Chapter 7

St eam- t emperat ure control

7.1 Why s t e a m- t e mpe r a t ur e cont rol i s ne e de d
The rat e at whi ch heat is t ransferred to t he fluid in t he tube banks of a
boiler or HRSG will depend on t he rat e of heat i nput from t he fuel or
exhaust from t he gas turbine. Thi s heat will be used to convert wat er to
st eam and t hen to increase t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam in t he superheat
stages. I n a boiler, t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam will also be affected by t he
pat t er n in whi ch t he burners are fired, since some banks of tubes pick up
heat by di rect r adi at i on from t he burners. I n bot h types of pl ant t he t em-
per at ur e of t he st eam will also be affected by t he flow of fluid wi t hi n t he
tubes, and by t he way in whi ch t he hot gases ci rcul at e wi t hi n t he boiler.
As t he st eam flow increases, t he t emper at ur e of the st eam in t he banks
of tubes t hat are di rect l y influenced by t he r adi ant heat of combust i on
starts to decrease as t he increasing flow of fluid takes away mor e of t he
heat t hat falls on t he metal. Ther ef or e t he st eam- t emper at ur e/ st eam- f l ow
profile for this bank of tubes shows a decline as t he st eam flow increases.
On t he ot her hand, t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam in t he banks of tubes
in t he convect i on passes tends to increase because of t he hi gher heat
t ransfer br ought about by t he i ncreased flow of gases, so t hat this t emper a-
t ur e/ f l ow profile shows a rise in t emper at ur e as t he flow increases. By
combi ni ng these two characteristics, t he one rising, the ot her falling, t he
boiler designer will ai m to achieve a fairly flat t emper at ur e/ f l ow char ac-
teristic over a wi de range of st eam flows.
No mat t er how successfully this t arget is at t ai ned, it cannot yield an
absolutely flat t emper at ur e/ f l ow characteristic. Wi t hout any addi t i onal
control, t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam leaving t he final superheat er of t he
boiler or HRSG woul d var y wi t h t he rat e of st eam flow, following what is
known as t he ' nat ur al charact eri st i c' of t he boiler. The shape of this
136 Power-plant control and instrumentation
will depend on the part i cul ar design of plant, but in general, the t emper a-
t ure will rise to a peak as the l oad increases, after whi ch it will fall.
The st eam t urbi ne or the process pl ant t hat is to receive the st eam
usually requires the t emper at ur e to r emai n at a precise val ue over the
entire l oad range, and it is mai nl y for this reason t hat some dedi cat ed
means of regul at i ng the t emper at ur e must be provi ded. Since different
banks of tubes are affected in different ways by the radi at i on from the
burners and the flow of hot gases, an addi t i onal r equi r ement is to provi de
some means of adj ust i ng the t emper at ur e of the st eam within different
part s of the circuit, to prevent any one section from becomi ng over-
heat ed.
In t heory, the design of the pl ant should be t ar get ed on arrangi ng for
the nat ural characteristic to at t ai n the correct st eam t emper at ur e when
the rat e of st eam flow is t hat at which the boiler will nor mal l y operat e. I f
this is possible, it means t hat spray wat er is used onl y while the unit is
bei ng br ought up to l oad or when it operat es at off-design conditions. In
pract i ce this obj ect i ve can be at t ai ned onl y to a limited extent, because the
boiler' s nat ural charact eri st i c changes wi t h t i me due to factors such as
fouling of the met al surfaces, whi ch affects the heat transfer. In general, it
is common to oper at e wi t h cont i nuous spraying, whi ch has the advant age
of allowing the st eam t emper at ur e to be adj ust ed bot h upwar ds and
downwards. I f the requi red t emper at ur e were to be met solely by
empl oyi ng the nat ural charact eri st i c as described, it woul d not be possible
to pr oduce t emper at ur e increases.
Before looking at the types of st eam- t emper at ur e cont rol systems t hat
are applied, it will be useful to exami ne some of the mechani sms whi ch are
empl oyed to regul at e the t emper at ur e accordi ng to the cont rol l er' s
commands. Dependi ng on whet her or not the t emper at ur e of the st eam is
l owered to bel ow the sat urat i on poi nt the cont rol l i ng devices are known as
at t emperat ors or desuperheaters. (Strictly speaking, the correct t erm to
use for a device which reduces the st eam t emper at ur e to a poi nt which is
still above the sat urat i on poi nt is an at t emperat or, while one t hat lowers it
bel ow the sat urat i on poi nt may be referred to either as an at t emper at or or
a desuperheat er. However , in common engi neeri ng usage bot h terms are
appl i ed somewhat indiscriminately.)
