Improving the efficiency of condensation installations of steam turbines by applying liquid-vapor ejector

Abstract

This paper considers the possibility of using liquid-vapor ejectors in condensing units of steam turbines. This unit is designed for pumping out a steam-air mixture from a steam turbine condenser, in which the process occurs at a pressure lower than atmospheric. In the traditional scheme, this is provided by a two-stage steam-jet ejector unit. The proposed scheme involves the use of a single-stage liquid-vapor ejector and its possible pre-vacuum mode of operation in conjunction with a liquid-ring vacuum pump. A working process of the liquid-vapor ejector does not require the supply of working steam from the outside since its generation occurs in the active nozzle of the liquid-vapor ejector. A description of the traditional scheme and the proposed options is given, which are different both in the scheme solution and in the operating parameters. The object of this study is a liquid-vapor ejector, which is used in the condensing system of a steam turbine. Thermodynamic calculation of the proposed circuit solutions was carried out. As a result, the necessary mode parameters of the schemes were determined. To assess the feasibility of using a liquid-vapor ejector in the condensation systems of steam turbines, an exergy analysis was performed. The proposed scheme makes it possible to increase efficiency by 2.3 times, and when used with a liquid-ring vacuum pump – by 2.44 times. To assess the economic efficiency of the modernization of the condensing system, thermoeconomic analysis was performed. The use of the proposed scheme makes it possible to reduce the cost of generating boiler steam and reduce the cost of the resulting product of the steam turbine unit by about 51 %. The estimated cost of a unit of the amount of boiler steam consumed per ton of product and the unit cost of steam were established.