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Supercritical boiler technology for future market conditions

Joachim Franke and Rudolf Kral

Siemens Power Generation

Presented at Parsons Conference 2003

Oct. 2003

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1 Introduction
The requirements for environmental protection and operating economy in future steam power
plants make high efficiency levels and operating flexibility a matter of course not only in the EU but
also in increasing measure around the world. Existing technologies have currently enabled fulfill-
ment of these requirements by pulverized-coal-fired power plants and in part also by power plants
with circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustion systems.

Higher efficiencies can be achieved only along the path of higher steam temperatures and pres-
sures.

2 State of the art


Power plants operating at supercritical pressure and high steam temperatures were already being
constructed in the 1950s (Fig.1). The 1960s saw a series of supercritical plants in the U.S. (such
as those equipped with the universal pressure boiler) and in the last twenty years supercritical
plants were used exclusively in Germany and Japan. The latter were designed for sliding-pressure
operation and thus also
fulfill the requirements
for high operating
Chemische Werke Eddystone
flexibility and high plant Plant
Hüls
Philo Nr. 6
Nr. 1
efficiencies at part load.
(Fig.2). Comission Date 1956 1957 1959

To date, CFB power Electrical Output MW 85 125 325


plants have been used
especially for smaller
Steam Flow t/h 260 306 907
power output levels,
generally with drum
boilers. Plants up to 350 Main Steam bar/°C 304 / 600 321 / 621 357 / 649

MW are in the meantime


already in operation and Reheater 1 bar/°C 109 / 560 82 / 565 76 / 565
several plants equipped
with Benson1 boilers Reheater 2 bar/°C 32 / 560 13 / 537 19 / 565
have also been
constructed. Supercriti-
cal plants for ratings Figure 1: World’s first supercritical Power Plants
above 400 MW are
planned.

Power plants operating at supercritical steam pressure have already demonstrated their opera-
tional capabilities and high availability over decades. The transition to steam temperatures of
600°C and higher is now a further major development step, which decisively affects many aspects
of the design of the power plant, especially of the boiler. Whether the transition to these high steam
temperatures is economical also depends not only on the choice of main steam pressure, reheat
pressure and feedwater temperature, but also on the range of fuel.

1
Benson is a registered trademark of Siemens AG
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To date, the focus Output Design Pre ssure *) Steam Temperature Year of
Power Plant
was on material de- [MW] [bar] Boiler Outlet [°C] Commisioning

velopment for the Avedorevaerket 2


Boxberg
415
915
332
285
582 / 600
545 / 580
2001
2000
superheaters and Skaerbaekvaerket 410 310 582 / 580 / 580 1999
the thick-walled Lippendorf
Nordjyllandsvaerket
2 x 930
410
285
310
554 / 583
582 / 580 / 580
1999
1998
components for high Aghios Dimitrios 350 242 540 / 540 1998
Schkopau Europe
steam temperatures. Neckar 2
2 x480
340
285
285
545 / 562
545 / 568
1997
1997
However, investiga- Rostock 550 285 545 / 562 1994
Hemweg
tions indicate that Meri Pori
660
550
261
240
540 / 540
540 / 540
1994
1994
the wall heating sur- Staudinger 5 550 285 545 / 562 1992
Fynsvaerket
faces can become 430 275 540 / 540 1992

the limiting compo-


Tachibanawan
nents for further Tachibanawan 1
1050
700
285
275
605 /
570 /
613
595
2001
2000
increases in steam Haramachi 2 1000 280 604 / 602 1998
Matsuura 2
parameters. One Nanao Ota
1000
500
275
275
598 /
570 /
596
595
1997
1995 Japan
reason for this is the Shinchi 1000 275 542 / 567 1994
Noshiro
increasing fraction Hekinan 2
600
700
293
275
542 /
543 /
567
569
1993
1992
of superheater heat Shin Miyazu 450 270 541 / 569 1991 *) max. allow able
to be transferred working pressure
at boiler outlet
with increasing
steam parameters.
Figure 2: Large Supercritical BENSON Boilers in Europe and Japan -
References

3 Effect on design
- Size of heat exchange surfaces

Higher steam temperatures automatically diminish the temperature differences between the flue
gas and steam, with relatively large superheater and reheater heating surfaces as a consequence.
As higher tube wall temperatures also mean an increased tendency to fouling, corresponding
heating surface reserves must be provided.