7.2 The s pr ay- wat e r a t t e mpe r a t o r
One way of adj ust i ng the t emper at ur e of steam is to pump a fine spray of
compar at i vel y cool wat er dropl et s into the vapour. Wi t h the resulting
i nt ermi xi ng of hot st eam and cold wat er the cool ant event ual l y evaporat es
Steam-temperature control 137
so t hat the final mi xt ur e comprises an increased vol ume of st eam at a t em-
per at ur e whi ch is l ower t han t hat pri or to the wat er injection point. Thi s
cooling funct i on is achi eved in the at t emperat or.
The at t emper at or is an effective means of lowering the t emper at ur e of
the steam, t hough in t her modynami c terms it results in a reduct i on in the
performance of the pl ant because t he st eam t emper at ur e has to be raised
to a hi gher val ue t han is needed, onl y to be br ought down to the correct
val ue later, by injecting the spray wat er.
Al t hough the i nherent design of the at t emper at i on system may, in
theory, per mi t cont rol to be achi eved over a ver y wi de range of st eam
flows, it shoul d be underst ood t hat t he curve of the boiler' s nat ural charac-
teristic will restrict the l oad range over whi ch pract i cal t emper at ur e
cont rol is possible, regardless of the t ype of at t emper at or in use. It is not
unusual for the effective t emper at ur e- cont r ol range of a boi l er to be
bet ween onl y 75% and 100% of the boiler' s maxi mum cont i nuous rat i ng
( MCR) . Thi s limitation is also the result of the spray-wat er flow bei ng a
l arger pr opor t i on of t he st eam flow at low loads.
7.2.1 The mechanically atomised attemperator
Vari ous forms of spray at t emper at or are empl oyed. Fi gure 7.1 shows a
simple design wher e the high-pressure cooling wat er is mechani cal l y
at omi sed into small dropl et s at a nozzle, t her eby maxi mi si ng the ar ea of
cont act bet ween t he st eam and the water. Wi t h this t ype of at t emper at or
the wat er dropl et s leave the nozzle at a high vel oci t y and t herefore travel
for some distance before t hey mix wi t h the st eam and are absorbed. To
avoid stress-inducing i mpi ngement of cold dropl et s on hot pi pework, the
l engt h of straight pi pe in whi ch this t ype of at t emper at or needs to be
installed is qui t e long, t ypi cal l y 6 m or more.
Wi t h spray at t emperat ors, the flow of cooling wat er is rel at ed to the
flow rat e and the t emper at ur e of the steam, and this leads to a furt her lim-
itation of a fixed-nozzle at t emper at or . Successful break-up of the wat er
into at omi sed dropl et s requires the spray wat er to be at a pressure whi ch
exceeds the st eam pressure at the nozzle by a cert ai n amount (typically 4
bar). Because the nozzle presents a fixed-area orifice to t he spray wat er,
the pressure/ fl ow charact eri st i c has a square-l aw shape, resulting in a
restricted range of flows over whi ch it can be used (this is referred to as
limited t ur n- down or rangeability). The t ur n- down of the mechani cal l y
at omi sed t ype of at t emper at or is ar ound 1.5 : 1.
The t emper at ur e of the st eam is adj ust ed by modul at i ng a separ at e
spray-wat er cont rol val ve to admi t more or less cool ant into the steam.
138 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Spray water
t
Nozzl e
Figure 7.1 Mechanically atomised desuperheater
Because of the limitations of the single nozzle, t he accuracy of control
t hat is possible with this type of at t emper at or is no great er t han + 8.5 C.
7. 2. 2 The variable-area attemperator
One way of overcomi ng the limitations of a fixed nozzle in an at t emper at or
is to use an ar r angement which changes t he profile as the t hr oughput of
spray water alters. Figure 7.2 shows the operat i ng principle of a variable
area, multinozzle at t emperat or. This employs a sliding pl ug which is
moved by an actuator, allowing the water to be injected t hrough a great er
or smaller number of nozzles. Wi t h this type of device, the amount of
water injected is regulated by the position of the sliding plug, a separate
spray-water control valve is therefore not needed.
Adequat e performance of this type of at t emperat or depends on the
velocity of t he vapour at t he nozzles being high enough to ensure t hat the
coolant droplets remai n in suspension for long enough to ensure their
absorption by the steam. For this reason, and also to provide t hermal pro-
tection for the pi pework in the vicinity of the nozzles, a t hermal liner is
often included in the pipe ext endi ng from the pl ane of the nozzles to a
poi nt some distance downst ream.
