Ultrasupercritical power plant development and high temperature materials applications in China

Abstract

The rapid development of Chinese economy demands sustainable growth of power generation to meet industrial and domestic demand. The total installed capacity of electricity and annual overall electricity generation are now both the second highest in the world, close to those of the USA. Forecasts of China's electricity demand over the period 2010–20 are presented. Chinese power plants, like those worldwide, are facing demands to increase thermal efficiency and to decrease the emission of CO₂, SO_X and NO_X. In light of the national resource of coal and electricity market requirements in the next 15 years, power generation – especially ultrasupercritical (USC) power plants with the steam temperature over 600°C – will undergo rapid development. The first 1000 MW USC power unit, with steam parameters 600°C, 26·25 MPa, entered service in November 2006. It is estimated that more than 350 USC power units will be installed in China by 2020. USC power plant designs will adopt a variety of qualified high temperature materials for boiler and turbine manufacturing applications. Among these materials, the modified 9–12%Cr ferritic steels, Ni–Cr austenitic steels and certain nickel base superalloys have received special attention in the Chinese materials market.