Air-cooled condenser system
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing air-cooled condenser designs require significant structural support and time for erection, and they face challenges with thermal expansion and contraction, which can lead to differential expansion-induced crack formation in fluid components.
Innovation Solution
The design features self-supporting inclined tube bundles with a hinged coupling at the top and slideable condensate headers, allowing for unrestrained thermal expansion and contraction, eliminating the need for a structural A-frame and minimizing differential thermal expansion issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a structural A-frame is used to support the tube bundles, then the structural stability is improved, but the erection time and labor effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the structural A-frame from the support system. Instead of using a separate A-frame structure, the tube bundles are directly supported by the condensate headers themselves, which are anchored to the foundation. This removal of the A-frame component directly reduces erection time and labor while maintaining structural stability through the alternative support mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The condensate headers are given a dual function: they serve both as fluid collection components and as structural support elements for the tube bundles. By making the condensate headers self-supporting and directly anchoring them to the foundation, the system eliminates the need for dedicated structural support frames, thereby reducing complexity and erection time while maintaining strength.
2Strength
If the tube bundles are rigidly fixed to prevent movement, then the structural integrity is improved, but thermal expansion-induced crack formation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces dynamic capability to the support system by allowing the condensate headers to move vertically along inclined guide planes. This dynamic feature enables the headers to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction of the tube bundles during operation, preventing rigid constraints that would lead to crack formation while maintaining structural integrity through the guided movement mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the support condition from rigid fixed to guided movable, allowing positional parameters of the condensate headers to change in response to thermal expansion. The inclined guide planes enable controlled vertical movement, transforming the system from statically rigid to dynamically adaptable, thereby preventing crack formation while maintaining overall structural integrity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the condensate headers are fixed in position, then the structural stability is improved, but thermal expansion accommodation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transforms the static fixed position of condensate headers into a dynamic system where headers can move vertically along inclined guide planes. This dynamic capability allows the headers to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction while maintaining structural stability through the constrained guided movement, achieving both stability and adaptability simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces movement in the vertical dimension through inclined guide planes, allowing condensate headers to accommodate thermal expansion by moving up and down rather than being constrained in all directions. This dimensional freedom enables thermal adaptation while the inclined plane constraint maintains horizontal stability, resolving the contradiction between fixed position and expansion accommodation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration reduces on-site structural work, enhances thermal expansion management, and ensures the structural integrity of the air-cooled condenser, preventing crack formation and supporting wind and seismic loads.
Implementation Method 1
a blower blasts ambient air past an array of inclined finned tubes
Implementation Method 2
The heat transfer function of the ACC means that the tube bundles and piping headers of the structure undergoes significant thermal expansion and contraction
Implementation Method 3
The heat transfer function of the ACC means that the tube bundles and piping headers of the structure undergoes significant thermal expansion and contraction under the ACC's normal operating conditions
Data Source
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AI summary
An air-cooled condenser system for steam condensing applications in a power plant Rankine cycle includes an air cooled condenser having a plurality of interconnected modular cooling cells. Each cell comprises a frame-supported fan, inlet steam header, outlet condensate headers, and tube bundle assemblies having optionally finned tubes extending between the headers. The tube bundle assemblies may fabricated into an A-shaped tube structure. The tube bundles are self-supporting without support from any part of the frame between top and bottom tubesheets of each bundle. The condensate headers may be slideably mounted to the frame for thermal expansion/contraction. Steam circulating in a closed flow loop on the tube side from a steam turbine is cooled in each cell by ambient air blown through the tube bundles, thereby forming liquid condensate returned to the Rankine cycle. The present design further provides a longitudinal and vertical thermal expansion restraint system.