Economic effectiveness of using super-high values of initial steam parameters in cogeneration power units

The present paper reports the results of numerical investigations into both thermodynamic and economic components of the effect of an increase in the initial steam parameters to super-high values for cogeneration power units. As an initial variant, the heat flow diagram of the turbine plant equipped with the T-250/300-23.5 TMZ steam turbine was adopted. In the course of investigations, the ranges of initial steam pressure p ₀ = 23.5–30.0 MPa, steam temperature t ₀ = 540–600°C, and steam pressure after single reheat p _rh = 3.6–4.5 MPa were considered. In the calculations of the thermodynamic efficiency, the extent of the effect of an increase in steam parameters on the out and the electric efficiency of a power unit when a cogeneration steam turbine operates in condensing and heat-extraction modes were estimated. In the economic part of the calculations, indicators of the commercial efficiency of investments into appropriate projects and the levels of total investment and production costs were determined. The results of the calculations made it possible to estimate the optimum level of super-high values of the initial steam parameters for a cogeneration power unit equipped with the T-280/335-26.1 steam turbine. The best indicators of the commercial efficiency were achieved for the variant with the following parameters of live steam and steam in the reheater: p ₀ = 26.1 MPa, p _rh = 4.035 MPa, t ₀/t _rh = 575/575°C. In this case, the following values were obtained: 42.56% gross efficiency, 40.94% net efficiency, 334 MW rated capacity in the condensing operation mode, and 279.1 MW in the heat-extraction mode at Q _T = 1381.6 GJ/h (330 Gcal/h). The use of higher steam parameters would result in a significant increase in the cost of projects. It has been shown that the restoration of initial design values of both live steam temperature and its temperature after reheat t ₀/t _rh = 565/560°C may be advisable at the upgrading of power units equipped with T-250/300-23.4 steam turbines.