An Optimal Regulation Model for Steam Piping System of Large-scale Steel Enterprise 601

1 INTRODUCTION
The metallurgical industry has consumed the major energy
consumption in China, according to statistics, the energy of
Chinas metallurgical industry accounted for about 15% of the
total energy consumption in the national economy as a whole,
and it accounted for 25% of energy consumption of the
industrial sector
[1,2]
. Steam is essential energy to the
production and life in metallurgical industry, steam
consumption in large and medium-sized metallurgical
companies accounted for about 10% of total energy
consumption
[3-5]
. Therefore, optimizing the steam system and
reducing the consumption of steam energy become one of the
effective ways of the whole energy-conservation and
enhancing the competitiveness for metallurgical company.
2 ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS AND IDEAS OF
OPTIMIZATION
Steam system is an important assistant and supporting
system in metallurgical company. Large metallurgical
companies purchase coal as based energy, majority of energy
mediums in enterprises energy systems are conversed from the
internal processing, such as gas, electricity, steam etc. Steam
system is the key in the process of energy conservation in
enterprise, because it not only makes gas, steam, electric
energy mediums conversion possible, but also can utilize the
waste heat and energy to supply heat and generate electricity.
Although the steam system can meet users demand of
steam and have a certain power generation effect, the large
metallurgical industries do not have a scientific operation in
centralized regulation and coordinating process and it still rely
on the production experience accumulated over the many
years. Therefore, the load distribution proportion of heat and
power units in steam system has great arbitrariness, which
leads to inefficient operation. At present, the thermal
efficiency of the steam piping system in metallurgical industry
in China is very low, that is 40%, which is just equal to the
half of international one. Furthermore, as the variation
regularity of steam users steam load is not clear in daily
practical regulation, instruments measured merely on the basis
of load-line scheduling. Once steam oversupply and online
adjustment is not in time, it will cause a lot of steam discharge.
This is an important problem urgently being solved.
[1]
To solve the above mentioned problems, its necessary to
comprehend the structure and function of the steam system,
change the traditional regulation management and optimize
scheduling. In steel enterprise, steam system is composed of
three subsystems: power system, conveying system and user
system, which are showed in Fig. 1-1. Power system refers to
steam sources and conversion units, including waste heat
recovery units, steam power units, temperature and pressure
converters, thermal power generators and other units.
Conveying system refers to the steam transmission network;
User system is made up of the production users and live users.
Steam system will ensure electric power load, except
production steam load and daily steam load, when there exists
an electricity gap. Against the disadvantage in the traditional
regulation management, new management should be adopted:
(1) Predict the demand of electric and steam; (2) Calculate
conveying efficiency considering the steam loss; (3) Establish
the optimization principles, regulate steam reasonably.
3 ANALYSIS ON THE POWER SYSTEM
The study on power system is a branch of fundamental
research. The analysis on the operation regulation of different
power units and the thermal supply efficiency of varied units
is made by the some theories of thermodynamics and
thermodynamics system. The relation between extraction
steam flux and electricity power capacity has been set up to be
An Optimal Regulation Model for Steam Piping System of
Large-scale Steel Enterprise
Yanyun Qian* Xibing Wang* Hongling Yu** Guojun Li**
*College of ManagementUniversity of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai,200093,China
(E-mail: qyy48@yahoo.com.cn)
**College of Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai,200093,China
(E-mail: yuzhenyk@163.com)
Abstract: This paper presented the situations of steam piping system in our local steel enterprises firstly. The main problems are as
follows: (1) serious loss of steam; (2) low efficiency in utilization of steam; (3) passive regulation of steam. Secondly, according to
those pervading problems, and on the basis of analyzing systematic structure, an optimal regulation LP model of steam system is
proposed by means of Liner Programming method. The model is suitable for multiple suppliers, differentiated demanders, as well
as steam regulation limited by power generation. Finally, one steel enterprise is taken as an example, and an empirical study on the
result of optimal model is carried out from the prospective of technology and economy. The model is proved efficient
Keywords: Iron and steel enterprise, Energy conservation, Steam, Optimal regulation
International Conference on Power Engineering-2007, October 23-27, 2007, Hangzhou, China 602
a sound basis for selecting the optimization in the low pressure
steam system operation regulation.
The system efficiency is defined as the ratio of the import
heat quantity and the output one in the steam piping system.
1 2
1
1 2
out out out out
100%
in in in in
Q Q Q Q
Q Q Q
q
_ _ _ + + _
= =
_ _ _ _ + +
3
3
Q
(1)
In the Eq. (1)
1 out
Q
, , the export heat quantities of steam,
electric power and condensation water, kJ;
2 out
Q
3 out
Q
1 in
Q
, , the import heat quantities of steam, fuel
and pure water, kJ;
2 in
Q
3 in
Q
Power system is usually composed of four kinds of steam
