0049 Unit Operation Proceddure
0049 Unit Operation Proceddure
0049 Unit Operation Proceddure
Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 2
2.0 PLANT START-UP ...................................................................................................... 3
3.0 COLD START -UP ..................................................................................................... 10
4.0 HOT /WARM RESTART ........................................................................................... 17
5.0 INCREASING THE LOAD ........................................................................................ 19
6.0 CFB SYSTEM............................................................................................................. 20
7.0 WATER / STEAM SYSTEM ..................................................................................... 31
8.0 LIGNITE FEEDING SYSTEM .................................................................................. 41
9.0 SOOT BLOWER SYSTEM ....................................................................................... 45
10.0 BED ASH SYSTEM ................................................................................................... 47
11.0 LIMESTONE FEEDING SYSTEM........................................................................... 50
12.0 SEAL AND PURGE AIR SYSTEM .......................................................................... 52
13.0 PLANT MAINTENANCE ........................................................................................... 53
14.0 REFRACTORY........................................................................................................... 57
15.0 MAINTENANCE OF EXPANSION JOINTS........................................................... 57
16.0 OPERATION UPSETS ............................................................................................. 57
17.0 PLANT SHUT-DOWN ............................................................................................... 65
UNIT OPERATING PROCEDURE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The operating manual covers a functional description of the plant, information
on the sequence of operations and functional logic of the individual plant
components as well as separate descriptions of the individual units and their
maintenance.
It is beyond the scope and intent of the operating manual to provide
instructions for all the possible operations and control actions, which may be
required for the operations of the boiler system. It should be noted that the
present operating instructions are no substitute for the thorough instructions of
the operating personnel into the details of plant operation.
The supplier does not assume any responsibility for damage resulting from
faulty operation of the plant.
Proper plant operation presupposes continuous plant supervision by skilled
operators and effective communication between the control room personnel
and the operators in all major plant areas.
It is prohibited to deactivate or bridge safety systems such as electric
interlocks and flame monitoring systems nor is it allowed to deactivate
individual functions of these systems.
Moreover, the latest editions of the relevant national regulations and/or
company’s in-plant regulations have to be taken into account, as specific
operation instructions of the respective items.
1.2 DUTIES OF THE OPERATING PERSONNEL
The duties of the operating personnel comprise the checks and preparatory
work for plant startup, actual plant startup as well as supervision of plant
operations, shutdown and maintenance.
When changing shifts, care has to be taken that the personnel of the relevant
shift does not leave its working place before plant operation has been taken
over by the next shift, i.e. the new shift has to be properly informed of all
events which occurred during the previous shift.
Shift logs should contain the following minimum information broken down by
type of activity and indicating the time when this activity was performed:
1. Functional checks.
2. Startup
3. Shutdown
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UNIT OPERATING PROCEDURE
4. Abnormal operating conditions such as abnormal noise generations,
leakages, pressures, temperatures, excessive vibrations etc.
5. Failure of major components and
6. Instrument readings.
If the plant operators identify operating upsets or other irregularities, these
should, if possible, be immediately remedied and reported to the supervisor.
Plant monitoring and control instruments have to be read at regular intervals
during plant operation and the readings entered into the shift log.
The supplier retains the right to revise or supplement the operating
instructions, if this seems to be expedient in the light of new operating
experience.
The operating manuals submitted to the plant owner should be treated with
due care to make sure that they are available whenever they are needed. In
this connection, special care should be exercised to ensure that individual
pages or chapters are not taken out of the manuals.
The plant owner is requested to inform the supplier of any new operating
results so that the original operating manual can be revised and/or
supplemented accordingly.
2.0 PLANT START-UP
2.1 PREPARATION:
2.1.1 CFB FIRING SYSTEM
The combustor is empty. All units are out of operations. The pre
commissioning work should be started in due time (about 24 hours) before the
scheduled startup.
Before proceeding to startup, make sure that the following pre-commissioning
work is carried out and/or the following requirements are satisfied:
Check that all units, equipments, piping, ducting and adjacent areas are free
from foreign mater.
Check that all openings are properly closed.
Check boiler, air and flue gas ducting for gas leakages; check expansion
movement of boiler and associated piping, set pipe hangers.
Make sure that all plant components are properly insulated.
Although filling of the fluid bed heat exchanger is not absolutely required
before restarting the plant, this is recommended to ensure a sufficient supply
of bed material in order to attain steam generation rates over 120 t/h (= 30 %
full load) within the shortest possible time.
Whenever possible, ash from the combustion system should be used for bed
build-up, as this is best-suited material. If ash is not available, quartz sand with
a size distribution of 90 – 95% between 50 and 300 m can be used for bed
buildup. Quartz sand is highly abrasion resistant and relatively insensitive to
the temperature peaks occurring during startup operation. However, generally,
any kind of burned-out ash will be suitable for start-up operation provided that
it has the necessary size range, a very low moisture content and not too low
softening point.
Filling the CFB Combustor
The bed material silo will be filled with starting material (sand or ash). Filling
of the CFB combustor is accomplished gravimetrically via the bed ash rotary
valve from the bed material silo into the combustor.
The inventory of the stationary bed in the combustor should be about 1 m of
ash. This corresponds to a p of 120 to 150 mbar across the CFB combustor
without pressure loss of grate. A bed height of about 1 m ensures reliable
preheating operation at a sufficient heating rate. If the steam generating
capacity is to be increased, it may become necessary to charge additional ash
after changeover to oil firing (normal operation) in order to maintain the
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UNIT OPERATING PROCEDURE
required p. Additional ash has to be charged in any way when proceeding to
lignite firing.
