Optimization of fire tube heat recovery steam generators for cogeneration plants through genetic algorithm

In the present paper, a small cogeneration system including a gas microturbine and a fire tube heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is considered. The HRSG system is optimized considering two different objective functions. Sum of the exergy losses resulting from the gases leaving the stack and the exergy destruction due to the internal irreversibility is considered as the first objective function while the second objective function is considered to be the sum of annualized values of the capital cost and the cost of the energy loss. The cost of energy loss includes the cost of the loss by hot gases leaving the stack and the cost of the reduction in the power production in the microturbine as the result of the pressure drop in the HRSG. Finally multi-objective optimization method via genetic algorithm is employed to find the optimum values of the design parameters. A decision making process based on finding the closest point to the ideal point is used. Results of different optimum points on the Pareto front are compared and discussed. The results show that the thermodynamic optimization doesn’t lead to major improvement of the total cost of the HRSG although the thermoeconomic and multi-objective methods improve the total cost of the system due decrease in the cost of energy loss due to decrease in the pinch point.     

A general method for the optimum design of heat recovery steam generators

The optimization of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is one of the key elements for increasing the efficiency of combined plants. According to the current technical practice, it can be organized at different levels of complexity with objectives sequentially defined: operating parameters, geometrical details and technological elements.

According to this point of view, in the paper a complete strategy for the optimum design of the HRSG is outlined. The optimization is organized at two levels: the first one enables to obtain the main operating parameters of the HRSG, while the second involves the detailed design of the component concerning the geometric variables of the heat transfer sections. The output of the first-level optimization is the input of the second level. In particular, the second level of the optimization can be articulated in two different steps. The first step can be aimed to the minimization of the pressure drop for a given heat flow. The second step leads to a reduction of the overall dimensions, maintaining the imposed performance of the HRSG in terms of heat flow and pressure drop. The whole procedure is tested with reference to a case of existing HRSG structures; it shows the possibility of improving performance maintaining a constrained packaged size.     

A model to predict the behaviour at part load operation of once-through heat recovery steam generators working with water at supercritical pressure

This paper describes a one-dimensional mathematical model that allows simulating the heat exchange in a steam generator working with water at supercritical pressure. The model has been developed in order to simulate the full and part load behaviour of heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) of combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants. It takes into account the strong variation of some of the thermal and transport properties of fluids at supercritical pressure and discusses what parameters may be considered as constant along the heat exchanger.On the one hand, the model is useful because going supercritical is considered a way to further improve the efficiency of CCGT power plants and, on the other hand, because part load operation is the most usual operation mode in power plants.     

A performance analysis of integrated solid oxide fuel cell and heat recovery steam generator for IGFC system

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a promising technology for electricity generation. Sulfur-free syngas from a gas-cleaning unit serves as fuel for SOFC in integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) power plants. It converts the chemical energy of fuel gas directly into electric energy, thus high efficiencies can be achieved. The outputs from SOFC can be utilized by heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), which drives the steam turbine for electricity production. The SOFC stack model was developed using the process flow sheet simulator Aspen Plus, which is of the equilibrium type. Various ranges of syngas properties gathered from different literature were used for the simulation. The results indicate a trade-off efficiency and power with respect to a variety of SOFC inputs. The HRSG located after SOFC was included in the current simulation study with various operating parameters. This paper describes IGFC power plants, particularly the optimization of HRSG to improve the efficiency of the heat recovery from the SOFC exhaust gas and to maximize the power production in the steam cycle in the IGFC system. HRSG output from different pressure levels varies depending on the SOFC output. The steam turbine efficiency was calculated for measuring the total power plant output. The aim of this paper is to provide a simulation model for the optimal selection of the operative parameters of HRSG and SOFC for the IGFC system by comparing it with other models. The simulation model should be flexible enough for use in future development and capable of predicting system performance under various operating conditions.     

A performance analysis of integrated solid oxide fuel cell and heat recovery steam generator for IGFC system

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a promising technology for electricity generation. Sulfur-free syngas from a gas-cleaning unit serves as fuel for SOFC in integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) power plants. It converts the chemical energy of fuel gas directly into electric energy, thus high efficiencies can be achieved. The outputs from SOFC can be utilized by heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), which drives the steam turbine for electricity production. The SOFC stack model was developed using the process flow sheet simulator Aspen Plus, which is of the equilibrium type. Various ranges of syngas properties gathered from different literature were used for the simulation. The results indicate a trade-off efficiency and power with respect to a variety of SOFC inputs. The HRSG located after SOFC was included in the current simulation study with various operating parameters. This paper describes IGFC power plants, particularly the optimization of HRSG to improve the efficiency of the heat recovery from the SOFC exhaust gas and to maximize the power production in the steam cycle in the IGFC system. HRSG output from different pressure levels varies depending on the SOFC output. The steam turbine efficiency was calculated for measuring the total power plant output. The aim of this paper is to provide a simulation model for the optimal selection of the operative parameters of HRSG and SOFC for the IGFC system by comparing it with other models. The simulation model should be flexible enough for use in future development and capable of predicting system performance under various operating conditions.     

