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APPROVED N. Theivarajan •......
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SUMMARY
Power plants employ three major centrifugal pumps in the power cycle - boiler feed pump, condensate
extraction pumps and condenser cooling water pump. The design and selection of the type of these
pumps depends on the requirements of capacity and head to be developed for the specific applications.
The present note covers a brief description of the basic design features of centrifugal pumps in general
and major power cycle pumps, in particular, along with their application considerations and selection.
STUDY ON POWER PLANT PUMPS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN FBRs
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The power plant application use different types of pumps from reciprocating to
centrifugal. Centrifugal pumps are the most common types of pumps dealing with transfer of
large volumes of low viscous, clean liquids. The power cycle operates nearly at constant
pressure and temperature while flow is adjusted commensurate with the target power levels.
Power plant applications are suitable for centrifugal pumps where flow is controlled by
selecting no. of pumps in operation, throttling or by using variable speed drives. Positive
displacement pumps can handle high viscosity fluid at relatively low flows. These pumps are
ideally suited for chemical dosing application allowing accurate metering. The major pumps
used in the main steam water cycle, namely Boiler feed pump, Condensate extraction pump
and Condenser cooling water pump are centrifugal pumps, which are subject of this study.
Working principle and theory are same for all the centrifugal pumps but power plant
application are different in some aspects. The difference lies in type, capacity, power
consumption and size. Thus a study of the design and construction aspect of different types of
pumps used in power plant becomes important to enable proper selection of pumps suitable
for the applications.
PFBR/40000/DN/1004/R-A Page 1 of 32
the blade of the rotating impeller experiences the highest pressure for a given radius. It is
called pressure surface or pressure side. The opposite blade surface with the lower pressure
accordingly is the suction surface or suction side.
Fig. 1: Section and plan view of a radial impeller, LE: Leading edge, TE: Trailing edge
a) Low Speed Motor with Variable Speed Fluid Coupling and Speed Increase Gears
Variable Speed Fixed Low
Planetary Gear speed Motor
Fluid Drive motor
Coupling
b) Low Speed Motor with Variable Speed Planetary Gear Fluid Drive Coupling
Step-up
gears Low Speed
VSD motor
Low RPM Booster
pump
High RPM Main
pump
Fig. 13: Single-stage horizontal condensate pump with axially split casing
Multistage pumps are used for higher heads. A two-stage pump is shown in Fig. 14,
with the impellers facing in opposite directions for axial balance. By turning the impeller
suctions toward the center, both boxes are kept under positive pressure to prevent leakage of
air into the pump. For higher heads and larger capacities, a three-stage pump, as in Fig 15,
may be used. The first-stage impeller is of the double-suction type and is located centrally in
the pump. The remaining impellers are of the single-suction type and are also arranged so
both stuffing boxes are under pressure. Two liberal vents connecting with the suction volute
on each side of the first-stage double-suction impeller permit the escape of vapour. Current
plant construction utilizes vertical can-type condensate pumps as in Fig. 16. The chief
advantage of these pumps is that ample submergence can be provided without the necessity
of building a dry pit. The first stage of this pump is located at the bottom of the pumping
element, and the available NPSH is the distance between the water level in the hot well and
the centerline of the first-stage impeller. Condensate pumps are located very close to the
Fig. 14: Two-stage horizontal condensate pump with axially split casing
Fig. 15: Three-stage horizontal condensate pump with axially split casing
Fig. 17: Vertical wet pit, horizontal dry pit, and vertical dry pit pumps
For once-through circulating water systems (systems without cooling towers) , vertical wet
pit pumps are most commonly used, followed by horizontal dry pit pumps and vertical dry pit
pumps, in that order.
Contact with Full metallic casing is in contact Only metallic part in contact
water with water with water is impeller
6. CONCLUSION
The design and construction of major power plants centrifugal pumps, namely boiler
feed pump, condensate extraction pumps and condenser cooling water pump differs in type,
capacity, power consumption and size in accordance with their specific application
requirements. Boiler feed pumps are high head, high capacity pumps. The main BFPs are
horizontal, multistage barrel type variable speed pumps running at high rpm and are preceded
by a low speed single stage booster pumps to meet their NPSHr. The feed water system for
FBR 1&2 is proposed to have 2X50% capacity turbo driven boiler feed pumps for better
reliability and efficiency. The system would also include 2X25% motor-driven variable speed
boiler feed pumps with hydraulic couplings, used for plant start-up and stand-by duty,
supplementing the reliability and availability of the system for operation at reduced plant
loads or even at design load.
Condensate extraction pumps operate with a very low pressure at their suction. The
available NPSH is obtained by the submergence between the water level in the condenser hot
well and the centreline of the condensate pump first-stage impeller. As NPSH is extremely
low, vertical-can type pumps, operating at relatively low speeds, are used which can be
installed below ground providing higher values of submergence. 3X50% pump configuration
with constant speed induction motor drives are proposed for FBR 1&2, similar to PFBR.
Condenser cooling water pumps are very high capacity and low head pumps, making
them large sized pumps, running at low rpm. For FBR 1&2 concrete volute pumps in 2X50%
configuration are envisaged, as in PFBR, in view of their high reliability (typical reliability =
99.95%) and no standby pump is required. All the above pumps with their stated
configurations are envisaged independent for the individual units of FBR1&2. For twin unit
FBR 1&2 the seawater intake and outfall structures and the seawater pump house will be
REFERENCES
[1] Gülich Johann Friedrich, ―Centrifugal Pumps‖, second edition, 2010, Springer.
[2] Lobanoff Val S. and R. Robert Ross ―Centrifugal Pumps Design & Application‖,
Second edition, 1992, Gulf publishing company, Houston, TX.
[3] Karassik I. .J, et al., ―Pump Handbook‖ third edition, 2008 McGRAW-HILL‖.
[4] Boiler Feed Pump Drive Selection and Configuration, CBR/43200/DN/1000/R-A,
2016.
[5] Power Plant Engineering, Black and Veatch, Springer, 1996.