Condenser Retrofit Impact

This plant underwent a retrofit to incorporate design changes proposed by Intek. The table shows the back pressure reductions and air in-leak test results before and after the retrofit. This demonstrated the improved efficiency of the condenser, which allowed it to handle increased air in-leakage with less effect on the overall operation. In addition to on-going heat rate savings, the improvements could, and did, save the plant from tripping during a high air in-leak event.

   Pre-retrofit  Post-retrofit
Plant parameters:
Condenser Pressure 1.0″Hg reduction
DO 30 ppb 15 ppb
Average Heat Rate Reduction -77Btu/kWhr
Average Gross MW Increase +6.2 MW
Air In-leak test summary:
AIL Testing *15 + 50 SCFM *38 + 62 SCFM
Condenser Pressure Increase (during tests) +0.8″ Hg +0.2 Hg
DO Increase (during tests) +12 ppb +2 ppb
CC Increase (during tests) 0.05µS/cm <0.01µS/cm

*The first numbers are the baseline plant air in-leakage. The second numbers are extra air in-leakage bled into the condenser during testing, with the resulting pressure and DO increases.

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