Condition Monitoring for Operation Optimisation of Steam Generator Feed Pumps in Jacket Design

Project Number 276

In the past, damage cases at large jacket feed pumps proved hitherto surveillance methods to be insufficient. There is a lack of sufficiently validated simulation tools also during the construction- and design phase to design these pumps thermo-mechanically optimal also for non-stationary processes like damage cases, turning gear operation, start-up- and cold operation and load-change conditions.

A feedwater-pump-monitoring-tool will be the result of this research project. This tool will be developed with coupled, commercial CFD- and FEM programmes that are able to model the thermo-mechanical condition of jacket feedwater pumps, and that were validated by comparison with measuring values of feedwater pumps in Niederaußem and Lippendorf. Further, experience with feedwater pumps of other E.ON- and EnBW power stations will also be included.

Based upon suitable surface temperature measuring rates and a few other measuring rates it will be able to continuously survey feedwater pumps, minimize necessary waiting times, use all reserves during load changes, damage cases, in turning gear, start-up and cold operation, determine service life consumption in critical places right from start-up, and thus minimize service life consumption.

The effect will be optimized operation, considerable availability improvement of the power station, cut in maintenance costs and avoiding damage as well as shorter start-up periods.

At the same time, the validated CFD- and FEM-programmes can be used for optimum thermo-mechanical design and construction of these feedwater pumps and selection of measuring points. Moreover, experience feedback from operators to manufacturers will be improved and eased.

The project is being realised at the Institute for Heat- and Fuel Technology of the Braunschweig Technical University, supported by the Pfleiderer-Institute for Flow Machines (Prof. Dr. G. Kosyna) and headed by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Leithner. Utilities directly involved in the research project are RWE Power AG, Vattenfall Europe Generation AG & Co KG, E.ON Energie AG and EnBW Kraftwerke AG. KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Frankenthal, Sulzer Pumps Ltd., Winterthur/Switzerland and Weller Pumpen GmbH, Kamen, are the manufacturing companies involved. The project is technically supported by a steering committee of the Technical Committee “ Machines ”. The results are to be available in February 2010.