperature

Feedwater pump flow
economizer economizer
Feedwater pump temperature Feedwater temperature

Feedwater temperature Feedwater temperature

Fig. 7. The simulation model of the bypass staged economizer system.

Low
Divisio High temper-
Final ature
n panel tenper- Coated
super- reheater
Flue gas parameters super- ature (high pipes
heater
(flow temperature heater reheater temperatur
HP Cylinder Exhaust
component) e section)

Low temper-
ature
Vertical water reheater
Steam parameters
wall model (low
(flow temperature
Reheat pressure) temperature )
FWH NO.1 Outlet
steam
Super-
heated
Spiral water steam
wall model
Economizer
Mixture

Gas Pre-air
preheater

Air
preheater

Heated air from

pre-air preheater Bypass Condensate
Condensate
staged
economizer
Feedwater
Steam turbine system Feedwater

Fig. 8. The unit simulation model of the bypass staged economizer system.
 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198
Table 5
The flue gas acid dew point under different loads.
Load (MW) 660 600 550 500
Flue gas acid dew point (
C) 79.21 79.26 78.55 77.94
When case study 2 is adopted, the following assumptions are
made. The share of bypass gas is designed to be 15% preliminarily.
Because the flow of flue gas into the air preheater is reduced by 15%,
the outlet temperature of the air drops from 313.3
C to 266.1
C,
and the outlet temperature of the flue gas drops to 112
C; this
situation will ensure proper boiler operation. To ensure the air
preheater outlet air temperature, a pre-air preheater can be
installed to increase the air inlet temperature of the air preheater to
69.7
C downstream of the flue gas mixing point. The ratio of
feedwater drawn out of the feedwater pump outlet pipe is 5.1%; this
feedwater is sent to the first-stage bypass economizer and then
heated from 175.4
C to 249.1
C before finally being led to the
outlet of the FWH NO. 2. The mixing point can be selected on the
boiler side to reduce the pipeline investment and part of the
pipeline pressure loss. The ratio of condensate drawn out of outlet
of FWH NO. 6 was 13.4%; this condensate was sent to the second-
stage bypass economizer and heated from 96.8 to 138.2
C before
finally being led to the outlet of FWH NO. 5.
The energy-saving indicators of the three cases are compared in
Table 6 and Fig. 9. When the scheme of the bypass staged econo-
mizer is adopted, the temperature of the flue gas entering the ESP
can be reduced to 95.6
C which is almost the same with the Case
study 1 (95.4
C). But with lower Heat rate, case study 2 has lower
standard coal consumption rate. Compared with the traditional LPE
system, the new type economizer has better energy-saving effects,
and the standard coal consumption rate decreased significantly.
5.2. Performance analysis of the part load conditions
When the unit load changes, the outlet temperature of the air
preheater will also change significantly. In this situation, the energy
saving effect of these cases is a matter of concern. In Fig. 10, the
temperature of exhaust flue gas varies with the load. The design
temperatures of case study 1 and case study 2 are the same at the
THA condition; thus, the exhaust temperature is similar between
case studies 1 and 2. However, in comparison to the baseline, the
exhaust temperature is greatly reduced by an average of 34.9
C.
Notably, when the load is less than 600 MW, the exhaust temper-
ature is lower than the design temperature. The acid dew point is
calculated according to Eq. (1) and Eq. (2) as 81.42
C with the load
changes. The exhaust temperature is 77.86
C at 450 MW, i.e., when
the load is lower than 450 MW, the heat recovery system faces the
risk of acid corrosion. Thus, the performance analyses only consider
loads between 450 MW and 600 MW.
Table 6
Comparison of performance parameters in three cases.
Parameter
Unit power
Coal consumption
Inlet air temperature of air preheater
Standard coal consumption rate
Heat rate
Flue gas bypass ratio
Exhaust flue gas temperature
Boiler efficiency
Reduction of the heat rate
Reduction of the standard coal consumption rate
193
When the inlet flue gas temperature changes significantly in
case study 1 and case study 2, to ensure that the economizer
450 feedwater outlet temperature matches the temperature of the
77.35
corresponding FWH at the regenerative system, the inlet feedwater
flow should be controlled. In case study 2, when controlling water
flow changes in variable load conditions, the bypass ratio and the
flow of the second-stage feedwater is fixed. The first-stage feed-
water flow varies with the load, making it easier to control and
adjust, as shown in Fig. 11.
The performance parameters change significantly when the
load changes in different cases. As shown in Fig. 12, coal con-
sumption is set to be constant; because of the reduced steam
extraction in the regenerative system, power generation will in-
crease. The higher the load, the more extra power will be gener-
ated. The average extra power generation in case study 2 under
different loads is 5292.9 kW, which is more than that of case study
1 at 2431.7 kW. The heat rate and standard coal consumption rate
for each load condition can be calculated using Eq. (8) and Eq. (9), as
shown in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. The heat rate and standard coal con-
sumption rate decrease as the load increases. The average heat rate
of case study 2 under different loads is 57 kJ/kWh lower than that of
case study 1. The average standard coal consumption rate of case
study 2 under different loads is 1.1 g/kWh lower than that of case
study 1. The reduction in the heat rate and standard coal con-
sumption rate does not change much as the load changes. In Fig. 15,
the waste heat recovery systems are beneficial to the unit, enabling
the unit to gross efficiency as the load increases. The average gross
efficiency of case study 2 under different loads is 0.2% higher than
that of case study 1. From the performance parameters, although
case study 1 has a certain energy-saving effect, case study 2 has a
better energy saving effect than case study 1 under different loads.
5.3. Bypass ratio optimization analysis
In case study 2, the change in the bypass ratio will directly affect
the exhaust gas temperature. For example, the flow of bypassed
flue gas will change when the bypass ratio changes at the THA
working condition. To ensure that the economizer feedwater outlet
temperature matches the temperature of the corresponding FWH
at the regenerative system, the flow of feedwater of two stage
economizers should be correspondingly changed. The changes in
flow of two stage economizers in different bypass ratios are shown
in Fig. 16. The second-stage feedwater flow is changed for main
adjustment, while the first-stage feedwater flow is changed for
auxiliary adjustment.
The exhaust flue gas temperatures of the unit under different
loads with different bypass ratios are shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 18 shows
the energy saving effects of case study 2 at different bypass ratios,
which are compared with the results of case study 1. The exhaust
flue gas temperature is different when the load and bypass ratio
change. The greater the bypass ratio is, the lower the exhaust
Unit Baseline Case study 1 Case study 2
kW 601931 604978 607393
t/h 215.2 215.2 215.2


