Mathematical modeling and thermal-hydraulic analysis of vertical water wall in an ultra supercritical boiler

Water wall design is a key issue for an ultra supercritical boiler. In order to increase the steam–water mixture turbulization and to prevent the burnout of tubes walls, vertical rifled tubes are applied in Yuhuan power plant boiler which is the first 1000 MW ultra supercritical boiler in China and began to operate in December 2006. Mathematical modeling and thermal-hydraulic analysis are key factors for the successful design and operation of water walls. The water wall system is treated in this paper as a network consisting of circuits, pressure grids and connecting tubes. The mathematical model for predicting the mass flux distribution and metal temperature in water wall is based on the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations. An experiment on the heat transfer characteristics of vertical rifled tube was conducted with the aim to obtain the heat transfer performance and corresponding empirical correlations. The fitting computational formulas are applied in the mathematical model. The presented modeling method is more accurate than the conventional graphic method and can be applied to complex circuit structures. The mass flux distribution and the metal temperature in the water wall are calculated at 35%, 50% and 100% of the boiler maximum continuous rating (BMCR). The results show a good agreement with the plant data. The maximum relative difference between the calculated mass flux and the plant data is 9.7% at 50% BMCR load. The metal temperature difference in the tip of fins in lower circuit 8 is about 3–7 °C at 35% BMCR load. The results show that the vertical water wall in the ultra supercritical boiler of Yuhuan power plant can operate safely.