Feedwater heaters pre-heat feedwater before it enters steam boilers using extracted steam. This improves efficiency by reducing irreversibilities during steam generation. There are two main types: open feedwater heaters which mix extracted steam and feedwater, and closed feedwater heaters which are shell-and-tube heat exchangers where steam condenses on the outside of tubes carrying feedwater. Proper maintenance through inspections and repairs is important to prevent tube failures from issues like erosion, corrosion, and cracking.
Feedwater heaters pre-heat feedwater before it enters steam boilers using extracted steam. This improves efficiency by reducing irreversibilities during steam generation. There are two main types: open feedwater heaters which mix extracted steam and feedwater, and closed feedwater heaters which are shell-and-tube heat exchangers where steam condenses on the outside of tubes carrying feedwater. Proper maintenance through inspections and repairs is important to prevent tube failures from issues like erosion, corrosion, and cracking.
Feedwater heaters pre-heat feedwater before it enters steam boilers using extracted steam. This improves efficiency by reducing irreversibilities during steam generation. There are two main types: open feedwater heaters which mix extracted steam and feedwater, and closed feedwater heaters which are shell-and-tube heat exchangers where steam condenses on the outside of tubes carrying feedwater. Proper maintenance through inspections and repairs is important to prevent tube failures from issues like erosion, corrosion, and cracking.
Feedwater heaters pre-heat feedwater before it enters steam boilers using extracted steam. This improves efficiency by reducing irreversibilities during steam generation. There are two main types: open feedwater heaters which mix extracted steam and feedwater, and closed feedwater heaters which are shell-and-tube heat exchangers where steam condenses on the outside of tubes carrying feedwater. Proper maintenance through inspections and repairs is important to prevent tube failures from issues like erosion, corrosion, and cracking.
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FEEDWATER HEATER
A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system. This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the system cycle. In steam power plant, usually modelled as a modified Rankine Cycle, feedwater heaters allow the feedwater to be brought up to the saturation temperature very gradually. This minimizes the inevitable irreversibilities associated with heat transfer to the working fluid which is water.
OPEN FEEDWATER HEATER
An open feedwater heater is basically a mixing chamber, where the steam extracted from the turbine mixes with the water exiting the pump. In an ideal condition, the water leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the heater pressure. The schematic of a steam power plant with one open feedwater heater is shown below.
Schematic diagram of one open feedwater heater
In an ideal regenerative Rankine cycle with an open feedwater heater, steam from the boiler (state 5) expands in the turbine to an intermediate pressure (state 6). At this state, some of the steam is extracted and sent to the feedwater heater, while the remaining steam in the turbine continues to expand to the condenser pressure (state 7). Saturated water from the condenser (state 1) is pumped to the feedwater pressure and send to the feedwater heater (state 2). At the feedwater heater, the compressed water is mixed with the steam extracted from the turbine (state 6) and exits the feedwater heater as saturated water at the heater pressure (state 3). Then the saturated water is pumped to the boiler pressure by a second pump (state 4). The water is heated to a higher temperature in the boiler (state 5) and the cycle repeats again. The T-s diagram of this cycle is shown below
T-S diagram of an ideal
One Open Feedwater Heater
Regenerative Rankine Cylce with
Note that the mass flow rate
different. If 1 kg steam enters to the feedwater heater and
at each component is the turbine, y kg is extracted (1-y) kg continues to expand
to the condenser pressure. So if the mass flow rate at the boiler is
from other components are: Condenser: Pump :
(1-y) (1-y)
Feedwater Heater: Pump
, then the mass flow rate
y+
(1-y) =
For convenience, heat and work interactions for regenerative Rankine cycle is expressed per unit mass of steam flowing through the boiler. They are: Heat Input: qin = h5 - h4 Heat Output: qout = (1 - y)(h1 - h7) Work Output: Wturb,out = (h5 - h6) + (1 - y)(h6 - h7) Work input: Wpump,in = (1 - y)(h2 - h1) + (h4 - h3) Open feedwater heaters are simple and inexpensive, and can also bring the feedwater to saturated state. However, each feedwater needs a separate pump which adds to the cost.
CLOSED FEEDWATER HEATER
Closed feedwater heaters are shell-and-tube type recuperators in which feedwater temperature increases as the extracted steam condenses on the outside of the tubes carrying the feedwater. The two streams can be at different pressures since the two streams do not mix. The schematic of a steam power plant with one closed feedwater heater is shown below
Schematic diagram of Ideal Regenerative
Rankine Cycle with One Closed Feedwater Heater
A Closed Feedwater Heater
In an ideal regenerative Rankine cycle with a closed feedwater, steam from the boiler (state 4) expands in the turbine to an intermediate pressure (state 5). Then some of the steam is extracted at this state and sent to the feedwater heater, while the remaining steam in the turbine continues to expand to the condenser pressure (state 6). The extracted steam (state 5) condenses in the closed feedwater while heating the feedwater from the pump. The heated feedwater (state 3) is send to the boiler and the condensate from the feedwater heater (state 7) is allowed to pass through a trap into a lower pressure heater or condenser (state 8).
Another way of removing the condensate from the closed feedwater heater is pump the condensate forward to a higher-pressure point in the cycle. The T-s diagram of this cycle is shown below.
T-S diagram of an ideal Regenerative Rankine Cycle with One Closed Feedwater Heater
Heat and work interactions for regenerative Rankine cycle with one closed feedwater heater is expressed per unit mass of water flowing through the boiler. They are: Heat Input: qin = h4 - h3 Heat Output: qout = (1 - y)(h1 - h6) + y(h8 - h1) Work Output: Wturb,out = (h4 - h5) + (1 - y)(h5 - h6) Work input: Wpump,in = (h2 - h1) Compared with open feedwater heaters, closed feedwater heaters are more complex, and thus more expensive. Since the two streams do not mix in the heater, closed feedwater heaters do not require a separate pump for each heater. Most power plants use a combination of open and closed feedwater heaters.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF FEEDWATER HEATERS
Damage to feedwater heaters has involved primarily tube failures, which have been caused by the following :
Erosion from steam impingement
Tube vibration Erosion and corrosion on the inlet tube end Oxygen pitting Stress corrosion cracking Failures of tube joints Improper plugging Poor maintenance
Non-destructive examination (NDE) are used for tube-side and shell-side inspections. Since tube conditions are critical, eddy current and ultrasonic testing (UT) are used to evaluate tube integrity. Eddy current testing determines wall thinning and identifies crack that have occurred. When leaks are detected, tubes are usually plugged with tapered or mechanical plugs and are expanded in the tubesheet. Explosive plug are also used. Copper-based tubing has been replaced by other materials in order to reduce the carryover of dissolved copper
Hydraulic Tables; The Elements Of Gagings And The Friction Of Water Flowing In Pipes, Aqueducts, Sewers, Etc., As Determined By The Hazen And Williams Formula And The Flow Of Water Over The Sharp-Edged And Irregular Weirs, And The Quantity Discharged
Hydraulic Tables; The Elements Of Gagings And The Friction Of Water Flowing In Pipes, Aqueducts, Sewers, Etc., As Determined By The Hazen And Williams Formula And The Flow Of Water Over The Sharp-Edged And Irregular Weirs, And The Quantity Discharged