Steam-temperature control 139
Spray water
Nozzles
F i g u r e 7 . 2 P r i n c i p l e o f a m u l t i n o z z l e desuperheater
The accuracy of control and the t ur ndown range available from a
multi-nozzle at t emperat or is considerably great er t han t hat of a single-
nozzle version, allowing the steam t emperat ure to be controlled to
+ 5.5C over a flow range of 40: 1.
7.2.3 The variable-annulus desuperheater
Anot her way of achieving accurate control of the steam t emper at ur e over
the widest possible dynami c range is provi ded by the variable-annulus
desuperheat er (VAD) (produced by Copes-Vulcan Limited, Road Two,
Winsford Industrial Estate, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 3QL.). Here, t he
approach cont our of t he VAD head is such t hat when t he inlet steam flows
t hr ough an annul ar ring between the spray head and t he i nner wall of t he
steam pipe its velocity is increased and the pressure slightly reduced. The
140 Power-plant control and instrumentation
cool ant enters at this poi nt and undergoes an instant increase in velocity
and a decrease in pressure, causing it to vapourise into a mi cron-t hi n l ayer
whi ch is stripped of f t he edge of t he spray head and propelled downst ream.
The stripping act i on acts as a bar r i er whi ch prevents the cool ant from
i mpi ngi ng on t he i nner wall of the st eam pipe. The downst r eam port i on of
the VAD head is cont oured, creat i ng a vort ex zone into whi ch any unab-
sorbed cool ant is drawn, exposing it to a zone
of low pressure and high t urbul ence, whi ch t herefore causes addi t i onal
evaporat i on.
Due to the Vent uri principle, t he pressure of t he cooled st eam is
quickly restored downst r eam of t he vena cont r act a point, resulting in a
very low overall loss of pressure.
An advant age of t he VAD is t hat , due to the cool ant injection
occurri ng at a point wher e t he st eam pressure is lowered, the pressure of
t he spray wat er does not have to be significantly hi gher t han t hat of t he
steam.
7.2.4 Other types of attemperator
At least two ot her designs of at t emper at or will be encount er ed in power-
station applications. The vapour-at omi si ng design mixes st eam with the
cooling water, thus ensuri ng mor e effective break-up of the wat er droplets
and shroudi ng the at omi sed droplets in a sheat h of st eam to provide rapi d
at t emperat i on.
Variable-orifice at t emperat ors i ncl ude a freely floating plug whi ch is
positioned above a fixed s e a t - - a design t hat generat es high t urbul ence
and mor e efficient at t emperat i on. The cool ant velocity increases simulta-
neously with the pressure drop, instantly vaporising t he liquid. Because of
the movement of t he plug, the pressure dr op across t he nozzle remai ns
const ant (at about 0.2 bar). The design of this t ype of at t emper at or is so
efficient t hat compl et e mi xi ng of t he cool ant and the steam is provi ded
wi t hi n 3 to 4 m of t he cool ant ent ry point, and the t emper at ur e can be
controlled to __+ 2.5 C, t heoret i cal l y over a t ur ndown range of 100 : 1.
Because t he floating plug moves against gravity, this t ype of at t em-
per at or must be installed in a vertical section of pipe with the st eam
t hr ough it travelling in an upwar d direction. However, because of the
efficient mi xi ng of st eam and coolant, it is permissible to provi de a bend
almost i mmedi at el y aft er t he device. Fi gure 7.3 shows a typical installa-
tion.
Steam-temperature control 141
Temperature sensor
STEAM OUTLET
Long-radius bend
) k, Nonretum valve
J
Water from
sp~y.2atvaer e
STEAM INLET
Figure 7.3 Variable-orifice attemperator installation
7.2.5 Location of temperature sensors
Because the st eam and wat er do not mix i mmedi at el y at the pl ane of the
nozzle or nozzles, great care must be t aken to l ocat e the t emper at ur e
sensor far enough downst r eam of t he at t emper at or for the measur ement to
accurat el y represent the act ual t emper at ur e of the st eam ent eri ng the next
stage of t ube banks. Di rect i mpi ngement of spray wat er on t he t emper at ur e
sensor will result in t he final st eam t emper at ur e bei ng hi gher t han desired.
Fi gure 7.4 shows a typical installation, in this case for a vari abl e-annul us
desuperheat er.
7.2.6 Control systems f or spray-water attemperators
The simplest possible t ype of cont rol woul d be based on measuri ng t he
t emper at ur e of the st eam leaving the final superheat er, and modul at i ng
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Steam-temperature control 143
t he flow of cooling wat er to t he spray at t emper at or so as to keep t he tem-
per at ur e const ant at all flow conditions. Unfort unat el y, because of t he
long t i me constants associated with t he superheat er, this form of cont rol
woul d pr oduce excessive deviations in t emper at ur e, and a mor e compl ex
ar r angement is requi red.