Optimal thermodynamic and economic volume of a heat recovery steam generator by constructal design

The ratios of gas flow to steam flow are huge in heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) compared to other steam generators. So the volume which is occupied by components of the HRSG such as economizer, evaporator and superheater is important factor when the HRSG is applied in structures including buildings and ships. The optimum volume of a HRSG is deduced through optimization of entropy generation and cost evaluation. By increasing volume, second law of thermodynamics is improved, but this improvement may not be economical. In this work, the best dimensions and arrangements of flows in HRSG are obtained by constructal design and the optimization method is algorithm genetic. In this case, super heater temperature, pinch point, water/steam flow rate and gas pressure drop are derived from configuration which designed by constructal theory for HRSG. The effects of gas flow rate and inlet gas temperature are examined on the values of optimum volume.     

Applying different optimization approaches to achieve optimal configuration of a dual pressure heat recovery steam generator

The optimal design for heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) should be chosen based on technical and economic considerations. Therefore, parameters that are related to thermodynamic and economic aspects should be considered in optimization approaches. It is worth mentioning that one of the significant issues in the HRSG design is the diversity of arrangements between various components (economizer, evaporator, and superheater), which absolutely affect the HRSG performance. According to these facts, in the present article, different arrangements of a dual pressure HRSG are analyzed, and the economizer at the high‐pressure level is divided into two parts; these arrangements are optimized by applying different optimization approaches to achieve the optimal configuration. These approaches include the reduction of gas pressure drop, the reduction of generated steam cost and the consideration of both approaches as the third approach. These three approaches are also considered to perform economic and thermodynamic optimization. With regard to the limitations of optimization such as the pinch and approach point, seven different configurations are considered. First, a comprehensive model is developed for calculating thermodynamic, heat transfer, and pressure loss. To perform a thorough optimization, both thermodynamic and geometric variables as well as diversity of various arrangements is considered using genetic algorithm. The results of the optimization study show that the best arrangement is not unique, and each arrangement has different characteristics. Hence, the best arrangement for the HRSG is chosen according to the importance of the objective functions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermo‐Economic Analysis and Multiobjective Optimization of Dual Pressure Combined Cycle Power Plant with Supplementary Firing

The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and duct burner are parts of a combined cycle which have considerable effect on the steam generation. The effect of the gas turbine, duct burner and HRSG on power generation is investigated to reduce exergy destruction and power loss in the gas turbine. The results show that with an increase in duct burner flow rate, pressure loss in the recovery boiler increases, steam generation increases on the HP side while it decreases on the LP side. With a reduction in the HP pinch point, thermal recovery increases while the LP pinch point does not have a significant effect. Then, power loss due to pressure drop in the gas turbine and the electricity cost are considered as two objective functions for optimization. Finally, the sensitivity analysis on ambient temperature, compressor pressure ratio, fuel lower heating value, duct burner fuel rate, condenser pressure and main pressure are performed and results are reported. It is concluded that with an increment in compressor pressure ratio, the duct burner flow rate and consequently steam generation increases while electricity cost decrease.     

Study of a deaerator location in triple-pressure reheat combined power cycle

Deaerator is an essential open feed water heater in the steam bottoming cycle to improve the efficiency and also to remove the dissolved gasses from the feed water. Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) plays a key role on the performance of the combined cycle (CC). In this work, attention has been focused to improve the performance of a triple pressure (TP) CC with a deaerator location. In this work, two options for deaerator location, one at condenser (deaerator–condenser) and the other in between low pressure (LP) and intermediate pressure (IP) heaters have been studied to increase the heat recovery from the gas turbine exhaust. The compressor pressure ratio is not fixed initially and evaluated from HRSG inlet condition. The LP and IP in HRSG have been evaluated from the local flue gas temperature to get the minimum possible temperature difference in the heaters. The results show that the deaerator placed in between the LP and IP heaters, gives high efficiency compared to a deaerator–condenser arrangement. The optimum conditions for the HRSG, deaerator and steam reheater are evaluated through the thermodynamic study. The results are validated by comparing with the published results.     

