Author: SoftInWay

Design of Waste Heat Recovery System based on ORC for a Locomotive Gas Turbine

Posted by SoftInWay

Update – February 28, 2023: AxCYCLE is our legacy software and is depreciated by AxSTREAM System Simulation. System Simulation was born out of the union of the legacy AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET software packages.

This is an excerpt from a technical paper, presented at the Asian Congress on Gas Turbines (ACGT) and written by Abdul Nassar, Nishit Mehta, Oleksii Rudenko, Leonid Moroz, and Gaurav Giri. Follow the link at the end of the post to read the full study!

INTRODUCTION

Gas turbines find applications in aerospace, marine, power generation and many other fields. Recently there has been a renewed interest in gas turbines for locomotives. (Herbst et al., 2003) Though gas turbines were first used in locomotives in 1950 – 1960’s, the rising fuel cost made them uneconomical for commercial operation and almost all of them were taken out of service. The diesel locomotives gained popularity and presently locomotives are operated by diesel engines and electric motors. The emission levels in diesel locomotives have raised concerns among the environmentalists, leading to stringent emission norms in recent years. One of the solutions to reduce emission for these locomotives is to switch to LNG fuel which requires huge investment in upgrading the engines to operate with LNG. The other alternative is Gas Turbine based locomotives and this has gained renewed interest with RZD and Sinara Group of Russia successfully operating LNG based Gas Turbine-electric locomotives. Fig. 1 shows the GT1-001 freight GTEL from Russia, introduced in 2007. It runs on liquefied natural gas and has a maximum power output of 8,300 kW (11,100 hp). Presently, this locomotive holds the Guinness record for being the largest gas turbine electric locomotive (Source: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com). Though there have been a lot of improvements in gas turbines, the thermal efficiency is still not very high unless the exhaust heat is efficiently utilized by a bottoming cycle.

Fig. 1 Russian GT1_001 gas turbine locomotive

Converting the gas turbine into a combined cycle unit, with a bottoming steam cycle, is employed in case of several land-based and marine applications; however, such an option is not practical in a locomotive gas turbine due to the requirements of steam generators, steam turbines and other auxiliaries. The next best alternatives are to utilize either an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) or a supercritical carbon dioxide cycle (sCO2) to extract heat from the exhaust of the gas turbine and convert it into useable energy in the bottoming cycle (Rudenko et al., 2015; Moroz et al., 2015a; Moroz et al., 2015b; Nassar et al., 2014; Moroz et al., 2014). Supercritical carbon dioxide cycles, operating in a closed-loop Brayton cycle, are still in research phase. There is not much practical experience in deploying an sCO2 unit for propulsion gas turbines even though there is considerable research currently in progress. Hence, the obvious choice is to incorporate an ORC based system which is compact, modular and easy to operate. The same concept can also be implemented in any gas turbine application, be it a land-based, power generation, or marine application. Read More

Combined Power Cycles: What Are They and How Are They Pushing the Efficiency Envelope?

Posted by SoftInWay

Update – February 28, 2023: AxCYCLE is our legacy software and is depreciated by AxSTREAM System Simulation. System Simulation was born out of the union of the legacy AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET software packages.

Combined cycle power plants have introduced a significant increase in efficiency compared to simple cycle power plants. But what is a combined cycle power plant and how does it work?

What is a Combined Cycle Power Plant?

In simple terms, a combined cycle power plant is a combination of more than one type of cycle to produce energy. A combined cycle plant consists of a topping and bottoming cycle with the objective to maximize the energy utilization of the fuel. The topping cycle normally is a Brayton cycle based gas turbine while the bottoming cycle is a Rankine cycle based steam turbine.

Gas turbines are used because this equipment can very efficiently convert gas fuels to electricity with the choice of using different fuels. Recently, the simple cycle efficiencies of gas turbines have improved considerably. As an example, standard fossil fired Rankine cycles with conventional boilers have an efficiency in the range 40–47% depending on whether they are based on supercritical or ultra-supercritical technology. By utilizing waste heat from the heat recovery of the steam generators to produce additional electricity, the combined efficiency of the example power plant would increase to 60% or more. Combined cycles are the first choice if the goal is to generate maximal energy for a unit amount of fuel that is burnt.

Why Don’t all Power Plants Use Combined Cycles

You might be wondering why not all plants are based on the combined cycle. The primary reason is fuel availability. Not all regions are blessed with the availability of gas that can be easily utilized in a gas turbine. Transporting gas from one location to another, or converting a fuel to gas specifically for operating a gas turbine, may not be the best economic decision. The technological expertise required in maintaining a gas turbine is another challenge faced by gas turbine operators. A typical combined cycle plant is presented in Figure 1.