Two t i me constants are associated wi t h the superheat er. One represents
t he t i me t aken for changes in t he firing rat e to affect t he st eam t emper a-
ture, t he ot her is t he t i me t aken for t he st eam and wat er mi xt ur e leaving
the at t emper at or to appear at t he outlet of t he final superheat er. I n t erms
of t emper at ur e cont rol it is t he l at t er effect whi ch predomi nat es because,
al t hough changes in heat i nput will affect t he t emper at ur e of t he steam, a
fast-responding t emper at ur e- cont r ol loop will be able to compensat e for
t he al t erat i ons and keep t he t emper at ur e constant. It is t he react i on t i me
bet ween a change occurri ng in t he spray-wat er flow and t he effects being
observed in t he final t emper at ur e t hat det ermi nes t he ext ent of t he t em-
per at ur e variations t hat will occur.
Anot her probl em wi t h a simple system, as out l i ned above, is t hat it
does not per mi t any moni t or i ng anc~ control of t he t emper at ur e to occur
within t he st eam c i r c ui t - - onl y at t he exit from t he boiler.
These difficulties are addressed by t he appl i cat i on of a cascade cont rol
system as shown in Fi gure 7.5. This shows a simple st eam- t emper at ur e
cont rol system based on t he use of an i nt erst age at t emper at or whi ch is
l ocat ed in t he st eam circuit bet ween the pr i mar y and secondar y banks of
superheat er tubes.
Since it is t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam leaving t he secondar y super-
heat er t hat is i mport ant , this par amet er is measur ed and a correspondi ng
signal fed to a two- or t hr ee- t er m cont rol l er (proport i onal -pl us-i nt egral or
proportional-plus-integral-plus-derivative). I n this cont rol l er t he
measured-val ue signal is compar ed with a fixed desired-value signal and
t he cont rol l er' s out put forms t he desired-value i nput for a secondar y con-
troller. (Because t he out put from one cont rol l er ' cascades' into t he i nput of
anot her, this t ype of cont rol system is commonl y t er med ' cascade
control' .)
The secondar y cont rol l er compares this desired-value signal wi t h a mea-
sur ement represent i ng t he t emper at ur e of t he st eam i mmedi at el y aft er t he
spray-wat er at t emperat or.
It is a mat t er of some debat e as to whet her a t wo- t er m or t hr ee- t er m
cont rol l er should be used in this t ype of application. Because t he steam-
t emper at ur e sensors used are subjected to t he hi gh pressures and t emper a-
tures of t he superheat er, t hey have to be enclosed in substantial steel
pockets. Even wi t h t he best designs, pockets are usually slow-responding,
with t he result t hat any high-speed fluctuations in t he measured-val ue
144 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Steam L
drum - ( ~
Figure 7.5
Primary
superheater
Attemperator
Secondary
superheater
Steam out
m
I i
, . s i
l
<
Water from
feed pumps
Steam-temperature control with a single inters/age spray a/tempera/or
signal will be smoot hed out and t he resul t ant signal will be fairly stable.
The use of a derivative t er m is therefore easier t han in, say, flow measure-
ment applications where small-scale but sudden changes in flow can occur.
When rapi d i nput changes are di fferent i at ed, t he cont rol l er out put
changes by a large amount , and for this reason t uni ng t hr ee- t er m flow con-
trollers for opt i mum response can become difficult. This is not a probl em
with the t emper at ur e controllers described here, and the application of
derivative act i on may be viable i f it is felt t hat this coul d provide i mproved
performance. As usual, it is i mpor t ant t hat the cont rol l er design should be
such that the derivative t erm affects only t he measured-val ue signal (not
the desired-value or error signals), since differential response to operat or-
i nduced setpoint changes is always undesirable.
I n Chapt er 6, reference was made to t he r equi r ement for t he spray
wat er to ent er t he a/ t emper a/ or at a pressure whi ch exceeds t he steam
pressure by a mi ni mum value. It is wort h r emember i ng t he poi nt made
there: that, wher e a variable-speed feed pump is used, car e must be t aken
Steam-temperature control 145
to ensure t hat adequat e wat er / s t eam differential pressure is available
under all operat i onal conditions.
