A condenser for a steam turbine and a method of operating such a condenser

Abstract: In the operation of a main steam condenser (1) of a steam turbine driven by a boiler and having a gland steam condenser (15), the gland steam condensate is normally fed from the gland steam condenser (15) into the main condenser condensate. To avoid contamination of the main condenser condensate by oxygen-rich water, for at least part of the start-up period of the turbine, the gland steam condensate and other drain accumulating in the condenser is prevented from entering the main condenser condensate which is to be fed to the boiler. The gland steam condensate is fed to said main condenser (1) and stored in a reservoir (5) separate from the hot well (3) thereof, to undergo de-aeration before being fed into the main condenser condensate.

Description: This invention relates to a method of operating a main steam condenser of a steam turbine which is driven by steam from a boiler. The condensate in the main condenser is fed to the boiler. The invention also relates to a condenser for condensing the driving steam of such a turbine. A main steam condenser having an isolatable condenser hot well unit is known from JP-A-2-95704 and is illustrated in Fig. 8 accompanying this application. This condenser includes a tube bundle 28 in a tube bundle unit 2 comprising condensing tubes for cooling and condensing the steam turbine exhaust steam with sea water or the like, and a hot well unit 3 for storing the condensate, isolated by a condenser partition 7 having a shut-off valve 4. The shut-off valve 4 disposed in the partition 7 is opened in normal running so that the water condensed in the tube bundle unit is stored in the hot well unit until it is fed to the boiler. When the operation of the condenser is interrupted, the shut-off valve 4 is closed to leave only the tube bundle unit 2 opened to the atmosphere so that the condensate in the hot well unit is prevented from having its quality deteriorated by oxygen or the like dissolved therein during the interruption. At start-up of the plant on the other hand, the drain stored in the tube bundle unit during the interruption is discharged to outside via a drain pipe 9 having a valve 10 and the vacuum in the tube bundle unit is raised by an air extractor 17 in line 18. The shut-off valve 4 is opened to connect the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3 when their pressures are substantially equalized to each other. The partition-type condenser of this construction is being widely adopted in a combined cycle plant for the DSS operation (daily start-stop) in which it is started and stopped every day so that it may be used a daytime power source. By the start-up method described and the condenser used therefor, the plant can be started for a short time and with economy of power. As mentioned, the drain accumulated on the condenser partition 7 while the condenser operation is interrupted can be discharged to the outside of the condenser, but no consideration is made for the treatment of the drain which is generated at the start-up of the plant. Specifically, the drain generated during the stop period when the condenser is opened to the atmosphere contains much oxygen, so that it cannot be mixed with the condensate in the hot well unit. Therefore, it is correct to discharge this drain which is accumulated on the condenser partition during the stop period of the condenser, to the outside of the condenser. On the other hand, the drain generated at the initial stage of the plant start-up has low quality, but in a later period has a high quality. Thus, it is effective for economical plant running to recover those two kinds of drains to the condenser, but this has not been considered in the prior art. Incidentally, according to the prior art, the drain accumulated in the condenser tube bundle unit 2 at the start may be mixed directly into the hot well unit 3 by opening the shut-off valve at an early stage after the start. However, since the drain at this stage contains much oxygen, the quality of the condensate water after the mixing highly departs from the required value for the boiler supply water so that hot well condensate 29 has to be de-aerated. It is also conceivable to recover the drain during the start-up to the outside of the condenser. However, discharging drain in this way while raising the vacuum requires a powered drain discharger for discharging it to atmospheric pressure, because the pressure of a tube bundle unit 2 of the condenser 1 is negative. If such a drain discharger is used, ambient air may flow back into the condenser 1 to obstruct or delay the rise of the vacuum in the condenser. A further matter which is given little consideration in the prior art is recovery of the condensate of turbine gland seal steam. When a turbine has a steam gland, the gland seal steam discharged from the steam gland may be condensed in a gland steam condenser 15 shown in the prior