Schematic of a combined cycle power plant created in AxCYCLE
Figure 1. Schematic of a Combined Cycle Power Plant Created in AxCYCLE™

The key component of the combined cycle power plant apart from the turbines is heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The major objective is to convert maximal heat from the exhaust gas of the gas turbine into steam for the steam turbine. The HRSG, unlike the conventional boiler, will operate at a lower temperature and is not subject to the same temperature as the boiler furnace. The exhaust gas from the gas turbine is directed through the tubes of the HRSG wherein water flowing through these tubes, observes heat and converts into steam. The temperature of the live steam is in the range of 420 to 580 C with exhaust gas temperatures from the gas turbine in the range of 450 to 650 C. A supplementary burner could be included in the HRSG, but adding a supplementary burner reduces the overall cycle efficiency. Read More

Choosing the Right Turbomachinery Component

Posted by SoftInWay

Update – March 1, 2023: AxCYCLE is our legacy software depreciated by AxSTREAM System Simulation. System Simulation was born out of the union of the legacy AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET software packages.

Traditionally the engineering process starts with Front End Engineering Design (FEED) which is essentially the conceptual design to realize the feasibility of the project and to get an estimate of the investments required. This step is also a precursor to defining the scope for Engineering Procurement and Construction Activities (EPC). Choosing the right EPC consultant is crucial as this shapes the final selection of the equipment in the plant including turbomachinery.

Large thermal power machine

Choosing the right component for the right application is not an easy task. Too many times, one ends up choosing a component that is not the best choice by far. This is quite true when we look at component selections in the process industries compared to those in a power plant where the operating conditions are more or less constant. This improper selection of components is due to multiple reasons such as: insufficient research and studies; limitation of time, resources, budget etc. Read More

To Retrofit or Not to Retrofit – 7 Questions to Help you Decide

Posted by SoftInWay

One of the challenges of maintaining infrastructure is deciding how best to keep the operational costs in check while delivering the highest amount of service. This is especially true for aging equipment. One option is to replace the equipment with a newer version entirely, continue to maintain the existing machine, or a third option, retrofit the current machine with updated features.

Retrofitting is a term used in the manufacturing industry to describe how new or updated parts are fitted to old or outdated assemblies to improve function, efficiency or additional features unavailable in the earlier versions.

steam turbine in repair process, machinery, pipes, tubes, at power plant
steam turbine in repair process, machinery, pipes, tubes, at a power plant

Retrofitting, like any investment of capital requires careful thought.  SoftInWay’s Manage ring Director, Abdul Nassar has put together a simple list of questions to ask yourself before committing to a retrofit project.  Answering these seven questions before you start can save you considerable time and effort. Read More

Can a sales team select the right turbomachinery for a client without bothering the engineering team?

Posted by SoftInWay

This might seem like a strange question, but we get ask this a lot. The question takes the form of: Can the sales side do a proper preliminary design and select the optimal machine (turbine/compressor/pump)?  Is it possible for the design and application task to be integrated in a way allowing the application team the autonomy to make decisions without going back to the engineering team every time they get an inquiry? After realizing how large of a pain point this is for our clients, we decided to solve this problem for a major turbine manufacturer in Asia and in the process, provided a time-saving solution to maximize the returns for all the stakeholders.

The challenge came with the different competencies of the sales and design team. The sales/application teams are not necessarily experts in design while designers cannot double as application engineers to meet the sales requirements.

In our efforts to solve this issue, we worked with this turbine manufacturer. We listed all of their current processes, limitation, requirements, constraints, and etc. to explore the many possible ways to resolve this pain point. In the end, there were two solutions; (1) Develop custom selection software, or (2) Leverage the AxSTREAM® platform using AxSTREAM ION™.

    1. Developing Custom Selection Software: Developing a custom selection software specific to the manufacturer where their application team can choose the optimal turbine based on expected customer needs. Developing such a custom system requires bringing together the expertise of different teams from turbomachinery (such as aero-thermal and structural) to software developer, testing, etc. Developing such a one-off system also takes considerable time at considerable cost. This approach could solve the current problem, but with rapidly changing technologies and market requirements, this is not a viable long-term solution.
    2. Leverage the AxSTREAM® Platform using AxSTREAM ION™: We evaluated the limitation and possibilities of utilizing our turbomachinery design platform AxSTREAM® to meet the requirement of sales/application engineering team for today’s needs and in the future. We found the organization had a greater advantage using this existing platform rather than investing in the short-term solution of developing a custom selection software. Many of the building blocks required for customization are already available to use via an interface a non-technical sales person could easily use. This platform was utilized for meeting the requirement of this turbine manufacturer saving time and cost while resolving a large pain-point for the organization.

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SoftInWay’s Role in Meeting the Future Needs of Steam Turbine Industry

Posted by SoftInWay

Steam turbine technology has advanced significantly since it was first developed by Sir Charles Parson in 1884 [1]. The concept of impulse steam turbines was first demonstrated by Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval in 1887. A pressure compounded steam turbine based on in de laval principle was developed by Auguste Rateau in 1896. Westinghouse was one of the earliest licensee for manufacturing steam turbines obtained from Sir Charles Parson and became one of the earliest Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) in power generation and transmission.