7. 2. 6. 1 Cont r ol l er s a t u r a t i o n effects
The t ype of cont rol system described above is commonl y encount er ed in
a wide vari et y of applications, and it is subject to an effect whi ch must be
underst ood and adequat el y addressed by t he design of t he controllers used
in the system. The effect is known as ' i nt egral sat urat i on' or ' reset wind-
up', and it is a charact eri st i c of i nt egral -act i on controllers whose out put
commands are fed into t he inputs of cascade or secondary controllers. It
sometimes confuses people when t hey are first i nt roduced to this sat urat i on
effect in st eam- t emper at ur e cont rol applications since the word ' satura-
tion' is also applied to a t her modynami c pr oper t y of steam. It is t herefore
i mpor t ant t hat t he poi nt is clearly underst ood t hat in this cont ext t he wor d
' sat urat i on' refers to a cont rol l er out put reachi ng a limiting val ue and t hen
at t empt i ng to exceed t hat figure.
Whet her t he i mpl ement at i on of a controller is achi eved in har dwar e or
by software its out put must always be const rai ned by some design limit or
other. At first sight, it may appear t hat the exception to this rule is the so-
called pulse or i ncrement al controller, where the out put commands di ct at e
a change in t he position of t he cont rol l ed device. However, i f t he cont rol l er
and act uat or are considered t oget her as a system it will be seen t hat satura-
tion will still occur when the act uat or reaches the limit of its movement .
Wi t h a gai n of x, t he out put of a cont rol l er will be the i nput er r or multi-
plied by x, but what happens if ei t her x or the error is so l arge t hat t he
resulting out put is outside t he range of signals t hat t he cont rol l er can
handl e (i.e. beyond t he limiting value of t he out put range)? I n this case t he
cont rol l er out put will adopt a magni t ude whi ch is fixed at t he l i mi t i ng
value, in whi ch condi t i on the out put is no l onger represent at i ve of t he
i nput error.
The r ange of inputs wi t hi n whi ch t he cont rol l er out put is represent at i ve
of the i nput error is inversely proport i onal to t he gain: with a l arge gain, a
small i nput error may force t he out put signal to the l i mi t i ng value, and
vice versa.
It is for this reason t hat cont rol engineers refer to the ' proport i onal
band' of t he controller, the proport i onal band of a cont rol l er being t he
reci procal of its gain, with a gai n of 1 being equi val ent to a proport i onal
band of 100%. It is wort h expl ori ng the significance of this st at ement wi t h
t he following exampl e.
I n Fi gure 7.6a t he controller has a gai n of 1. The i nput error is defined as
bei ng in the range 0 - 100% and t he out put is also in t he r ange 0 - 100%.
146 Power-plant control and instrumentation
( a )
( b )
i |
Figure 7.6 Controller saturation
I f t he i nput error is slowly swung from one ext reme limit to t he ot her (i.e.
from - 1 0 0 % to +100%) , t he out put also moves from one limit to t he
ot her (in t he above case from - 1 0 0 % to +100%) .
In Figure 7.6b t he cont rol l er gai n has been i ncreased to 2, and this
time the out put reaches its l i mi t i ng val ue of +100% when t he i nput error
is only +50%, and it becomes - 1 0 0 % when t he i nput is - 5 0 %. In ot her
words, t he out put moves from one limit to t he ot her wi t h an i nput swing of
50% of t he ma xi mum range. I f t he i nput is i ncreased beyond t he val ue of
50% in ei t her direction, as shown by t he dot t ed lines, the out put cannot
respond, since t he out put has r eached the limit of its range and t he con-
troller has become sat urat ed.
The significance of t he expression ' proport i onal band' should now be
apparent . It is t he r ange of i nput signals wi t hi n whi ch t he out put is propor-
tional to t he input.
A good way of under st andi ng what is happeni ng is to t hi nk of the
i nput in t erms of a window. Every change t hat occurs wi t hi n t he wi ndow
Steam-temperature cont r ol 147
will be react ed to, but any change t hat occurs when t he i nput is outside
of t he wi ndow is invisible to the controller. The size of t he wi ndow is
inversely proport i onal to t he cont rol l er gain: t he hi gher t he gain, t he
smal l er t he window.
Wi t h a simple loop, t he effects of cont rol l er sat urat i on are not too
severe since t he out put has reached t he limit of movement of t he act uat or
and it starts to react as soon as t he cont rol l er i nput error has re-ent ered t he
pr opor t i onal - band window. In a cascade loop, however, t he presence of
t he two controllers leads to hi ghl y undesirable results.