Feedwater temperature has a large effect on the size of the heating surfaces in the cooler flue-gas
path. Values of 290°C to 300°C or higher are necessary for high-efficiency plants. As on the one
hand the flue-gas temperature downstream of the economizer is set in the design case at roughly
400°C – the temperature window for DeNOx – and on the other hand the water outlet temperature
from the economizer is limited to avoid steaming, the upstream superheaters must absorb more
heat with increasing feedwater temperature. At higher steam conditions, especially at increasing
reheat pressures, the exhaust steam temperatures from the HP section of the turbine and thus the
reheat inlet temperatures also increase. While these temperatures are still approx. 320°C at a de-
sign main steam temperature of 540°C, they already increase to over 350°C in a 600°C main
steam temperature design and even up to over 420°C in a 700°C design. This considerably de-
creases the temperature difference to the flue gas, with the consequence of still larger heating
surfaces in the reheaters.

Under consideration of a cost-effective heating surface design, feedwater temperatures should not
exceed 300°C, and HP exhaust steam pressures should lie in the range of 60 bar.

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- End of evaporation

The location of the separator determines the location of the end of the evaporator on startup and
at low load in recirculation mode. Usually the separator is configured such that its temperature is
slightly superheated at the lowest once-through load point. Design of the boiler for high steam
temperatures and pressures leads to this being already the case in lower areas of the furnace
walls instead of as from the outlet first pass or in the boiler roof. The reason for this is the increas-
ing degree of superheat and correspondingly decreasing fraction of evaporation in the heat input
to the HP section with increasing steam parameters. At a load of 40%, the degree of superheat in
a 540°C boiler is
approx. 27%,
and this in- 100
creases to 39%, 90 HPSuperheating
HP Superheating
for example, in a 27
80 32
design for 700°C 39
main steam 70

temperature 60
(Fig. 3 and Fig. Q
50 Preheatingand
and
[%] 58 Preheating
4). As the highly 53
46 Evaporation
Evaporation
40
loaded heating
surface area 30

must lie up- 20


RHSuperheating
RH Superheating
stream of the 10 15 15 15
separators for
0
reasons of 1 2 3
evaporator cool- Steam conditions
T HP/RH 540 / 560 °C 600 / 620 °C 700 / 720 °C
ing and the p HP 250 bar 290 bar 350 bar
separator thus MHP 600 kg/s 543 kg/s 476 kg/s
cannot be
moved arbitrarily
Figure 3: Heat Flow Distribution in Variable Pressure Operation
toward the burn-
at 40% Load
ers, a signifi-
cantly larger degree of superheat will result at the lowest once-through operating point (Fig.5).
This considerably increases the downward step of the steam temperatures on the transition to re-
circulation mode. In order to extensively prevent this temperature change, the transition from
once-through to recirculation mode must be placed at a very low load point, requiring recirculation
mode only for startup. Whereas for boilers with spiral wound tubing the minimum load in once
through operation is in the range of 30% to 40%, an evaporator based on the "Benson Low Mass
Flux"[1] design with vertical rifled tubes enables loads to below 20%.

Furnace Design and Size is given by


Coal and Ash Quality

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3000

FEGT = IDT - 50 K kJ/kg

FEGT = Furnace exit gas temperature 2600


IDT = Initial deformation temperature of ash

2200

1800

Corresponding
Furnace Design ∆h Evaporation full load steam
pressure:
and Size is given at 40% Load 350 bar
290 bar
by Coal and Ash (sliding pres- 250 bar
Quality sure) 190 bar
1000
0 100 200 bar

Zones of Evaporation (at Part Load)