Filling the Fluid Bed Heat Exchangers (FBHE)
Filling of the FBHEs during normal operation by feeding ash from the recycling
cyclone takes a long time as the ash inventory of the FBHEs are considerably
higher than that of the CFB combustor. Therefore it is recommended that the
FBHEs will be filled with bed material or with system ash prior to start-up.
In principle, bed build-up in the FBHE can be accomplished by feeding
circulating combustor ash via the cyclone and spiess valve and directly from
the combustor.
Feeding directly from the combustor into the bundle chamber happens every
time the primary air fan is started, as there is a direct opening between the
combustor and the bundle chambers. However the empty chambers have to
be filled via the spiess valve.
For feeding via the spiess valve, the FBHE blowers for the bundle, the empty
champers and the primary air fan have to run during the first filling operation.
The spiess valve must be open. Moreover, the bed inventory in the CFB
combustor has to be complemented by charging ash until a sufficient bed has
been established in the FBHE. Filling operation requires the operator
attendance, as the air inlet dampers to the individual FBHE empty chambers
have to be adjusted until the FBHE is filled.
Adjustment of the above air rates will ensure that the start-up material flowing
into empty chambers from the sealpots is gradually moved to the bundle
chambers by the air stream. At first, the air rate in the empty chamber will drop
(assuming that the FBHE was completely emptied previously). This is
indicative of an increasing material bed and hence an increased resistance to
be overcome by the air flow. As a result, the air rates in the remaining empty
chambers will increase accordingly. Therefore the air flows through these
chambers have to be continually readjusted to the original levels by slightly
throttling the air inlet dampers to these empty chambers. After the FBHE has
been filled, repeat the same procedure for the second FBHE, the third FBHE
and finally for the fourth FBHE.
- The soot blowing equipment has been checked for proper operation and the
system is in the start-up condition.
- The attemperator spray water control and isolation valves are closed.
Attemperator manual spray water shut-off valves are open.
- All boiler superheater, reheater, drain and vent valves are in the start-up
position, as required for proper venting and draining.
- Purging time shall be 22 minutes (for a 3 fold volume change). The purging
time starts once the required purging air flow is reached.
If the purging time is not finished, the timer for the boiler purge will be started
again once the air flow is less than required minimum purge air flow.
In order to fulfill respective safety requirements the voltage of the ESPs must
be turned down during purging to eliminate any ignition source.
After purging is completed the starting of the start-up burners is permitted for
30 minutes. When this time is expired, the purging has to be repeated.
After 4 failed ignitions a complete boiler purge is required. The following
restrictions are valid:
If the oil line is purged after the ignition, this will count as an additional failed
ignition trial (because fuel is fed to the combustor).
During the ignition attempts the overall purge air flow rate shall never be
reduced below 22.0 kg/s (25 % MCR according to NFPA requirements).
Between the ignition attempts a waiting time of at least 1 minute must be kept.
The "ready for ignition" condition is available for 30 minutes once boiler purge
is finished. If it is not possible to light up the start-up burner within this period
of time, purging must be repeated.
3.4 Heating-Up Operation for Cold Start-Up
Starting of the start-up burners is subject to the condition that the bottom
section of the CFB combustor and seal pot are filled with inert material (ash or
quartz sand). Otherwise, uncontrolled temperature peaks will cause damage
to the nozzles, thermocouple sleeves and possibly also to the refractory lining.
To start heating-up operation one of the two start-up burners is put into
operation. If the burners are not lit up within the safety time, ignition operation
will be automatically stopped.
Detailed description for burner operation see section Oil Firing System - Start-
Up Burners" .
In case only one burner is in operation and trips, the unit has to be purged
prior to putting again one burner into operation.
Heating-up Operation
After a temperature of about 600°C has been attained at the combustor middle
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UNIT OPERATING PROCEDURE
and lower temperature, the oil lances can be started.
Oil Lance Operation during Heating-up Operation
Once all interlocks are satisfied, the bed lances can be started immediately.
For operation of the oil lances see Section "Oil Firing System".
When starting a bed lance, the oil flow rate should be closely observed: if the
oil rate does not rise, this is indicative of a lance blockage. In such a case, the
affected lance has to be once again stopped, inspected locally and, if required,
cleaned. After stopping of one lance, another lance has to be immediately
started by the operator to prevent a temperature drop in the CFB combustor.
After the bed lances have been put into service, it is essential to keep an eye
on the combustor temperatures, for
- the combustor bottom temperature must not fall below 600°C.
- the lower combustor temperature should rise noticeably after the bed lances
have been started (max. time allowed for the temperature rise 5 min.).
If these two conditions are not met, the bed lances have to be once again
stopped as reliable combustion is not ensured.
After stopping or tripping of the bed lances, they have to be blown out with
steam. Steam blowing is carried out automatically as long as the lower bed
temperature stays above 600 °C.
After the bed lances have been successfully ignited, heating up of the
combustor is continued until a lower or middle combustor temperature of more
than 700°C has been attained. Then lignite feeding should be started for
further increase of load. The temperature for the permissive will be optimized
during initial stages of operation.
3.5 Cold Start-Up of Boiler (Water/Steam Side)
Lighting up and Steam Flow Control
- Blow down the unit as required to maintain the water level in sight in the
gauge glass.
- Close the drum vents when the drum pressure reaches 2 kg/cm 2(g).
