Research and Development of Hybrid Power Units Heat Flow Diagrams with Cooled High-Temperature Steam Turbines

Fossil fuel thermal power plants account for almost 60% of Russian electricity and heat. Steam turbine units make almost 80% of this amount. The main method for steam turbine unit efficiency improvement is the increase in the initial steam parameters’ temperature and pressure. This reduces fossil fuel consumption and harmful emissions but requires the application of heat-resistant steel. The improvement in steel’s heat resistance leads to a non-linear price increase, and the larger the temperature increase, the more the steel costs. One of the methods of improving efficiency without a significant increase in the capital cost of equipment is an external combustion chamber. These allow an increase in the steam temperature outside the boiler without the need to use heat-resistant alloys for boiler superheaters and steam pipelines between the boiler and the steam turbine. The most promising is hydrogen–oxygen combustion chambers, which produce steam with high purity and parameters. To reduce the cost of high-temperature steam turbines, it is possible to use a cooling system with the supply of a steam coolant to the most thermally stressed elements. According to the calculations, the efficiency reduction of a power unit due to the turbine cooling is 0.6–1.27%. The steam superheating up to 720 °C in external combustion chambers instead of a boiler unit improves the unit efficiency by 0.27%. At the initial steam temperatures of 800 °C, 850 °C, and 900 °C, the unit efficiency reduction caused by cooling is 4.09–5.68%, 7.47–9.73%, and 8.28–10.04%, respectively

Thermal engineering studies with Excel, Mathcad and Internet

This book provides the fundamentals of the application of mathematical methods, modern computational tools (Excel, Mathcad, SMath, etc.), and the Internet to solve the typical problems of heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, energy conservation and energy efficiency. Chapters cover the technology for creating and using databases on various properties of working fluids, coolants and thermal materials. All calculation methods are provided with links to online computational pages where data can be inserted and recalculated. It discusses tasks involving the generation of electricity at thermal, nuclear, gas turbine and combined-cycle power plants, as well as processes of co- and trigeneration, conditioning facilities and heat pumps. This text engages students and researchers by using modern calculation tools and the Internet for thermal engineering applications.

Verification of Thermal Models of Internally Cooled Gas Turbine Blades

Numerical simulation of temperature field of cooled turbine blades is a required element of gas turbine engine design process. The verification is usually performed on the basis of results of test of full-size blade prototype on a gas-dynamic test bench. A method of calorimetric measurement in a molten metal thermostat for verification of a thermal model of cooled blade is proposed in this paper. The method allows obtaining local values of heat flux in each point of blade surface within a single experiment. The error of determination of local heat transfer coefficients using this method does not exceed 8% for blades with radial channels. An important feature of the method is that the heat load remains unchanged during the experiment and the blade outer surface temperature equals zinc melting point. The verification of thermal-hydraulic model of high-pressure turbine blade with cooling allowing asymmetrical heat removal from pressure and suction sides was carried out using the developed method. An analysis of heat transfer coefficients confirmed the high level of heat transfer in the leading edge, whose value is comparable with jet impingement heat transfer. The maximum of the heat transfer coefficients is shifted from the critical point of the leading edge to the pressure side

Research and Development of Criterial Correlations for the Optimal Grid Element Size Used for RANS Flow Simulation in Single and Compound Channels

At present, software products for numerical simulation of fluid dynamics problems (ANSYS Fluent, Ansys CFX, Star CCM, Comsol, etc.) problems are widely used. These software products are mainly based on the numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, the most common and computationally easy method of solving, which is Reynolds averaging (RANS), and further closing the system using semi-empirical turbulence models. Currently, there are many modeling methods and turbulence models; however, there are no generalized recommendations for setting up grid models for modeling flows, while for practical use both the correct mathematical models and the setting of the computational grid are important. In particular, there are no generalized recommendations on the choice of scale of global elements of grid models for typical single channels. This work is devoted to the development and study of relations for a priori estimation of the parameters of a grid model in relation to solving hydrodynamic problems with fluid flow in channels. The paper proposes the introduction of a generalized grid convergence criterion for single channels at high Reynolds numbers. As single channels, a channel with a sudden expansion, a channel with a sudden contraction, and diffuser channels with different opening angles are considered. Based on the results of variant calculations of typical single channels at various Reynolds numbers and various geometric parameters, generalized criterion correlations were obtained to find dimensionless linear scales of grid elements relative to the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow in the channel. Variant calculations of the compound channel were investigated, which showed the adequacy of correlations proposed

Research and Development of the Oxy-Fuel Combustion Power Cycles with CO2 Recirculation

The transition to oxy-fuel combustion power cycles is a prospective way to decrease carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere from the energy sector. To identify which technology has the highest efficiency and the lowest emission level, a thermodynamic analysis of the semiclosed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC), the E-MATIANT cycle, and the Allam cycle was carried out. The modeling methodology has been described in detail, including the approaches to defining the working fluid properties, the mathematical models of the air separation unit, and the cooled gas turbine cycles’ calculation algorithms. The gas turbine inlet parameters were optimized using the developed modeling methodology for the three oxy-fuel combustion power cycles with CO2 recirculation in the inlet temperature at a range of 1000 to 1700 °C. The effect of the coolant flow precooling was evaluated. It was found that a decrease in the coolant temperature could lead to an increase of the net efficiency up to 3.2% for the SCOC-CC cycle and up to 0.8% for the E-MATIANT cycle. The final comparison showed that the Allam cycle’s net efficiency is 5.6% higher compared to the SCOC-CC cycle, and 11.5% higher compared with the E-MATIANT cycle

