Patent ID: 11927344
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY GMBH
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 18:
19. A method for warmkeeping a plurality of water fill circuits of a steam generator including an economizer, furnace waterwall tubes, a boiler drum, and at least one boiler drum downcomer that provides water from the boiler drum to an inlet header to the furnace waterwall tubes, at an elevated temperature while the generator is in an unfired stand-by mode of operation, the method comprising:
extracting water from a component of one of the plurality of water fill circuits with water extraction piping, the component including the at least one boiler drum downcomer that provides water from the boiler drum to the inlet header to the furnace waterwall tubes, the water extraction piping branching from the at least one boiler drum downcomer;
forwarding the extracted water from the component to a deaerator heating system having an inventory tank of water;
mixing the extracted water from the component with the water in the inventory tank;
heating the mix of water in the inventory tank to a predetermined temperature level to form heated deaerated feedwater;
supplying the heated deaerated feedwater at the predetermined temperature level to the plurality of water fill circuits of the steam generator; and
warmkeeping the plurality of water fill circuits in accordance with the predetermined temperature level while the steam generator is in the unfired stand-by mode of operation by continuously recirculating the heated deaerated feedwater and the extracted water to and from the steam generator until the steam generator returns to service in a firing mode of operation.