Air cooled condenser and power generating apparatus provided with the same

Abstract

Disclosed are an air cooled condenser capable of preventing air from being mixed into a working medium flow path, and a power generating apparatus including the air cooled condenser. The air cooled condenser includes a heat exchanger for air-cooling a working medium indirectly through a wall, a fan, a sensor for measuring a pressure value of the working medium at an outlet of the heat exchanger, and a controller for controlling the rotating speed of the fan such that the pressure value obtained by the sensor comes closer to a target value set to be equal to or larger than an atmospheric pressure.

Claims

1. An air cooled condenser comprising: a cooling device including: a plurality of heat exchangers for air-cooling a working medium, the plurality of heat exchangers comprising: a first heat exchanger for air-cooling the working medium indirectly through a first wall; and a second heat exchanger for air-cooling the working medium indirectly through a second wall, the second heat exchanger being different from the first heat exchanger; a first fan for supplying cooling air only to the first heat exchanger of the plurality of heat exchangers; a second fan for supplying cooling air only to the second heat exchanger of the plurality of heat exchangers; a pressure detector for detecting a pressure value of the working medium at an outlet of at least one of the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger; and a controller configured to control the cooling device such that the pressure value obtained by the pressure detector comes closer to a target value set to be equal to or larger than an atmospheric pressure, wherein: the controller reduces a rotating speed of the first fan when the pressure value obtained by the pressure detector is smaller than the target value, and increases the rotating speed of the first fan when the pressure value obtained by the pressure detector is larger than the target value; the cooling device includes: a branching pipe for branching the working medium into a plurality of working media and for distributing the plurality of working media to inlets of the first and second heat exchangers, respectively; an aggregating pipe for aggregating the plurality of working media from outlets of the first and second heat exchangers, respectively; and a plurality of valves arranged at the inlets or the outlets of the first and second heat exchangers, respectively, the controller opens an increased number of valves of the plurality of valves when the rotating speed of the first fan is higher than an upper limit value, and opens a reduced number of valves of the plurality of valves when the rotating speed of the first fan is lower than a lower limit value, and the controller determines whether or not the rotating speed of the first fan is higher than the upper limit value and all of the plurality of valves are opened, and activates the second fan when it is determined that the rotating speed of the first fan is higher than the upper limit value and all of the plurality of valves are opened, and deactivates the second fan when it is determined that the rotating speed of the first fan is lower than the lower limit value.

2. The air cooled condenser according to claim 1, further comprising: a third heat exchanger of the plurality of heat exchangers for air-cooling the working medium indirectly through a third wall; and a third fan for supplying cooling air to the third heat exchanger, wherein the controller controls the number of operating fans of the second and third fans.

3. A power generating apparatus comprising: the air cooled condenser according to claim 2, for condensing a working medium; an evaporator for evaporating the working medium by heat of heat source fluid; a turbine rotated by steam of the working medium supplied from the evaporator, the air cooled condenser supplied with the working medium from the turbine; a generator connected with the turbine; and a pump for feeding the working medium from an outlet of the air cooled condenser to an inlet of the evaporator.

4. The air cooled condenser according to claim 2, wherein the pressure detector includes: a thermometer for measuring a temperature of the working medium at the outlet of the at least one of the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger; and a calculator for calculating the pressure value of the working medium at the outlet of the at least one of the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger on the basis of the temperature measured by the thermometer.

5. The air cooled condenser according to claim 1, wherein: each of the plurality of valves is a flow regulating valve for regulating a flow rate of the working medium; and the controller reduces an opening degree of the flow regulating valve when the pressure value obtained by the pressure detector is smaller than the target value, and increases the opening degree of the flow regulating valve when the pressure detector is larger than the target value.

6. The air cooled condenser according to claim 1, wherein the pressure detector includes: a thermometer for measuring a temperature of the working medium at the outlet of the at least one of the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger; and a calculator for calculating the pressure value of the working medium at the outlet of the at least one of the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger on the basis of the temperature measured by the thermometer.