art example of Fig. 8. Steam is fed to this condenser 15 via line 21. The heat exchange is effected in condenser 15 by main steam condensate from the hot well 3, which may be recirculated directly to the hot well via line 16. The destination of gland steam condensate from the condenser 15 is not mentioned. JP-A-4-112903 shows a turbine steam condenser system in which the gland steam condensate is returned directly into the hot well. There is no partition in this case between the hot well and the tube bundle unit. This method is disadvantageous. The present inventors have now appreciated that initially at start-up of the turbine, the gland steam has a high oxygen content, so that its condensate is unsuitable to be fed into the main steam condensate, for re-feeding to the boiler. It is mentioned for completeness that US-A-5095706 shows a partition between the hot well and the tube bundle unit, like JP-A-2-95704. An object of the present invention is to provide a condenser for a steam turbine and a method of its operation, which make it possible to run the plant economically and to minimize the time period for starting the condenser while recovering the drain to the condenser at start-up. Another object of the invention is to make it possible to recover, at least partly, the gland seal steam, without deteriorating the quality of the circulating water. In one aspect, the invention provides a method of operating a main condenser of a steam turbine driven by steam from a boiler, as set out in claim 1. This method allows full recovery of drain generated before and during start-up and avoids or minimizes its effect on water quality. The drain having a relatively high oxygen content in the de-aeration region may be de-aerated by maintaining the de-aeration region at substantially the same pressure as a space containing the tube bundle. The drain having a relatively high oxygen content may be at least partly condensate from a gland steam condenser. In another aspect, the invention provides a condenser for condensing the driving steam of a steam turbine, as set out in claim 4. In one embodiment, the de-aeration region may be a reservoir. The reservoir is preferably arranged above the hot well and separated from the drain region by a partition. The reservoir or de-aeration region are preferably connected to a space containing the tube bundle by an air flow passage for maintaining the reservoir or de-aeration region and the space at substantially equal pressures. For re-introducing the drain in the reservoir to the circulatory flow, the condenser preferably has a conduit for flow of drain from the reservoir to the hot well and valve means for controlling flow therein. Alternatively, means are provided for controlledly feeding a flow of drain from the reservoir to the steam generator. Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of non-limitative example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a first condenser for a steam turbine plant, embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a control diagram for the condenser of Fig. 1, in a start-up period of the turbine plant; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a second condenser for a steam turbine plant, embodying the invention; Figs. 4(a), 4(b) and 4(c) are respectively a schematic top view, a schematic sectional view on line B-B of Fig. 4(c) and a schematic section on line C-C of Fig. 4(a), of the drain reservoir and hot well of the condenser of Fig. 3; Figs. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are diagrams of pressure changes in regions of the condenser of Fig. 3 during the turbine start-up period; Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams illustrating effects of the control method of the invention; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a third condenser for a steam turbine plant embodying the invention; and Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a condenser construction of the prior art. First, a basic condenser construction will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The turbine exhaust steam is introduced from the steam turbine (not shown) via an exhaust conduit (not shown) into a main steam condenser 1 from above and is cooled and condensed into condensate by sea water in a cooling tube bundle 28. The condensate is stored, in an amount corresponding to about five minutes of its rated flow rate considering load fluctuations, in a hot well 29 and is fed by a condensed water feeder 13 through a boiler water supply line 14, a gland steam condenser 15 and a change-over valve 26 to a steam generator such as a waste heat recovery boiler HRSG. The steam generated by this steam generator is fed to the aforementioned turbine. In ordinary or normal running mode, the steam and the water circulate by this route. In the present invention, the main condenser 1 is partitioned into a tube bundle unit 2 and a hot well unit 3 by means of a partition 7, and these are connected