Patent Publication Number: US-2004055225-A1

Title: Modular system for constructing an industrial installation

Description:
[0001] The invention relates to a modular system for constructing an industrial installation to be designed with regard to a predefinable design parameter.  
       [0002] Industrial installations such as production installations or industrial power stations are normally designed with regard to a predefinable design parameter. In this case, this may be a production capacity which can be predefined as a design parameter, a production throughput or, in the case of an industrial power plant, a design output or rated output. Depending on the design parameter predefined in this way, functional components are normally dimensioned and are subsequently combined in a suitable way to construct the overall installation. In this case, for example in the case of an industrial power plant, the dimensioning of a turbine and a generator connected downstream of it is carried out in such a way that the combination of these components with regard to the electric output that can be generated reaches or exceeds the design or rated output predefined as design parameter. Further components required for the operation of the industrial power plant are then additionally combined suitably in a further step, in principle compatibility between the individual components having to be ensured as a boundary condition.  
       [0003] In the construction of such industrial installations, in particular of industrial power plants, each project is usually redesigned by specialized staff by using the design parameter. However, even at the tendering stage, this necessitates comparatively high expenditure. The development of project-specific solutions is in this case complicated in particular because different development teams, specialized in respectively different key components of the industrial installation, in each case have to draw up a new design for the respective component.  
       [0004] In order to reduce this expenditure, attempts have hitherto been made, within the context of “Delta engineering”, to use the findings of earlier, similar projects and on this basis, by incorporating the specific deviations of a new project to be undertaken from the stipulations of projects previously carried out, to manage with only a minimum amount of new development expenditure.  
       [0005] In order to keep the expenditure on planning and development still lower for an industrial installation of this type, it is also possible to subdivide the industrial installation to be designed overall with regard to the design parameter into a number of functional groups, which add up overall to form the complete industrial installation. In this case, each functional group can be designed with regard to a specific part function in the process covered in total by the industrial installation. The functional units needed for this part function can in this case be combined in accordance with their function to form a modular component. By means of such a modularized concept, the total installation can therefore be constructed in the manner of a building block system with a particularly short installation time at the location of use.  
       [0006] Although a modularized construction of this type makes the planning and development work easier for a new project, the expenditure on planning and development for an industrial installation to be newly constructed is nevertheless still comparatively high.  
       [0007] The invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a modular system of the abovementioned type, comprising a large number of functional units which have dimensions that have been proportioned in accordance with the design parameter, with which the expenditure on design and planning for an industrial installation to be newly constructed is kept particularly low.  
       [0008] According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the functional units are combined according to their function into a number of modular components, each modular component having standard dimensions that are independent of the design parameter.  
       [0009] The invention is based on the consideration that, for a particularly low expenditure on planning and design of an industrial installation to be newly constructed, what is known as a building block or modular principle is to be maintained to a particularly substantial extent. It should therefore be ensured that, for the construction of the industrial installation, modules are provided in such a way that they can be combined with one another particularly simply, even given a large number of various uses. In this case, the functional units are combined according to their function into modular components, which can also differ from one another with regard to their dimensions or design. In the case of such a modular system, however, it is precisely the expenditure for “Delta engineering” that can be kept particularly low, by the requirements of the “Delta engineering”, that is to say the transfer of the findings for a design parameter to the design according to a design parameter differing therefrom, being restricted exclusively to the components necessarily to be adapted to this design parameter. Accordingly, adaptation within the context of “Delta engineering” is provided only for the functional units as such, while the modular components per se are excluded from such adaptations.  
       [0010] In an advantageous refinement, the modular components are in this case standardized according to their function with regard to their external dimensions. In other words: each modular component has external dimensions which, although adapted to the corresponding part function within the overall process of the industrial installation, are on the other hand kept independent of the specifically predefined design parameter. This achieves the situation where, with regard to a grouping together or  
       [0011] a combined construction at the location of use, the modular components in each case have external dimensions predefined in the manner of standard building blocks, so that the construction and positioning of the modular components relative to one another can be carried out independently of the design parameter in a uniform and standardized way.  
       [0012] In order to keep the expenditure on design particularly low for each modular component, in a further advantageous refinement, the functional units in each case combined into a modular component are positioned within the modular component independently of the design parameter. “Delta engineering” is thus restricted exclusively to a suitable selection or predefinition of the individual functional units as such. Furthermore, however, the functional units have predefined positions within the modular component respectively assigned to them, so that no additional design expenditure is required to determine a particularly beneficial position of the respective functional unit within the modular component.  
       [0013] The functional units in each case combined into a modular component are normally connected together within the modular component by a number of connecting elements, in order thus in their entirety to be able to fulfill the envisaged part function reliably. In order to keep the required design expenditure particularly low even when connecting the functional units together, in this case, in a particularly advantageous refinement, the connecting elements within the modular component are led physically independently of the design parameter. In order in this case to permit adaptation to the predetermined design parameter, the connecting elements are themselves expediently dimensioned independently of the design parameter. In this case, provision can in particular be made, in the case of pipelines as connecting elements, for their physical arrangement within the respective modular component to be fixed independently of the design parameter, on the other hand  
       [0014] the pipeline cross section being varied as a function of the design parameter.  
       [0015] In a particularly advantageous refinement, the modular system is designed for a configuration of the industrial installation as required with particularly high safety standards. For this purpose, the modular components are advantageously designed in such a way that, as an option, redundant fitting of selected functional units is made possible without other structural change to the modular components. In particular, a number of the functional units within the modular component respectively provided for them are expediently designed redundantly.  
       [0016] The modular system is particularly suitable for the construction of an industrial power plant, a design output or a rated output advantageously being used as the basis for the design parameter.  
       [0017] The advantages achieved by the invention consist in particular in the fact that, by means of logical division into actual functional units, dimensioned as a function of the design parameter, and modular components dimensioned in a standardized way, independently of the design parameter, overall the expenditure on design and development for the construction of the industrial installation is kept particularly low. By maintaining standardized dimensions for the modular components as such, independently of the design parameter, the required “Delta engineering”, given the presence of findings from similar industrial installations, is restricted to the functional units as such. Thus, by using an only limited number of standardized components, a basic design for an industrial installation, in particular a power plant, can be worked out, with which, in principle, a large range of conceivable design parameters is already covered. The practical implementation for the design of the industrial installation with a design parameter selected from this range then requires only the appropriate,  
       [0018] adapted design of the individual functional units, without a revision of the actual basic design for the overall installation being necessary as a result. 
     
