DESIGN OF 750 MW COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT

Chapter VI

Water Loop

Water loop discusses the water cycle when it is use as a cooling medium in the proposed
plant design. In combined cycle power plant, the focus of this chapter is with the components of
the plant that consumes water as a working fluid. This water loop is divided into two: feed water
system and cooling tower system. This discussion will be the basis of the equipment
specification for the water loop.

The chapter focuses on the mentioned systems that will be used for the plant design.
Water loop is divided into two systems, the feed water system and the cooling water system. In
this chapter, the method of preparation and conditioning of the feed water and the cooling water
will both be tackled. Also, water treatment will be discussed and the discussion will be the basis
of the equipment specification for the water loop.

Figure 6.1: Schematic Diagram of Water Loop System

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6.1 Feed Water Reservoir

Site location is one of the main considerations in determining the water source for the
construction of power plant. Usually, most power plants are located near the bodies of water
where there is higher availability of water supply. There are several potential water sources that
may be used for water cycle for power plant these are ground water, surface water and sea water.
The plant location is assumed to be near the sea. It will be economical to have water source that
will be used for the loop. For the feed water system sea water will be the water source. Sea water
has impurities. The plant location is assumed to be near the sea. It will be economical to have
water source that will be used for the loop. For the feed water system sea water will be the water
source. Sea water has impurities before using these in the cycle it must undergo treatment since
both has hazardous element that may affect the system.

6.1.1 Water Quality

For a reliable and continuous operation on industrial tube steam generators, the ASME
provides the recommended water quality to be used; and is shown on Table 6.1 below:

Table 6.1: ASME Guidelines for Water Quality

BOILER FEED WATER

Drum Iron Copper Total
Pressure (ppm (ppm Hardness
(psi) Fe) Cu) (ppm
CaCO3)
0-300 0.100 0.050 0.300
301-450 0.050 0.025 0.300
451-600 0.030 0.020 0.200
601-750 0.025 0.020 0.200
751-900 0.020 0.015 0.100
901-1000 0.020 0.015 0.050
1001-1500 0.010 0.010 0.0
1501-2000 0.010 0.010 0.0
Source: ASME

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6.1.2 Seawater Quality

The quality of seawater will determine the appropriate treatment for it to be used as the
cooling medium of the designed power plant. Table 6.2 shows the composition of seawater by
means of ions.

Table 6.2 Ionic Composition of Seawater

Composition Amount, mg/L

Chloride 18.98
Sodium 10.556
Sulfate 2.649
Magnesium 1.262
Calcium 400
Potassium 380
Bicarbonate 140
Strontium 13
Bromide 65
Borate 26
Fluoride 1
Silicate 1
Iodine <1
others -
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 34.483
Source: LENNtech.org

6.2 Feed Water Treatment

In a power plant industry, high purity feed water is required to ensure proper operation of
the steam generation systems and protects the equipments used against corrosion. Dissolved
gasses such as oxygen and carbon dioxide will react with the metals in the boiler system and lead
to boiler corrosion. In order to protect the boiler from these contaminants, they should be

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controlled or removed. Feed water treatment reduces the use of boiler chemicals due to less
frequent blow down requirements (reducing blow down requirement frequency by as much as a
factor of 10). Lower level of impurities also reduces corrosion rates in the steam turbine blade
erosion is reduced due to higher purity steam generated.

The use of reverse osmosis in feed water purifications systems reduces chemical costs by
reducing the frequency of ion exchanger regeneration. A complete system, which includes
reverse osmosis and ion exchange, typically results in a more cost effective system when
compared to systems that do not use reverse osmosis. However, the use of conventional reverse
osmosis requires substantial use of pre-treatment unit operations which also adds costs
(vsep.org)

For a reliable and continuous operation on industrial tube steam generators, the ASME
provides the recommended water quality to be used; and is shown on Table 6.1 below.

Figure 6.2: Schematic Diagram of Feed Water Treatment

6.2.1 External Treatment

External treatment is done to prepare the raw water before being fed into the
boiler. It is divided into several treatments both mechanical and chemical, as to primarily

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improve the quality of water to an acceptable condition prior to its use as boiler feed
water, which is done external to the steam generator. External treatment will undergo to
filtration and reverse osmosis.

