SUPERCRITICAL

By
BOILER
Ashvani Shukla
C&I
BGR ENERGY

INTRODUCTION TO SUPERCRITICAL
TECHNOLOGY
What is Supercritical Pressure ?
Critical point in water vapour cycle is a
thermodynamic state where there is no clear
distinction between liquid and gaseous state
of water.
Water reaches to this state at a critical
pressure above 22.1 MPa and 374 oC.
2

RANKIN CYCLE
SUBCRITICAL
UNIT

1 - 2 > CEP work

2 - 3 > LP Heating
3 - 4 > BFP work
4 - 5 > HP Heating
5 6 > Eco, WW
67>
Superheating
7 8 > HPT Work
8 9 > Reheating
9 10 > IPT Work
1011 > LPT Work
3
11 1 > Condensing

RANKINE CYCLE SUPERCRITICAL

UNIT

1 - 2 > CEP work

2 2s > Regeneration

2s - 3 > Boiler Superheating

3 4 > HPT expansion

4 5 > Reheating

5 6 > IPT & LPT Expansion

6 1 > Condenser Heat

rejection

VARIATION OF LATENT HEAT

WITH PRESSURE
Absolute
Pressure
(Bar)

Saturation
Temperature
(o C)

Latent Heat
(K J/Kg.)

50
150
200
221

264
342
366
374

1640
1004
592
0

Departure from Nucleate

Boiling
NUCLEATE BOILING IS A TYPE OF BOILING THAT TAKES PLACE WHEN THE
SURFACE TEMP IS HOTTER THAN THE SATURATED FLUID TEMP BY A
CERTAIN AMOUNT BUT WHERE HEAT FLUX IS BELOW THE CRITICAL HEAT
FLUX. NUCLEATE BOILING OCCURS WHEN THE SURFACE TEMPERATURE IS
HIGHER THAN THE SATURATION TEMPERATURE BY BETWEEN 40C TO 300C.

DENSITY

WATER

STEAM

6
175 224

Supercritical Boiler Water

Wall
Rifle Tube And Smooth Tube

NATURAL CIRCULATION VS.

ONCE THROUGH SYSTEM

5710CTo HP
Turbine
Mixer
Header
4620C

4230C

To IP
Turbin 5690C
e

5340C
5260C

Separator

FR
H
4730C

FS
H
Platen
Heate
r

From CRH
Line

3240C

From FRS
Line
2800C

Boiler
Recirculation

NRV

LTRH

LTSH
4430C

3260C

2830C
Economize
r Phase 1

Bottom
Ring

Economizer
Phase 2

FEED WATER CONTROL

In Drum type Boiler Feed water flow control

by Three element controller

1.Drum level

2.Ms flow

3.Feed water flow.

Drum less Boiler Feed water control by

1.Load demand

2.Water/Fuel ratio(7:1)

3.OHD(Over heat degree)

10

DIFFERENCE OF
SUBCRITICAL(500MW) AND
SUPERCRITICAL(660MW)

11

COMPARISION OF SUPER CRITICAL & SUB

CRITICAL
DESCRIPTION

SUPERCRITICAL
(660MW)

Circulation Ratio

Feed Water Flow Control

-Water to Fuel
Ratio
(7:1)
-OHDR(22-35 OC)
-Load Demand

Latent Heat Addition

Nil

Heat addition more

Sp. Enthalpy

Low

More

Sp. Coal consumption

Low

High

Air flow, Dry flu gas loss

Low

High

SUB-CRITICAL
(500MW)
Once-thru=1
Assisted Circulation=3-4
Natural circulation= 7-8
Three Element Control
-Feed Water Flow
-MS Flow
-Drum Level

CONTINUE..
DESCRIPTION

SUPERCRITICAL
(660MW)

SUB-CRITICAL
(500MW)

Coal & Ash handling

Low

High

Pollution

Low

High

Aux. Power
Consumption

Low

More

Overall Efficiency

High
(40-42%)

Low
(36-37%)

Total heating
surface area Reqd

Low
(84439m2)

High
(71582m2)

Tube diameter

Low

High

13

CONTINUE..
DESCRIPTION

SUPERCRITICAL SUB-CRITICAL
(660MW)
(500MW)

Material / Infrastructure
(Tonnage)

