Air Cooled Condenser

The use of air cooled condensers in power plant heat rejection design is increasing due to water use constraints in many parts of the world.   Since steam turbines with air cooled condensers already operate at higher exhaust back pressures than equivalent units with water cooled condensers, it is extremely important not to overlook the performance over time due to slowly degrading equipment components.

Higher exhaust back pressure leads to higher heat rate penalties and loss of capacity.  

Plant Performance Tests (i.e. ASME PTC-46 Tests) should be performed during warmer weather, since cool weather tests will not reflect the potential bottleneck that a deficient air cooled condenser would have on the heat rejection cycle.

If you suspect you are paying the year-round-cost for underperforming equipment, CleanAir can help.   Our engineers have evaluated the performance of many air cooled condensers and are active participants in the writing of the CTI and ASME test codes specific to the evaluation of air cooled condenser performance.

 

Related Services:

Gas Turbine Testing
Heat Rate and Capacity Assessment
APC Equipment Efficiency / Optimization