Vol 65, No 6 (2018)

Experience in reconstructing the PT-60-90 turbine at Salavatskaya CHPP upon the operation for more than 350000 h is described. In the course of reconstruction, the life of the turbine was restored, its economic efficiency was increased, process extraction of 1.27–1.57 MPa was changed to uncontrolled extraction, and additional extraction of 3.43 MPa was arranged. The high-pressure cylinder (HPC) shell was restored by reconditioning heat treatment (RHT), and the rotor was replaced by a new modernized one. To select the optimal conditions of the reconditioning heat treatment of the HPC shell (of the PT-60-90 turbine) manufactured from 20CrMoPL grade steel, the results of previously conducted tests of the shell metal of the same grade were integrated. The heat treatment was carried out on modernized furnace equipment using means of and methods for controlling the temperature and heating and cooling rates. Detailed nondestructive inspection of the upper and lower HPC halves was performed. The locations, distribution, sizes, and types of the defects were identified. The detected defects and austenitic build-ups were removed, welded with pearlite electrodes, examined, and subjected to heat treatment (tempering). The actual heat treatment conditions were analyzed and, based on the obtained data on the mechanical properties of the metal, the tempering temperature and time were specified. Complete investigation of the metal of both HPC halves was conducted prior to the reconditioning heat treatment. The reliability of the metal of the cylinder shell after RHT was evaluated by the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, critical ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (crack resistance), and stress-rupture strength. It was established that, after RHT, the characteristics of the metal, such as yield strength, ultimate strength, elongation per unit length, contraction ratio, hardness, and impact toughness, significantly improved and, on the whole, the quality of the metal met the requirements of the normative documentation for newly manufactured castings. The heat resistance of the metal of the cylinder shell after RHT also increased, which can ensure the operation of the HPC shell for more than 200 000 h provided that the recommendations for regular inspections of its condition are followed.

Presently, when the structure of energy consumption by industrial enterprises is being changed, many type PT turbine units operate with limitations imposed on their operating conditions, while type R backpressure turbines are often shut down for a long time or even removed from operation. Thus, the problem of using steam previously intended for process needs combined with the loading of the main equipment and additional generation of power and heat becomes urgent for many power stations. Three main ways for solving this problem are examined in this paper. Potential alternatives for retrofitting of cogeneration power stations (TETS) with types PT and R turbines are discussed. Each alternative solves a specific problem brought about by the actual operating conditions of a turbine at a specific TETs. The results of retrofitting of PT-80-130 turbines with an increase in the throughput capacity of the intermediate pressure cylinder (IPC) and R-50-130 turbines with installation of an additional low-pressure cylinder (LPC) are presented. The experience in operation of the retrofitted R-50-130 turbine with an unconventional arrangement where an additional LPC is installed upstream the high-pressure cylinder (HPC) rather than between the generator and HPC is also described. The experience in the upgrading of TETs with installation of bottom steam turbines driven by steam from a process steam extraction that is not demanded for is presented. Depending on the conditions at a specific TETs, a bottom steam turbine can be installed on a new foundation or in the compartment of a dismounted turbine with the use of serviceable auxiliary and heat-exchange equipment.

This article is the third in a planned series of articles devoted to the experience gained around the world in constructing low-emission combustion chambers for on-land large-capacity (above 250 MW) gas-turbine units (GTUs). The aim of this study is to generalize and analyze the ways in which different designers apply the fuel flow and combustion arrangement principles and the fuel feed control methods. The considered here GT24 and GT26 (GT24/26) gas-turbine units generating electric power at the 60 and 50 Hz frequencies, respectively, are fitted with burners of identical designs. Designed by ABB, these GTUs were previously manufactured by Alstom, and now they are produced by Ansaldo Energia. The efficiency of these GTUs reaches 41% at the 354 MW power output during operation in the simple cycle and 60.5% at the 505MW power output during operation in the combined cycle. Both GTUs comply with all requirements for harmful emissions. The compression ratio is equal to 35. In this article, a system is considered for two-stage fuel combustion in two sequentially arranged low-emission combustion chambers, one of which is placed upstream of the high-pressure turbine (CC1) and the other upstream of the low-pressure turbine (CC2). The article places the main focus on the CC2, which operates with a decreased content of oxygen in the oxidizer supplied to the burner inlets. The original designs of vortex generators and nozzles placed in the flow of hot combustion products going out from the high-pressure turbine are described in detail. The article also presents an original CC2 front plate cooling system, due to which a significantly smaller amount of air fed for cooling has been reached. The article also presents the pressure damping devices incorporated in the chamber, the use of which made it possible to obtain a significantly wider range of CC loads at which its low-emission operation is ensured. The fuel feed adjustment principles and the combustion control methods implemented in the low-emission combustion chambers of this GTU are of interest from the scientific and practical points of view.