by a down-comer 6 having a shut-off unit or valve 4. The shut-off unit 4 is closed, when the plant is to be stopped, so that the vacuum in the tube bundle unit 2 can be broken to stop the plant while the hot well unit 3 is kept under vacuum. As a result, the hot well unit 3 is kept out of contact with the air during a stop period so that the hot well 29 keeps the condensate in a satisfactory quality for the running operation. During the stop period, a drain shut-off valve 10 is left open, and the drain present in the tube bundle unit 2 during the stop is discharged from above the partition 7 via a drain pipe 9. At the re-start of the plant, e.g. the next day, cooling water is fed first into the cooling tube bundle 28 by a cooling water feeder (not shown). The vacuum in the condenser 1 is then established. Prior to this, a turbine steam gland unit (not shown) must be sealed to prevent ambient air from flowing into the condenser 1 via the turbine gland. For this, gland seal steam passing from the turbine gland is introduced via a gland steam line 21 into the gland steam condenser 15 so that the gland seal steam is cooled and condensed. The condensate water reserved in the condenser hot well 29 is used for cooling and condensing in the gland steam condenser 15. After the start of the gland steam condenser 15, the turbine gland unit can thus be sealed by feeding the gland seal steam to the turbine gland unit. The condensate used for the cooling and condensation in the gland steam condenser 15 is not fed to the HRSG in the preparation for starting the HRSG but is recirculated to the condenser 1 through a condensate recirculation line 16. This is because, if the HRSG is fed with this water, the amount of water in the condenser hot well 29 decreases with the consequence that supply water which is oxygen-rich is fed to the condenser 1 to maintain the water level. This water supply during the start-up would deteriorate the quality of the condensed water, elongating the start-up period. Therefore, the change-over valve 26 is closed and the change-over valve 27 is opened to recirculate the condensate directly to the hot well unit 3 of the condenser 1 thereby to continue the water supply to the cooling tubes in the gland steam condenser 15. Incidentally, recirculation of this condensate used to condense the gland steam in the condenser 15 to the tube bundle unit 2 cannot be adopted because of many disadvantages. The first is that the tube bundle unit 2 itself is not in vacuum, resulting in possible deterioration of the quality of the condensate introduced. The second disadvantage is that the lowering of the water level of the hot well unit 3 cannot be prevented merely by the introduction of condensate into the tube bundle unit 2, thereby risking the deterioration of the water quality and the elongation of the start-up due to the introduction of oxygen-rich supply water. Thus, if the condensate in the tube bundle unit 2 is introduced into the hot well unit 3 by some means, the vacuum in the hot well unit 3 is broken, allowing oxygen to dissolve in the condensate in the hot well 29, deteriorating the quality of the condensate. Therefore, in the condenser 1 in which the good quality condensate satisfying water quality requirements is reserved in the hot well 29 by shutting off the hot well in order to shorten the start-up time the next day and to save auxiliary power required for the start-up, it is very advantageous to introduce this recirculated condensate directly into the hot well unit 3. A combined cycle plant for the DSS run, as in the present embodiment, has a simple system construction and easy control because the amount of drain generated in the plant system is smaller than that of the conventional fossil fuel plant. In order to lighten the capacity of the equipment, it is preferable to recover the drain condensed by the gland steam condenser 15 to the tube bundle unit 2 of the condenser 1. During normal running, this drain passes via the down-comer 6 and the shut-off unit 4 to the hot well unit 3. At start-up, on the contrary, when the tube bundle unit 2 is under little or no vacuum, this drain is introduced via a change-over valve 24 and a drain recovery line 22 into the tube bundle unit 2 of the condenser 1 by making use of the pressure difference and the head difference but no power, and is discharged by gravity to the outside of the condenser 1 via the drain pipe 9 branching from the down-comer 6 and the drain shut-off valve 10. Fig. 6(a) plots the oxygen concentration of this drain from the gland steam condenser introduced into the condenser 1 during the start-up. The drain concentration is about 10,000 (ppb) just after the start. When an air extractor for the condenser 1 operates (see below) after the start, the oxygen concentration falls to the rated reference value of 7 (ppb) before long. When a considerable time has lapsed after the start so that a high vacuum prevails in the tube bundle unit 2, as