    
    
     An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail using a drawing, in which:  
     [0019]FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a modularly constructed industrial installation,  
     [0020]FIG. 2 shows a modular component in side view, and  
     [0021]FIG. 3 shows the modular component according to FIG. 2 in plan view. 
    
    
     [0022] Identical parts are provided with the same reference symbols in all the figures.  
     [0023] The industrial installation  1  provided according to FIG. 1 is an industrial power plant. The industrial power plant is conceived in order to comply with a design parameter, the design parameter predefined in the exemplary embodiment being a design output or a rated output of 5 MW. The industrial installation  1  is in this case modularly constructed, the process covered overall by the industrial installation  1 , namely the conversion of energy stored in a fuel into electricity, being subdivided into a number of part functions.  
     [0024] For the actual generation of the electricity, the industrial installation  1  constructed as an industrial power plant comprises a first modular component  2 . The first modular component  2  comprises, as the functional units, a turbo set  4  with a steam turbine and a generator  8  coupled thereto via a gearbox. These functional units are connected together within the scope of the modular component  2  to form a functional part system, which can be transported together as a whole. The turbo set  4  in the exemplary embodiment is erected on a concrete foundation comprising baseplate, columns and a table plate. Alternatively, however, it can also be in the form of a block design, standing  
     [0025] on a ground-level foundation block of concrete and steel. The type of erection provided in the exemplary embodiment on the table plate carried by columns certainly usually gives rise to higher costs for turbo sets than erection on a ground-level foundation block, but on the other hand affords great advantages in leading pipelines, the accommodation of a condenser under the turbine and during maintenance.  
     [0026] In order to feed the turbo set  4  with operating medium, the industrial installation  1  has a steam generator block as further modular component  10 . In this case, a steam generator  12  is arranged in the modular component  10  and, on the operating-medium side, is connected to the turbo set  4  via a water-steam circuit. Here, evaporation of feed water fed in takes place in the steam generator  12 , said feed water, following its subsequent superheating in the steam generator  12 , being led to the turbo set  4 . On the flue gas side, the steam generator  12  is connected to a chimney  14  arranged outside the modular component  10 .  
     [0027] In order to supply fuel to the steam generator  12 , the industrial installation  1  comprises a further modular component  20 . In the exemplary embodiment, the fuel supply is a heating oil supply. For this purpose, a number of daily tanks  22  matched to the output of the steam generator  12  are accommodated in the modular component  20 .  
     [0028] In order to complete the water-steam circuit, a modular component  30  is also provided, in which components of a feed water system are combined. The modular component  30  thus comprises, in addition to a feed water container  32 , a high-pressure preheater, feed water degassing, a number of feed pumps, a low-pressure preheater, a number of metering systems for injecting the feed water and a sampling device, as further functional units. The feed water provided by the feed water supply is in this case used to feed the steam generator  12  with operating medium. On the input side, the feed  
     [0029] water supply is in this case connected to a condenser which is assigned to the turbo set  4  and accommodated in the first modular component  2 , so that a closed water-steam circuit is produced. In addition, functional units to be added to the fuel supply, such as a heating oil preheating station  34  and a heating oil pumping station  36 , are also arranged in the modular component  30 .  
     [0030] For the purpose of water treatment, the industrial installation  1  further comprises a modular component  40 , in which a large number of functional units, not specifically designated in detail, is arranged. In this case, amongst others, pressure elevating pumps and multilayer filters for unprocessed water, a concrete water basin as a pure water basin, a filter backwashing pump, a cationic exchanger, a CO trickler, further pressure elevating pumps, an anionic exchanger, a mixed-bed filter, a regenerating station, a neutralizing basin with circulating pump, and a storage container for NaOH and for HCl are arranged in the modular component  40 . The storage containers are in this case designed for a 14-day demand and fabricated from plastic reinforced with glass fiber. Associated pipelines, holders and valves are likewise produced from plastics. In addition, in each case a particular room for a water laboratory  42  and for a control system  44  for the water treatment is provided in the modular component  40 .  
