Efficient condenser operation is critical to minimizing the operating costs and improving the performance of a turbogenerator unit or power plant. Efficient condenser performance is recognized by an improvement in heat rate and generation capacity, less fuel is consumed and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions can be achieved. Condenser tube fouling, fouled external surfaces of Air-Cooled Condensers (ACC) and condenser air-inleakage have been found to have a significant impact on condenser performance and subsequently plant performance. State-of-the-Art technologies have been developed to effectively remove fouling and deposits from condenser tubes, finned external surfaces of ACC’s and to identify the location of air and water in-leakage into the condenser, providing a longer useful life cycle. In addition, application of these technologies results in improved condenser backpressure, a decrease in plant heat rate and a decrease in yearly fuel consumption. Overall, plant performance is improved and CO2 emissions are reduced. Technology and cases are presented.
Air-cooled condensers were first introduced into the U.S. power industry in the early 1970’s, but only began to increase in popularity during the last decade. The rising importance of this new and different technology for the condensing of steam has led to the need for a better understanding of the associated design, application, performance monitoring and cleaning requirements. This paper identifies the basic configuration of aircooled condensers in the power industry and some of the problems they encounter, especially fouling problems. Monitoring the performance of air-cooled condensers is an important task and the major criteria involved are identified. To rectify degradations in performance associated with external fouling, a number of cleaning procedures are described. Included among these are details of a new automated cleaning technology that has been successfully applied, and some of the performance improvements that have resulted from the use of this technique are presented.
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