shown in Fig. 6(a), the drain introduced into the tube bundle unit 2 has its oxygen concentration reduced by the evacuation so that mixing it with the condensate in the hot well 29 raises no problem. If, however, this drain is mixed with the condensate in the hot well 29 when the tube bundle unit 2 is under a low vacuum, mixing it with the condensate in the hot well 29 would deteriorate the satisfactory water quality intended by the partition structure 7. After the preparation for raising the vacuum of the condenser 1 has thus been completed, the air extractor 17 in an air extracting line 18 is started. When the air extractor 17 is started, the drain residing on the partition 7 cannot be discharged by gravity because the pressure in the tube bundle unit 2 is negative. If air were sucked via the drain pipe 9, the vacuum raising rate of the tube bundle unit 2 would be reduced, extending the start-up time. Thus, in the present embodiment, a control unit 33 is pre-set with the starting procedures in terms of the conditions such as time. Just after the start the air extractor 17 starts operating, the change-over valve 24 closes, a change-over valve 25 opens and the drain shut-off valve 10 closes in response to the signals coming from the control unit 33 via signal lines 38, 33 and 40, thereby to switch the destination of the drain generated by the gland steam condenser 15 from the condenser tube bundle unit 2 to an exit drain recovery line 23 of the gland steam condenser. This recovery line 23 may be connected to the outside of the plant or to a recovery device (not shown). If the drain from the gland steam condenser 15 is temporarily reserved in the recovery device, the influences upon the oxygen concentration are the least, and moreover this drain can be recovered to the system. The drain is then introduced into the condenser 1 during normal running or is recovered directly into the water supply line 14 (see Fig. 7). Specifically, the condensate during normal running has a very low oxygen concentration and is most sufficient for the requirements for the steam generator so that the amount of drain from the gland steam condenser to be mixed is increased, enhancing the drain recovery efficiency. If the recovery flow rate at this time is within the critical value, as illustrated in Fig. 6(b), there arises no problem even if this drain is recovered in mixture with the condensate. This recovery flow rate may be selected by setting it in advance or by controlling the flow rate. After the preparations for the start have been completed by the procedures described above, as mentioned the air extractor 17 is started, to discharge the air from the tube bundle unit 2 via the air extracting line 18 to the outside of the condenser 1, thereby to generate the vacuum in the tube bundle unit 2. The pressure of the tube bundle unit 2 is metered by a pressure gauge 34, and the pressure of the hot well unit 3 is metered by a pressure gauge 35. These pressure signals are inputted via signals lines 36 and 37 to the control unit 33. When the pressures in the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3 are substantially equalized, the signal is sent from the control unit 33 via a signal line 41 to open the shut-off unit 4 thereby to connect the tube nest unit 2 and the hot well unit 3. Under the pressure of the tube bundle unit 2 when the shut-off unit 4 is open, as illustrated in Fig. 6(a), the drain introduced to the condenser 1 is de-aerated to the required reference value for the HRSG by the evacuation so that the quality of the condensate is not adversely affected even if the drain of the gland steam condenser 15 is recovered to the condenser. Therefore, after the shut-off unit 4 has been opened, the change-over valve 25 is closed, and the change-over valve 24 is opened to recover the drain to the condenser tube bundle unit 2. Then, the drain is introduced via the down-comer 6 and the shut-off unit 4 to the hot well unit 3 and is mixed for recovery in the hot well 29. Since, at this time, the quality of the condensate of the hot well 29 is held within the permitted range for the steam generator, the change-over valve 27 is closed to interrupt the recirculation of the condensate, and the change-over valve 26 is opened to start the water supply to the steam generator. After this water supply to the HRSG, the circulation of water and steam is established for the normal running of the plant. Fig. 2 illustrates the operation as described above of the system shown in Fig. 1, specifically showing the pressures of the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3, and the states of the shut-off unit 4, the change-over valves 24 and 25 and the drain shut-off valve 10. The states of the shut-off unit 4, the change-over valves 24 and 25 and the drain shut-off valve 10 are controlled by the signals which are produced by the control unit 33 by inputting the operations of the individual units and valves to the control unit 