 Filtration

The first process in treating the water is the filtration. Filtration is the process of
removing suspended solids from water by passing the water through a permeable fabric
or porous bed of materials. Oversize solids in the fluid are retained, but the separation is
not complete, solids will be contaminated with some fluid and filtrate will contain fine
particles. Filtration is also used to describe some biological processes, especially in water
treatment in which undesirable constituents are removed by absorption into a biological
film grown on or in the filter medium.

Filtration is the process of separating suspended solid matter from a liquid, by

causing the latter to pass through the pores of some substance, called a filter. The liquid
which has passed through the filter is called the filtrate. The filter may be paper, cloth,
cotton-wool, asbestos, slag- or glass-wool, unglazed earthenware, sand, or other porous
material. (Lenntech, 2006).

 Reverse Osmosis

Reverse Osmosis is a water treatment process that removes contaminants from

water by using pressure to force water molecules through a semipermeable membrane.
During this process, the contaminants are filtered out and flushed away, leaving clean,
delicious drinking water. Reverse osmosis is capable of removing up to 99 percent of 65
different contaminants

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Source: ESP Water Products, Inc.

Figure 6.3: Reverse Osmosis System

Common membrane materials include polyamide thin film composites (TFC), cellulose
acetate (CA) and cellulose triacetate (CTA) with the membrane material being spiral wound
around a tube, or hollow fibers bundled together.  Hollow fiber membranes have a greater
surface area and hence capacity but are more easily blocked than spiral wound membranes.

RO membranes are rated for their ability to reject compounds from contaminated water.
A rejection rate (% rejection) is calculated for each specific ion or contaminant as well as for
reduction of total dissolved solids (TDS). TFC membranes have superior strength and durability
as well as higher rejection rates than CA/CTA membranes. They also are more resistant to
microbial attack, high pH and high TDS. CA/CTA's have a better ability to tolerate chlorine.

Table 6.3 shows the typical rejection characteristics of Reverse osmosis membrane and
percentage of each contaminant.

Table 6.3: Typical rejection of R.O Membrane

Composition Percentage
Chloride 85-92%
Sodium 85-94%
Sulfate 96-98%
Magnesium 94-98%

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Calcium 94-98%
Potassium 85-95%
Bicarbonate 80-85%
Strontium 95-98%
Bromide 84-92%
Borate 95-98%
Fluoride 85-92%
Silicate 94-96%
Iodine 95-98%
Source: ESPwaters.org

During the multi-stage filtration process of an RO system, water will pass through pre-
filters (to remove sediment, large particles and chlorine), then on to a semi permeable RO
membrane (which can remove most impurities down to .001 microns), as well as a post filter
(generally a carbon filter to improve taste).

Figure 6.4 below demonstrates to what level the RO system will successfully remove or
reject impurities (typically down to .001 microns). For example, if fluoride is your main concern,
you see that an RO system will eliminate up to 92% of it from your water.

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Source: ESPwaters.org

Fig 6.4: Reverse Osmosis System Removal

DEAERATOR
In order to remove corrosive gases entrained in boiler feedwater an open
feedwater heater called a deaerator is incorporated into the power cycle. The deaerator is
designed to heat the incoming feedwater to the saturation point in order to reduce the
solubility of any entrained gases. These are mainly oxygen, carbon dioxide and ammonia
that become very corrosive at elevated temperatures. Since main steam temperatures can
reach as high as 1050 degrees, it is necessary to remove these gases to protect piping and
associated equipment.

The deaerator is located as high as possible in a plant to provide the suction for
the boiler feed pumps. This can be as high as 60 feet in combined cycle plants and 120
feet in conventional fossil fuel plants. By placing the deaerator as high possible the need
for booster pumps in conjunction with the boiler feed pumps is eliminated
(Emersonprocess, 2001 ) . Discussed below are the types of deaerator.