To illustrate this point, Figure 7.7 shows a cascade loop wi t h pract i cal
values of t emper at ur e and gain added. As is common wi t h this t ype of
system, t he t emper at ur e t ransmi t t er has a suppressed range, wi t h 4 mA
bei ng t ransmi t t ed when t he t emper at ur e is 300C and 20 mA when t he
t emper at ur e is 600 C. When t he st eam t emper at ur e is 400C t he error
Pr i ma r y S e c o n d a r y
s u p e r h e a t e r s upe r he a t e r
- s f
/
Gai n = 2
400oc
3 0 0 - 6 0 0 C
4 mA - 20 mA
,.s I
\
DV = 550C
Gai n = 1
Figure 7.7 Saturation effects in steam-temperature control system
148 Power-plant control and instrumentation
bet ween the measur ed and desired val ue signals is 150 C, whi ch is 50%
of t he 300 C i nput range and with a gain of 1 the cont rol l er out put is also
50%. Since t he secondary cont rol l er has a gain of 2, t he 50% signal from
t he pr i mar y cont rol l er is right at t he edge of its own pr opor t i onal - band
window.
Now let us see what happens when the t emper at ur e is outside t he pro-
por t i onal - band wi ndow when, as stated above, the secondar y cont rol l er
cannot react to any changes in it. I f the t emper at ur e is at, say, 350 C and
rising, the pr i mar y cont rol l er will react to the rise in t emper at ur e and
pr oduce out put commands whi ch should start increasing the flow of
cooling spray-water. However, these commands are initially invisible to
the secondary controller, and the spray valve will not be moved until t he
signal event ual l y enters the proport i onal -band wi ndow of the secondary
controller. By t hen it is far too late, and the situation is exacerbat ed by t he
long time const ant of the final superheat er (up to 1 minutes in some
cases). As a result, t he t emper at ur e continues to rise, and when t he spray
valve finally opens t he result is a severe overcorrect i on. The result is t hat
t he final st eam t emper at ur e and the spray valve openi ng will bot h begin to
oscillate.
This is a classical exampl e of t he effects of cont rol l er saturation, but
the probl em is not always underst ood by DCS vendors who are unfami l i ar
with boiler control systems. On the ot her hand, vendors who do recognise
t he probl em offer a vari et y of solutions. These usually involve t he use of
' t rack' and ' reset' facilities in the controllers (or t he software funct i on
blocks whi ch assume t he dut y of controllers). With such solutions the con-
troller out put is forced to follow a signal whi ch is connect ed to its ' track'
t ermi nal when the reset (integration) funct i on is disabled. I n one config-
urat i on, t he system monitors the out put signal of t he pr i mar y controller,
and when this reaches 100% the cont rol l er out put is forced to t rack the
i nput t emperat ure.
7.2.6.2 Prevention of over-cooling
In st eam- t emper at ur e cont rol applications it is i mpor t ant to prevent t he
t emper at ur e being reduced too far. I f the t emper at ur e at t he inlet of the
secondary superheat er falls to a value approachi ng t he sat urat i on t empera-
ture, wat er dropl et s could form in t he flowstream, raising t he possibility of
t her mal shock to t he pipework, and in addi t i on t he st eam circuit could
become part i al l y plugged. The flow t hr ough the obst ruct ed tubes will t hen
be reduced and t hei r surface t emper at ur e will rise, possibly causing
pr emat ur e t ube failure.
Steam-temperature control 149
7.2.6.3 Mul t i st age attemperators
Some boilers have several banks of superheat er tubes. In these cases spray
at t emperat ors are normal l y provi ded bet ween the maj or banks, as shown
in Figure 7.8.
It will be seen t hat t he cont rol systems ar ound each superheat er
compri se cascade loops t hat are quite similar to those discussed earlier.
However, t he set-value signal for t he first stage of sprayi ng is deri ved from
the out put of the cont rol l er regul at i ng t he final st eam t emperat ure. I n
fact, the signal may be charact eri sed in some way to accurat el y represent
the relationship bet ween the t emper at ur e of t he st eam leaving t he second
stage of at t emper at i on and t hat at t he exit of t he first stage. When the
system is operat i ng correctly, with the final slave cont rol l er mai nt ai ni ng its
desired-value and measured-val ue signals at t he same value, the effect is to
mai nt ai n a const ant t emperat ure-di fferent i al across the second at t em-
perator. The t emper at ur e dr op across t he at t emper at or is a measure of t he
Prim ary Secondary 2M'steg e Tertiary
superheater superheater ettempemtor superheater
,A A A
I ls t-s ta ~
attemperator
8
11
Boiler sir
flow
14
13
10
Water from
feed pumps
Figure 7.8 Steam-temperature control with two-stage spray attemperation
150 Power-plant control and instrumentation
work bei ng done by it, and by cont rol l i ng this to a known value t he
cooling l oad t hr ough the entire string of tubes can be apport i oned as
requi red.