33. Control can also be achieved by a method of pre-setting the running procedures in relation to time and/or by reference to the signals which are produced by metering the pressure or other conditions of the tube bundle unit 2. Other embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following. In these other embodiments, the condenser has the same basic construction and operation as that of the foregoing embodiment and will therefore not be fully described again. Parts having the same reference numbers in the drawings have the same or similar functions. In the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4, the drain of the gland steam condenser 15, which is generated in it at the initial stage after the start of the plant, is temporarily reserved in a drain reservoir 5 formed in the main steam condenser 1 and constituting a de-aeration region. In this condenser, the residual drain in the tube bundle unit 2 at stop of the plant is introduced via the two down-comers 6 and the drain connecting pipes 9 into the drain reservoir 5. At this time, a recovery shut-off valve 12 is closed so that the drain is not mixed with the condensate in the hot well 29 via a drain recovery pipe 11 and the recovery shut-off valve 12, which controls the communication between the drain reservoir 5 and the hot well unit 3. In more detail, as Figs. 3 and 4 show, the drain reservoir 5 for reserving the drain temporarily is a chamber formed in the main steam condenser 1, and an equalizing port 8 for equalizing the pressure in the reservoir 5 with that of the tube bundle unit 2 is formed in a portion of its top cover, i.e, the partition 7 of the condenser. Due to the provision of that equalizing port 8, when the pressure P 2 (as illustrated in Fig. 5(a)) of the tube bundle unit 2 changes with the rise of vacuum caused by the air extractor 17 at start-up or with the vacuum breakage at stop of the plant, as illustrated in the individual pressure diagrams of Fig. 5, the pressure P 5 (as illustrated in Fig. 5(c)) of the drain reservoir 5 changes with the change in the pressure P 2 of the tube bundle unit 2 so that the tube bundle unit 2 and the drain reservoir 5 have their pressures equalized to each other. Incidentally, the pressure P 3 (as illustrated in Fig. 5(b)) of the hot well unit 3 is unchanged before and after start-up. As a result, the drain introduced into the tube bundle unit 2 and residing on the partition 7 can be introduced at all times by gravity, when the shut-off units 4 are closed, into the drain reservoir 5 via the down-comers 6 and the drain connecting pipes 9 branching from the down-comers 6. The equalizing port 8 stands up from the partition 7 and has a protruding flange at its top so that the condensate formed by the tube bundle unit 2 in normal running does not flow via the equalizing port 8 directly into the drain reservoir 5 and thus does not accumulate in a large amount in the drain reservoir 5. An air path is thus maintained from the reservoir 5 to the tube bundle unit 2. Therefore, the drain in the drain reservoir 5 need not be emptied before the shut-off unit 4 is closed for shut-down, so that the operation can be improved. The shut-off units 4 thus act to select the route of the drain flow to the hot well 29 or the reservoir 5, and also when closed isolate the pressure in the hot well 29. Fig. 4 gives schematic diagrams of the drain reservoir 5 and illustrates the flows of the drain from above the partition 7 into the drain reservoir 5 by arrows. Fig. 4(a) is a plan view showing the condenser partition 7 which has the two down-comers 6 and the equalizing port 8. As mentioned, the equalizing port 8 protrudes from the upper face of the partition 7 so that the drain may not flow thereinto, but the down-comers 6 are formed to receive the drain. Fig. 4(c) is a section which shows that the drain reservoir 5 is formed between the partition 7 and the hot well 29 by making use of the space in the hot well unit 3, and its communication with the hot well 29 is suitably controlled by the recovery shut-off valve 12. As illustrated, the drain accumulating on the partition 7 is always introduced by gravity, when the shut-off unit 4 is closed, via the down-comers 6 and the drain connecting pipes 9 branching from the down-comers 6 into the drain reservoir 5. At the start-up of the plant, the drain generated during an initial period in the gland steam condenser 15 is introduced without any power into the tube bundle unit 2 of the condenser 1 by making use of the pressure difference and the head difference. Since at this time the shut-off units 4 are closed to prevent communication between the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3, the drain is temporarily reserved in the drain reservoir 5 via the down-comers 6 and the drain connecting pipes 9. The drain thus temporarily reserved in the drain reservoir 5 is introduced during normal running via the drain recovery pipe 11 into the hot well unit 3 by opening