Full Load Steam Conditions Full Load Steam Conditions


190 bar / 535 °C / 535 °C 250 bar / 540 °C / 560 °C

Full Load Steam Conditions Full Load Steam Conditions


290 bar / 600 °C / 620 °C 350 bar / 700 °C / 720 °C

Figure 4: Increasing steam conditions lead to different evaporator designs

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T [°C]
4000 800

3900
703 °C / 358 bar 750
3800 Superheater Outlet 476 kg/s

3700 603 °C / 300 bar


Reheater 543 kg/s
700

3600
540 °C 544 °C / 261 bar 650
3500
200 bar 600 kg/s
3400
600
3300

3200
Water Wall
Outlet 550
3100 Roof Water Wall
Outlet
3000

2900 500
100% Load
2800 Roof
2700 Nose
Nose
2600

2500 450

2400

2300
h [kJ/kg]

2200

2100

2000
400
1900

1800 Evaporator
Inlet
1700
Evaporator
1600 Inlet 350

1500

1400
300
1300

1200
Economiser Inlet
1100 250
100% Load
1000

900
200

800 Economiser Inlet


700 40% Load 150
600

500
100
400
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400
p [bar]

Figure 5: Water and Steam Temperatures in the h-p Diagram

Water walls

The water walls in boilers for subcritical steam conditions are generally configured as evaporators.
At increasing steam temperatures and pressures, the fraction of evaporator heating surfaces de-
creases, with the result that parts of the water walls must also be configured as superheaters, i.e.
downstream of the separator.
In the highly loaded furnace area, spiral-wound evaporator tubing is usually used with smooth
tubes and high mass fluxes – approx. 2000 – 2500 kg/m³s. As spiral-wound furnace tubing of this
type is not self-supporting, it is reinforced with support straps which are welded to the tube wall
with support blocks.

High steam parameters also lead to higher material loading in the evaporator. The previously ex-
isting design reserves are no longer available, with the result that a detailed stress analysis is re-
quired for the design of the evaporator tubing in each case. As a result of the requisite large wall
thicknesses, the design of highly loaded heating surface areas is in part no longer determined by
the primary stresses due to internal pressure but rather by the secondary stresses due to re-

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strained thermal expansion. The higher evaporator temperatures also result in increasing tem-
perature differences between the tubes and support straps on startup and shutdown. This in turn
leads to longer startup times, especially on cold start.

The "Benson Low


Mass Flux" design Æ Low mass flux design with natural
developed by circulation characteristic
SIEMENS with de-
sign mass fluxes Æ Simple, cost-effective manufacture and
of approx. 1000
kg/m²s and below
assembly of water walls
and with vertical
rifled evaporator Æ Simpler maintenance e. g. for tube damage
tubes requires no
additional support Æ No stresses due to thermal expansion
structure and thus because welded-on support straps
also does not im- are eliminated
pair plant flexibility
in spite of wall Æ Reduced auxiliary power consumption
outlet tempera-
tures of approx. Æ Reduced slagging
500°C and
above.(Fig.6).
In a design for Figure 6: Vertically-Tubed Furnace for BENSON Boilers
main steam tem- Principle and Characteristics
peratures of
600°C and above, the creep strengths of the wall materials commonly used to date such as
13CrMo44 (T12) are no longer sufficient, necessitating the transition to new developments such
as 7CrMoVTiB1010 (T24) or HCM2S (T23). This is already the case at steam pressures of 300
bar and above for lower design temperatures. Looking at primary stresses the creep strengths of
these materials, which require no post-welding heat treatment, permit steam temperatures up to
530°C in the furnace walls depending on main steam pressure, but the corrosion resistance and
secondary stresses limit these values down to 500°C. Main steam temperatures of 630°C at mod-
erate steam pressures are thus achievable as regards the walls.

