Increasing the Efficiency and Level of Environmental Safety of Pro-Environmental City Heat Supply Technologies by Low Power Nuclear Plants

In connection with the current prospect of decarbonization of coal energy through the use of small nuclear power plants (SNPPs) at existing TPPs as heat sources for heat supply to municipal heating networks, there is a technological need to improve heat supply schemes to increase their environmental friendliness and efficiency. The paper proves the feasibility of using the heat-feeding mode of ASHPs for urban heat supply by heating the network water with steam taken from the turbine. The ratio of electric and thermal power of a “nuclear” combined heat and power plant is given. The advantage of using a heat pump, which provides twice as much electrical power with the same heat output, is established. Taking into account that heat in these modes is supplied with different potential, the energy efficiency was used to compare these options. To increase the heat supply capacity, a scheme with the use of a high-pressure heater in the backpressure mode and with the heating of network water with hot steam was proposed. Heat supply from ASHPs is efficient and environmentally friendly even in the case of significant remoteness of heat consumers.

Application of Combined Cycle in Modernized Retrofit of Old Thermal Power Plants

This article expounds the advantages and three schemes of applying combined cycle to the modernized retrofit of old thermal power plants. Through analyzing and comparing technical economics of these three schemes, it is concluded that to use feedwater heating and heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is suitable for the units with unit capacity below 100 MW, while to use exhaust gas reburning is suitable for units with unit capacity of 125 MW, 200 MW and above.

LociScan,a tool for screening genetic marker combinations for plant variety discrimination

To reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of plant genetic marker fingerprinting for variety discrimination,it is desirable to identify the optimal marker combinations.We describe a marker combination screening model based on the genetic algorithm(GA)and implemented in a software tool,Loci Scan.Ratio-based variety discrimination power provided the largest optimization space among multiple fitness functions.Among GA parameters,an increase in population size and generation number enlarged optimization depth but also calculation workload.Exhaustive algorithm afforded the same optimization depth as GA but vastly increased calculation time.In comparison with two other software tools,Loci Scan accommodated missing data,reduced calculation time,and offered more fitness functions.In large datasets,the sample size of training data exerted the strongest influence on calculation time,whereas the marker size of training data showed no effect,and target marker number had limited effect on analysis speed.

Off-Design Simulation of a CSP Power Plant Integrated with aWaste Heat Recovery System

Concentrating Solar Power(CSP)plants offer a promising way to generate low-emission energy.However,these plants face challenges such as reduced sunlight during winter and cloudy days,despite being located in high solar radiation areas.Furthermore,their dispatch capacities and yields can be affected by high electricity consumption,particularly at night.The present work aims to develop an off-design model that evaluates the hourly and annual performances of a parabolic trough power plant(PTPP)equipped with a waste heat recovery system.The study aims to compare the performances of this new layout with those of the conventional Andasol 1 plant,with the aim of assessing the improvements achieved in the new design.Based on the results,it can be concluded that the new layout has increased the annual generated power to almost 183 GWh(an increase of about 7.60% is achieved compared to the Andasol 1 layout that generates 169 GWh annually).Additionally,the proposed installation has achieved an efficiency of 20.55%,which represents a 7.87% increase compared to the previous design(19.05%).The Levelized Cost of Electricity(LCOE)of the new layout has been reduced by more than 5.8% compared to the Andasol 1 plant.Specifically,it has decreased from 13.11 to 12.35 c/kWh.This reduction in LCOE highlights the improved cost-effectiveness of the newlayout,making it amore economically viable option for generating electricity compared to the conventional Andasol 1 plant.

Model Selection of Gas Turbine for Large Scale Gas-Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant

This paper briefs the configuration and performance of large size gas turbines and their composed combined cycle power plants designed and produced by four large renown gas turbine manufacturing firms in the world, providing reference for the relevant sectors and enterprises in importing advanced gas turbines and technologies.

