Advanced 700 °C PF Power Plant (AD700-2)

Project Number 220

The research project AD700 is a joint European project involving more than thirty manufacturers, operators and organisations. The objective is the construction of an ultra-supercritical demonstration power plant in the year 2008. The power plant will be coal-fired, achieving an efficiency of up to 55 % with approximately 400 MW and the steam parameters 700 °C/720 °C/350 bar. Compared with a coal-fired power plant with an efficiency of 35 %, this will yield a reduction of greenhouse gases of roughly 30 %.

A major problem is the development of new materials with creep rupture strength values of at least 100 N/mm2, over 100,000 hours of operation. The new materials are required for headers, pipelines and turbine components. The research activities in this area are mainly concentrated on nickel-based materials, since these possess a suitably high creep rupture strength potential, while the processing of the materials is also important. The question in this regard arises whether the new materials are suitable for instance for manufacturing pipes and whether these can be welded.

Development of an AD700 power plant supports the European commitments for emission reduction made in the Kyoto Treaty. The resources are protected through more efficient utilisation of the fuel coal. The competitive situation of the energy industry will be strengthened and secured with regard to both operators and manufacturers.

The overall project AD700 is divided into 6 phases over a period of 15 years. Phase 1 started in 1998 and included a feasibility study, which was successfully completed, and a programme for the development of new materials, which will continue up to the end of 2003. Phase 2 started at the beginning of 2002 and is concentrating on the basic design for components to be tested in phase 3. Of course, material characteristics are also an important module in phase 2. Completion of phase 2 is planned for 2006, except for the materials.

Overall co-ordination is handled by the Danish company Elsam Engineering A/S, which already co-ordinated phase 1. The participating European companies and organisations are working on the problems in the areas of "boiler", "process" and "turbine" resulting for the demonstration plant for this future-orientated power plant concept.

In the AD700-2 project, VGB PowerTech e.V. is a member of the project management and integrated in the following four working programmes in the areas of "boiler" and "process":

  • Water chemistry,
  • Revision and generation of guidelines,
  • Component planning and tests as well as
  • Public relations work.

Further information can be found on the project homepage www.ad700.dk.