Tray-Type Deaerator

Tray-type deaerating heaters release dissolved gases in the incoming water by

reducing it to a fine spray as it cascades over several rows of trays. The steam that
makes intimate contact with the water droplets then scrubs the dissolved gases by its
counter-current flow. The steam heats the water to within 3-5 º F of the steam saturation
temperature and it should remove all but the very last traces of oxygen. The deaerated
water then falls to the storage space below, where a steam blanket protects it from
recontamination. Here the feedwater is directed onto a series of cascading horizontal
trays. It falls in sheets or tubes from tray to tray and comes into contact with rising
extraction steam admitted from the bottom of the tray system. As scrubbing occurs and
noncondensables gases and some steam rise, they come into contact with colder water,
resulting in a reduced volume of high concentration of noncondensables to vent into the
atmosphere. Figure 6.5 shows an example of Tray-type deaerating heater. (Khaled
Hamza,2010)

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Source: Cleanboiler.org

Figure 6.5: Tray-type Deaerator

Spray-Type Deaerating Heaters

Spray-type deaerating heaters work on the same general philosophy as the tray-
type, but differ in their operation. Spring-loaded nozzles located in the top of the unit
spray the water into a steam atmosphere that heats it. Simply stated, the steam heats the
water, and at the elevated temperature the solubility of oxygen is extremely low and most
of the dissolved gases are removed from the system by venting.

During normal operation, the vent valve must be open to maintain a continuous
plume of vented vapours and steam at least 18 inches long. If this valve is throttled too
much, air and non condensable gases will accumulate in the deaerator. This is known as
air blanketing and can be remedied by increasing the vent rate.

In this type, the feedwater enters the heater through nozzles that spray it into the
extraction-steam-filled heater space. The water is heated and scrubbed to release the non
condensable gases. A second agitation of the now-heated feedwater by another steam
flow is provided by an internal baffling system. (Khaled Hamza,2010) Figure 6.6 shows
an example of Spray-type deaerating heater.

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 DESIGN OF 750 MW COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT

Source: Cleanboiler.org

Figure 6.6: Spray-type Deaerator

6.2.2 Internal Treatment

Internal treatment compliments external treatment and is required regardless of

whether the impurities entering the boiler with the feedwater are large or small in
quantity. In some cases feedwater supply needs to be only filtered without the need for
any other external treatment. Internal treatment can constitute the sole treatment when
boilers operate at low pressure, large amounts of condensed steam are used for feedwater,
or the raw water available is of good quality. First process for internal treatment is the
removal of dissolve gases using deaerators equipped with oxygen scavengers for optimal
degasification.

Internal treatment can constitute the unique treatment when boilers operate at low
or moderate pressure, when large amounts of condensed steam are used for feed water, or
when good quality raw water is available.

This method of water treatment is employed to meet following basic objectives:

- Provide protection against corrosion, scaling and foaming

- Remove hardness from the water
- Conditioning of sludge or any other suspended substance (like iron oxide) in the
boiler system.

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- Remove oxygen content from the boiler feed water and maintain sufficient
alkalinity for fighting against corrosion.
- An internal boiler water treatment method must be capable of performing not only
in normal balanced working conditions but also in times of periodic disturbances
which can introduce large amount of impurities into the boiler, for example
leakage from an ion exchange.

Table 6.4 Chemicals Used in Internal Feed Water Treatment

Prevents calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate scales. Combines

Orthophosphate with calcium to form phosphate which breaks down to form a fluid
like sludge.
Prevents magnesium phosphate scale formation and corrosion.
Sodium Hydroxide Controls the alkalinity and maintains the desired pH (usually 10.5
to11.5).
Sodium sulfite Prevents oxygen corrosion on the steam scavenger.
Source: Boiler Operators Guide, 1991

6.3 Cooling Water System

In a power plant, for the condensation of steam from the steam turbine cooling water
system is needed. The cooling water system of the proposed design is divided into two
categories. For treatment of the steam it is start from the first part which is the condenser and the
last is the cooling tower. Since the plant will be based on the Philippines, recommended
temperature of the discharge water should not exceed 30°C to avoid thermal pollution. Figure 6.7
shows the process flow involved in the Cooling Water System:

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 DESIGN OF 750 MW COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT

Figure 6.7: Schematic Diagram of Cooling Water System

Refineries, steel mills, power plants, petrochemical plants, manufacturing facilities, food
plants, large buildings, chemical processing plants, and electric utilities all rely on the cooling
water system to do its job. Cooling water systems control temperatures and pressures by
transferring heat from hot process fluids into the cooling water, which carries the heat away. As
this happens, the cooling water heats up and must be either cooled before it can be used again or
replaced with fresh makeup water.

