The problem presented in this paper refers to the concepts applied to the design of supercritical steam turbines. The issue under the investigation is the presence of a cooling system. Cooling systems aim to protect the main components of the turbines against overheating. However the cooling flows mix with the main flow and modify the expansion line in the steam path. This affects the expansion process in the turbine and changes the performance when compared to the uncooled turbine. The analysis described here investigates the range of the influence of the cooling system on the turbine cycle. This influence is measured mainly through the change of the power generation efficiency. The paper explains the approach towards the assessment of the cooling effects and presents results of the modeling for three supercritical steam cycles.

Temperature related decrease of steam turbine components is one of the main transient processes that occur during a typical long-term operation. With a natural cooling (no user interference) it takes more than 14 days before the temperature of components reaches the level that allows to open and repair a turbine. It is then reasonable to apply a forced cooling in order to decrease the time between a shut-down of a power generating unit and a beginning of a repair. This paper presents the analysis of application of a forced cooling process to supercritical steam turbines. The main problems under the investigation are the safety issues of the process and the optimization of cooling conditions. The paper describes the safety restrictions and the optimization criteria. The process is analyzed in numerical simulations conducted for various cooling conditions.

The paper presents the results of the numerical analyses for the steam turbine rotor, dedicated for the newly-designed 900 MW steam unit with supercritical steam parameters (650 °C, 30.0 MPa). Basing on the design calculations, an optimal design solution was determined. Review of the available literature on materials for turbine rotors with supercritical steam parameters was done. Then the start-ups of the turbine were simulated. Thermal and strength states were analyzed. As a result, an optimal start-up characteristic was obtained.

The paper presents equations of a mathematical model to calculate flow parameters in characteristic cross-sections in the steam-water injector. In the model, component parts of the injector (steam nozzle, water nozzle, mixing chamber, condensation wave region, diffuser) are treated as a series of connected control volumes. At first, equations for the steam nozzle and water nozzle are written and solved for known flow parameters at the injector inlet. Next, the flow properties in two-phase flow comprising mixing chamber and condensation wave region are determined from mass, momentum and energy balance equations. Then, water compression in diffuser is taken into account to evaluate the flow parameters at the injector outlet. Irreversible losses due to friction, condensation and shock wave formation are taken into account for the flow in the steam nozzle. In two-phase flow domain, thermal and mechanical nonequilibrium between vapour and liquid is modelled. For diffuser, frictional pressure loss is considered. Comparison of the model predictions with experimental data shows good agreement, with an error not exceeding 15% for discharge (outlet) pressure and 1 K for outlet temperature.

The paper presents a thermal-economic analysis of different variants of a hard coal-fired 900 MW ultra-supercritical power unit. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the parameters of live and reheated steam on the basic thermodynamic and economic indices of the thermal cycle. The subject of the study was the cycle configuration proposed as the "initial thermal cycle structure" during the completion of the project "Advanced Technologies for Energy Generation" with the live and reheated steam parameters of 650/670 °C. At the same time, a new concept of a thermal cycle for ultra-supercritical parameters with live and reheated steam temperature of 700/720 °C was suggested. The analysis of the ultra-supercritical unit concerned a variant with a single and double steam reheat. All solutions presented in the paper were subject to a detailed thermodynamic analysis, as well as an economic one which also included CO2emissions charges. The conducted economic analysis made it possible to determine the maximum value of investment expenditures at which given solutions are profitable.

The paper presents the results of numerical computations performed for the furnace chamber waterwalls of a supercritical boiler with a steam output of 2400 × 103 kg/h. A model of distributed parameters is proposed for the waterwall operation simulation. It is based on the solution of equations describing the mass, momentum and energy conservation laws. The aim of the calculations was to determine the distribution of enthalpy, mass flow and fluid pressure in tubes. The balance equations can be brought to a form where on the left-hand side space derivatives, and on the right-hand side – time derivatives are obtained. The time derivatives on the right-hand side were replaced with backward difference quotients. This system of ordinary differential equations was solved using the Runge-Kutta method. The calculation also takes account of the variable thermal load of the chamber along its height. This thermal load distribution is known from the calculations of the heat exchange in the combustion chamber. The calculations were carried out with the zone method.