- The finishing superheater and reheater inlet header drain must never be
completely closed until the steam outlet temperature of the superheater and
reheater is 15°C superheated.
- To protect the backpass superheater and reheater, maintain the gas
After the preparations for warm start-up have been completed, proceed to the
start-up of the fuel oil lances. The requisite start-up steps should be carried out
speedily to prevent the lower/middle combustor temperature from dropping
below the interlock temperature. Especially after starting of the primary air fan,
Changeover to lignite firing constitutes the last step in the start-up procedure
before the plant reaches normal operating conditions. When firing lignite, the
plant is on normal operation. To get the permissive to change to lignite firing
the interlocks (temperature) have to be satisfied.
Now the start-up program is completed and the plant is on normal operation.
Depending on the load requirements and the lignite feed rates, the oil feed to
the lances can be reduced and the lances successively put out of service. The
lances have to be blown out with steam after having been taken out of
operation.
In case of a Hot Restart, lignite feeding without any lance operation is possible
in case the permissive to allow for lignite operation are satisfied.
4.4 Hot Restart (Water/Steam Side)
The HP-bypass and reheater outlet vents or alternatively the LP-bypass, if
applicable, will be opened to relieve excess pressure and to provide sufficient
cooling of the superheater and reheater during the hot standby. If the
necessary criteria for a hot restart are satisfied, the following procedure should
be followed:
It is desirable to have the steam temperature match the turbine metal
temperature when steam is admitted to the turbine for rolling.
To protect the backpass superheater and reheater, establish always min. flow
to ensure proper cooling.
The HP-bypass and reheater outlet vent valve must remain open to assure a
flow of steam through the backpass superheater and reheater to protect the
elements from overheating until the turbine is synchronized.
5.0 INCREASING THE LOAD
5.1 Starting Up the Fluid Bed Heat Exchanger
After the boiling point temperature in the FBHE water/steam systems has been
attained, the FBHEs are ready for start-up.
About 1/2 h before taking into operation of the FBHE with the evaporator
bundle a drain in the downcomer or evaporator inlet header should be opened
to ensure a proper circulation in the evaporation system guaranteeing a
sufficient cooling of tubes before coming in contact with hot ash.
The CFB combustor, cyclones, fluid bed heat exchangers and pertaining seal
pots form an integral system and constitute the main components of the
circulating fluidized bed combustion system.
In the CFB combustor, the lignite is burnt in an circulating fluidized bed. In the
process, the solid particles (ash), are continuously carried out of the
combustor with the flue gas. The flue gas leaving the combustor is routed to
the recycling cyclones where the solids are separated and returned to the
combustor via the fluidized seal pots. The seal pots provide a pressure seal
between the cyclones and the CFB combustor. The cyclone is operating with a
high collection efficiency. Only the fine ash particles are carried with the flue
gas into the convective pass.
These fine particles are collected in the electrostatic precipitators.
Part of the ash collected in the cyclones is drawn off via the spiess valves at
the seal pots and routed directly to the empty chamber of the fluid bed heat
exchangers. In the FBHE, the thermal content of the hot ash is put to the
effective use for steam superheating, reheating and steam generation. The
cooled ash is returned directly to the combustor.
6.1 CFB Combustor
The CFB combustor is rectangular. The downward tapering combustor bottom
section ensures an almost constant gas velocity (iso-kinetic conditions) over
the entire combustor height when applying staged combustion air supply. A
nozzle grate equipped with air nozzles forms the bottom of the CFB combus-
tor. The nozzles are arranged offset against each other. The nozzle grate and
the combustor bottom section up to a height of 9 m are pinned and lined with a
refractory castable to protect the tubes from the reducing atmosphere (air
deficiency).
Due to the high ash circulation rate in the circulating fluidized bed system and
the resulting excellent heat and mass transfer conditions, combustion
proceeds at a temperature level of about 850°C. Under full-load operating
conditions, there is a uniform temperature of 850 °C across the entire height of
the CFB combustor. In the load range from about 50 % to 100% this
temperature is effectively controlled via the ash flow to the FBHE, i.e. the ash
flow through the spiess valve.
At lower loads the FBHEs are out of operation and combustor temperatures
fall accordingly.
During normal operation a combustor middle temperature of about 850°C is
controlled by means of spiess valves, thus ensuring optimum capture of the
sulfur by the limestone additive and minimum NOx formation.
In no case the flue gas temperatures should exceed 950°C in order to remain
clearly below the ash softening point. Due to the temperature rise occurring in
the cyclone (post-combustion effect), the cyclone outlet temperature is critical
and the Boiler Protection 1 will be activated when this temperature exceeds
950°C.
P combustor upper, with the upper tapping at the combustor top, at about
26m above nozzle grate, and the lower tapping at about 14m above nozzle
grate. The P combustor upper is indicating the total pressure drop across the
water wall, giving an indication on the amount of ash carried by the flue gas at
The solids inventory of the combustor is changing with the boiler load due to
the storage capacity of seal pots and FBHEs. When the boiler load is
increased to MCR conditions the flow of ash through the seal pots and through
the FBHEs is also rising. This is leading to a higher level of ash in the seal
pots and FBHEs. Thus these are storing some of the circulating ash which
results in a decrease of solids inventory in the CFB combustor.
When the load is decreased to minimum, the level of ash in the seal pots and
in the FBHEs is going down again to the minimum levels. Hence the ash is
returning to the combustor resulting in an increase of solids inventory and p
combustor (total).