At higher steam temperatures, materials such as HCM12 or T92 are required which must be heat-
treated after welding. In order to minimize the manufacturing expenditure in such a design, the
erection welds on evaporator tubes must be reduced to the absolute minimum possible. This is
currently feasible only with vertical tubing. The relatively complex welds in the corners for spiral-
wound furnace tubing are eliminated and the individual wall segments are welded together only at
the fins. Welding of tubes may become necessary only in the horizontal plane. Solutions are also
available for this which minimize expenditure on heat treatment on erection.
In all cases, it can be stated that the problems in the design of the water walls increase dispropor-
tionately with increasing steam pressures. A reduction of main steam pressure from 350 bar to
250 bar reduces the efficiency of a 700°C plant by 0.7 percentage points but it also reduces the
wall outlet temperature from 540°C to 500°C and makes a design with materials without post weld
heat treatment possible. Main steam pressures far above 250 bar should therefore be avoided,
also in plants with high steam temperatures.

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- Evaporator/superheater dividing point

At high steam parameters the water walls can no longer be designed entirely as an evaporator.
The transition from evaporator walls to superheater walls then lies above the furnace. This transi-
tion must be designed so as to minimize the temperature differences between the evaporator and
superheater sections of the walls which automatically result on water filling after shutdown, espe-
cially on water filling after an emergency shut down. Values of up to 80 K represent no cause for
concern. For higher values such as can occur at very high steam conditions as well as in large
furnaces, a flexible connection, not necessarily welded gas-tight, should also be taken into consid-
eration for this transition.

- Superheater heating surfaces

For steam temperatures up to approx. 550°C, all heating surfaces can be constructed of ferritic or
martensitic materials, while at 600°C austenitic materials are necessary for the final superheater
heating surfaces for both the HP section of the boiler as well as the reheater. In addition to the
strength parameters, corrosion behavior on the flue-gas and oxidation behavior on the steam
sides is especially determinative for material selection. Fig.7, Superheater materials for high tem-
peratures, shows a selection of available materials. With regard to strength parameters, construc-
tion of superheater heating surfaces for steam temperatures up to 650°C is currently already fea-
sible with austenitic steel materials. The corrosion resistance of the available materials however
reduces the design limits to about 630°C.

Maximum HP Steam Temperature limited by


Approved by
Creep Rupture Strength* Corrosion

X3CrNiMoN1713 595 580 EN

AC66 605 620 VdTÜV

Esshete 615 580 VdTÜV / BS


VdTÜV / ASME
TP 347 H (FG) 620 600
MITI
Super 304H (FG) 635 600 ASME / MITI

NF 709 645 620 MITI

630 VdTÜV / ASME


HR 3C 630
MITI
under develop-
Save 25 655 630 ment / MITI

under
Alloy 617 A130 685 720 development

* 100 MPa at Steam Temperature +35K

Figure 7: Available Superheater Tube Materials

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- Thick-walled components

In the first steam generators with very high steam temperatures, austenitic materials were used for
the hot headers and connecting lines. However, the poor thermoelastic behavior – low thermal
conductivity, high thermal expansion – render these materials unsuitable for boilers which are im-
plemented in power plants with a large number of load changes and minimum startup times.

The development of chromium steels such as P91, P92 or E911 has enabled steam temperatures
up to 620°C without the use of austenitic materials for thick-walled components. More recent de-
velopments such Main steam pressure upstream of turbine [bar]
as NF12 and 360
Save 12 could
extend the limits NF 12
of implementation
E 911/
at moderate main NF 616
320
steam pressures TP 347H FG
up to 650°C in the P 91
near future.
X 20 Alloy 617
With regard to the 280
thick-walled com-
ponents, espe-
cially for the main
steam headers, it
proves that the 240
main steam pres- Ferritic
sures should Austenitic Ni-based
more likely lie be- material
low 300 bar for 200
optimum compo- 540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700 720
nent utilization Main steam temperature upstream of turbine [°C]
(Fig.8) [2].
Figure 8: Optimum Main Steam Conditions with given
Main Steam Header Dimensions

- Effect on operation

Power plants which are designed for fast load changes and short and frequent starts must neces-
sarily be operated in sliding-pressure mode. Only then does the material loading of the turbine re-
main acceptable: in sliding-pressure operation– usually between full load and 40% load - the tem-
perature curve in the turbine remains nearly constant over the entire load range. These advan-
tages for the turbine contrast with disadvantages for the boiler. For example, the temperatures in
the water walls decrease from full load to part load by approx. 100 K. Due to their magnitude and
the ordinarily larger wall thicknesses at the elevated steam parameters, the temperature changes
during start up and load variations place increased requirements on the design of the thick-walled
components such as multiple parallel passes, but also on the design of the tube walls, such as
vertical tubing, in order to achieve similar startup times and load change rates to those in plants
with conventional steam parameters.

