Analysis of a Brazilian Thermal Plant Operation Applying Energetic and Exergetic Balances

Abstract

When the level of water reservoirs from Brazilian hydroelectric stations is low, additional thermal plants are turned on to complement the power of the national electric system. The fuels used in these plants are generally natural gas, fuel oil and coal. The objective of this work is to analyze energetically and exergetically a fuel oil thermal plant in operation in Brazil. Real industrial data were used in this analysis. The calculated total work of the turbine is 120.73 MW, which is close to the real value of 120 MW. The cycle energetic efficiency is 36.8% and the exergetic efficiency is 34.4%. The highest exergy destruction was found to be in the boiler (177.11 MW), followed by the high pressure turbine (13.37 MW), due to larger irreversibilities in the processes of these equipment. The exergetic analysis functioned as a complement to the energetic analysis, pointing out where the greatest irreversibilities and improvement potential are: in the boiler.