A large number of parametric methods were proposed to calculate the characteristics of the long-term strength of metals. All of them are based on the fact that temperature and time are mutually compensating factors in the processes of metal degradation at high temperature under the action of a constant stress. The analysis of the well-known Larson-Miller, Dorn-Shcherby, Menson-Haferd, Graham-Wallace, and Trunin parametric equations is performed. The widely used Larson-Miller parameter was subjected to a detailed analysis. The application of this parameter to the calculation of ultimate long-term strength for steels and alloys is substantiated provided that the laws of exponential dependence on temperature and power dependence on strength for the heat resistance are observed. It is established that the coefficient C in the Larson- Miller equation is a characteristic of the heat resistance and is different for each material. Therefore, the use of a universal constant C = 20 in parametric calculations, as well as an a priori presetting of numerical C values for each individual group of materials, is unacceptable. It is shown in what manner it is possible to determine an exact value of coefficient C for any material of interest as well as to obtain coefficient C depending on stress in case such a dependence is manifested. At present, the calculation of long-term strength characteristics can be performed to a sufficient accuracy using Larson-Miller’s parameter and its refinements described therein as well as on the condition that a linear law in logσ–Р dependence is observed and calculations in the interpolation range is performed. The use of the presented recommendations makes it possible to obtain a linear parametric logσ–Р dependence, which makes it possible to determine to a sufficient accuracy the values of ultimate long-term strength for different materials.

Despite the positive dynamics in the growth of RES-based power production in electric power systems of many countries, the further development of commercially mature technologies of wind and solar generation is often constrained by the existing grid infrastructure and conventional energy supply practices. The integration of large wind and solar power plants into a single power grid and the development of microgeneration require the widespread introduction of a new smart grid technology cluster (smart power grids), whose technical advantages over the conventional ones have been fairly well studied, while issues of their economic effectiveness remain open. Estimation and forecasting potential economic effects from the introduction of innovative technologies in the power sector during the stage preceding commercial development is a methodologically difficult task that requires the use of knowledge from different sciences. This paper contains the analysis of smart grid project implementation in Europe and the United States. Interval estimates are obtained for their basic economic parameters. It was revealed that the majority of smart grid implemented projects are not yet commercially effective, since their positive externalities are usually not recognized on the revenue side due to the lack of universal methods for public benefits monetization. The results of the research can be used in modernization and development planning for the existing grid infrastructure both at the federal level and at the level of certain regions and territories.

The heat supply systems of cities have, as a rule, a ring structure with the possibility of redistributing the flows. Despite the fact that a ring structure is more reliable than a radial one, the operators of heat networks prefer to use them in normal modes according to the scheme without overflows of the heat carrier between the heat mains. With such a scheme, it is easier to adjust the networks and to detect and locate faults in them. The article proposes a formulation of the heat network segmenting problem. The problem is set in terms of optimization with the heat supply system’s excessive hydraulic power used as the optimization criterion. The heat supply system computer model has a hierarchically interconnected multilevel structure. Since iterative calculations are only carried out for the level of trunk heat networks, decomposing the entire system into levels allows the dimensionality of the solved subproblems to be reduced by an order of magnitude. An attempt to solve the problem by fully enumerating possible segmentation versions does not seem to be feasible for systems of really existing sizes. The article suggests a procedure for searching rational segmentation of heat supply networks with limiting the search to versions of dividing the system into segments near the flow convergence nodes with subsequent refining of the solution. The refinement is performed in two stages according to the total excess hydraulic power criterion. At the first stage, the loads are redistributed among the sources. After that, the heat networks are divided into independent fragments, and the possibility of increasing the excess hydraulic power in the obtained fragments is checked by shifting the division places inside a fragment. The proposed procedure has been approbated taking as an example a municipal heat supply system involving six heat mains fed from a common source, 24 loops within the feeding mains plane, and more than 5000 consumers. Application of the proposed segmentation procedure made it possible to find a version with required hydraulic power in the heat supply system on 3% less than the one found using the simultaneous segmentation method.