With increasing steam parameters, the degree of superheat at the outlet of the evaporator sections
of the water walls at the lowest once-through load point also increases. A high degree of superheat
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leads to a temperature reduction at the evaporator end and in the superheaters in the transition to
recirculation mode. The separators are therefore moved as far as possible toward the burner zone.
Operating measures to reduce the degree of superheat are increased excess air, flue-gas recircu-
lation and use of the uppermost burner levels. The higher the steam temperatures and pressures
become, the more important is the lowest possible load point in once-through operation, so that the
once-through/recirculation mode transition need be traversed only on startup.

The large degree of superheat in the separator at the lowest once-through operating point also
results in changes in startup behavior at high steam parameters. On warm and hot startup in recir-
culation mode, the achievable hot steam temperatures are below the values required by the tur-
bine. The earliest possible transition to once-through operation is necessary in order to shorten
startup time, as full main steam temperatures are also already possible at low load in this operating
mode.

High feedwater temperatures can restrict the sliding-pressure range in plants with very high main
steam pressures. In order to prevent the economizer from approaching the evaporation point at low
load, the pressure must be already fixed below 50% load or still higher depending on the design.

Increasing steam parameters also decrease the design reserves of nearly all pressure part com-
ponents, as, not least for reasons of cost, the decision for advanced materials is not made until the
reserves of lower quality materials become insufficient. This also increases the requirements on
control quality: temperature deviations from the design value, such as on load changes, must be
kept to a minimum. The conventional cascade controller is no longer sufficient for superheat tem-
perature control;
concepts such as Evaporator outlet temperature
two-loop feedback Previous feedwater
control or observer 470 control concept
features provide °
New feedwater
significantly better 460 control concept
control quality. with allowance for
450 - inlet enthalpy
Special attention - storage of thermal
must be given to energy
feedwater control. 440
Conventional sys-
tems which employ 430
only simple delay
modules to account
for the dynamic 420
differences be-
tween heat release 410
by the fuel and
heat absorption by
the evaporator 400
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 s 1500
tubes usually lead
to large tempera- Time
ture fluctuations at
Figure 9: Comparison of Feedwater Control Concepts
the evaporator out-
Load reduction from 100% to 50%
let on load
changes. New con-
trol concepts which account for effects such as those of changes in the evaporator inlet tempera-

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ture or the thermal storage capacity of the tube wall in the form feed forward control (Fig.9) in-
crease control quality decisively and thus minimize the use of more expensive, higher-quality mate-
rials.

For high degrees of superheat at the lowest once-through load point, the transition from recircula-
tion mode to once-through operation and back can no longer take place without delay due to the
relatively large temperature change; the control must be adapted accordingly for a sliding transi-
tion.

4 Other effects
Design of the tube walls in particular is impeded by the high steam temperatures and pressures.
The design parameters should be selected as best as possible so as not to necessitate the use of
materials for which heat treatment must be performed after welding. A significant aspect for this is
selection of the fuel. Coals with low ash deformation temperatures require large furnaces, associ-
ated with high heat input to the walls. A 100K lower ash deformation temperature leads in a com-
parable boiler concept to a temperature increase at the wall outlet of about 25K. Because of this for
the currently
available wall ma- Wall exit temperature °C
terials without
post-welding heat 600
treatment, the ash
deformation tem-
perature for a
600°C boiler may
not be much lower
than 1200°
(Fig.10). TFD = 700°C
500 pFD = 350 bar
The implementa-
tion of flue-gas TFD = 600°C
recirculation – pFD = 300 bar
extraction of the A617
flue gases if pos- P92 TFD = 540°C
sible upstream of 7CrMoVTiB1010 pFD = 250 bar
the air heater in 13CrMo44
400
order to reduce
the negative effect 1100 1200 1300
on exhaust-gas
temperature– can
Ash deformation temperature °C
shift the limits to
higher steam pa-
Figure 10: Design Limits for Water Wall Materials
rameters.