Care should be taken to ensure that the p combustor (total) stays always
within the range.
P combustor (total) min. 100 mbar at MCR
max. 220 mbar at minimum load
Exceeding the range for p combustor (total) should be avoided at any time by
discharging ash from the CFB-system to ensure proper fluidization of the bed
material. If the p combustor (total) exceeds the given range the pressure of
the primary air could rise the design limits of the primary air fan which could
lead to unstable air supply and bad fluidization
If the p combustor (total) falls below about 80 mbar , the ash bed will become
so dilute that uniform temperatures across the combustor can no longer be
maintained and plant operation becomes unstable. In this case bed material
has to be added to the combustor from the bed material silo.
Having a constant p combustor (total) while the p combustor upper and P
combustor at SUB-level are decreasing, is an indicator for coarsening of the
bed ash in the combustor bottom section due to lumps, stones or coarse ash
The ash discharged from the cyclones is returned via the seal pots to the
combustor. A branch stream of the ash is flowing from the seal pots via the
spiess valves to the fluid bed heat exchangers. The ash rate is controlled by
the spiess valves located at the seal pots depending on boiler load and
combustor temperature.
For emptying the seal pot wind box from ash spillage through the fluidizing
nozzles, wind box drain valves are provided.. These valves should be
operated at regular intervals, at least once per day.
The seal pot fluidizing air is supplied by the seal pot blowers, to the two legs of
a seal pot. The air rates to the individual seal pot legs can be adjusted by
means of locally operated dampers, however, they stay fully open during
normal operation.
The FBHEs have water-cooled membrane walls, refractory lined in the bottom
area, and consist of the following 2 chambers which are separated from each
other by weirs:
Chamber 1: empty chamber to steady the ash flow entering the FBHEs,
The blower for the fluidization of the empty chamber will be started after the
primary air fans. To put a FBHE into operation, the blower for this FBHE has to
be started to fluidize the bundle chamber. Then the spiess valve has to be
opened slowly while observing the temperature rise in the empty chamber and
the bundle chamber. Thus the FBHE is heated up slowly. When the spiess
valve is opened, the FBHE starts to store some of the circulating ash which
leads to a decrease of combustor inventory and p combustor (total).
About half an hour before the FBHE 4 with the evaporator bundle will be put
into operation the bundles should be heated up by draining the downcomer or
inlet header to ensure proper circulation and sufficient cooling of the bundle
tubes when they come in contact with hot ash.
For emptying the FBHE windbox from ash spillage through the fluidizing
The circulating fluidized bed boiler operates according to the natural circulation
principle.
The water flow path is shown on the schematic flow diagram for the water and
saturated steam circuits.
The economizer - evaporator - superheater - reheater system serves the
following functions:
1. Withdrawal of the amount of heat from the different areas in the CFB
system as required to achieve:
- a flue gas temperature of about 870°C at the CFB outlet,
- a flue gas temperature of about 285°C at the outlet of the convective
pass
- an ash temperature of approx. 550°C at the FBHE outlet.
2. Heating up of the feedwater, with an economizer inlet temperature of
235° C, and generation of SH- and RH-steam at a constant
temperature of 540°C over a broad load range.
3. The HP Bypass shall cool safely the reheater system during station
black-out, startup, turbine trip, etc.
4. Withdrawal of the residual heat:
- on normal shutdown of the boiler system or
The third is installed in the connecting line between reheater 1 in FBHE 1 and
reheater 2 in the backpass. Steam enters the reheater attemperator from the
outlet header of reheater 1 and passes on to the inlet header of the reheater 2.
Normal Operation
Economizer
Feedwater enters the boiler through the economizer, and is mixed with boiler
water in the steam drum. The function of the economizer is to preheat the
boiler feedwater before it is introduced into the drum by recovering some of
the heat of the flue gases leaving the combustor. The feedwater flow through
the economizer is upward in countercurrent with the hot flue gas. This ensures
efficient heat transfer.
Feedwater is supplied to the economizer inlet header via boiler feedwater stop
valve, check valve and feed water control valves for full load and low load
valve for part load. Please note that the boiler feedwater pumps should not be
started having the boiler feedwater isolation valves, the manual valves or the
boiler feedwater stop valve closed.
To avoid steaming of the economizer and to receive a quick temperature
increase of the flue gases beyond the due point during start-up, a economizer
recirculation line is installed. During normal operation the shut off valve, will be
If the drum level is rising above the maximum level, the emergency blow down
drain will be opened automatically and the boiler feed water flow must be
reduced manually. If the drum level is rising further, the boiler feed water
supply must be stopped manually to avoid carry-over ftom water in the
superheaters.
- Continuous Blow Down
Continuous boiler blow down is used as means of controlling boiler water
quality (solids and alkalinity). The frequency and quantity of continuous
blowdown should be adjusted according to the quality of boiler water and
boiler feed water.
Evaporator
The evaporator is composed of different sections, supplied with water from the
drum via several downcomers to the lower evaporator headers. The lower
headers assure proper distribution of the water to the evaporator sections.
Several water flow paths exists parallel to the combustor water walls as the
FBHEs and seal pots are also water cooled with membrane type walls.
From the lower headers of the combustor, the water rises through the upper
combustor waterwall tubes, being heated up in the process. The plenum grate
tubes, front wall tubes, rear wall tubes, and side wall tubes, form parallel flow
paths. The resulting mixture of water and steam is collected in the waterwall
outlet headers and is discharged into the steam drum through the riser tubes.