6.3.1 Filtration

Just like the filtration treatment on feed water treatment, filtration for the water to be used
on cooling water is essential. Filtration removes or minimizes all types of suspended solid
impurities. If rust, sand (silica) etc. are not filtered out, they lead to severe scale formation,
which is difficult to clean and reduce condenser efficiency. Filtration is also necessary for any
water treatment process to work properly.

6.3.2 Chlorination

Chlorination of wastewater is the application of chlorine to a wastewater to

accomplish some definite purpose. The purpose of chlorination may not always be
disinfection and may, in fact, involve odour control or some other objective which will be
noted. Chlorine may be applied in two general ways, gaseous and liquid. In general, the
effective chemical form of chlorine that either destroys the microbe or acts against odour,
etc., is the same. Gaseous forms of chlorine are generally first dissolved in water prior to
addition to the wastewater stream, while liquid forms of chlorine (called hypochlorite)
are sold in the form of water soluble salts. Because chlorine gas generally costs less than
hypochlorite, it is normally used in treatment plants except in rare instances where only a
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 DESIGN OF 750 MW COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT

relatively small amount of chlorine is needed or where the possible danger from gaseous
chlorine overrides economic considerations. The application of chlorine is usually
controlled by special devices which are known as chlorinators, chlorinizers or by similar
names.

6.3.3 Condenser

One of the important components of a cooling system is the condenser. It receives

exhaust steam from the last stage of a turbine and condenses it to water for reuse as feed
water.

In the condensing of steam, a vacuum is created. The vacuum reduces the

backpressure on the turbine, and this reduction in backpressure increases the efficiency of
the turbine. The cooling water absorbs the heat contained in the steam, and the volume of
steam is greatly reduced when it is condensed into water. When a space filled with steam
is cooled until the steam condenses, the resulting water occupies only a small portion of
the volume, and a vacuum is created. By continually condensing the exhaust steam, the
pressure is reduced below that of atmospheric pressure (Woodruff, 2004).

 Direct contact

The direct-contact condenser is one in which the coolant is brought into contact
with the vapor. It has the advantage of low cost and simplicity of mechanical design, but
its use is restricted to those applications in which mixing of the vapor and coolant are
permissible. The various types of direct contact condensers is spray condenser, baffled
column, packed column, jet condenser, and sparge pipe (Hewitt, 1994). Where the
cooling water is sprayed directly into the exhaust steam from the turbine, and the mixture
of the water with the steam condenses the steam.

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Source: Hewitt, 1994

Figure 6.8: Schematic of Spray Direct Contact Type Condenser

 Surface condenser

The cooling water and exhaust steam remain separate. The vast majority of power
plants use the water-cooled surface condenser. A surface condenser is a commonly used
term for a water-cooled shell and tube heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from
a steam turbine in thermal power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which
convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric
pressure. Where cooling water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used.
An air-cooled condenser is however, significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as
low a steam turbine exhaust pressure (and temperature) as a water-cooled surface
condenser (Elliot, 1997).

Source: Hewitt, 1994

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Figure 6.9: Surface Type Condenser

6.3.3.1 Selected Condenser

The selected condenser in the proposed design is surface condenser which the flow of the
steam and water do not come in contact and it is also the most common used in a power
generation plant. Surface condenser is selected for the proposed combined cycle power plant.
The basis of the selection is in accordance to the steam turbines exhaust flow rate. The
previously selected steam turbine has an exhaust flowrate of 121 kg/s. The selected condenser
has an inlet and outlet water temperature of 28 ⁰C and 38⁰C respectively and has a volume
flowrate of 11 364 gallons per minute. Table 6.4 shows the Selected Condenser Specification
condenser that would be selected shall be higher than 121 kg/s.

Table 6.5: Selected Condenser Specification

Steam Turbine
Steam Turbine Output 250 MW
Steam Exhaust Flowrate 121 kg/s
Condenser
Type Surface Condenser
Steam Flow Rate 2 x 67.5 kg/s
Inlet Water Temperature 28 ⁰C
Outlet Water Temperature 38 ⁰C
Volume Flowrate 11 364 GPM
Tube Material Titanium
Source: Beijing Beizhong Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd (2017),

6.3.4 Cooling Tower

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Cooling towers are a very important part of many power plants. The primary task of a
cooling tower is to reject heat into the atmosphere. They represent a relatively inexpensive and
dependable means of removing low-grade heat from cooling water. The make-up water source is
used to replenish water lost to evaporation. Hot water from heat exchangers is sent to the cooling
tower. The water exits the cooling tower and is sent back to the exchangers or to other units for
further cooling.

