Products

BENSON Boilers Experience in Nearly 1000 Plants and Innovative Design Promise Continuing Success
Manfred Klein, Rudolf Kral, Eberhard Wittchow

The unique advantages of the BENSON boiler are its suitability for use over a pressure range of 100 to more than 350 bar without modifying the evaporator system, and its exceptional suitability for sliding pressure operation. An innovative evaporator design now combines these operational advantages with the structural ones of a vertical-tube combustion chamber. A low-cost BENSON boiler with outstanding operating characteristics can therefore be realized.

In Central Europe, oncethrough boilers have been the dominant design for more than 30 years, and this boiler design has also become established in Japan and South Korea. Growth countries, too, such as those in Southeast Asia, are now beginning to switch from subcritical drum boilers to once-through steam generators. The BENSON boiler is the most common implementation of the once-through design, and it is in use in nearly 1000 plants worldwide. Based on a patent registered to Mark Benson, it was developed in the 1920s by Siemens, who initially manufactured this type of boiler. Its introduction brought highpressure design to the eld of power plant operation. After Siemens closed down its boiler manufacturing operations, it awarded licenses for the manufacture of BENSON boilers beginning in 1933. Today, the leading manufacturers of once-through boilers worldwide are licensees (Fig. 1). The activities handled by Siemens, which cover both the boiler itself and its incorporation into power plants, have resulted in

important innovations in power plant construction such as oncethrough boilers with variable evaporation end point, generously dimensioned furnaces, the sin-

Fig. 1 BENSON boilers: Manufactured by licensees and sub-licensees around the world.

Siemens is licensor for BENSON boilers Siemens activities include: Boiler concepts, thermal-hydraulic design, arrangement of heating surfaces, start-up systems, control systems, interaction of boiler and turbine, operating modes, and R&D. Licensees Austria Austrian Energy & Environment (SGP/Waagner-Bir) Denmark Burmeister & Wain Energi England Mitsui Babcock Energy Germany Deutsche Babcock Steinmller Italy Ansaldo Japan Babcock-Hitachi Kawasaki Heavy Industries USA Babcock & Wilcox Sublicensees Denmark Vlund Energiteknik Finnland Tampella Mexico Babcock & Wilcox de Mexico Netherlands Stork Boilers South Africa Babcock Africa South Korea Halla Hyundai Spain Babcock Espanola
12 pj 1/96 e 04

26

Siemens Power Journal 1/96

Highest efficiency Use of all coal grades Enthalpy Modes of operation Critical point Burners

Economical, low-stress operation Temperature (545 580C)

Flexible operating mode Load 4 6 %/min

gle-pass design, sliding-pressure operation and spiral-wound tubing. The BENSON boiler has reached an extraordinarily high degree of technical renement and exhibits excellent operating characteristics (Fig. 2). In addition to ongoing optimization, Siemens has developed an innovative boiler design, and is developing measures to increase plant efficiency. Current Status of BENSON Boiler Technology in Germany A variety of different designs and ring systems make BENSON boilers exceptionally well-suited for use in todays different power plant environments: In addition to the trend toward increased efficiency and reduced investment costs, these boilers also provide high availability, long times between overhauls, can be used with a broad range of fuels, and are characterized by low pollutant emissions. The current state of the art in Germany is represented by the BENSON boiler in the 550-MW Unit 5 of the Staudinger power plant (Fig. 3): The single-pass design of the boiler is structurally straightforward, which among other things eliminates the need to weld enclosure walls to one another, which exhibit different temperatures in operation, causing thermal stresses. All the superheaters can be drained, which allows the system to be started up quickly. The ash concentration in the ue-gas ow is uniformly distributed, which minimizes wear on the tubes of heating surfaces.

Pressure (load) 100 to over 350 bar

Load

Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Burner Combustion chamber Evaporator tubes Ash hopper Convection heating surfaces Support bars Start-up system Recirculation pump deNOx system Air heater Flue gas Air intake Coal mills

5 9

3 12

10 2 11 1

12 pj 1/96 e 04

Constant main Suitable for Wide scope in steam temperature subcritical and design, e.g., regardless of load, supercritical oversized fuel and degree pressure without combustion of fouling. changing the chamber or slag Economical, evaporator system tap furnace (shown) low-stress start-up.