Feasibility Study for Self-Sustained Wastewater Treatment Plants—Using Biogas CHP Fuel Cell, Micro-Turbine, PV and Wind Turbine Systems

This paper studies the application of renewable energy sources in wastewater treatment plants to achieve self-sustain- ability of power. The data of wastewater treatment plant in the rural city of Toukh-EGYPT are presented as a case-study. The primary objective is to provide an entirely renewable standalone power system, which satisfies lowest possible emissions with the minimum lifecycle cost. Mass balance principle is applied on the biodegradable components in the wastewater to evaluate the volume of digester gas that is produced from sludge through anaerobic digestion process. Using digester gas as a fuel lead to study combined-heat-and-power technologies, where fuel cell is selected in order to abide by the low emissions constraint. The study assessed the electrical power obtained from fuel cell and the utilization of the exhausted heat energy for additional electrical power production using a micro-turbine. After covering the major part of load demand, the use of other renewable energy sources was studied. The strength of both solar and wind energy was determined by the case-study location. Hybrid optimization model for electric renewable (HOMER) software was used to simulate the hybrid system composed of combined-heat-and-power units, wind turbines and photovoltaic systems. Simulation results gave the best system configuration and optimum size of each component beside the detailed electrical and cost analysis of the model.

Monte Carlo Simulation of a Combined-Cycle Power Plant Considering Ambient Temperature Fluctuations

A combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) is broadly utilized in many countries to cover energy demand due to its higher efficiency than other conventional power plants. The performance of a CCPP is highly sensitive to ambient air temperature (AAT) and the generated power varies widely during the year with temperature fluctuations. To have an accurate estimation of power generation, it is necessary to develop a model to predict the average monthly power of a CCPP considering ambient temperature changes. In the present work, the Monte Carlo (MC) method was used to obtain the average generated power of a CCPP. The case study was a combined-cycle power plant in Tehran, Iran. The region’s existing meteorological data shows significant fluctuations in the annual ambient temperature, which severely impact the performance of the mentioned plant, causing a stochastic behavior of the output power. To cope with this stochastic nature, the probability distribution of monthly outdoor temperature for 2020 was determined using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method to specify the range of feasible inputs. Furthermore, the plant was accurately simulated in THERMOFLEX to capture the generated power at different temperatures. The MC method was used to couple the ambient temperature fluctuations to the output power of the plant, modeled by THERMOFLEX. Finally, the mean value of net power for each month and the average output power of the system were obtained. The results indicated that each unit of the system generates 436.3 MW in full load operation. The average deviation of the modeling results from the actual data provided by the power plant was an estimated 3.02%. Thus, it can be concluded that this method helps achieve an estimation of the monthly and annual power of a combined-cycle power plant, which are effective indexes in the economic analysis of the system.

Performance of a 270 MW Gas Power Plant Using Exergy and Heat Rate

The performance of a 270 MW (9 × 30 MW) AES Corporation barge mounted gas turbine power plant in Nigeria is evaluated using the heat rate and entropy generation by the components of the plant to characterize the irreversibility in each component when operating at different loads between 90% and 25%. The power plants have the peculiarity that three of the plants were supplied by three (3) different Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM);A, B and C. This study is sequel to the fact that the gas turbines were the first independent power plants in the country and after more than fifteen years of operation, it is reasonable to evaluate the performance of the major components. By analyzing the thermodynamic performance of these components, the study demonstrates the utility value of exergy efficiency as an important parameter in the evaluation of major components in a gas power plant. Exergy efficiency is shown to be an important parameter in ranking the power plant components, identifying and quantifying the possible areas of reduction in thermodynamic losses and improvement in efficiencies. A new relationship is derived to demonstrate the correlation between the exergy efficiency and the heat rate of a 30 MW gas power plant. The prediction of the derived relationship correlates well with the observed operational performance of the 30 MW power plants. The combustion chamber in each of the plants provides the maximum exergy destruction during operation. Its exergy efficiency is shown to exhibit good correlation with its energy efficiency and the plant rational exergy. The implication is that from an operational and component selection viewpoint in the specifications of a gas power plant, knowledge of the Heat Rate which is usually provided by the OEM is adequate to make a reasonable inference on the performance of some critical components of the plant.

Biomass Combined Heat and Power Generation for Anticosti Island: A Case Study

Combined heat and power (CHP) plants (co-generation plants) using biomass as fuel, can be an interesting alternative to the predominant electrical heating in Canada. The biomass-fueled boiler provides heat for the steam cycle which in turn generates electricity from the generator connected to the steam turbine. In addition, heat from the process is supplied to a district heating system. The heat can be extracted from the system in a number of ways, by using a back-pressure steam turbine, an extraction steam turbine or by extracting heat directly from the boiler. The objective of the paper is the design, modeling and simulation of such CHP plant. The plant should be sized for providing electric-ity and heat for the Anticosti Island community in Quebec.