The funct i on of t he maxi mum- sel ect or uni t (item 9) is to prevent
chilling as described in Section 7.2.6.2. The st eam pressure at t he dr um is
measur ed and its value charact eri sed (8) to pr oduce a signal whi ch repre-
sents t he sat urat i on t emper at ur e. I t em 8 also i ncorporat es a bias to
represent a safe mar gi n of operat i on and t he resul t ant signal is fed to t he
maxi mum-sel ect or unit. I f t he out put of the secondary-superheat er con-
troller should fall to a value t hat is at or below t he safety mar gi n above t he
sat urat i on t emper at ur e, it is i gnored by t he maxi mum-sel ect or unit, whi ch
clamps t he desired val ue signal for t he first stage at t emper at or at this
limit.
Anot her feat ure of t he system shown in this di agr am is t he pr ogr ammi ng
signal whi ch presets t he openi ng of t he first-stage spray-wat er valve
accordi ng to a charact eri st i c t hat the boiler designer has predicted. The
t emper at ur e- cont r ol systems t hen t ri m this openi ng to el i mi nat e any
residual error. These pr ogr ammi ng signals can overcome some of t he
boiler' s time-delays, pr oduci ng a bet t er and faster response to changes in
load.
7.3 Temperat ure cont rol wi t h t i l t i ng burners
As expl ai ned in Chapt er 3, t he burni ng fuel in a corner-fi red boiler forms
a l arge swirling fireball whi ch can be moved to a hi gher or lower level in
t he f ur nace by tilting the burners upwards or downwar ds wi t h respect to a
midposition. The repositioning of t he fireball changes t he pat t er n of heat
transfer to t he various banks of superheat er tubes and this provides an
efficient met hod of cont rol l i ng the st eam t emper at ur e, since it enables t he
use of spray wat er to be reserved for fi ne-t uni ng purposes and for emergen-
cies. I n addition, the tilting process provides a met hod of cont rol l i ng
furnace exit t emperat ures.
Wi t h such boilers, t he st eam t emper at ur e control systems become signif-
i cant l y di fferent from those of boilers with fixed burners. The boiler
designer is able to define the opt i mum angul ar position of t he burners for
all loads, and t he control engi neer can t hen use a funct i on gener at or to set
t he angle of tilt over t he load range to mat ch this characteristic. A t em-
per at ur e cont rol l er trims t he degree of tilt so t hat the correct st eam
t emper at ur e is at t ai ned.
Steam-temperature control 151
7.4 Co nt r o l l i ng t he t e mp e r a t u r e of r e h e a t e d s t e a m
I n boi l ers wi t h r e he a t stages, c ha nge s i n f i r i ng i ne vi t a bl y affect t he t e m-
p e r a t u r e of b o t h t he r e h e a t e r a n d t he s upe r he a t e r . I f a si ngl e c ont r ol
me c h a n i s m wer e t o be us ed f or b o t h t e mp e r a t u r e s t he r es ul t i ng i nt er -
act i ons wo u l d ma k e c ont r ol - s ys t e m t u n i n g di ffi cul t , i f n o t i mpossi bl e, t o
opt i mi s e. Suc h boi l ers t her ef or e use t wo or mo r e me t h o d s o f cont r ol .
Because of t he l ower o p e r a t i n g pr essur e of r e he a t s t e a m syst ems, t he
t h e r mo d y n a mi c c ondi t i ons ar e si gni f i cant l y di f f er ent f r o m t hose of super -
heat er s, a n d t he i nj ect i on of s pr a y wa t e r i nt o t he r e h e a t e r s ys t em has a n
u n d u e effect on t he effi ci ency of t he pl ant . For t hi s r eason, i t is pr ef er abl e
for t he r e he a t st ages t o be c ont r ol l e d by t i l t i ng b u r n e r s (i f t hese ar e
avai l abl e) or by a p p o r t i o n i n g t he fl ow of hot c o mb u s t i o n gases over t he
var i ous t ube banks . Howe ve r , i f t he s u p e r h e a t t e mp e r a t u r e is c ont r ol l e d by
b u r n e r t i l t i ng, gas a p p o r t i o n i n g or s pr ay a t t e mp e r a t i o n mu s t t h e n be us ed
for t he r e he a t stages.
I n boi l ers wi t h fi xed bur ner s , s t e a m- t e mp e r a t u r e c ont r ol ma y be
a c hi e ve d by a dj us t i ng t he o p e n i n g of d a mp e r s t h a t c ont r ol t he fl ow o f t he
f ur na c e gases across t he var i ous t ube banks. I n s ome cases t wo s e pa r a t e
sets of d a mp e r s ar e pr ovi de d: one r e g u l a t i n g t he fl ow over t he s u p e r h e a t e r
banks , t he o t h e r c ont r ol l i ng t he fl ow over t he r e h e a t e r banks .
