Page 38 - ITAtube Journal 2/2019

Technical Papers
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
When the pressure is on
High-pressure valves work on top form under high pressure. When the pressure is on, their resilience and exibility is needed.
Pressures can shoot up very quickly in industries such as oil and gas, process engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. High-pres- sure valves can alleviate this. They also contribute to the success of the energy transition; when wind power and solar energy drop off, an alternative source of power, such as a combined-cycle power plant, is needed to supplement the power supply. To ll energy gaps, thepowerplantsneedrobustand powerful high-pressure valves.
Flexibility is a high priority for combined-cycle power plants. “Due to their ef ciency and their ability to react quickly to
load changes, they are particu- larly suited to energy generation applications characterised by an increasing proportion of renewable energies,” explains Axel Mücher, owner and managing partner of Schroeder Valves. In this context, as weather-independent genera- tors, they have to compensate for load uctuations in the electricity grid caused by changing wind and weather conditions.
High demand for minimal
ow valves
“The boiler feed pump is one of the core components of these combined-cycle plants,” explains Axel Mücher. It provides the water for the power plant’s steam circuit, bringing it to a pressure of approximately 200 to 250 bar before evaporation. Since it often has to operate in the partial load regime due to the pronounced
changes in load due to the system operation conditions, “the minimal ow valve is also working in very demanding conditions. In this partial load operation, it must constantly discharge the pumped media via the bypass, in order to keep the pump in a stable operat- ing range, at the same time reduc- ing the pump pressure of 200 to 250 bar back to values close to the ambient pressure,” says Mücher. Schroeder Valves develops valves especially designed for long-term operation in these wear-intensive conditions.
There is much to be said for the use of combined-cycle power plants, just on economic grounds. Due to the relatively low price of natural gas, combined-cycle power plants are an attractive option to meet increasing energy demands in emerging industrial economies.
ITAtube Journal No2/May 2019
38