     [0031] For the purpose of reverse cooling of the condenser arranged underneath the turbo set  4 , a further modular component  50  is provided. In the latter, a number of cooling towers with extractor fans are combined in a series arrangement. In the exemplary embodiment, the cooling towers are in this case erected in two cells  52 . Each of the cells  52  in each case has a load-bearing steel frame, to which only plastic parts for external cladding, as air inlet grill, as inbuilt trickle fittings, for water distribution and as a droplet trap are fixed. A fan deck and a diffuser are in this case likewise fabricated from plastic. The cells  52  are erected over a concrete basin, which serves at the same time as a fire-extinguishing basin and for this reason is overdimensioned. Furthermore, the modular component  50  is assigned a pump house  54 , in which two cooling water pumps  56  are accommodated. These feed the condenser arranged underneath the turbo set  4  with cooling water, which is led in reverse flow over the cooling towers arranged in the cells  52 .  
     [0032] The electricity generated in the generator  8  is supplied to a further modular component  60 , in which part of the electricity feeds a service transformer constructed as a dry transformer. The predominant proportion of the electricity generated by the generator  8  is, by contrast, supplied to a machine transformer, not illustrated but likewise arranged in the modular component  60 , and from there is output into a consumer network, likewise not illustrated.  
     [0033] The modular system thus comprises modular components  2 ,  10 ,  20 ,  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  in which a number of functional units is combined in each case according to function. The functional units, such as to a particular degree the turbo set  4  and the generator  8 , are in this case matched with regard to their dimensioning to the rated output, which is 5 MW in the exemplary embodiment, predefined as the design parameter. As opposed to this, however, the modular components  2 ,  10 ,  20 ,  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  are dimensioned in a standardized manner certainly in accordance with their function, but in a manner independent of the rated output predefined as design parameter. In particular, the modular components  2 ,  10 ,  20 ,  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  are kept independent, in terms of their external dimensions, of the rated output predefined as design parameter. Thus, a uniform, standardized erection of the modular components  2 ,  10 ,  20 ,  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  according to the arrangement shown in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1 is also possible for an industrial installation  1  having a different design output, it being possible in particular even to maintain a particularly space-saving “wall-to-wall” erection of some modular components  2 ,  10 ,  20 ,  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  even with a varying design parameter.  
     [0034] For further clarification, the modular component  30  is shown in side view in FIG. 2 and enlarged in plan view in FIG. 3. In this case, the modular component  30  comprises, in addition to the components for the fuel supply not specifically illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, the feed water container  32  which is connected, via a first suction line  70 , to a feed water pump  72  and, via a second suction line  74 , to a redundant feed water pump  76  provided for safety reasons. The feed water pumps  72 ,  76  are connected on the output side to a pressure line  78 .  
     [0035] The modular component  30  has an external frame  80  formed from a number of load-bearing elements. The external frame  80 , as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3 by the double arrows, is standardized in terms of its height  82 , in terms of its length  84  and in terms of its width  86 , and therefore in terms of all its external dimensions, and is implemented independently of the design output. In other words: even during the design of an industrial installation having a design output deviating from the industrial installation  1 , the use of a modular component  30  with unchanged external dimensions, that is unchanged height  82 , unchanged length  84  and unchanged width  86 , is provided for the feed water area. Likewise, the positioning of the feed water container  32  within the modular component  30  is provided independently of the design output. In this case, the positioning of the feed water container  32  is substantially given by the height  88 , indicated by the double arrow, of a carrier plate  90  for the feed water container  32 . The arrangement of this carrier plate  90  remains unchanged during the change from one design output to another design output.  
     [0036] Furthermore, the physical arrangement of the suction lines  70 ,  74  provided as connecting elements and also of the pressure line  78  is also maintained within the modular component  30 , independently of the design parameter.  
     [0037] As opposed to this, both the dimensions of the feed water container  32  provided as a functional unit and of the feed water pumps  72 ,  76  provided as further functional units, and also the dimensions of the suction lines  70 ,  74  provided as connecting elements and of the pressure line  78 , are selected according to the design or rated output provided as the design parameter. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 2 and 3, this is indicated by the multiple lining: as the multiple lining specifically symbolizes, for the case of a comparatively small feed water requirement, a feed water container  32  of comparatively small dimensions is provided, whereas for the case of a comparatively large feed water requirement, a feed water container  32  that is comparatively larger has to be erected.