Modernization of high-pressure heaters
Project progress
- Mastering of production technology - 2007.
- Delivery of the first standard LDPE - 2008.
- Development of calculation methods and new designs - 2010.
- Delivery of the first modernized LDPE - 2011.
- 100 LDPEs manufactured - 2022.
Detailed description
High-pressure heaters (HPH) are heat exchangers that are the main element of the regeneration system for turbine units of thermal power plants. The increase in operating efficiency of power units when using LDPE can reach 4%.
The main technical solutions and designs of domestic collector-spiral LDPE were developed by UralVTI, TsKTI and TKZ in the 70s of the last century and, despite the advantages in maintainability and long actual service life, they are inferior in compactness, metal consumption and efficiency to foreign devices.
In 2007, our enterprise began mastering the technology for manufacturing heaters. However, not all standard technical solutions for LDPE met the needs of power plants. Therefore, by joining forces with leading specialists from UralVTI, our specialists began developing modernized devices. The engineers were tasked with designing a high-pressure pump that is highly efficient and compact, has low metal consumption, with a guaranteed service life of at least 30 years, as well as the ability to carry out repairs in power plant conditions in the shortest possible time.
The result of the work was new designs of heat exchange elements, layout of coils along the cross-section of the apparatus, methods of organizing the movement of coolants, etc.
Thus, in heaters of the PVD-M-1100-37 type, a layout with alternating double and single spiral two-plane coils is used.
This solution made it possible to effectively fill the cross section and increase the flow of feed water through the apparatus by 1.5 times.
In heaters of the PVD-M-550-37 type, designed to replace the standard PVD-550-37, a four-collector arrangement with single-plane bifilar coils is used. Compared to non-modernized analogues, such devices have significant advantages:
- reduced speed limits in coils and collectors;
- the calculated margin of wall thickness of the coil pipes has been increased;
- the maximum flow rate of feed water and the total heat exchange surface are increased with limited vessel dimensions.
The most original solutions, which have no analogues in the global power engineering industry, are implemented in heaters of the PVD-MR-1100-37 type. In such devices, the main collectors are located around a circle in the central part of the vessel, forming a free space with a diameter of 900 mm. Single-plane bifilar coils are attached to these collectors. Additional pipes are located along the periphery, forming the frame of the pipe system and allowing to significantly reduce the speed of feed water in the main collectors.
The free space in the central part makes it possible to silence failed coils through a hatch in the upper bottom of the housing, i.e. without disassembling the flange membrane connection and removing the housing. It is allowed to shut down up to 15% of the coils in each heat exchange zone. Replacement of coils is carried out during a major overhaul with removal of the casing.
The modernized heaters produced by our company are used at power plants in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Based on the collected operational data, we can clearly say that the modernized high-pressure pumps operate more efficiently and reliably.
Currently, further work is underway to improve the performance of the equipment, and basic technical designs of modernized devices are being developed that can replace standard heaters for all domestic turbine units.
The main technical solutions and designs of domestic collector-spiral LDPE were developed by UralVTI, TsKTI and TKZ in the 70s of the last century and, despite the advantages in maintainability and long actual service life, they are inferior in compactness, metal consumption and efficiency to foreign devices.
In 2007, our enterprise began mastering the technology for manufacturing heaters. However, not all standard technical solutions for LDPE met the needs of power plants. Therefore, by joining forces with leading specialists from UralVTI, our specialists began developing modernized devices. The engineers were tasked with designing a high-pressure pump that is highly efficient and compact, has low metal consumption, with a guaranteed service life of at least 30 years, as well as the ability to carry out repairs in power plant conditions in the shortest possible time.
The result of the work was new designs of heat exchange elements, layout of coils along the cross-section of the apparatus, methods of organizing the movement of coolants, etc.
Thus, in heaters of the PVD-M-1100-37 type, a layout with alternating double and single spiral two-plane coils is used.
This solution made it possible to effectively fill the cross section and increase the flow of feed water through the apparatus by 1.5 times.
In heaters of the PVD-M-550-37 type, designed to replace the standard PVD-550-37, a four-collector arrangement with single-plane bifilar coils is used. Compared to non-modernized analogues, such devices have significant advantages:
- reduced speed limits in coils and collectors;
- the calculated margin of wall thickness of the coil pipes has been increased;
- the maximum flow rate of feed water and the total heat exchange surface are increased with limited vessel dimensions.
The most original solutions, which have no analogues in the global power engineering industry, are implemented in heaters of the PVD-MR-1100-37 type. In such devices, the main collectors are located around a circle in the central part of the vessel, forming a free space with a diameter of 900 mm. Single-plane bifilar coils are attached to these collectors. Additional pipes are located along the periphery, forming the frame of the pipe system and allowing to significantly reduce the speed of feed water in the main collectors.
The free space in the central part makes it possible to silence failed coils through a hatch in the upper bottom of the housing, i.e. without disassembling the flange membrane connection and removing the housing. It is allowed to shut down up to 15% of the coils in each heat exchange zone. Replacement of coils is carried out during a major overhaul with removal of the casing.
The modernized heaters produced by our company are used at power plants in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Based on the collected operational data, we can clearly say that the modernized high-pressure pumps operate more efficiently and reliably.
Currently, further work is underway to improve the performance of the equipment, and basic technical designs of modernized devices are being developed that can replace standard heaters for all domestic turbine units.