sources, such as the west-heat sources, the extraction sources,
the backpressure sources and burned gas ones. Because the
quantity of west-heat supply is affected by the main
production line, it can not be adjusted and controlled by
manual. And the function of burned gas sources is online load
fluctuation control, which is related to boiler efficiency and
the ratio of fuels, but not related to the boiler load. Thus, the
extraction and back-pressure sources are focused on in this
power system.
Fig.1 The structure of the steam system
3.1 The extraction steam sources
The extraction steam sources mean extraction condensing
steam turbine generators. The main characteristic of this unit
is that excess steam can keep on expanding to generate
electricity by extraction from turbine when steam demand
reduced. The advantage is that it has strong adjustability,
thermoelectric load can be changed in very great extent; the
disadvantage is that heat loss is great, and thermoeconomic is
worse than backpressure type
[6]
.
On the extraction condition, expression of steam turbine
shaft power is shown as follow:
2 3 2 3 1 2 1 2
3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6
E
E
M h h M h h
E M
q q q A A A A
= =
| | | |
| |
\ . \ .
M
q
(2)
In Eq. (2)
E - steam turbine shaft power (kW);
M - steam turbine steam flow (t/h);
M
E
- steam turbine extraction flow (t/h);
1
h A - steam turbine high pressure cylinder ideal enthalpy
drop(kJ/kg) (%);
2
q - relative internal efficiency in high pressure cylinder (%);
2
h A - relative internal efficiency in low pressure cylinder
(%);
3
q steam turbine low pressure cylinder enthalpy drop
(kJ/kg).
From Eq. (2), we can see that when the M has a fixed value,
the turbine power output is linear with M
E
(3)
E
M b a E + =
1 1
'
In Eq. (3), a1 prefers to total generation of all the steam
from getting into the steam turbine to condense with the same
inlet and outlet parameters of steam turbine, b1 is a constant
which depends on the parameters of condensate pumping
equipment, and has nothing to do with steam flow and
extraction flow
3.2 Back pressure steam sources
Back pressure steam source refers to back press unit, which
has the maximum thermal efficiency because all the exhaust
steam is used to supply heat users and there is no cold source
loss. But it is unable to adjust to meet the needs of electric
users and heat user, for power generation depend on heating
load in back pressure turbine.
For Back-press single-stage turbine, steam flow (M) is
linear essentially with turbines power (E)
2 1
k E k M + =
2 2
E a b M = +
(5)
In Eq. (4), , b . Parameter K
1
, K
2
depend on the size of turbine and parameters of exhaust steam.
2 2 1
k / a k =
2 1
1 / k =
An Optimal Regulation Model for Steam Piping System of Large-scale Steel Enterprise 603
4 ESTABLISHMENT ON THE OPTIMAL
REGULATION MODEL FOR STEAM SYSTEM
AND CASE ANALYSIS
4.1 Establishment on the optimized regulation model
The goal of this model is to satisfy the low pressure steam
consumers demand and the proper attention to both electricity
system and middle-pressure steam system demand. This
model is established in the priority principle of the thermal
efficiency of steam-generating plants and the steam cost,
which decreases the steam cost and increases the efficiency of
steam system..
The goal of this model is to satisfy the low pressure steam
consumers demand and the proper attention to both electricity
system and middle-pressure steam system demand. This
model is established in the priority principle of the thermal
efficiency of steam-generating plants and the steam cost,
which decreases the steam cost and increases the efficiency of
steam system. Establishment principles of this model:
(1) The benefit principle: make the total variable cost (the
total energy consumption) lowest including all steam from
different steam sources and make sure the steam at a lower
cost be supplied firstly;
(2) The balance principle: ensure the balance of supply and
demand;
(3) The efficiency principle: increase the system efficiency
by 0.5%;
(4) The coordinate principle: coordinate the relationship
between the electricity system, the water system, and the coal
gas system, satisfy the demand of the middle-pressure steam
system.
Premise suppositions of this model:
(1) The low pressure steam piping system has the enough
ability for transportation;
(2) The fluctuation of steam load is too small;
(3) Ideal enthalpy drop and internal efficiency dont change
with the flux between high pressure and low pressure cylinder
in steam turbine.
According to above principles and the suppositions, the
optimal regulation model for low pressure steam system is
established as the goal of the lowest total variable cost
In this equation, x
i
is flux of the low pressure steam, the
decision variable; TC is total variable cost; C
i
is variable cost
of the low pressure steam; d
i
is the value of the low pressure
steam; e
i
is the planning power output; Q
i
is the demand of the
middle/low pressure steam; q
4
, q
5
are the transportation
efficiency of the middle/low pressure steam piping system;
M
1i
is the capacity of the middle pressure steam from the
steam sources; M
2i
is the inlet capacity of the turbine from the
extraction sources.
Objective function equation 5 causes the total variable cost
lowest in the following constraint conditions. In these
constraint conditions, equation 6 is the balance of the low
pressure steam supply and demand; Equation 7 is to supply the
waste heat steam firstly; equation 8 is the power restriction of
the extraction and backpressure sources; equation 9 is the
minimum steam load constraint; equation 10 is the demand for
the system thermal efficiency; equation 11 is to satisfied the
demand of middle pressure steam user.
min
1
n
i i
i
TC x c
=
= _
s.t.
5
1
1
i
n
i
x Q
=
_ =