the recovery shut-off valve 12. This introduction exerts the least influence upon the oxygen concentration in the water in the well unit 3 and is a most suitable manner for the in-system recovery of the drain. Specifically, the condensate in the hot well unit 3 in normal running has an extremely low oxygen concentration and the highest margin below the reference value for the HRSG, so that the amount of drain mixed into it can be increased to enhance the drain recovery efficiency. The recovery flow rate at this time may be that of the mixture of the drain and the condensate if the recovery is within the critical recovery flow rate. This recovery flow rate may be adjusted either by setting it in advance or by controlling the flow rate. After the preparations for start-up have been completed by the procedure described above, the air extractor 17 is started, with the hot well unit 3 maintained under vacuum, to discharge the air of the tube bundle unit 2 to the outside of the condenser 1 via the air extracting line 18 thereby to raise the vacuum of the tube bundle unit 2. When the pressures in the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3 are substantially equal, the two shut-off units 4 are opened to connect the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3. At the pressure of the tube bundle unit 2, as illustrated in Fig. 6a, the introduced drain in the reservoir is de-aerated towards the reference value of oxygen concentration for of the steam generator by the evacuation so that the quality of the condensate is not influenced even if the drain of the gland steam condenser 15 is recovered to the condensate. After the shut-off units 4 have been opened, therefore, the drain of the gland steam condenser 15 is introduced from the tube bundle unit 2 via the down-comers 6 and the shut-off units 4 into the hot well unit 3 to be mixed into the condensate and recovered. Since, at this time, the quality of the condensed water in the hot well 29 is kept within the limit value for the HRSG, the change-over valve 27 is closed to interrupt the recirculation of the condensate, and the change-over valve 26 is opened to begin the water supply to the HRSG. After this, the water and steam circulations are continued for normal running of the plant. In the present embodiment, too, the running procedures and the states of the shut-off units 4, the recovery shut-off valve 12 and the change-over valves 26 and 27 are definable so that their opening and closing operations can be controlled in response to signals coming from the control unit by inputting the operations of the individual devices and valves. Moreover, the operations can be controlled either by setting the running procedures in terms of time or by means of signals which are obtained by metering the pressure of the tube bundle unit 2, etc. Incidentally, similar effects can be obtained with respect to the maintenance of the water quality even if the drain recovered to the drain reservoir 5 is not recovered to the hot well 29 but is discharged to the outside of the system. Another embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 7. In this embodiment, the drain from the gland steam condenser is introduced into the condenser tube bundle unit 2 and then passes to a recovery unit 32 constituting a de-aeration reservoir, which is disposed outside the condenser 1, via the down-comer 6, the drain connecting pipe 9 and the drain shut-off valve 10, to be temporarily reserved. Residual drain in the tube bundle unit 2 at shut-down is also passed via the down-comer 6 and the drain connecting pipe 9 into the recovery unit 32. At this time, the drain shut-off valve 10 for connecting and disconnecting the tube bundle unit 2 and the recovery unit 32 is open. At the start of the plant, e.g. the next day, vacuum in the tube bundle unit 2 and the recovery unit 32 can be simultaneously raised on start of the air extractor 17 by means of an equalizing pipe 19 having an equalizing shut-off valve 20 and connecting into the air extracting line 18, so that the tube nest unit 2 and the recovery unit 32 have their pressures equalized. As a result, when the shut-off unit 4 is closed, the drain collecting on the partition 7 is guided at all times by gravity via the down-comer 6 and the drain connecting pipe 9 branching therefrom and is reserved in the recovery unit 32. The drain thus temporarily reserved in the recovery unit 32 may be directly recovered during normal running to the condenser 1 or as shown to the water supply line 14 via a line 33 having a pump 34 and a valve 35. This direct recovery can be controlled to influence the oxygen concentration of the condensate as little as possible and achieves in-system recovery of the drain. Specifically, the main steam condensate during normal running has an extremely low oxygen concentration and the highest margin relative to the reference value for the HRSG so that the amount of drain to be mixed into it can be increased