Novel high temperature steam transfer pipes

Completed

Nuclear Fission and Fusion(Nuclear Fission, Nuclear supporting technologies)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electric power conversion)
Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Coal, Coal combustion)
Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Oil and gas combustion)

Basic and strategic applied research

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics)
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Dr MJ Pavier
Mechanical Engineering
University of Bristol

Standard

EPSRC

01 October 2017

30 April 2019

19 months

£199,855

Energy

South West

Energy : Energy

Dr MJ Pavier, Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol

Professor A Becker, Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham
Professor P Flewitt, Interface Analysis Centre, University of Bristol
Professor JR Nicholls, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University
Dr NJ Simms, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University
Dr W Sun, Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham
Dr MJ Tierney, Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol

Project Contact, FESI: The UK Forum for Engineering Structural Integrity (ESI)
Project Contact, EDF Energy

This feasibility study concerns improving the efficiency of steam cycles used in nuclear and fossil fuel energy generation. Currently steam is transported using steel pipes which limit the temperature of the steam to no more than 640 degress C. To improve efficiency, power plants are proposed that will operate with steam temperatures possibly up to 760 degrees C. Using conventional steam cycle design, such temperatures will require the use of nickel-based alloys. These alloys are more costly than steels and are in scarce supply, considering the quantity required for new power plants worldwide.An alternative plant design is proposed in this feasibility study that will allow steam pipes made of steel to be operated at much higher temperatures than at present. The proposed design is of a pipe with a ceramic thermal insulation coating (TIC) on its internal surface and cooling on its outer surface provided by exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine.Three institutions will collaborate in this study: the University of Bristol, Cranfield University and the University of Nottingham. Each institution will investigate a central technical challenge that must be overcome before the alternative plant design can be considered viable.Bristol will develop thermodynamic models of the proposed steam cycle. The model will calculate the rate of transfer of heat from the superheated steam through the TIC into the steel pipe, and then the rate of heat transfer to the reheat steam returning to the boiler being used to cool the steam pipe. The model will predict the maximum temperatures within the steam pipe and the efficiency of the plant, compared to that of a conventional design.Cranfield will carry out corrosion testing of candidate TIC materials in steam at ultra-supercritical temperatures. The results of this corrosion testing will be used to provide estimates of the lifetime of the TIC in a power generation environment.Nottingham will investigate the structural integrity of the coating and the steel pipe. Stresses will be generated in the TIC and steel during start-ups, shut downs and steady state operation. These stresses will be very different in character from those in conventional steam transport. Nottingham will use existing computational models of the properties of TIC and steel to predict their lifetime under realistic operation conditions.The outcome of this feasibility study will be an assessment of the opportunity for the development of an alternative to the use of nickel-based alloys for pipework in advanced power plant.

01/02/19