7. A power generating apparatus comprising: the air cooled condenser according to claim 1, for condensing a working medium; an evaporator for evaporating the working medium by heat of heat source fluid; a turbine rotated by steam of the working medium supplied from the evaporator, the air cooled condenser supplied with the working medium from the turbine; a generator connected with the turbine; and a pump for feeding the working medium from an outlet of the air cooled condenser to an inlet of the evaporator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a power generating apparatus with which a condenser according to an example of the present invention is incorporated;

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of the condenser;

(3) FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a combination of operations of valves and fans of the condenser;

(4) FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of operation;

(5) FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram;

(6) FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating relationships between the outside air temperatures and heat exchange quantities of the entirety of the condenser in cases where the number of the heat exchanger varies from 1 to 6, respectively; and

(7) FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating examples of heat exchange quantities corresponding to different outside air temperatures and different air volumes of a fan (100%, 20%).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) Hereinafter, examples of a power generating apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. It is noted that the present invention is not at all limited by the following examples and can be embodied in various other forms appropriately modified without changing the spirit of the invention.

First Example

(9) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a power generating apparatus with which a condenser according to an example of the present invention is incorporated. Heat source fluid flows from a heat source fluid inlet 1. The heat of the heat source fluid is recovered while the heat source fluid passes through an evaporator 3 and a preheater 8. Then, the heat source is discharged to the outside from a heat source fluid outlet 2. A working medium flows in an annular flow path formed by connecting a circulating pump 7, the preheater 8, the evaporator 3, a turbine 4 and a condenser 6 in this order by means of pipes.

(10) The preheater 8 heats the working medium by heat exchanging between the heat source fluid discharged from the evaporator 3 and the liquid working medium discharged from the condenser 6. It is noted that the preheater 8 is not essential, however, a configuration including the preheater 8 can increase a heat quantity recovered from the heat source fluid.

(11) The evaporator 3 heats the working medium by heat exchanging between the heat source fluid coming from the heat source fluid inlet 1 and the working medium preheated by the preheater 8, so as to gasify the working medium. The gaseous working medium evaporated by the evaporator 3 is supplied to the turbine 4.

(12) The turbine 4 is rotated by the pressure of the gaseous working medium. A rotating shaft of the turbine 4 is coupled with a generator 5, thus power generation is performed by means of the rotation of the turbine 4. A rotating speed meter 12 for measuring the rotating speed of the turbine 4 is installed. The output of the generator 5 is inputted into a power converter 13, and is converted on the basis of an instruction from a controller 10 into direct-current power of a prescribed voltage or alternating-current power of a prescribed voltage and a prescribed frequency, and outputted to the outside. The working medium discharged from the turbine 4 is introduced into the condenser 6.

(13) The condenser 6 is an air cooled type heat exchanger in which the heat exchange is performed between the outside air and the gaseous working medium, and then, the working medium condenses into liquid. As a specific configuration of the condenser 6, for example, a finned tube type heat exchanger having fins arranged around a radiating pipe is preferable. The details of the configuration and the operation of the condenser 6 will be described below.

(14) A pressure gauge 9 is provided at the pipe between the condenser 6 and the circulating pump 7, and a signal line of the pressure gauge 9 is connected with the controller 10.

(15) A thermometer 11 measures the temperature of the working medium at an outlet of the condenser 6. A signal line of the thermometer 11 is connected with the controller 10.