Separate downcomers for the fluid bed heat exchanger (FBHE) supply water
to the FBHE inlet headers, through the FBHE walls and the evaporator bundle
To keep the pressure of the HP system within the limits, safety valves on the
superheater main steam line with set point below the low set point of drum
safety valve are provided.
The HP-bypass valve has the task to take over the steam from the turbine and
to control the steam pressure, in case of turbine trip. As the HP-bypass valve
has only a steam flow capacity equivalent to 60% boiler load, two SH-Start-up
vent valves on the superheater main steam line are provided .In case of a
turbine trip at loads higher than 60% they take the balance steam flow and
control the HP steam pressure, thus avoiding actuating of the HP safety
valves. As the reheater needs cooling during turbine trips the HP-Bypass shall
be opened with priority, whereas generally actuation of safety valves and SH
vent valve shall be avoided.
- Spiess Valves
During normal operation the heat transfer to the SH2A bundle in FHBE 3 is
controlled by the amount of hot ash passing through the Spiess Valve for
FBHE3. The heat transfer to the SH2B bundle in FHBE 2 is controlled by the
amount of hot ash passing through the Spiess Valve for FBHE2.
The Spiess Valve position is adjusted according to the boiler load.
Furthermore the Spiess Valves are controlling the combustor temperature
together with the Spiess Valve for FBHE 4. In addition to this, the Spiess Valve
for FBHE 3 is also controlling the SH2A outlet temperature and the Spiess
Valve for FBHE 2 is also controlling the SH2B outlet temperature.
- Start-up
During start-up superheater and main steam lines have to be vented and
The drain valves and vent valves near the turbine should be opened, too, to
provide additional steam flow and to drain and warm the main steam line prior
to turbine rolling.
For a cold start-up care has to be taken for proper venting and draining of the
superheaters.
During start-up the superheater vents should be kept open until about 2 bar(g),
with the HP-Bypass open. Above 2 bar(g) the superheater vents may be
closed, and the HP-Bypass and the RH start-up vent valve are controlling the
system pressure and the steam flow through the SH and RH system. They are
kept open until the turbine is under light load. The HP-Bypass valve may be
throttled to increase drum pressure, providing a sufficient steam flow through
the superheater is assured at all times.
Reheater
The reheat steam route is as follows:
- L T RH bundle in FBHE 1 (RHI)
- Reheater Attemperator for temperature control
- HT RH bundle in backpass (RH2)
Reheated steam from the finishing reheater flows to the turbine via the steam
line. The reheat steam temperature is controlled by the FBHE solids flow
(spiess valve). Only during load changes a small amount of de superheater
spray water is injected at the reheater desuperheater located between the two
reheater sections.
During turbine trip the depressurized and attemporated steam in the HP-
Bypass flows through the RH system either via LP-Bypass to condenser or via
RH start-up vent valve to atmosphere, which is to be opened in case of trip or
overflow of LP-Bypass.
Safety valves on cold reheater steam line have a set point above the low set
point of safety valves provided at the hot end are only for emergency cases for
RH protection against overpressure.
- Spiess Valves
During normal operation the heat transfer to the RHI bundle in FBHE 1 is
controlled by the amount of hot ash passing through the Spiess Valve for
FBHE I. The Spiess Valve position is adjusted according to the main steam
flow. Furthermore the Spiess Valve is controlling the RH I outlet temperature.
- Start-up
During start-up reheater and main steam lines have to be vented and drained.
The drain valves and vent valves near the turbine should be opened, too, to
provide additional steam flow and to drain and warm the main steam line prior
to turbine rolling.
During start-up the reheater vents should be kept open until about 2 kg/cm 2(g),
with the RH start-up vent valve open. Above 2 kg/cm2(g) the reheater vents
may be closed, and the RH start-up vent valve is controlling the system
pressure. The steam flow through the RH system is controlled by the HP-
Bypass valve. The RH start-up vent valve and the RH start-up vent isolation
valve are kept open until the turbine is under light load.
If the feedwater pumps are not available for service, the emergency diesel
feedwater pump should be put in service.
When feed water is once again available and the operator is assured that no
pressure parts have been damaged, the flow of feedwater to the boiler should
be slowly increased (never rapidly increased) by manual regulation. The
purpose of handling the feed in this manner is to avoid quenching pressure
If the drum level is rising above the maximum level, the emergency blow down
drain will be opened automatically and the boiler feed water flow must be
reduced manually. If the drum level is rising further, the boiler feed water
supply must be stopped manually to avoid carry-over from water in the
superheaters.
Operators should be alert to detect the symptoms of water carry-over from the
boiler and introduction of water into the turbine, such as:
A. A sudden unexplained drop or fluctuation of the steam temperature in the
main steam lines,
B. Vibration in the steam piping resulting from water hammer or
Mechanical Arrangement
The lignite feeding system consists essentially of the following equipment:
two lignite bunkers
two emergency outlets
each bunker is provided with shut-off gates to enable bin shut-off for repair
work,
two solid fuel discharge conveyors
two rotary air lock feeder two provide a pressure-tight seal against the feed
points and
two master fuel trip valves
8.3 Normal Operation Lignite Bunker
The bins are fed with run-off-mine lignite already crushed to a maximum
particle size of 15 mm. Each bin is equipped with one discharge cone,
provided with 5 shut-off gates to enable bin shut-off for repair work. A
minimum seal leg of about 3 m is required. If the corresponding weight is lower
than a minimal value (about 25 t), the feed line is automatically tripped.
