HEAT RATE MONITORING

an overview

presented by soumyajit mukherjee

 H E A T R A T E
h e a t r a t e

It is a measure of how efficiently the chemical

energy contained in the fuel is converted into
electrical energy
The heat rate of a power plant is the amount of
chemical energy, in the fuel, that must be supplied
to produce one unit of electrical energy.

Heat rate is expressed in kcal/kWhr

HR = (input in kcal) / (output in kWhr)

= (input in kcal) / (output in kcal/ 860)
= 860 X (input / output)
= 860 / efficiency

Efficiency (%) = (860 / heat rate) X 100

 UNIT HEAT RATE

Ratio of heat input to the boiler (all forms of

chemical energy supplied ) and the gross electrical
generation

NET UNIT HEAT RATE

Ratio of heat input to the boiler and the net

electrical generation i.e., auxiliary power is to be
subtracted from gross electrical energy
 REFERENCE UNIT HEAT RATE

This is the heat rate the unit is capable of obtaining,

based on the initial design configuration. It is usually
derived from the turbo generator and boiler performance
guarantee or acceptance test results

GROSS TURBINE CYCLE HEAT RATE

Gross Turbine Cycle heat rate includes only heat

input to the turbine cycle. It is the ratio of total heat input
to the turbine cycle and the gross generator output
 GROSS TURBINE HR
UNIT HEAT RATE = -------------------------------
BOILER EFFICIENCY

For SIPAT
turbine design HR = 1944.4 kcal/kWhr

boiler design efficiency =85.58%

design unit heat rate=2272kcal/kWhr

UNIT η = TURBINE η X BOILER η

860 860
---------------- = --------------------- X BOILER η
UNIT HR TURBINE HR

1 1
---------------- = ----------------------- X BOILER η
UNIT HR TURBINE HR

TURBINE HEAT RATE

UNIT HEAT RATE = ---------------------------------------
BOILER EFFICIENCY
REASONS FOR HEAT RATE DEVIATION

 The initial design

 Ambient conditions

 Load Factor

 The fuel that is supplied

 How well the plant is operated and

maintained
 HEAT RATE MONITORING is focused
on identifying heat rate gaps and then identifying and
implementing corrective actions to eliminate the
efficiency loss. In this approach, heat rate deviations
from expected or design levels are identified and
quantified.
BOILER CYCLE
AIR PRE HEATER PERFORMANCE
 AIR PRE HEATER PERFORMANCE INDICES

• Air-in-Leakage
• Gas Side Efficiency
• X - ratio
• Flue gas temperature drop
• Air side temperature rise
• Gas & Air side pressure drops
 AIR PRE HEATER LEAKAGE

Increase in Air heater leakage can lead to

– Reduced Air heater efficiency

– Increased fan power consumption
– Higher gas velocities that affect ESP
performance
– Loss of fan margins leading to inefficient
operation and at times restricting unit loading
AH Leakage is quantified as
(CO2 ge – CO2gl) x 0.9 x 100
CO2 gl
(O2 gl – O2 ge) x 0.9 x 100
(21 - O2 gl)

CO2ge = percent CO2 in gas entering air heater

CO2gl = percent CO2 in gas leaving air heater
O2ge = percent O 2 in gas entering air heater
O2gl = percent O 2 in gas leaving air heater

Expected leakage 8.5 to 9.0 %

Possible causes of increased leakage

axial and radial seal mechanical damage or

wear

sector plate mechanical damage or warping

rotor eccentricity

excessive air to gas side differential pressure.