Steam generators for power plants with high steam parameters and hence high plant efficiencies
are consequently also designed for high boiler efficiencies. The lowest possible exhaust-gas tem-
peratures – 115°C to 110°C can be achieved depending on the coal – and lower excess air are
prerequisites for this. Both of these factors lead to an increased heat input to the evaporator and
thus impede the design of the wall heating surfaces.

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The high tube wall temperatures of the superheater heating surfaces as well as lower excess air
and low-NOx firing systems increase the corrosion problem. For the selection of supeheater mate-
rials the resistance to scale formation from the flue-gas atmosphere and steam is therefore just as
important as creep resistance.

4.1 Special aspects for CFB

The advantages of CFB technology are uncontested for low-grade fuels or for fuels with widely
fluctuating quality as well as for low exhaust-gas emissions without post-combustion control meas-
ures. CFB plants up to capacities of 350 MWe are currently in operation. However, only once-
through operation with high steam conditions render CFB technology serious competition for pul-
verized-coal firing. A plant for approx. 460 MWe with steam parameters of 560°C/580°C and 265
bar was developed in an EU research program. The BENSON "Low Mass Flux" design was se-
lected as the evaporator concept. It fulfills the requirements of a fluidized bed to a special degree:
the tube orientation parallel to the flue gas/ash flow ensures low susceptibility to erosion, and tem-
perature variations between the evaporator tubes are extensively prevented, as non-uniform heat
inputs are evened out by the natural circulation flow characteristic of the low mass flux design. It
also features an especially simple construction, as flow through all of the tubes in a single pass is
parallel, thus eliminating the need for elaborate water/steam distribution.

The suitability of this evaporator system for sliding-pressure operation also fulfills all requirements
for a power plant with regard to operating flexibility.

4.2 Combined-cycle plants

Heat-recovery steam generators downstream of gas turbines are usually designed as drum boil-
ers. Increasing exhaust-gas temperatures downstream of gas turbines as well as the increasing
requirements on flexibility of a combined-cycle plant with frequent starts also make the use of
once-through systems interesting here. Elimination of the drum on the one hand increases operat-
ing flexibility and on the other hand is a noticeable cost aspect. In the Cottam combined-cycle
plant, a heat-recovery steam generator with a once-through evaporator based on the Benson "Low
Mass Flux" design was constructed for the first time and runs successfully in commercial operation
since Sept.1999. This evaporator concept is characterized by extremely low mass fluxes which still
lie far below those of fired boilers.

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5 Summary and outlook
Steam temperatures of 600°C to 620°C are currently possible as a result of efforts in materials
development. However, not only are new materials necessary for higher temperature ranges, but
further development was also necessary for the wall materials. On further temperature increases,
previous design concepts can no longer be adopted without modifications. New designs are nec-
essary for the evaporator in particular in order to give boilers for high-temperature plants similar
flexibility to that of previous once-through boilers.

The Low Mass Flux Design provides an evaporator concept which meets the new requirements
and which permits further development to higher steam parameters for pulverized-coal-fired boil-
ers and for boilers with circulating fluidized bed firing as well as for heat-recovery steam genera-
tors downstream of gas turbines.

A further increase in steam temperatures appears possible in the next years with continuous ma-
terials development, but without using nickel based materials not more than 10K to 20K. From the
current standpoint, the jump to 700°C will not take place until the next decade. However, from an
economic perspective, the high steam temperatures will only be selected given correspondingly
competitive materials prices and if, among other things, the appropriate main steam and reheat
pressures are selected and the fuel ranges are limited.

References

[1] J. Franke and R. Kral


Innovative Boiler Design to Reduce Capital Cost and Construction Time
Power-Gen 2002

[2] J. Franke, R. Kral and E. Wittchow


Steam Generators for the Next Generation of Power Plants
VGB Power Tech 12/99

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