Thermodynamic optimization of design variables and heat exchangers layout in HRSGs for CCGT,using genetic algorithm

The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is one of the few equipments that are custom made for combined cycle power plants, and any change in its design affects all performance parameters of a steam cycle directly. Thus providing an optimization tool to optimize its design parameters and the layout of its heat exchangers is of great importance. A new method is introduced for modeling a steam cycle in advanced combined cycles by organizing non-linear equations and their simultaneous solutions by use of the hybrid Newton methods in this article. Thereafter, optimal thermodynamic performance conditions for HRSGs are calculated with the help of the genetic algorithm. In the conclusion, the results obtained for different types of HRSGs are compared. The results show that the use of several pressure levels in HRSGs increases the power production in the steam cycle, and similarly, reheating is very beneficial in three pressure heat recovery steam generators.     

Gas turbine turbocharged by a steam turbine: a gas turbine solution increasing combined power plant efficiency and power

A new design of a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant CCGT with sequential combustion that increases efficiency and power output in relation to conventional CCGT plants is studied. The innovative proposal consists fundamentally in using all the power of the steam turbine to turbocharge the gas turbine. A computer program has been developed to carry out calculations and to evaluate performance over a wide range of operating conditions. The obtained results are compared with those of combined cycles where the gas turbines are not turbocharged and the gas and the steam turbines have independent power exits; the advantages of the new design are stated.     

Performance Improvement of Combined Cycle Power Plant Based on the Optimization of the Bottom Cycle and Heat Recuperation

Many F class gas turbine combined cycle(GTCC)power plants are built in China at present because of less emis-sion and high efficiency.It is of great interest to investigate the efficiency improvement of GTCC plant.A com-bined cycle with three-pressure reheat heat recovery steam generator(HRSG)is selected for study in this paper.In order to maximize the GTCC efficiency,the optimization of the HRSG operating parameters is performed.Theoperating parameters are determined by means of a thermodynamic analysis,i.e.the minimization of exergylosses.The influence of HRSG inlet gas temperature on the steam bottoming cycle efficiency is discussed.Theresult shows that increasing the HRSG inlet temperature has less improvement to steam cycle efficiency when itis over 590℃.Partial gas to gas recuperation in the topping cycle is studied.Joining HRSG optimization with theuse of gas to gas heat recuperation,the combined plant efficiency can rise up to 59.05% at base load.In addition,the part load performance of the GTCC power plant gets much better.The efficiency is increased by 2.11% at75% load and by 4.17% at 50% load.     

Exergy analysis of a 420 MW combined cycle power plant

Combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) have an important role in power generation. The objective of this paper is to evaluate irreversibility of each part of Neka CCPP using the exergy analysis. The results show that the combustion chamber, gas turbine, duct burner and heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) are the main sources of irreversibility representing more than 83% of the overall exergy losses. The results show that the greatest exergy loss in the gas turbine occurs in the combustion chamber due to its high irreversibility. As the second major exergy loss is in HRSG, the optimization of HRSG has an important role in reducing the exergy loss of total combined cycle. In this case, LP‐SH has the worst heat transfer process. The first law efficiency and the exergy efficiency of CCPP are calculated. Thermal and exergy efficiencies of Neka CCPP are 47 and 45.5% without duct burner, respectively. The results show that if the duct burner is added to HRSG, these efficiencies are reduced to 46 and 44%. Nevertheless, the results show that the CCPP output power increases by 7.38% when the duct burner is used. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimization of heat recovery steam generator through exergy analysis for combined cycle gas turbine power plants

This paper proposes a new approach to finding the optimum design parameters of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) system to maximize the efficiency of the steam turbine (bottom) cycle of the combined cycle power plant (CCPP), but without performing the bottom cycle analysis. This could be achieved by minimizing the unavailable exergy (the sum of the destroyed and the lost exergies) resulted from the heat transfer process of the HRSG system. The present approach is relatively simple and straightforward because the process of the trial-and-error method, typical in performing the bottom cycle analysis for the system optimization, could be avoided. To demonstrate the usefulness of the present method, a single-stage HRSG system was chosen, and the optimum evaporation temperature was obtained corresponding to maximum useful work for given conditions of water and gas temperatures at the inlets of the HRSG system. Results show that the optimum evaporation temperature obtained based on the present exergy analysis appears similar to that based on the bottom cycle analysis. Also shown is the dependency of number of transfer unit (NTU) on the evaporation temperature, which is another important factor in determining the optimum condition when the construction cost is taken into account in addition to the operating cost. The present approach turned out to be a powerful tool for optimization of the single-stage HRSG systems and can easily be extended to multi-stage systems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermoeconomic optimization of heat recovery steam generators operating parameters for combined plants