AIR PRE HEATER GAS SIDE EFFICIENCY
(GSE)

GSE = Tge – Tgnl x 100

Tge – Tae

Tae = Temperature of air entering air heater

Tge = Temperature of gas entering air heater
Tgnl = gas out temp corrected for no leakage
Expected gas side efficiency 68.8 %
Gas side efficiency is an indicator of thermal performance
of the air heater and depends on the internal condition of
the air heater.
AIR PRE HEATER X-RATIO
Tge – Tgnl
X-ratio = ----------------------
Tao – Tae

Expected X- ratio 0.75

A lower than design X-ratio indicates excessive gas weight
through the air heater or that airflow is bypassing the air
heater. A lower than design X-ratio leads to higher than
design gas outlet temperature & can be used as an
indication of excessive tempering air to the mills or
excessive boiler air-in-leakage.
 DRY FLUE GAS LOSS

It is the heat carried away by the flue gas

from the stack. 20 degree C increase in exit
gas temperature could lead to 1% reduction
in boiler η

design dry flue gas loss 4.346 %

PARAMETERS AFFECTING DRY FLUE GAS
LOSS

• Flue gas exit temperature at APH outlet

• Mass flow rate of flue gas

• Specific heat of flue gas

 REASONS FOR HIGH FLUE GAS TEMPERATURE AT
APH OUTLET

• APH inlet flue gas temp. high

• Change in X-ratio

• Poor gas side efficiency of APH (Basket condition)

• Secondary combustion

• More use of tempering air

• High total air flow

 MEASURES TO REDUCE DRY FLUE GAS LOSS :

• Boiler operation at optimum excess air

• Ensuring cleanliness of boiler surfaces with adequate soot blowing
• Good combustion of fuel
• Reduction of tempering air to mills
• Reduction in air-in-leakage in the boiler
• Cleaning of air heater surfaces and proper heating elements / surface area
 UNBURNT CARBON LOSS

Factors influencing Unburnt carbon loss includes the followings:

• PF fineness (Worn Pulveriser component, Classifier adjustment

incorrect)
• Primary Air Flow
• Furnace size
• Coal FC/VM ratio, coal reactivity
• Burners healthiness
• Insufficient excess air in combustion zone
• SADC performance
Design unburnt carbon loss 1.5 %
TURBINE CYCLE
 CONDENSER BACK PRESSURE

Usually one of the largest heat rate deviations at a plant

Condenser performance problems can generally be grouped
into :
• circulating water flow problems
• air in-leakage/air removal problems
• poor heat transfer (fouling) problems
• condenser inlet circulating water temperature
P4

P3

P2
P1

VOLUME
 LOW CIRCULATING WATER FLOW
Low Circulating water flow may be due to:
Circulating Water System/Equipment Problems
Plugging
Low Water box Level

AIR IN-LEAKAGE/AIR REMOVAL

PROBLEMS
Besides raising backpressure, air in-leakage/removal problems
allow oxygen to accumulate inside the turbine cycle. Because
oxygen is a universal corrosive agent, this provides a
mechanism for corrosion that can result in serious degradation
problems in the feed water and boiler systems. High levels of
dissolved oxygen in the condensate leaving the condenser are
expected in the case of air in-leakage/removal problems.
 AIR INGRESS
If air suction depression is more than design then it is an
indication of air ingress problem.
Common causes for air leakage include:

– Inadequate turbine shaft sealing (low seal steam

or water pressure)
– Vacuum breaker leaks
– Air leaking in expansion joints
– Leakage through various components under
vacuum
– Leakage around pressure relief diaphragm
– Seal steam pressure at the shaft seals
For AIR REMOVAL problems check healthiness of the
vacuum pumps
HEAT TRANSFER (FOULING)
PROBLEMS
Fouling problems are difficult to diagnose since they share
many of the symptoms of low flow problems. Thus, fouling
is often diagnosed by eliminating other possible causes of
high backpressure or by a positive response to some sort of
cleaning process.

Increasing terminal temperature difference (TTD) indicates

heat transfer impairment.
HIGH CIRCULATING WATER
TEMPERATURE

If the circulating water temperature is higher than

normal, consideration should be given to placing
additional cooling tower fans in service.
Moreover cooling tower performance is to be
monitored.
check cooling tower effectiveness is close to the
design effectiveness.
HIGH HEAT LOAD
Condenser backpressure varies with heat loading. While this may not
seem like a problem, unanticipated heat loads can give the appearance
of high backpressure for a given unit load.