Fig. 2 BENSON boilers: Well-suited for efficient, economical and flexible operation.

Rapid load changes in sliding pressure operation

4 8 13
12 pj 1/96 e 04

Fig. 3 Unit 5 of the coalfired Staudinger power plant: The 100-meter-high, 550-MW singlepass BENSON boiler is equipped with an opposed firing system.

Siemens Power Journal 1/96

27

Burner

Fig. 5 The Deutsche Babcock whirlstage burner is characterized by exceptionally low NOx emissions with levels down to 130 ppm (measured downstream of the steam generator).

IR flame monitor Ignition burner Ignition lance Core air Secondary air Tertiary air Swirl plates

At full load, the boiler operates at supercritical pressure and steam conditions of 260 bar/545/562 C. At these temperatures, it is still possible to use low-cost martensitic steels for the nal stages of the high-pressure and reheater heating surfaces. The optimum feedwater temperature was determined to be 276 C. Net unit efficiency was measured at 43 percent. The airow and ue-gas passages are designed as single

trains. This design, which has also proven effective in several 700-MW units, has been extended at the Staudinger plant to include the scrubber in the ue-gas desulfurization system as well. This design simplies operation while maintaining the same level of availability. One interesting solution was implemented in the 770-MW unit at the Ibbenbren plant. The slagtap ring system used in that unit burns anthracite and is the

largest of its kind in the world. The unit can be operated under part-load conditions at down to 40 percent of full-load capacity without backup ring, and with only six percent volatile matter (water- and ash-free).The BENSON boiler also operates at full load with supercritical pressure in the evaporator. A Variety of Different Firing Systems Are Possible One of the advantages of the BENSON boiler is the unrestrict-

28

Siemens Power Journal 1/96

12 pj 1/96 e 04

Pulverized coal UV flame monitor

Stabilizer Swirl insert

12 pj 1/96 e 04

Fig. 4 The unrestricted design of the combustion chamber in the BENSON boiler with its water/steam section is particularly well matched to the broad range of firing system requirements. The BENSON boiler can therefore be used with a number of different firing systems.

Tangential

Opposed

Corner

Slag tap

Dry vertical

930 MW Lignite

930 MW Hard coal

400 MW Hard coal

770 MW Anthracite

350 MW Anthracite

ed design of the combustion chamber, the walls of which are designed as evaporator heating surfaces, allowing the water/ steam section to be particularly well matched to the requirements of the ring system. Fig. 4 shows the ring system designs which have to date been used in highcapacity BENSON boilers. Design features implemented since the end of the 1970s to reduce NOx emissions on the primary side have brought about fundamental changes in

tured thus far, NOx values measured downstream of the steam generator have ranged from 400 mg/m3 (200 ppm) down to 260 mg/m3 (130 ppm), depending on the composition of the fuel. The new burner design has a greater inuence than previous models on NOx formation directly at the point of origin. It features special inserts in the pulverizedcoal pipe and a swirl ow of combustion air on the secondary and tertiary sides. In terms of combustion, the burner promotes

in the combustion chamber walls (Fig. 6). While this design has reached an exceptionally high level of technical renement, higher manufacturing and installation costs put it at a disadvantage as compared to a verticaltube design. Siemens has further developed the vertical-tube design for the BENSON boiler (Fig. 6) not only in order to reduce investment costs, but also to facilitate the introduction of boilers operating at supercritical pressure in countries in

Drum boiler Subcritical operation Vertical tubing to superheater

BENSON boiler Subcritical and supercritical operation Spiral tubing to superheater

BENSON boiler Subcritical and supercritical operation Spiral tubing to superheater

Start-up system

Start-up system

Recirculation pump to economizer

to flash tank

(Diagram showing two-pass design)

Fig. 6 The innovative concept of the verticaltube combustion chamber with rifled evaporator tubes combines the advantages of the BENSON boiler with evaporator tubes in spiral configuration and those of the drum boiler. Hence, a low-cost BENSON boiler with outstanding operating characteristics can be realized.

