Patent ID: 6915635

Claim:
A method for operating a steam power plant having a steam turbine, a steam-carrying component and a steam valve to deliver steam to the steam turbine, comprising: during the operation of the steam power plant, determining an internal pressure, an internal temperature and an external temperature of the steam-carrying component; determining a spatial distribution of the internal temperature and the external temperature; from the internal pressure, the internal temperature and the external temperature, determining a reference stress, which describes a current mechanical stress being applied to the steam-carrying component; comparing the reference stress with a material limit stress which describes an upper limit for the mechanical load-bearing capacity of the steam-carrying component; and if the reference stress is greater than the material limit stress: determining a limit steam pressure, which describes a maximum permissible steam pressure, by which the steam-carrying component can be acted upon without the risk of damage in the current operating state, and setting the steam valve so that the steam carried by the steam-carrying component is at a pressure which corresponds approximately to the limit steam pressure.