Check :
• feed water heater emergency drains are not open / passing
• condensate low flow recirculation valve remains open at higher loads
• MAL drains and all other drains to flash tanks are not opened when not
required
 FINAL FEED WATER
TEMPERATURE
Lower final feed water temperature than design
value will definitely affect the heat rate of the unit.
LP/HP heaters performance are to be monitored.
• Steam temperature entering heater
• Drip outlet temperature
• Inlet feed water temperature
• Outlet feed water temperature ( check this is same with the
inlet feed water temperature of the next higher heater)
• Steam pressure in heater shell
 MAKEUP

Makeup is the quantity of water that is lost from

the cycle during operation.
The heat rate deviation for makeup is an
approximation, as the location in the cycle of each
loss is not known, therefore the exact heat rate
deviation is not known.
Typically, an assumption is made that the loss is
from the boiler drum, half at saturated liquid
condition and half at saturated vapour.
TURBINE EFFICIENCY
It is more common to periodically test the turbines (usually at valves wide open) and to compare
that efficiency to the expected VWO efficiency, and to assume that the heat rate deviation is
constant over the load range.

The actual deviation can be due to various factors, depending on the cause of the efficiency loss. If
the steam path is worn or rough, the exhaust temperature increases, so less energy per kilogram of
steam flow is converted to mechanical work. In the HP turbine this loss is partially offset because
less energy will be required to be added in the reheater. This small gain can also be lost if the
amount of reheat attemperation gets increased.
AUXILIARY STEAM USAGE

Several auxiliary equipment present in the plants that are supplied with steam. The
steam that is used may be main steam, from a turbine extraction, from the CRH, or
some other location. Regardless of the source of the steam, its use comes at some price.
MAIN STEAM PRESSURE BEFORE ESV

MAIN STEAM TEMPERATURE BEFORE ESV

HOT REHEAT STEAM TEMPERATURE BEFORE IV

REHEAT ATTEMPERATION

SUPERHEAT ATTEMPERATION

UNIT AUXILIARY POWER

UNACCOUNTABLE LOSS
Parameters Deviations Loss of Heat Additional Additional
Rate in Coal Per Coal Cost per
Kcal/Kwh month (MT) month (Lakhs)
Vacuum 5 mmHg 10 405 2.46

Partial Load 5% reduction 9.98 404.2 2.46

Low FW One HP Heater 24 972 5.91

Temperature out for 24 Hrs.
FW Temp. at ECO. 1 °C 0.8 32.40 0.20
inlet
Increase in MUW 1% 15.19 615.20 3.74
consumption ( 6.71 T/Hr.)
Drop in MS Temp. 1 °C 0.92 37.26 0.23

Drop in HRH Temp. 1 °C 0.69 27.95 0.17

Increase in RH 5 T/Hr. 3.21 130.01 0.79

Spray
Rise in CW 1 °C 7.51 304.16 1.85
Temperature
Drop in MS 1 Ksc. 1.36 55.08 0.33
Pressure
Rise in Flue gas 1 °C 1.54 62.37 0.38
exit temp.
Reduction in heat rate results in several benefits:

• The amount of money spent for fuel will be reduced. This

lowers the cost of generation of electricity.

• The amount of emissions to the environment will be

reduced. Reduces the amount of greenhouse gas that is
produced.

• Less fuel burned means less ash to be disposed of, and less
particulate matter go out of the stack.

• Less wear and tear on equipment such as pulverizers, coal

pipes and nozzles, CHP equipments.

• Also, along with reduced fuel flows, the airflow is reduced,

thereby reducing velocities through the boiler, which in turn
causes less erosion and reduced fan power consumption.
 THANK YOU
it’s a VIBRANT PROFFESSIONAL CIRCLE presentation

presented by soumyajit mukherjee