Stochastic Flexibility Evaluation for Virtual Power Plants by Aggregating Distributed Energy Resources

To manage a large amount of flexible distributed energy resources(DERs)in the distribution networks,the virtual power plant(VPP)is introduced into the industry.The VPP can optimally dispatch these resources in a cluster manner and provide flexibility for the power system operation as a whole.Most existing studies formulate the equivalent power flexibility of the aggregating DERs as deterministic optimization models without considering their uncertainties.In this paper,we introduce the stochastic power flexibility range(PFR)and timecoupling flexibility(TCF)to describe the power flexibility of VPP.In this model,both operational constraints and the randomness of the DERs’output are incorporated,and a combined model and data-driven solution is proposed to obtain the stochastic PFR,TCF,and cost function of VPP.The aggregating model can be easily incorporated into the optimization model for the power system operator or market bidding,considering uncertainties.Finally,a numerical test is performed.The results show that the proposed model not only has higher computational efficiency than the scenario-based methods but also achieves more economic benefits.

Comparative Assessment of Combined-Heat-and-Power Performance of Small-Scale Aero-Derivative Gas Turbine Cycles

This paper considers comparative assessment of combined-heat-and-power (CHP) performance of three small-scale aero-derivative industrial gas turbine cycles in the petrochemical industry. The bulk of supposedly waste exhaust heat associated with gas turbine operation has necessitated the need for CHP application for greater fuel efficiency. This would render gas turbine cycles environ-mentally-friendly, and more economical. However, choosing a particular engine cycle option for small-scale CHP requires information about performances of CHP engine cycle options. The investigation encompasses comparative assessment of simple cycle (SC), recuperated (RC), and intercooled-recuperated (ICR) small-scale aero-derivative industrial gas turbines combined-heat-and-power (SS-ADIGT-CHP). Small-scale ADIGT engines of 1.567 MW derived from helicopter gas turbines are herein analysed in combined-heat-and-power (CHP) application. It was found that in this category of ADIGT engines, better CHP efficiency is exhibited by RC and ICR cycles than SC engine. The CHP efficiencies of RC, ICR, and SC small-scale ADIGT-CHP cycles were found to be 71%, 60%, and 56% respectively. Also, RC engine produces the highest heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) duty. The HRSG duties were found to be 3171.3 kW for RC, 2621.6 kW for ICR, and 3063.1 kW for SC. These outcomes would actually meet the objective of aiding informed preliminary choice of small-scale ADIGT engine cycle options for CHP application.

Parametric Energy and Economic Analysis ofModified Combined Cycle Power Plant with Vapor Absorption and Organic Rankine Cycle

To meet the escalating electricity demand and rising fuel costs,along with notable losses in power transmission,exploring alternative solutions is imperative.Gas turbines demonstrate high efficiency under ideal International Organization for Standardization(ISO)conditions but face challenges during summer when ambient temperatures reach 40℃.To enhance performance,the proposal suggests cooling inlet air by 15℃using a vapor absorption chiller(VAC),utilizing residual exhaust gases from a combined cycle power plant(CCPP)to maximize power output.Additionally,diverting a portion of exhaust gases to drive an organic Rankine cycle(ORC)for supplementary power generation offers added efficiency.This integrated approach not only boosts power output but alsominimizes environmental impact by repurposing exhaust gases for additional operations.This study presents a detailed energy and economic analysis of a modified combine cycle power plant,in Kotri,Pakistan.R600A is used as organic fuel for the ORC while LiBr-H2O solution is used for the VAC.Two performance parameters,efficiency and energy utilization factor,Four energetic parameters,Work output of ORC,modified CCPP,original CCPP and cooling rate,and one economics parameter,payback period were examined under varying ambient conditions and mass fraction of exhaust gases from outlet of a gas turbine(ψ).A parametric investigation was conducted within the temperature range of 18℃to 50℃,relative humidity between 70%and 90%,and theψranging from 0 to 0.3.The findings reveal that under elevated ambient conditions(40℃,90%humidity)withψat 0,the Energy Utilization Factor(EUF)exceeds 60%.However,the ORC exhibits a low work output of 100KWalongside a high cooling load of 29,000 kW.Conversely,the modified system demonstrates an augmented work output of approximately 81,850 KWcompared to the original system’s 78,500KW.Furthermore,the integration of this systemproves advantageous across all metrics.Additionally,the payback period of the system is contingent on ambient conditions,with lower conditions correlating to shorter payback periods and vice versa.

