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Power Plant Performance Monitoring

Indonesia Customer Seminar

June 13 & 14 2012

Jakarta Indonesia

Why monitor Condenser Performance?

It is where the money is made or lost

Optimize cooling water program

Identify mechanical issues such as with air-removal

systems

What is a Condenser and how does it work?

Nothing more than a heat exchanger

Condenses steam by transferring heat to cooling medium

The better the heat transfer rate, the better the vacuum, the
more efficient the Steam Turbine/Plant

What is Nalcos Condenser Performance Offering?

Condenser Performance Monitoring Tool (CPMT)

Captures plant data, as well as Trasar data

Compiles information, performs calculations, generates

Dashboard for reviewing with customer

So how does the Condenser Performance Monitoring

Tool work?

Gathers the plants raw data for the key parameters

Uses these to make necessary calculations

Calculations provide quantitative information to trend

condenser performance

So how does the Condenser Performance

Monitoring Tool work?

Graphs provide big picture view of condenser performance

and allow for comparison of the key parameters

Most important is that it allows for filtering of data to

compare like-for-like conditions

In the end the tool provides an accurate method of

troubleshooting and identifying areas of improvement

What is required by the plant?

Provide the proper design documentation

Inform the Nalco Representative of any changes that have

been or will be made to the Cooing or Condenser Systems

Help with set up of the Historian Download sheet

What is required by the rep?

Modification of the tool to fit plants needs

Periodic download of data from customer computer

Migration of that data to the tool

Analysis of that data with customer

DESIGN DATA ENTRY

What design data is needed?

Condenser
Design thermal and flow balance
Typically found in the Condenser Spec Sheet

Cooling
Cooling Tower spec sheet if applicable
For Once-Throughs, a thorough understanding of the pump
operation is needed, particularly number of pumps for each season

Thermal Kit
Extremely valuable in comparing actual to design under all
conditions
Contains information regarding Back Pressure vs Inlet Water
Temperatures, as well as flow and heat load on the condenser

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Design Data Entry

Condenser Spec
Sheet

Cooling Tower
Spec Sheet

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Design Data Entry

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Design Data Entry

Data Capture

HISTORIAN DOWNLOAD

What operational data points are needed?

Basic points
Plant load
Steam Load
Condenser Back Pressure
Cooling Water In and Out Temps
Heat Rate- both net and gross
Cogen Steam if applicable
Ambient Temperature
Hotwell Temperature

What operational data points are needed?

Would like to have points

Cooling Water In and Out Pressures
Extraction Steam- or at least a % expected
Wet Bulb- if cooling tower
Humidity %- if cooling tower and no Wet Bulb
Each GT MW output- if HRSG
Fuel usage for all applicable systems

Important to note that we can pull anything into the tool

This allows us to trend other plant operations with the Condenser
and Cooling Tower Performance
An example would be the 3D Trasar or NCSM data, which is
captured by the unit, but not typically brought back to historian

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Historian Download Setup

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Historian Data Download

Data Import

UPLOADING HISTORIAN DATA

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Accessing the CPMT and Importing Data

Data Review

GRAPHING TOOLS AND

DASHBOARD

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Graphing Options

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Dashboard

A Discussion about Condenser Performance

WE HAVE THE DATA NOW

WHAT?

What parameters do we care about and why?

Air

Steam

CW Out
CW In
Condensate

What are some key indicators of Condenser

Performance?

Back Pressure (BP)

Heat Rate (HR)

Air-In-leakage

Cleanliness Factor (CF%)

Initial Temperature Difference (ITD)

Terminal Temperature Difference (TTD)

Temperature Rise (TR)

Log Mean Temperature Differential (LMTD)

Performance Definitions and Calculations

ITD temperature difference between the Steam Temp and

the Inlet Water Temp
Stm CWin
Can be key in identifying inlet water/cooling tower issues

TTD temperature difference between the Steam Temp

and the Outlet Water Temp
Stm CWout
Indication of overall heat transfer and performance

Performance Definitions and Calculations

TR temperature difference between CWout and CWin

Indication of how much heat was picked up by cooling water
Can be a good indication of fouling

LMTD - logarithmic average temperature difference

TR / ln(ITD/TTD) (for counter current)
In essence is the average temperature change across the tube
bundle

Performance Definitions and Calculations

LMTD

Temperature

Steam Temperature Constant

TTD

ITD
TR

Distance Down Tube

Performance Definitions and Calculations

Industry standard but very much
misunderstood

CF% = Ua / Ud

Ua = Q / A * LMTD

Ud = Ui * FL * F1 * F2
FL = Steam Load Factor
F1 = Inlet Water Correction Factor
F2 = Tube Gauge Correction Factor
Ui = Ideal Heat Transfer Coefficient

What are some key aspects of Condenser Operation?

Performance Consequences- Turbine Efficiency

Efficiency of Turbine determined by BTUin and BTUout

Lower BTUout value = more btus transferred to Turbine

Therefore, lower BP in condenser, more BTUs transferred

to Turbine
101.5 psia = 1304 btu/lb

101.5 psia = 1304 btu/lb

2.0 inHg = 1105 btu/lb

3.0 inHg = 1111 btu/lb

Additional 6 btu/lb to Turbine and MW generation at lower BP

Performance Consequences Inlet Water Temp

Many dont consider this when discussing current operating

BP

Inlet Water Temp dictates condenser performance

Assuming constant TR, every 2F can mean as much as a

0.2 inHg increase in BP

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Effect of Cooling Water Inlet Temperature

Cooling Water In Temp vs. BP*
Back Pressure inHg

4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
50

60

70

80

90

Cooling Water Inlet Temp f

*Assumes 20F TR and 6F TTD

100

110

Performance Consequences Air In-Leakage

Air In-leakage a significant contributor to degradation in

condenser performance
Typically not monitored on-line
Typically not well understood
Blankets tubes preventing heat transfer
Air Resistance
= Rair
Scale/Foulant
Resistance = Rfoul

Condensate
Resistance = Rcond

Tube Resistance
= Rtube

Water Resistance =
Rwater

U = 1/( Resistances)

Important Considerations

PITFALLS OF CONDENSER MONITORING

Common Obstacles

Cycling plants difficult to monitor, but with a properly set up

Thermal Kit and filtering, can be accomplished

The data is only as good as the tools used to collect it

Bad probes
Bad location
Not sent back to the historian
All play a role in poor data collection

Seeing what you want to see

Analyze the data, not what you would like to happen
Check multiple parameters to make sure they correlate
Make sure you understand plant operation/dispatch

Analyzing Data

Be patient

Look at all parameters before starting to form a conclusion

Because it is important to compare like conditions, start by

filtering the data to the condition desired
Remember, you can filter on many parameters at once
For instance, you can filter plant load, inlet water temp, and date all
at the same time to really drill down to what you are looking for

CASE STUDIES

Case #1- Vacuum Pump Seal Water

Case #2- Bio-Surfactant Addition

Mechanical
Cleaning
Surfactant
Addition

Case #3- Air In-leakage

DISCUSSION