Operational diagnostics of thermal state and efficiency of steam turbines of TPP and NPP

Abstract

Various ways for solving complex problems of the strength and operating life of steam turbines of TPP and NPP are studied. Diagnostic characters and technical possibilities for their control during the steam turbine operation are determined. It is shown that the effect of various factors on the reliability, maneuverability, and service life of power installations of TPP and NPP is generally determined by the thermal state of steam-electric generating sets. Leading foreign and domestic manufacturers give major attention to the organization of the control of the thermal state of facilities and the development of systems for accounting (“counter”) the service life depletion. Zones of high-temperature sites of shafts and disks with maximum parameters of operating environment are determined. A model for on-line computation of thermal stresses with the diagnostic evaluation of the service life depletion (fatigue accumulation) and forecasting of optimum heating conditions for thermostressed turbine units is briefly stated. An example of a program for diagnostics of the quality of the facility operation is given. The program provides the operative control of thermal stresses and the service life depletion in main units of the turbine under various operation conditions, operates in the real-time mode, calculates and represents currents values of thermal stresses in turbine units, and forms and transmits into the industrial control signals on the occurrence of restrictions with respect to thermal stresses and prohibition of an increase or decrease in the vapor temperature and the load in the case of approaching pressures to maximum permissible ones. In the case of stationary operation conditions, the program computed the current efficiency in high (HPC) and mean (MPC) pressure cylinders.