C 25 25 69.7
g/kWh 278 276.6 275.5
kJ/kWh 7495 7470.9 7438.8
% 0 0 15


C 135.8 95.4 95.6
% 94.08 95.05 95.12
kJ/kWh 0 24.1 56.2
g/kWh 0 1.4 2.5
194 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

300 278 276.6 300

275.5
Baseline
Case study 1
250 250
Case study 2

Standard coal consumption rate(g/kWh)

200 200

Temperature( )
150 135.8 150

95.4 95.6
100 100

50 50

0 0
SCE consumption Exhaust flue gas temperature

Fig. 9. Comparison of the standard coal consumption rate and the exhaust flue gas temperature.

140

130

120
Temperature ( )

110

100

90
Baseline
80
Case study 1
70
Case study 2
60
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 10. Temperature of the exhaust flue gas under different loads in the three case studies.

55

50

45

40
Flow (kg/s)

35

30

25

20 First-stage
15 Second-stage
10
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 11. The inlet feedwater flow under different loads.

 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198 195

6000
Case study 1
5500
Case study 2

Extra power generation (kW)

5000

4500

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000
440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600 620
Load (MW)

Fig. 12. Extra power generation under different loads.

7850
Baseline

7750 Case study 1

Case study 2
Heat rate (kJ/kWh)

7650

7550

7450

7350
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 13. Heat rate under different loads.

290
Baseline
Standard coal consumption rate (g/kWh)

288
Case study 1
286 Case study 2

284

282

280

278

276

274
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 14. Standard coal consumption rate under different loads.

196 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

45

44.5

Unit gross efficiency (%)

44

43.5

43
Baseline
42.5 Case study 1

Case study 2
42
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 15. Unit gross efficiency under different loads.

90
First Stage
80
Second Stage
70

60
Flow (kg/s)

50

40

30

20

10
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Bypass ratio (%)

Fig. 16. The flow of two stage economizers in different bypass ratios.

95
550MW

500MW
90
600MW
Temperature ( )

450MW

85

80

75
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Bypass ratio (%)

Fig. 17. The exhaust flue gas temperature of case study 2 at different bypass ratios.
 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198 197

Standard coal consumption rate reduction

2.5

2
(g/kWh)

1.5

1 600MW
550MW
0.5 500MW
450MW
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Bypass ratio (%)

Fig. 18. The energy saving effects of case study 2 at different bypass ratios.

temperature. Therefore, flue gas temperature control can be ach-
ieved by adjusting the bypass ratio. Taking into account the flue gas
acid dew point limit, the exhaust gas temperature must be
controlled at above 80
C. The maximum bypass ratio can be read
from Figs. 17 and 18. The bypass ratio should be controlled below
42% when the load is 600 MW. The corresponding maximum en-
ergy saving effect is approximately 2.5 g/kWh. If the bypass ratio is
greater than 42%, then the temperature of the flue gas at the inlet of
the ESP will be below the acid dew point (80
C). When the load is
550 MW, the bypass ratio should be controlled below 31%. The
corresponding maximum energy saving effect is approximately
2.3 g/kWh. When the load is 500 MW, the bypass ratio should be
controlled below 19%. The corresponding maximum energy saving
effect is approximately 1.8 g/kWh. When the load is 450 MW, the
bypass ratio should be controlled below 13%. The corresponding
maximum energy saving effect is approximately 1.4 g/kWh.
The optimal bypass flue gas ratio and the best coal saving effects
for different loads are shown in Fig. 19. The unit can adjust the
separate flue baffles according to different loads to achieve the best
bypass ratio. This ratio can ensure not only that the temperature of
flue gas at inlet of the lower temperature ESP is 80
C but also that
operations are safe. The higher the unit load, the greater the pro-
portion of flue gas that can be used to heat the feedwater and
condensate and the lower the standard coal consumption rate.
Therefore, the performance of case study 2 is better than case study 1.
6. Conclusions
An improved economizer system for China's typical 600-MW
ultra-supercritical power units is proposed that can effectively
recover the waste heat and increase the unit efficiency. The scheme
can be used not only for the transformation of the economizer
system of the existing unit in China but also for the design of the
new unit. The following conclusions are drawn from this study:
(1) At the THA condition, in comparison with the baseline, the
bypass staged economizer can reduce the standard coal
consumption rate by 2.5 g/kWh at the optimal bypass ratio.

45 3

40
2.5
Standard coal consumption rate

35
reduction(g/KWh)
Bypass ratio (%)

30
2
25

20 1.5

15
Optimal bypass ratio 1
10
Optimal SCE consumption reduction
5 0.5
400 450 500 550 600 650
Load (MW)

Fig. 19. Optimal bypass ratio and best coal saving effects for different loads.
198 P. Xiao et al. / Energy 170 (2019) 185e198

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