The lignite feeding trains can be started if the lower and middle combustor
temperature is above 700°C and boiler protection level 3 is not activated.
Further it is to guarantee that the oxygen content of the flue gas measured in
the backpass stays above 1 %. Otherwise all fuel feeding systems will be get
tripped.
8.4 Solid Fuel Discharge Conveyors
Solid fuel discharge conveyors (troughed chain conveyors) withdraw the solid
fuel from the bins and carry it on their upper strand to the reversing pulley from
where it is transported on the lower strand in the opposite direction. The lignite
is uniformly discharged into the feed chute to the rotary valve. The height of
the material layer in the upper strand, which will be determined in the course
of plant commissioning, is adjusted and indicated locally (basic position - 160
mm). If the solid fuel feed rate has to be re-adjusted during operation, this is
exclusively done by synchronous resetting of the conveying speed of all
troughed chain conveyors. The solid fuel extraction chain conveyor is powered
by a frequency-controlled motor. Control and monitoring systems are provided
for: the height of the material layer on the solid fuel discharge conveyor, the
chain tension in the form with inductive proximity switches on the take-up
units, zero speed monitoring and the speed at the take-up shaft.
Crushing of the solid fuel is needed to ensure a particle size distribution as
required for the CFB combustor:
Medium size fraction
D50 = 800 - 1000 µm
8.5 Rotary Air Lock Feeder
The rotary air lock feeder provides a pressure seal and a protection against
flashback.
The rotary air lock feeder is controlled by a two speed motor. It switches to fast
speed if the solid fuel discharge conveyor is working with more than 60 % of
his capacity and will switch to slow speed if the solid fuel discharge conveyor
Loop II purges the side walls of the rotor. It is to prevent lignite from getting
between the walls of the rotor and those of the casing in order to forestall
caking and possible freezing.
Loop III leads to the rotor pockets at the shaft level. It is to ensure that gases
cannot get from the combustor into the lignite conveying system upstream of
the rotary valve.
In case of a trip of the seal and purge air blower the coal feeding lines shall be
tripped and the lignite gate valves closed to avoid overheating of the rotary
valves.
8.6 Master Fuel Trip Valves (Lignite gate valves)
The master fuel trip valves are cooled by purge air. This is to ensure a proper
protection against the temperature of the circulating ash of up to 850 °C.
Maintenance of one coal feeding line during operation of the CFB boiler is only
allowed if the lignite feeding line is isolated by positive means from the boiler.
8.7 Safety Equipment
To ensure a pressure seal of the lignite trains against the CFB combustor and
to protect the same against a flashback, a rotary air lock feeder as well as an
electrically actuated master fuel trip valve are arranged upstream of the line at
the seal pot under the recycling cyclone.
During lignite operation with the master fuel trip valve open, the rotary air lock
feeder in conjunction with the seal and purge air feeding via the limestone
feeding line is acting as a pressure seal.
The master fuel trip valve is closed in the following cases:
1. during trip of boiler or
2. lignite feeding lines are not in operation.
In case of a trip of the seal and purge air blower the lignite feeding lines shall
be tripped to avoid overheating of the lignite feeding system, especially of the
rotary airlock feeder.
In case of a fire in the extraction chain conveyors the bunker gate valves shall
be closed first and it should be tried to empty the burning lignite via the air lock
feeder in the boiler. If the disposal of the burning fuel in the boiler is not
possible the fire shall be extinguished with huge amounts of water or
alternatively with nitrogen supplied for example from gas bottle feeds via the
tapping points in the conveyor. In all cases of fire the fire service shall be
informed immediately and the relevant safety rules shall be obeyed.
In case of fire in the lignite bunker the bunker gate valves shall be closed first
and the operation personnel shall flood immediately the bunker with water to
extinguish the fire. Afterwards the mixture of water and lignite shall be drained
via the emergency outlet to the ground. It shall be avoided to feed the wet
lignite/water-mixture to the boiler.
Before revisions or longer shut downs the extraction chain conveyors shall be
emptied completely to avoid difficulties during start-up due to sticky lignite.
Therefore the bunker gate valves can be closed during operation and the
extraction chain conveyors will stay in operation until the chain conveyors are
completely empty. Depending on the speed it may take up to 16 minutes to
clean the lines completely.
In case of a trip of one lignite line, the other lignite line will automatically take
over the duty of the tripped one to keep the load constant.
If there is a blockage in the rotary air lock feeder, it is possible to reverse the
direction of rotation. By changing the rotation direction of the rotary air lock
feeder for a short time, the rotary air lock feeder blockage can possibly be
removed.
In case the lignite lines should be emptied fully, it will take, depending on the
load about 10 - 15 minutes for clearing the lignite lines after having closed the
bunker shut - off gate valves.
Carbon % 26.50
Hydrogen % 1.91
Sulphur % 0.80
Nitrogen % 0.51
Oxygen (by difference) % 5.04
At normal operation the rotary valve is operated at low speed. Only in case of
a trip of one lignite line the high speed mode will be envisaged. Preferred
mode of operation is 2 x 50 % per lignite train.
For cleaning of the heating surfaces of the convective pass and of the air
preheater, there are sootblowers provided. All blowers are provided with an
electric drive. Steam is used as blowing medium.
9.2 Mechanical Arrangement
The sootblower system consists essentially of the following equipment:
Manual shut-off valve,
Motor operated shut-off valve,
The purpose of the soot blowers is to clean the heat transfer surfaces in
backpass and airheater ensuring an economic flue gas temperature within
design range and a low CO content in the flue gas. This is to keep the overall
efficiency of the boiler.