Thermodynamic Optimization of Low-Temperature Cycles for the Power Industry

The fuel price increase and severe environmental regulations determine energy-saving importance. Useful utilization of low-potential heat sources with 300–400 °С temperature becomes topical. The application of low-temperature power production facilities operating low-boiling heat carriers could be a solution to this problem. A comparative parametric study of a number of heat carriers resulted in a choice of the most promising fluids that are not expensive, have low toxicity and flammability, low ozone depletion and low global warming potential. These heat carriers are considered for application in simple power production cycles with and without regeneration. The main parameters were optimized at the initial temperatures of 323.15–623.15 K. The cycle without regeneration has a maximal net efficiency of 29.34% using the water at an initial temperature of 623.15 K. The regenerative cycle at a temperature below 490 K has its maximal efficiency using a water heat carrier, and at a higher temperature above 490 K with R236ea. The cycle with R236ea at 623.15 K has an electrical net efficiency of 33.30%. Using a water heat carrier, the maximal efficiency can be reached at pressures below 5 MPa for both cycles. Among the organic heat carriers, the minimal optimal initial pressure of a simple cycle is reached with the R236ea heat carrier below 45 MPa without regeneration and below 15 MPa with regeneration. Therefore when utilizing the latent heat with temperatures above 500 K R134a, R236ea and R124 are the most promising organic fluids. Such conditions could be obtained using different industrial sources with water condensation at elevated pressures

Research and Development of the Combined Cycle Power Plants Working on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Today, the use of combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants allows the most efficient conversion of the chemical heat of fossil fuels for generating electric power. In turn, the combined cycle efficiency is largely dependent on the working flow temperature upstream of a gas turbine. Thus, the net electric efficiency of advanced foreign-made CCGT plants can exceed 63%, whereas the net efficiency of domestic combined-cycle power plants is still relatively low. A promising method to increase the heat performance of CCGT plants may be their conversion from a steam heat carrier to a carbon dioxide one. In this paper, we have presented the results of thermodynamic research of a promising combined plant with two carbon dioxide heat recovery circuits based on the GTE-160 gas turbine plant (GTP). We have determined the pressure values that are optimal in terms of the net efficiency upstream and downstream of Brayton cycle turbines using supercritical carbon dioxide with recompression (30 and 8.5 MPa) and base version (38 and 8.0 MPa). The percentage of recompression was 32%. Based on the results of mathematical simulation of heat circuits, we have found out that the use of the solutions suggested allows the increase of the power plant’s net efficiency by 2.4% (up to 51.6%)

Asymmetric Method of Heat Transfer Intensification in Radial Channels of Gas Turbine Blades

Loop and semi-loop cooling schemes are widely used for the high-temperature gas turbine blades. In such schemes, the mid-chord airfoil parts are traditionally cooled by radial channels with ribbed walls. The blades with a small specific span, or “short” blades, have different heat flux amounts on pressure and suction sides, which results in a temperature difference in these sides of 100–150 °K. This difference causes thermal stresses and reduces the long-term strength margins. This paper presents a new method of heat transfer intensification in the ribbed radial cooling channels. The method is based on air streams’ injection through holes in the ribs that split channels. The streams are directed along the walls into the stagnation zones behind the ribs. The results of a 3D coolant flow simulation with ANSYS CFX code show the influence of the geometry parameters upon the channel heat transfer asymmetry. In the Reynolds number within a range of 6000–20,000, the method provides the heat transfer augmentation difference by up to 40% on the opposite channel walls. Test results presented in the criteria relations form allow for the calculation of mean the heat transfer coefficient along the channel length

Comparative Analysis of Energy Storage Methods for Energy Systems and Complexes

The daily non-uniform power demand is a serious problem in power industry. In addition, recent decades show a trend for the transition to renewable power sources, but their power output depends upon weather and daily conditions. These factors determine the urgency of energy accumulation technology research and development. The presence of a wide variety of energy storage mechanisms leads to the need for their classification and comparison as well as a consideration of possible options for their application in modern power units. This paper presents a comparative analysis of energy storage methods for energy systems and complexes. Recommendations are made on the choice of storage technologies for the modern energy industry. The change in the cost of supplied energy at power plants by integrating various energy storage systems is estimated and the technologies for their implementation are considered. It is revealed that in the large-scale power production industry, the most productive accumulation methods for energy systems and complexes are the following: pumped hydroelectric energy storage systems, thermal and thermochemical accumulations, and hydrogen systems. These methods have the best technical and economic characteristics. The resulting recommendations allow for the assessment of the economic and energy effect achieved by integration of storage systems at the stage of designing new power units