Low
7502 MT

High
9200 MT

Start up Time

Less

More

Blow down loss

Nil

More

Water Consumption

Less

More

14

Water Wall Design

15

WATER WALL ARRANGEMENT

Bottom spiral & top vertical tube furnace arrangement

Once through design feature is used for boiler water wall

design

The supercritical water wall is exposed to the higher

heat flux

Spiral tube wall design (wrapped around the unit) with

high mass flow & velocity of steam/water mixture
through each spiral

Higher mass flow improves heat transfer between the

16
WW tube and the fluid at high heat flux.

SPIRAL VS VERTICAL WALL

VERTICAL WALL

SPIRAL WALL

Less ash deposition on

wall

More ash deposition

Less mass flow

More fluid mass flow

More number of tubes

Less number of tubes

More boiler height for

same capacity

Less boiler height

Uniform heat transfer

and uniform heating of
WW tubes

No uniform heating of
tubes and heat transfer
in all tubes of WW

17

FURNACE ARRANGEMENT

SPIRAL TYPE

VERTICAL TYPE

18

Supercritical Sliding Pressure

Boiler Water Wall Design
Comparison of Vertical Wall
and Spiral Wall

19

20

Ash accumulation on
Vertical water walls
walls Spiral water walls

21

Super Critical Boiler

Materials

22

Advanced Supercritical Tube Materials

(300 bar/6000c/6200c)

23

MATERIAL COMPARISON
Description

660 MW

500 MW

Structural Steel

Alloy Steel

Carbon Steel

Water wall

T22

Carbon Steel

SH Coil

T23, T91

T11, T22

RH Coil

T91,Super 304
H

T22, T91,T11

LTSH

T12

T11

Economizer

SA106-C

Carbon Steel

Welding Joints (Pressure Parts)

42,000 Nos

24,000 Nos

24

Steam Water Cycle

Chemistry Controls

25

S. Parameter
No.
1

Silica

< 20 ppb in feed water and steam, Standard value <15 ppb in the cycle
< 250 ppb in boiler drum
Expected value <10 ppb in the cycle

pH

9.0 - 9.5 for feed, steam &

condensate,
9.0 10.0 for Boiler drum
< 7 ppb for feed.

9.0 9.6 for AVT(All volatile treatment)

8.0 9.0 for CWT(Combine water
treatment)
< 7 ppb for feed in case of AVT
30 150 ppb for feed in case of CWT

Cation (H+)
Conductivity

<0.20 S/cm in the feed & steam

cycle

Standard value <0.15 S /cm in the cycle

5
6

(CPU)

CPU is optional

CPU is essential for 100% flow.

Dissolved
Oxygen (DO)

LP and HP dosing. Or
All Volatile Treatment
(Hydrazine + Ammonia)

Super Critical

Type of Boiler
water
treatment

3
4

Sub Critical

No HP dosing
Combined water treatment (CWT).

Expected value- <0.10 S /cm in the cycle

Silica and TDS By maintaining feed water quality Blow down possible till separators are
control
and
functioning (upto 30% load).
By operating CBD

26

ADVANTAGES OF SC TECHNOLOGY
I ) Higher cycle efficiency means
Primarily
less fuel consumption
less per MW infrastructure investments
less emission
less auxiliary power consumption
less water consumption
II ) Operational flexibility
Better temp. control and load change flexibility
Shorter start-up time
More suitable for widely variable pressure operation

27

ECONOMY
Higher Efficiency (%)
Less fuel input.
Low capacity fuel handling system.
Low capacity ash handling system.
Less Emissions.
Approximate improvement in Cycle
Efficiency
Pressure increase : 0.005 % per bar
Temp increase
: 0.011 % per deg K
28

INCREASE OF CYCLE EFFICIENCY DUE

TO STEAM PARAMETERS
Increase of efficiency [%]
10

6,77

5,79

5,74

4,81

3,74

4,26

6
5

3,44

3,37

2,64

1,47

2,42

2,76

600 / 620

1,78

0,75

580 / 600
566 / 566

0
300
Pressure [bar]

0
241

175

538 / 538

538 / 566
HP / RH outlet temperature [deg. C]

29

Sub. vs. Supercritical Cycle

Impact on Emissions
Plant Efficiency, %*
Plant Efficiency, Btu / kw-hr

Plant Efficiency, %
Fuel Consumption/Total Emissions
including CO2

* HHV Basis

Subcritical
34 - 37
10,000 - 9,200

Supercritical
37 - 41
9,200 - 8,300

34%

37%

41%

Base

Base-8%

Base-17%

30

CHALLENGES OF
SUPERCRITICAL TECHNOLOGY

Water chemistry is more stringent in super critical once

through boiler.

Metallurgical Challenges

More complex in erection due to spiral water wall.

More feed pump power is required due to more friction

losses in spiral water wall.

Maintenance of tube leakage is difficult due to complex

design of water wall.

Ash sticking tendency is more in spiral water wall in

comparison of vertical wall.

31

THANK YOU