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Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant

Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2016.

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Other Authors: Sharifpur, Mohsen
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
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author2 Sharifpur, Mohsen
author_browse Sharifpur, Mohsen
author_facet Sharifpur, Mohsen
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dc_rights_str_mv © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/61293 Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant Sharifpur, Mohsen u24001962@tuks.co.za Meyer, Josua P. Grove, Elmi UCTD Fossil fuel power plant Low-grade waste heat recovery Boiling condenser Thermal efficiency increase Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13 SDG-13: Climate action Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2016. The South African electricity mix is highly dependent on subcritical coal-fired power stations. The average thermal efficiency of these power plants is low. Traditional methods to increase the thermal efficiency of the cycle have been widely studied and implemented. However, utilising the waste heat at the condenser, which accounts for the biggest heat loss in the cycle, presents a large potential to increase the thermal efficiency of the cycle. Several methods can be implemented for the recovery and utilisation of low-grade waste heat. This theoretical study focuses on replacing the traditional condenser in a fossil fuel power station with a boiling condenser (BC), which operates in a similar manner to the core of a boiling water reactor at a nuclear power plant (Sharifpur, 2007). The system was theoretically tested at the Komati Power Station, South Africa's oldest power station. The power station presented an average low-grade waste heat source. The BC cycle was theoretically tested with several working fluids and numerous different configurations. Several of the theoretical configurations indicated increased thermal efficiency of the cycle. The BC cycle configurations were also tested in two theoretical scenarios. Thirty configurations and 103 working fluids were tested in these configurations. The configuration that indicated the highest increase in thermal efficiency was the BC cycle with regeneration (three regenerative heat exchangers) from the BC turbine. A 2.4% increase in thermal efficiency was obtained for the mentioned theoretical implementation of this configuration. The working fluid tested in this configuration was ethanol. This configuration also indicated a 7.6 MW generating capacity. The increased thermal efficiency of the power station presents benefits not only in increasing the available capacity on South Africa's strained grid, but also environmental benefits. The mentioned reduction of 7.6 MW in heat released into the atmosphere also indicated a direct environmental benefit. The increase in thermal efficiency could also reduce CO2 emissions released annually in tons per MW by 5.74%. The high-level economic analysis conducted, based on the theoretically implemented BC cycle with the highest increase in thermal efficiency, resulted in a possible saving of R46 million per annum. This translated to a saving of R19.2 million per annum for each percentage increase in thermal efficiency brought about by the BC cycle. The theoretical implementation of the BC, with regeneration (three regenerative heat exchangers) from the BC turbine and ethanol as a working fluid, not only indicated an increase in thermal efficiency, but also significant economic and environmental benefits. mi2025 Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering MEng Unrestricted SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG-13: Climate action 2017-07-13T13:28:46Z 2017-07-13T13:28:46Z 2017-04-26 2016 Dissertation Grove, E 2016, Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/61293> A2017 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/61293 en © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Fossil fuel power plant
Low-grade waste heat recovery
Boiling condenser
Thermal efficiency increase
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title_full Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title_fullStr Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title_short Feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a South African fossil fuel power plant
title_sort feasibility study on the implementation of a boiling condenser in a south african fossil fuel power plant
topic UCTD
Fossil fuel power plant
Low-grade waste heat recovery
Boiling condenser
Thermal efficiency increase
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/61293