Normally the operators shall run the soot blowing programme once or twice
per shift or when exceeding a flue gas temperature of 145°C. The soot
blowing intervals are depending on the load. At least once per shift (8h) the
soot blowing program shall be run.
The soot blower steam is taken behind superheater 1. By opening the motor
operated shut-offvalve, and the manual shut-offvalve, the steam line to the
sootblowers is open. The soot blower steam control valve, is reducing the
steam to the required pressure. The steam is fed to two separate lines, one to
sootblowers in the convective pass, and one to the sootblowers in the air
preheater.
The sootblower system is pressure and temperature controlled and is
equipped with a safety valve.
Every sootblower sequence begins with the preheating of the steam line
system. The sootblowers have a top to bottom sequence; first backpass and
then airheater.
If the steam pressure is high enough, the motor operated valves at the end of
each sootblower line, are opened. Now the steam can heat up the system.
If the temperature, measured in backpass sootblower steam drain, is high
enough, the motor operated valves will be closed. Now, the steam is in a slight
superheated condition and sootblowing of the backpass can begin.
In case of an operation upset the cooling media as steam or air shall not be
stopped when the sootblowers lances are inserted to avoid overheating.
During plant shut-down sootblowing shall be performed to facilitate the
inspection of the backpass and air prehater now widely ash deposit tree.
The bed material feeding system is placed between the bed material silo and
the combustor.
It consists essentially of the following equipment:
bed material silo
manual shut -off gate, air lock feeder
pneumatic shut-off valve
pneumatic shut-off valve for seal and purge air
ash feeding pipe
10.4 Normal Operation
The individual ash discharge route can be selected as required. The ash
discharge train with ash cooler 2 should be preferred having two ash inlet
ducts, one from the FBHE 2 and one from the combustor. The circulating ash
from the FBHE has a temperature of about 500°C instead of 850 °C as the
combustor bottom ash. Hence the overall efficiency of the CFB system can be
increased by mixing circulating and bottom ash thus reducing also the
demand of cooling water.
Extraction of the coarse ash from the combustor, about 26 t/h for guarantee
lignite, is absolutely necessary to keep the required ash inventory in the
combustor indicated by a proper pressure profile.
During normal operation only one ash cooler is in operation but the other
should be started regularly to avoid overfilling due to backsifting ash from the
vent line.
Having a bulk density of 1,500 kg/m3, the ash causes a p of about 350 mbar
at maximal filling of the ash cooler.
From the second chamber of the ash cooler, the bottom ash is discharged by
means of rotary air lock valve, placed at the overflow of the ash cooler. The
rotary air lock valve running with a constant speed serves the dual purpose of
discharging the bottom ash avoiding overfilling of the conveyor and providing
a pressure-tight seal both during shutdown and during operation.
10.5 Bed Material Feeding System
Ash feeding to the combustor is only allowed when the PA flow is higher than
minimum to ensure a proper ash distribution in the combustor. The constant
gravimetric ash feeding rate of about 10 t/h is controlled by an airlock feeder.
The maximum allowed ash inventory of the combustor, indicated by a p
measurement, shall always be below 250 mbar.
The necessary air for bin aeration taken from the seal and purge air system
are uniformly distributed over the entire circumference of the bin cone. The
purge air can be controlled by a pneumatically activated valve. The necessity
of a continuous bin aeration will be checked during commissioning.
10.6 Abnormal Operation
From each limestone silo, the limestone is fed to the combustor via rotary
valves with a capacity of 14 t/h limestone each. The number of rotary valves in
operation is selected as required.
The rotary valves are feeding on a common chute. The chute is purged
continuously by seal and purge air, of about 600 Nm 3/h for each line,
supporting at the same time the gravimetric limestone transport to the seal pot.
However the main purpose of the seal and purge air is to cool the master-fuel-
The feed lines and number of airlock feeders per line are preselected
manually. Aeration air from the seal and purge air system is fed into the silo
cone. The necessity of a constant fluidization will be checked during
commissioning. Speed-controlled rotary air lock feeders act as final control
elements for SO2 control: The rotary air lock feeders are exclusively used for
feeding and metering of the limestone to limestone feeding line. The rotary air
lock feeders do not have any sealing function (minimum wear). The pressure-
tight sealing against the CFB system in case of a trip of the feeding lines is
ensured by the valve in each line and not by the airlock feeder. Hence in case
of a longer standstill the valves shall be closed to avoid backflow of flue gases
to the limestone system.
If the pressure of the seal and purge air is decreasing below 600mbar
with one seal air blower in operation, the stand-by blower will start in
addition automatically.
13.0 PLANT MAINTENANCE
13.1. General
The following section describes a number of checks for the CFB steam
generator, which should be carried out at regular intervals to ensure proper
operation of all plant units and components, avoiding damage and preventing
equipment failures.
NOTE:
The present check list is limited to some selected plant components, which
have proved to require special attention. The following instructions should not
be considered to provide a complete checking routine nor are they a substitute
for the necessary inspection of the overall plant according to operating and
maintenance manual of respective vendors of subsystems. A lubricating chart
based on the manufacturers' instructions should be followed.
13.2. Blowing out of Wind boxes
Each wind box is provided with blowout devices to remove ash introduced
during operation as a result of grate spillage.
Blowout should be carried once per shift. Blowout is required in any case
before and after restarting plant.
relative to the steam rate taking into account the attemperator spray
rates.