i i
x d = 1, , i j =

i i i i
a b x e 1, , 1,..., i j l l m =

i i
x d 1, , i m n =
out
1
in
Q

Q
_ ^

1 2
4 2
1 1
m l n
i i i
i j i j i l
M M x Q
= = =
l
l
= _ _ _ l
l
l
l

(5)
(9)
(6)
(8)
(7)
(10)
(11)

4.2 Case analysis

One large-scale iron and steel enterprise has 8 steam
sources in its low pressure steam system, and the ability of the
low pressure steam sources is showed in Table 1 in details.
According to the data statistics in 2005: the annual average
low-pressure steam load in summer was 350 t/h. 1#, 2#CDQ
plants had ration power supply load: the 1#CDQ plant power
load is 14,415kWh/h; The 2#CDQ plant power load is 16,195
kWh/h; The system thermal efficiency is 63.37%.According
to the forecast demand, the steam load is 360t/h in summer in
2006; the 1# ,2#CDQ plants power load is 10,619 kWh/h.
Table1 The ability of the low pressure steam plants
No Steam Plants
Max.
value(t/h)
Type
1
Low-pressure boiler
(4 units)
70
burned gas
sources
Middle.P. 30
2 1#, 2#CDQ plant
Low.P. 109
extraction
sources
Middle.P. 40
3 3#CDQ plant
Low.P. 90
Middle.P. 70
4 135t/h unit
Low.P.135
backpressure
sources
5 No1steel-making OG 25
6 No2 steel-making LT 21
7 Sintering plant boiler 35
8 Steel pipe plant
boiler
10
Waste heat
sources
Set: the steam inlet value of 1#CDQ turbine is 106 t/h; the
steam inlet value of 2#CDQ turbine is 106 t/h; the maximum
steam inlet value of 3
#
CDQ turbine is 68 t/h; the lowest load
of low-pressure boiler is 50 t/h; The system efficiency
increment is 1%.
The optimized results of that model are obtained by using
the improved simplicity linear programming, and the
comparison results are shown in Table 2.
After the optimization on the steam system, the
energy-saving benefit was remarkable, such as the increasing
International Conference on Power Engineering-2007, October 23-27, 2007, Hangzhou, China 604
system efficiency and power, the decreasing steam energy
consumption. The thermal efficiency of the system rises from
original 63.37% to 64.15%, while the power has also reach 39
958 kW from original 38 039 kW. It can make a more profit
910,000 RMB in summer than before (0.22 RMB /( kWh), 90
days one summer). The variable cost (VC) is reduced from
84.89 RMB/t to 82.75 RMB/t.
Table 2 Low pressure steam regulation scheme t/h
Type Steam Plants Discharge Value Extraction Value
Steam
Converter Value
Total
No1 steel-making OG 29
No2 steel-making LT 21
Steel pipe plant boiler 13 Waste heat sources
Sintering plant
boiler
42
105
1#CDQ plant 40 1
Extraction sources
2#CDQ plant 40 1
82
3#CDQ plant 65 1
Backpressure sources
135th-1 plant 63 1
130
Burned gas sources
Low pressure
boiler
50 50
5 CONCLUSION
With the raise of awareness and efficient development of
energy saving work, the modern enterprise is paying more and
more attention to energy saving of steam system. In the paper,
the model is used to optimize its internal steam system in large
and medium-sized steel enterprises, which may serve as a
reference when making optimal scheduling. After optimization,
the amount of steam discharge is reduced, system efficiency is
improved, steam energy consumption is reduced, and enterprise
gets a good energy saving effect and economic benefits.
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391-395, 2006.
[2] X. Wang, Many things done on developing steam
system energy saving in metallurgical enterprises,
Energy for Metallurgical Industry, Vol. 19, No. 3,pp. 326,
2000.
[3] X. H. Zhang, J. J. Cai. etc. The Necessity and Measures
for Building Eco-industrialization Steel Enterprise,
China Metallurgy, Vol. 9, No. 7, 2005.
[4] D. S. Liu, Investigation & Application of Steam System
Optimization Technology, China Mechanical
Engineering, Vol. 13, No.9 pp.1634-1636, 2002.
[5] Statistical Yearbook of China, State Statistical Bureau,
Beijing, 2004.
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