to enhance the drain recovery efficiency. The recovery flow rate at this time may be that of the mixture of the drain and the condensate if the recovery is within the critical recovery flow rate. This recovery flow rate may be adjusted either by setting it in advance or by controlling the flow rate. After the preparations for the start-up have been completed by the procedure described, the air extractor 17 is started, with the hot well unit 3 maintained under vacuum, to discharge the air of the tube bundle unit 2 to the outside of the condenser 1 via the air extracting line 18 thereby to raise the vacuum of the tube bundle unit 2. When the pressures in the tube nest unit 2 and the hot well unit 3 are substantially equal, the shut-off unit 4 is opened to connect the tube nest unit 2 and the hot well unit 3. Under the pressure of the tube bundle unit 2, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the introduced drain in the reservoir 32 is de-aerated towards the reference value for the HRSG by the evacuation so that the quality of the condensate is not significantly influenced even if the condensed drain of the gland steam condenser 15 is recovered to the condenser 1. After the shut-off unit 4 has been opened, therefore, the drain generated in the gland steam condenser 15 is introduced from the condenser tube bundle unit 2 via the down-comer 6 and the shut-off unit 4 into the hot well unit 3 so that it is mixed into the hot well 29 and recovered. Since, at this time, the quality of the condensed water of the hot well 29 is held within the limit value for the HRSS, the change-over valve 27 is closed to interrupt the recirculation of the condensed water, and the change-over valve 26 is opened to begin the water supply to the HRSG. After the start of this water supply to the HRSG, the water and steam circulations are continued for normal running. In this embodiment, too, the running procedures and the states of the various valves can be controlled by signals from a control unit. To summarize, the present invention can prevent the deterioration of the hot well water quality, which might otherwise be caused by the drain during the plant start-up, making it possible to reduce the plant start-up time period considerably and reducing or eliminating the auxiliary power such as the heated steam which has been consumed for deaeration in the prior art. Moreover, economical plant running can be achieved by recovering the drain to the plant.

Claims: A method of operating a main condenser (1) of a steam turbine driven by steam from a boiler, which main condenser has a tube bundle (28) and a hot well (3), comprising the steps of: (i) during start-up of the turbine, storing a body of drain formed by condensation of steam and having a relatively high oxygen content in a de-aeration region (5,32) separated from the hot well; and (ii) starting a flow of drain from said tube bundle (28) to said hot well (3); characterized in that said flow of drain from said tube bundle to said hot well by-passes said de-aeration region, and after step (ii) and after reduction of the oxygen concentration of said body of drain in said de-aeration region, said body of drain is fed to said boiler. A method according to claim 1 wherein said drain in said de-aeration region (5,32) is de-aerated by maintaining said de-aeration region at substantially the same pressure as a space (2) containing said tube bundle (28). A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said drain having a relatively high oxygen content is at least partly condensate from a gland steam condenser (15). A condenser for a steam turbine driven by steam from a boiler, which condenser has a tube bundle (28) for condensation of driving steam of said turbine, a hot well (3) for accumulation of condensate from said tube bundle, and a de-aeration region (5,32) separated from said hot well for storing a body of drain formed by condensation of steam, characterized in that in said condenser drain from said tube bundle (28) is capable of flowing to said hot well without passing through said de-aeration region, and means (11,12,33,34) are provided for feeding said body of drain from said de-aeration region (5,32) into the condensate of said driving steam. A condenser according to claim 4 wherein said de-aeration region is a reservoir (5) is arranged above said hot well (3) and separated from a drain region of said tube bundle (28) by a partition (7). A condenser according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein said de-aeration region is connected to a space containing said tube bundle (28) by an air flow passage (8,19) for maintaining said reservoir and said space at substantially equal pressures.

Inventors: HORIBE YOOSYUN, IWATA KAZUYA, OHKURA RYOICHI, SUMIYA YOSHIO, HORIBE, YOOSYUN, IWATA, KAZUYA, OHKURA, RYOICHI, SUMIYA, YOSHIO
Applicants: HITACHI LTD, HITACHI, LTD.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: F01K9
IPC codes: F28B9, F28B11, F01K9