Corrective Measures
- Shut down and cool the boiler (see section "Shut-Down for a longer
Period").
- Start the FBHE blowers and fluidize the ash in the FBHE chambers to
prevent it from hardening (cementing); try to empty the FBHEs into the
combustor.
16.4 Ash Leakages on the CFB Combustor, Fluid Bed Heat Exchangers and Seal
Pots
Depending on where the leakage occurs, different corrective measures can be
adopted. Incase of considerable ash leakage the plant has to be shut down
immediately. Leakages should be immediately reported to the shift supervisor
and the boiler house shall be evacuated.
16.5 Failure of Boiler Feedwater Pump
In case the Boiler Feedwater Pump is tripped, the standby Boiler Feedwater
Pump has to take over full operation latest after 60 seconds. However the
boiler will trip at low drum level. If the Feedwater Pumps are not available the
Emergency Boiler Feedwater Pump has to be started.
16.6 Station Blackout
In case of a "station black out" the boiler trips and the supply of combustion air
is stopped immediately as well as the Boiler Feed Water (BFW) supply. All
relevant control instruments and actuators are linked to the UPS system,
- direct heat transfer from the refractory lining of the combustor's lower
part to the evaporator membrane wall covered by the refractory,
- heat radiation from the surface of the ash inventory, which has fallen
down to the bottom of the combustor, to the evaporator walls of the
combustor's upper part,
- heat radiation from the brick lining of the cyclones through the inlet
openings back to the evaporator water walls of the combustor,
- the ash inventory which fell down onto the bottom of the combustor
after shut down starts to insulate itself after having settled. For the later
restart of the boiler it is important to know, that after starting the
fluidization the bed's latent heat, stored in the ash inventory at the
bottom of combustor, is immediately transferred to the evaporator walls
of the combustor.
As a result of the above there will be intense evaporation and superheating in
FBHEs and backpass in the first phase of a station black out. The boiler has to
be de-pressurised with a gradient of about 8-10 bar/h to cool the superheater
and reheater bundles. Later the steam flow is continuously decreasing due to
loss of latent heat in refractory, bricks, ash inventory and due to the self-
insulation effect of the ash.
The diesel driven Emergency Boiler Feed water Pump shall be in operation
latest 1 minute after trip of the Boiler Feedwater Pumps. Initially a minimum
Boiler Feed Water rate of about 15 % of the full-load rate will be required, with
the specified depressurization gradient. Boiler Feed Water supply has to be
continued for about 6 hours. During this period, the rate can be gradually
decreased.
Boiler feed water supply may be stopped when a temperature of < 450°C has
5303&5304 NLC – Barsingsar Page 63 of 72
UNIT OPERATING PROCEDURE
been reached in the combustor and in the second pass.
The blow down valve is to be closed or shall be closed in failsafe conditions.
As long as evaporation is going on in the water walls of the combustor
sufficient cooling of all boiler parts, which are exposed to heat radiation and
convection, is ensured. The water losses shall be compensated by feeding
feedwater with the diesel driven Emergency Boiler Feedwater Pump to the
drum, via economizer, keeping the required drum level.
The preheated boiler feedwater is extracted from the deaerator. Due to the
limited size of the deaerator, cold boiler feedwater is to be fed to the deaerator
with the boiler make-up water pump, connected to the EPS. Cold boiler
feedwater shall not be fed directly to the drum via economizer but via the
boiler filling line connected to the combustor wall inlet headers to avoid a
thermal shock and strain for the drum.
Difficulties with Emergency Boiler Feedwater Pump
In case it is not possible to start the Emergency Boiler Feedwater Pump this
may lead to a severe damage of the combustor evaporator tubes due to
overheating. Therefore all efforts have to be made to get the Emergency Boiler
Feedwater Pump running as soon as possible.
In case the Emergency Boiler Feedwater Pump is not starting, the damage to
the boiler may be limited by reducing the boiler pressure with a gradient of
about 1 bar/minute once the water level in the drum is no longer indicated or
visible. This is done to increase the evaporation and steam flow to provide
cooling for the combustor evaporator tubes.
Provisions for Station Blackout
In order to be able to operate and protect the boiler and its components
properly during station black out the following arrangements are foreseen:
- Main steam stop valve /and its bypass valve for operation as required.
- SH start-up vent valves and SH start-up vent isolation valves are to be
operated to control the pressure and the pressure increase after closing of the
steam stop valve at inlet of turbine avoiding working of the safety valves.
- RH start-up vent valves and RH start-up vent isolation valves for venting
the generated steam to atmosphere and control of the steam flow through the
reheater system in accordance with the HP-bypass.
Note:
The intention of the following procedures is to keep the bed material and
combustor and cyclone refractories near full operating temperature to facilitate
restart and to prevent loss of refractory service life by reducing the number of
heating/cooling cycles. The backpass superheater and reheater tubing,
however, must be protected from radiation produced by the hot cyclone outlet
refractory by partial depressurization and ensuring steam flow through the
tubes at all times during the shut-down.
Gradually reduce load on the unit; reduce the firing rate in line with the
decreasing steam flow. Allow the pressure to drop via the turbine or
alternatively via HP-bypass while following the required rates of cooling for the
drum and turbine.
Note:
If it is expected that the unit will be restarted in a very short period of time, in
which the turbine metal temperatures will not decrease appreciably, it may be
desirable to cool the turbine metal parallel with the steam temperature, by
reducing the steam temperature and pressure, while the unit load is being