Be t we e n t he m, t hese t wo sets o f d a mp e r s deal wi t h t he ent i r e v o l u me
o f c o mb u s t i o n gases pas s i ng f r o m t he f ur na c e t o t he c hi mne y. I f b o t h wer e
t o be cl osed at t he s a me t i me, t h e fl ow of t hese gases wo u l d be sever el y
r est r i ct ed, l e a di ng t o t he possi bi l i t y o f d a ma g e t o t he s t r uc t ur e d u e t o over -
pr es s ur i s at i on. For t hi s r e a s on t he t wo sets ar e c o n t r o l l e d i n a so- cal l ed
' s pl i t - r ange' f ashi on, wi t h one set be i ng al l owed t o cl ose onl y wh e n t he
o t h e r has f ul l y ope ne d.
Th e s e d a mp e r s pr ovi de t he ma i n f or m of cont r ol , b u t t he r es pons e o f
t he s ys t em is ver y slow, pa r t i c ul a r l y wi t h l ar ge boi l ers, wh e r e t he t e mp e r a -
t ur e r es pons e t o c ha nge s i n he a t i n p u t exhi bi t s a s e c ond- or de r l ag of
a l mos t t wo mi n u t e s ' dur a t i on. For t hi s r eason, a n d also t o pr ovi de a me a n s
of r e d u c i n g t he t e mp e r a t u r e of t h e r e he a t s t e a m i n t he e v e n t o f a f ai l ur e i n
t he d a mp e r syst ems, s pr ay a t t e mp e r a t i o n is p r o v i d e d for e me r g e n c y
cool i ng.
T h e s pr a y a t t e mp e r a t o r is s hut unl ess t he t e mp e r a t u r e at t he r e h e a t e r
out l e t r eaches a p r e d e t e r mi n e d h i g h l i mi t . Wh e n t hi s l i mi t is exceeded, t he
s pr a y val ve is ope ne d. I n t hi s c ondi t i on, t he a mo u n t o f wa t e r t h a t is
i nj ect ed is t ypi cal l y c ont r ol l e d i n r e l a t i on t o t he t e mp e r a t u r e at t he
r e h e a t e r i nl et , t o b r i n g t he exi t t e mp e r a t u r e b a c k i nt o t he r egi on whe r e
g a s - a p p o r t i o n i n g or b u r n e r t i l t i ng c a n once a ga i n be effective. T h e
152 Power-plant control and instrumentation
relationship bet ween the cold reheat t emper at ur e and the requi red spray-
wat er flow can be defined by the boiler designer or process engineer.
I f a t ur bi ne trip occurs the reheat flow will collapse. In this situation
the reheat sprays must be shut i mmedi at el y in or der to pr event serious
damage bei ng caused by the admission of cold spray wat er to the turbine.
7.4.1 Spray attemperators f or reheat applications
At first, it may seem t hat reheat spray-wat er at t emper at or systems should
be similar to those of the superheat er. This is unt rue, because reheat at t em-
perat ors have to cope wi t h the l ower st eam pressure in this section of the
boiler, whi ch renders the pressure of the wat er at t he di scharge of the feed
pumps too high for satisfactory operat i on. Al t hough a pressure-reduci ng
val ve coul d be i nt roduced into the spray-wat er line, this woul d be an
expensive solution whose l ong-t erm reliability woul d not be satisfactory
because of t he severe conditions to which such a val ve woul d be subjected.
A bet t er solution woul d be to derive the suppl y from the feed-pump inlet.
In some cases, even this is ineffective, and separat e pump sets have to be
provi ded for the reheat sprays.
7.5 Gas recycl i ng
Wher e boilers are designed for burni ng oil, or oil and coal in combi nat i on,
t hey are frequent l y provi ded wi t h gas-reci rcul at i on systems, where the hot
gases exiting the l at er stages of the boiler are reci rcul at ed to the bot t om
par t of the furnace, close to the burners. This pr ocedur e increases the
mass-flow of gas over the t ube banks, and t herefore increases the heat
transfer to t hem.
Because the gas exiting the furnace is at a low pressure, fans have to be
provi ded to ensure that the gas flows in the correct direction. Cont rol l i ng
the flow of recycl ed gases provides a met hod of regul at i ng the t emper at ur e
of the super heat ed and reheat ed st eam, but interlocks have to be pr ovi ded
to prot ect the fan against hi gh- t emper at ur e gases flowing in a reverse
di rect i on from t he bur ner area i f the fan is st opped or i f it trips.
7.6 Summary
Thi s ends our syst em-by-syst em survey of boi l er and HRS G cont rol and
i nst rument at i on systems, and we will now t urn our at t ent i on to some of the
design aspects rel at i ng to the equi pment t hat is used in i mpl ement i ng these
systems.