Low-carbon Operation of Combined Heat and Power Integrated Plants Based on Solar-assisted Carbon Capture

Accelerating the development of renewable energy and reducing CO_(2)emissions have become a general consensus and concerted action of all countries in the world. The electric power industry, especially thermal power industry, is the main source for fossil energy consumption and CO_(2)emissions. Since solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture technology would bring massive extra energy consumption, the application of solar-assisted carbon capture technology has attracted extensive attention. Due to the important role of coal-fired combined heat and power plants for serving residential and industrial heating districts, in this paper, the low-carbon operation benefits of combined heat and power integrated plants based on solar-assisted carbon capture(CHPIP-SACC) are fully evaluated in heat and power integrated energy system with a high proportion of wind power. Based on the selected integration scheme, a linear operation model of CHPIP-SACC is developed considering energy flow characteristics and thermal coupling interaction of its internal modules. From the perspective of system-level operation optimization, the day-ahead economic dispatch problem based on a mix-integer linear programming model is presented to evaluate the low-carbon benefits of CHPIP-SACC during annual operation simulation. The numerical simulations on a modified IEEE 39-bus system demonstrate the effectiveness of CHPIP-SACC for reducing CO_(2)emissions as well as increasing the downward flexibility. The impact of different solar field areas and unit prices of coal on the low-carbon operation benefits of CHPIP-SACC is studied in the section of sensitivity analysis.

Development of SA-533 Type B CL. 1+SA-240 Type 304L roll-bonded clad steel plate for safety injection tank of CAP1400 nuclear power plant

Aiming to meet the demand of the country＇ s nuclear demonstration project on the CAP1400 nuclear power plant, Baosteel uses the roll-bonding technology and develops the SA-533 Type B CL. 1 ＋ SA-240 Type 304L high-strength and high-toughness clad steel plate with a shear strength of over 310 MPa for the nuclear power plant＇ s safety injection tank. The properties of the quenched and tempered and the simulated post-weld heat treatment states are systematically studied herein through a comprehensive inspection and evaluation of the composition,microstructure,and properties of the clad steel plate. The results show that the bonding interface has high shear strength and that the base metal has high strength and good toughness at low temperatures. Hence, the performance fully meets the technical requirements of the CAP1400 nuclear power plant＇ s safety injection tank in the country＇ s nuclear demonstration project. The roll-bonded clad steel plate can be used to manufacture the safety injection tank of the CAP1400 nuclear power plant.

Technical and Economic Aspects and Experience from 6 Years of Operating the Technology Using the Waste Heat from the Exhaust Gases of Heat Sources and 3 Years of Operating a Heating Plant in an Autonomous, Island Regime

This article is focused on technical and economic evaluation of more than 6-years experiences of operating the Waste Heat Recovery technology—the manner and system of flue gas processing generated in the combustion process in heat & power plants, cogeneration units, etc., which burn the gaseous fuel, primarily natural gas, or methane, biogas, geothermal gas, or other gaseous mixtures containing hydrogen. The solution proposes a more effective and non-traditional use of gaseous fuel for heating, the flue gases of which are processed in order to extract additional utilisable heat, with potential elimination of CO2 from them. Deploying of the heating plant in an island regime (OFF-GRID) enables definition of the benefits brought by the 3 years of operational experience and presents visions for the future offering the possibility to utilise the support energy services at the municipal as well as regional level.

Numerical and Experimental Study of a Multi-Generation Desalination Power Plant

The demand for more efficient power generation is not only a prominent subject for environmental reasons but for economic reasons as well. Continuing growth in population contributes to more and more consumption of fresh water, demanding less expensive desalination production, especially in the regions with little or no natural fresh water. Multigeneration desalination power plants may provide solutions to these issues through advanced and efficient designs that are capable of supplying fresh water and power to remote or arid regions of the world. This paper examines the flexibility and versatility of multigeneration systems to showcase the myriad of combinations that are available to accommodate any specific application. It also proposes a specific design for a multi-stage flash desalination system that is powered directly by the exhaust gases of a natural gas micro-turbine capable of producing around 1 MW of electrical power. The performance characteristics, the fresh water produced per kW and the overall plant efficiency, are numerically investigated and compared with previous designs that were analyzed on a larger scale. It is determined that the multigeneration system can produce 56,891 gallons of fresh water per day and an estimated 4.07 tons of salt per day and that a small scale multi-generation desalting systems is feasible.