the design of pulverization and ring systems, including ner pulverization and graded airow with supplementary turbulence and over-re air supply, to name but a few. The whirl-stage burner designed by Deutsche Babcock (Fig. 5) is representative of the high level of technical renement which has been achieved. This burner design meets the pertinent requirements in terms of ame stability, coal burnout and minimum NOx emissions. In the more than 200 burners manufac-

intensive and early coal pyrolysis in a low-oxygen zone. This also leads to very stable ignition, and has the advantage of allowing the use of a wide variety of fuel grades without having to change the burner settings. Evaporator Design with Vertical-Tube Combustion Chamber A typical feature of BENSON boilers has been the spiral conguration of the evaporator tubes

which the drum boiler (Fig. 6) has been the dominant design. By using ried tubes with high heat transfer capability, it was possible to reduce the mass velocity in the tubes from a value of 2000 to 2500 kg/m2 s, which is typical of the spiral evaporator tube conguration, to less than 1200 kg/m2 s in the case of the vertical-tube design. Siemens has made more than 80,000 measurements during this development initiative. The resulting advantages in plant operation are:
Siemens Power Journal 1/96

12 pj 1/96 e 04

29

 The evaporator system exhibits a ow characteristic similar to that of a natural-circulation boiler (drum boiler). In this design, an increase in the heat input to individual tubes increases the ow rate through them; thus the outlet temperature is only marginally affected. This in turn tends to

shutdowns. This is of particular advantage in the case of hightemperature systems with their thick-walled components, which can only be started up and shut down slowly. Early changeover to oncethrough operation mode keeps start-up losses so low that recirculation pumps are not required. The vertical-tube design, therefore, combines the structural advantages of the drum boiler and the operating advantages of the BENSON boiler with evaporator tubes in a spiral conguration. This vertical-tube design can be used for capacities of around 300 MW up to more than 1000 MW, and it has proven to be a successful, innovative step toward a lowcost, structurally simple boiler design with superior operating characteristics. Enhanced Efficiency through New Materials

crease in temperature to 650C would result in only a marginal increase in efficiency.The European power plant industry is therefore looking at the possibility of achieving steam temperatures of 700 C, and thus net efficiencies of more than 50 percent, through the use of nickel-base alloys.

51 % 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41

Net efficiency

Manfred Klein received a degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering. Since 1970 he has been employed by Babcock Lentjes Kraftwerkstechnik GmbH, where he is involved in the design of boiler systems for power plants, and since 1993 has served in the capacity of manager for bid generation with responsibility for the design and sales & marketing of large-capacity boilers.

350 bar 700/ 720C 315 bar 300 bar 620/ 620C 270 bar 600/ 620C 585/ 0,4 250 bar 600C 0,7 540/ 1,1 560C 167 bar 538/ 538C 1,5 2,1

Rudolf Kral joined KWU in 1970 after receiving a degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering. Since then he has worked in the eld of BENSON boiler technology, and is currently responsible for advising BENSON boiler licensees on technical issues, and for continued BENSON boiler development.

F 12

F 12

P 91

Fig. 7 Higher steam conditions and higher efficiencies are made possible through the use of new materials.

12 pj 1/96 e 04

NF 616 Austenitic Inconel steel Material

The potential increase in efficiency through the use of new materials and hence the scope for attaining higher steam conditions is shown in Fig. 7. Over the last several years, it has been possible to develop non-austenitic materials with increased creep rupture strength. In power plants currently under construction, thick-walled components are now able to withstand main-steam temperatures of 585C and reheat temperatures of 600 C, and a further increase to 630C is expected. Given these new developments, it makes little sense to continue to use austenitic steel, with its unfavorable behavior, for headers, piping, and turbine shafts and casings, since the potential in-

make the outlet temperatures of the tubes uniform despite varying heat input. An evaporator heating surface based on this design was successfully tested for a period of more than 10,000 hours by Siemens together with Deutsche Babcock and Steinmller in the 320-MW Farge unit. The minimum load in oncethrough operation can be reduced from the previous value of 35 to 20 percent without reduced main steam temperatures, thus avoiding frequent start-ups and

Eberhard Wittchow joined Siemens in 1958 after receiving a degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in energy economics. He has previously worked in the elds of design and commissioning of steam generators and power plants. At present, he is responsible for the areas of BENSON boiler licensing and special steam power plant issues.

30

Siemens Power Journal 1/96