The optimization of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is particularly interesting for the combined plants design in order to maximise the work obtained in the vapour cycle. A detailed optimization of the HRSG is a very difficult problem, depending on several variables. The first step is represented by the optimization of the operating parameters. These are the number of pressure levels, the pressures, the mass flow ratio, and the inlet temperatures to the HRSG sections. The operating parameters can be determined by means both of a thermodynamic and of a thermoeconomic analysis, minimising a suitable objective function by analytical or numerical mathematical methods. In the paper, thermodynamic optimization is based on the minimization of exergy losses, while the thermoeconomic optimization is based on the minimization of the total HRSG cost, after the reduction to a common monetary base of the costs of exergy losses and of installation.     

The use of biomass syngas in IC engines and CCGT plants: A comparative analysis

This paper studies the use of biomass syngas, obtained from pyrolysis or gasification, in traditional energy-production systems, specifically internal combustion (IC) engines and combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants. The biomass conversion stage has been simulated by means of a gas–solid thermodynamic model. The IC and CCGT plant configurations were optimised to maximise heat and power production. Several types of biomass feedstock were studied to assess their potential for energy production and their effect on the environment. This system was also compared with the coupling between biomass gasification and fuel cells.     

Optimization of heat recovery steam generators for combined cycle gas turbine power plants

The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is one of the few components of combined cycle gas turbine power plants tailored for each specific application. Any change in its design would directly affect all the variables of the cycle and therefore the availability of tools for its optimization is of the greatest relevance. This paper presents a method for the optimization of the HRSG based on the application of influence coefficients. The influence coefficients are a useful mathematical tool in design optimization problems. They are obtained after solving the equations of the system through the Newton–Raphson method. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it permits a better understanding of the influence of the design parameters on the cycle performance. The study of the optimization of the distribution of the boiler area between its different components is presented as an example of the proposed technique.     

The impact of the new investments in combined cycle gas turbine power plants on the Italian electricity price

The paper measures the variation of the electricity price in Italy within the next 10 years due to the recent investment flow in combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants. It starts by investigating the possibility of decoupling gas and oil prices on the basis of hypotheses about the amount of existing resources and plausible technical substitutability assumptions of the latter with the former. In particular, it is supposed that, in the Italian market, natural gas will play a crucial role which oil has had in power generation. The price of electricity stemming from natural gas is then calculated taking into account the role of the power mix restructuring that derives from the CCGT power plants investments. Under reasonable assumptions, it is shown that a net reduction of at least 17% on the electric price is likely to be expected.     

A comprehensive method for optimal power management and design of hybrid RES-based autonomous energy systems

The power management strategy (PMS) plays an important role in the optimum design and efficient utilization of hybrid energy systems. The power available from hybrid systems and the overall lifetime of system components are highly affected by PMS. This paper presents a novel method for the determination of the optimum PMS of hybrid energy systems including various generators and storage units. The PMS optimization is integrated with the sizing procedure of the hybrid system. The method is tested on a system with several widely used generators in off-grid systems, including wind turbines, PV panels, fuel cells, electrolyzers, hydrogen tanks, batteries, and diesel generators. The aim of the optimization problem is to simultaneously minimize the overall cost of the system, unmet load, and fuel emission considering the uncertainties associated with renewable energy sources (RES). These uncertainties are modeled by using various possible scenarios for wind speed and solar irradiation based on Weibull and Beta probability distribution functions (PDF), respectively. The differential evolution algorithm (DEA) accompanied with fuzzy technique is used to handle the mixed-integer nonlinear multi-objective optimization problem. The optimum solution, including design parameters of system components and the monthly PMS parameters adapting climatic changes during a year, are obtained. Considering operating limitations of system devices, the parameters characterize the priority and share of each storage component for serving the deficit energy or storing surplus energy both resulted from the mismatch of power between load and generation. In order to have efficient power exploitation from RES, the optimum monthly tilt angles of PV panels and the optimum tower height for wind turbines are calculated. Numerical results are compared with the results of optimal sizing assuming pre-defined PMS without using the proposed power management optimization method. The comparative results present the efficacy and capability of the proposed method for hybrid energy systems.     

Study and practice on condition-based maintenance of induced fans in coal-fired power plants

Reducing the enormous maintenance cost is essential to enhance the competitiveness for power plants. An overall design scheme for condition-based maintenance of induced fans is proposed for large thermal power plants. The interface of the above framework is simple and convenient; the optimum maintenance strategy is given by condition monitoring and risk evaluating. The decision-supported system was used in Guangdong Shajiao C Power Plant. The results show that it is a feasible maintenance optimization scheme for power plants.