Cooling towers fall into two main categories: Natural draft and Mechanical draft.
Natural draft towers use very large concrete chimneys to introduce air through the media. Due
to the large size of these towers, they are generally used for water flow rates above 45,000
m3/hr. These types of towers are used only by utility power stations.

Mechanical draft towers utilize large fans to force or suck air through circulated water.
The water falls downward over fill surfaces, which help increase the contact time between the
water and the air - this helps maximize heat transfer between the two. Cooling rates of
Mechanical draft towers depend upon their fan diameter and speed of operation.

Mechanical draft towers are available in the following airflow arrangements:

1. Counter flows induced draft;

2. Counter flow forced draft; and

3. Cross flow induced draft.

For the proposed plant design Mechanical counter forced draft towers will be used since
it can accommodate the cooling needs of the plant. Discussed below are the advantages of
counter flow forced draft.

1. The fan gear, and motor mounted on the lower side of the tower, where the air is
blown in, permitting more anchorage, thus reducing vibration;

2. Location of the mechanical assembly in a comparatively dry air stream reduces

moisture condensation in the gear box; and

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3. The forced-draft fan is more efficient by about 3% than induced draft, because
some of the fan velocity pressure is converted to static pressure in the tower.

6.3.4.1 Selected Cooling Tower

Induced cooling tower is selected for the proposed combined cycle power plant. The
basis for the selection is the condenser’s water flowrate. The selected condenser has a flowrate of
11364 gallons per minute; therefore the cooling tower that will be selected shall have higher
flowrate. The selected cooling tower has a flowrate of 12 080 gallons per minute. The hot and
cold water temperatures are 38 ⁰C and 33 ⁰C respectively. Other specifications are given on
Table 6.6

Table 6.6: Selected Cooling Tower Specifications

Condenser
Volume Flowrate 11 364 GPM
Outlet Temperature 38 ⁰C
Cooling Tower
Type Induced
Hot Water Temperature 38 ⁰C
Cold Water Temperature 33 ⁰C
Wet Bulb Temperature 28.3 ⁰C
Flowrate 12 080 GPM
Cell Dimension 24 450 mm x 9 210 mm x 5 280 mm
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Fan Diameter 2 400 x 60

Motor 12.5 x16
Speed 475 RPM
Source: BELL Cooling Tower

6.3.5 COOLING POND

A cooling pond is a man-made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of
supplying cooling water to a nearby power plant or industrial facility such as a petroleum
refinery, pulp and paper mill, chemical plant, steel mill or smelter. Cooling ponds are used where
sufficient land is available, as an alternative to cooling towers or discharging of heated water to a
nearby river or coastal bay, a process known as "once-through cooling." The latter process can
cause thermal pollution of the receiving waters but can be prevented through careful. The pond
receives thermal energy in the heated water from the plant’s surface condensers, and the energy
is dissipated mainly through evaporation. The pond must be of sufficient size to provide
continuous cooling. Makeup water is added to the pond system to replace the water lost through
evaporation (EPRI, 2013).

Cooling ponds may be of great use but it must be utilized carefully. One must consider
that cooling by evaporation increases the dissolved solids concentration in the water, raising
corrosion and deposition tendencies.

6.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY

Upon selecting for the suitable equipments to be use, the designers end up in proper
selection of condenser and cooling tower for the proposed 750MW Combined Cycle Power
Plant. Summary of the selected specifications of selected equipments are listed below.

STEAM TURBINE
Capacity 250 MW
Exhaust Gas Flow 121 kg/s

CONDENSER

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Steam Flowrate 2 x 67.5 kg/s

Volume Flowrate 11364 GPM
Inlet Temperature 28
Outlet Temperature 38

COOLING TOWER
Volume Flowrate 12080 GPM
Hot Water Temperature 38
Cold Water Temperature 33

Figure 6.10: Summary of Water Loop

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