Evaluating the Technical and Economic Feasibility of Adding a Power Recovery System to the Steam Condenser of a Lignite Coal-Fired Power Plant

Steam is the typical working fluid to drive turbo-generators in coal-fired power plants. It is an effective working fluid, but some of its energy is extracted in an unusable form when condensed. A Power Recovery Cycle (PRC) using a more volatile Secondary Working Fluid (SWF) added to the steam cycle could improve energy efficiency. PRCs have been applied to the flue gas and for combined cycle systems but not to traditional plant steam cycles. This paper details an analysis of adding a steam cycle PRC to a 500 MW lignite coal-fired power plant. A validated model of the plant was developed and PRCs using the three most attractive SWFs, benzene, methanol and hydrazine, were then added to the model. Adding a benzene, methanol, or hydrazine steam cycle PRC will produce an additional 59, 34, and 49 MW, respectively. An AACE Class 4 factored broad capital cost estimate and comparable operating costs and revenue estimates were developed to evaluate PRC feasibility. The benzene, methanol, and hydrazine processes had 2019 Net Present Values (NPVs) @12% of -$32, -$59, and +$35 million ± 40%, respectively. Thus, a PRC may be profitable at current or modest increases to U.S. Upper Midwest electricity prices of around $0.0667/kWh.

A practical approach to improve alarm system performance: Application to power plant

Process safety in chemical industries is considered to be one of the important goals towards sustainable development. This is due to the fact that, major accidents still occur and continue to exert significant reputational and financial impacts on process industries. Alarm systems constitute an indispensable component of automation as they draw the attention of process operators to any abnormal conditi on in the plant. Therefore, if deployed properly, alarm systems can play a critical role in helping plant operators ensure process safety and profitability. How-ever, in practice, many process plants suffer from poor alarm system configuration which leads to nuisance alarms and alarm floods that compromise safety. A vast amount of research has primarily focused on developing sophisticated alarm management algorithms to address specific issues. In this article, we provide a simple, practical, systematic approach that can be applied by plant engineers (i.e., non-experts) to improve industrial alarm system performance. The proposed approach is demonstrated using an industrial power plant case study.

Dispatch Model for Integrated Heat and Power Systems Considering Internal Composition of CHP Plants

An integrated heat and power system(IHPS)is a promising approach for alleviating wind curtailment problems.In an IHPS,the combined heat and power(CHP)plant is the key component,which supplies both heat and electric loads,and couples the thermal system and power system.However,existing research commonly ignores or simplifies the internal composition of CHP plants,which could lead to some unavoidable errors.This paper focuses on the internal composition of CHP plants,and models the physical processes in different components and flexible resources in the CHP plant.Furthermore,a joint dispatch problem of an IHPS with the above CHP plant models is formulated,and an iterative algorithm is developed to handle the nonlinearity in this problem.Case studies are performed based on a real CHP plant in Northern China,and the results indicate that the synergistic effect of different energy resources in the CHP plant is realized by the joint dispatch model,which promotes wind power accommodation and reduces fossil fuel consumption.

Identifying Critical Components of Combined Cycle Power Plants for Implementation of Reliability-centered Maintenance

Maintenance scheduling and asset management practices play an important role in power systems,specifically in power generating plants.This paper presents a novel riskbased framework for a criticality assessment of plant components as a means to conduct more focused maintenance activities.Critical components in power plants that influence overall system performance are identified by quantifying their failure impact on system reliability,electric safety,cost,and the environment.Prioritization of plant components according to the proposed risk-based method ensures that the most effective and techno-economic investment decisions are implemented.This,in turn,helps to initiate modern maintenance approaches,such as reliability-centered maintenance(RCM).The proposed method is applied to a real combined cycle power plant(CCPP)in Iran,composed of two gas turbine power plants(GTPP)and one steam turbine power plant(STPP).The results demonstrate the practicality and applicability of the presented approach in real world practices.