Over the years, as steam turbine technology advanced, the design principles were based on either impulse type or reaction type with reaction type being more efficient. Though impulse was not as efficient as reaction type, it gained popularity due to lower cost and compact size. With advances in design and optimization methods being employed, the efficiency levels between these two types are not very distant, ranging between 2 – 5% based on the size and application. Read More

The Challenges for Turbomachinery Startups

Posted by SoftInWay

Globalization, increase in defense expenditure by different countries, economic development and growth of air traffic has all resulted in the need for various turbomachinery components. The turbomachinery industry as a whole has seen extensive growth over the last few years and is poised to grow further in the next few decades. The development of Turbomachinery components namely turbines, compressors, pumps, turbopumps, turbochargers are a niche field with the technology limited to just a handful of major players. The recent interest in Un-manned aerial vehicles for military and defense applications, the environmental concerns and rising fuel cost has paved the way for development of small gas turbines and turbomachinery for waste heat recovery systems. Since the market is large and capital cost is not very high due to the equipment size, there is greater interest among technologist and entrepreneurs to step into the business of turbomachinery.photographer-and-plater_1160-733

However, turbomachinery design is still a niche field and require technical expertise, which is again limited. Naturally to get into the league of turbomachinery developers and to compete with established players many startups look at the short cuts which usually is copying of designs from existing players, scaling competitors’ products etc. Though this can help them in getting a product into the market sooner with lower cost on design, this is quite dangerous to the industry as copying designs, scaling etc. results in poor products with performance not being competitive which will lead to the premature killing of the product as a whole. For any startups in turbomachinery, they need to have state of the art product, which can compete with existing players who are well established in the industry.

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An Integrated Design System for Gas Turbines

Posted by SoftInWay

In my earlier blog titled “Optimizing the Cooling Holes in Gas Turbine Blades, I wrote about how optimizing the cooling flow through turbine blades is important considering both performance and reliability. The design process differs between different designers and depends on a number of factors including expertise, availability of design tools, statistical or empirical data, corporate procedure and so on. That being said, the ultimate goal is to provide a design which is considered optimal. Though the designer is often satisfied on completion of a design and when the machine is put into operation, there is always the feeling  that we could have done better if there were more resources and time. Integrating the entire design process with multidisciplinary optimization provides a great opportunity to arrive at the optimal design rapidly with less manual intervention and effort.

axstream
Figure 1: Integrated AxSTREAM® Platform

Figure 1 shows the integrated approach to design a cooled gas turbine using multidisciplinary tools in an optimization environment. The flow path design starts from the conceptual stage to arrive at the optimal flow path geometry, accounting for a preliminary estimate of the cooling flow. Detailed design requires accurate estimation of the cooling flow considering the actual geometries and the material temperatures. Using ID head and flow simulation tools such as AxSTREAM® NET, the cooling flow can be modelled to produce the optimal geometric dimension in an iterative process to further fine tune the flow path performance. To meet the performance and reliability objectives, multidisciplinary optimization can be achieved via the integrated modules. The process when further integrated with a CAD package can help in generating the optimized geometry that can be taken for prototype development.

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Heat Recovery Steam Generator Design

Posted by SoftInWay

Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) are used in power generation to recover heat from hot flue gases (500-600 °C), usually originating from a gas turbine or diesel engine. The HRSG consists of the same heat transfer surfaces as other boilers, except for the furnace. Since no fuel is combusted in a HRSG, the HRSG have convention based evaporator surfaces, where water evaporates into steam. A HRSG can have a horizontal or vertical layout, depending on the available space. When designing a HRSG, the following issues should be considered:

hrsg-boiler
Figure 1: Schematic of a HRSG boiler
  • The pinch-point of the evaporator and the approach temperature of the economizer
  • The pressure drop of the flue gas side of the boiler
  • Optimization of the heating surfaces

The pinch-point (the smallest temperature difference between the two streams in a system of heat exchangers) is found in the evaporator, and is usually 6-10 °C, which can be seen in Figure 2. To maximize the steam power of the boiler, the pinch-point must be chosen as small as possible. The approach temperature is the temperature difference of the input temperature in the evaporator and the output of the economizer. This is often 0-5 °C.

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Can 1D Tools be Used to Design an HVAC System?

Posted by SoftInWay

Update – March 1, 2023: AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET are our legacy software packages depreciated by AxSTREAM System Simulation. System Simulation was born out of the union of the legacy AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET software packages.

The heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is arguably the most complex system that is installed in a house and it is responsible for a substantial amount of the total house energy used. A right-sized HVAC system will provide the desired comfort and will run efficiently. Right-sizing of a HVAC system is the selection of equipment and the designing of the air distribution system to meet the accurate predicted heating and cooling loads of the house. Rightsizing the HVAC system begins with an accurate understanding of the heating and cooling loads on a space, however, a full HVAC design involves more than just the load estimate calculation as this is only the first step of the iterative HVAC design procedure. Heating and cooling loads are dependent on the building location, sighting, and the construction of the house, whereas the equipment selection and the air distribution design are dependent upon the loads and each other.

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