(16) FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the condenser 6 and a peripheral portion of the condenser 6 in more detail. A branching pipe 70 branches the gaseous working medium discharged from the turbine 4 into plural working media. The working media flow through valves 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f, inlet manifolds 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d, 61e, and 61f, radiating pipes (heat exchangers) 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e, and 62f, and outlet manifolds 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, 63e, and 63f, respectively. When flowing through the radiating pipes 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e, and 62f, the gaseous working media are cooled with the outside air through pipe walls of the radiating pipes. A first fan 64a feeds the outside air to the radiating pipes 62a and 62b so as to facilitate cooling by the radiating pipes 62a and 62b. A second fan 64c feeds the outside air to the radiating pipes 62c and 62d so as to facilitate cooling by the radiating pipes 62c and 62d. A second fan 64e feeds the outside air to the radiating pipes 62e and 62f so as to facilitate cooling by the radiating pipes 62e and 62f. The liquid working media discharged from the outlet manifolds 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, 63e, and 63f, respectively, are aggregated by an aggregating pipe 71, and the aggregated working medium is fed to the circulating pump 7. A louver may be installed so as to control the air flow rate of respective fans.

(17) The circulating pump 7 feeds the working media from the condenser 6 to the preheater 8 on the basis of the signal from the controller 10.

(18) The controller 10 is connected with respective signal lines of the valves 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f, a signal line of the pressure gauge 9, a signal line of the thermometer 11, and a power line of the first fan 64a and respective power lines of the second fans 64c and 64e. Then, the controller 10 controls the flow rate of the liquid working medium to be fed to the preheater 8 by the circulating pump 7, on the basis of an instruction value of the flow rate of the working medium fed to the turbine 4.

(19) Next, a relationship between the condenser 6 and the outside air temperature will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating relationships between the outside air temperatures and heat exchange quantities of the entirety of the condenser in cases where the number of the heat exchanger varies from 1 to 6, respectively. The heat exchange quantity in a case where the outside air temperature is 15 C. and the air volume of the fan is 100% is normalized as 1.0. When the six valves are opened and the outside air temperature is 40 C., the heat exchange quantity of the condenser is 2.67 times. The quantity of heat transfer of the condenser 6 is expressed in the following formula 1.
Q=UATm; where(Formula 1) Q is a heat exchange quantity (W); U is an overall heat-transfer coefficient (W/m.sup.2.Math.K); A is a heat transfer area (m.sup.2); and T.sub.m is a log mean temperature difference (K).

(20) It is noted that the change of U is small, since the air flow rate remarkably influences U and the air flow rate is constant. In addition, the area is constant, and therefore, Q is approximately proportional to the log mean temperature difference. FIG. 6 illustrates the heat exchange quantity corresponding to the change of the outside air calculated based on the relationships. When the working medium is cooled excessively and the saturation vapor pressure of the working medium becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure, the air might be sucked into the condenser since the pressure in the condenser is a negative pressure. Thus, taking into account a case where three valves are opened, the heat exchange quantity of the condenser is 0.96 times even if the outside air temperature is 40 C. Accordingly, by preventing the working medium from being cooled excessively, it is possible to prevent the saturation vapor pressure of the working medium from being lower than the atmospheric pressure.

(21) FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating examples of heat exchange quantities corresponding to different outside air temperatures and different air volumes of the fan (100%, 20%). The heat exchange quantity in a case where the outside air temperature is 15 C. and the air volume of the fan is 100% is normalized as 1.0. Under the condition where the outside air temperature is 40 C., the heat exchange quantity of the condenser is 0.8 times even if the air volume is reduced to 20%. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the heat exchange quantity from exceeding 1. Accordingly, by preventing the working medium from being cooled excessively, it is possible to prevent the saturation vapor pressure of the working medium from being lower than the atmospheric pressure.

(22) Next, the operation of the apparatus will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a combination of operations of the valves and the fans of the condenser 6. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of operation.

(23) A summary of the operation of the example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. As the quantity of the heat inflow increases, firstly, the valves 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f are opened sequentially so as to increase the cooling capacities of the radiating pipes 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e, and 62f connecting to these valves, respectively. If the quantity of the heat inflow further increases, the second fans 64c and 64e are activated sequentially, so as to increase the cooling capacities. In all of these steps, the rotation speed of the first fan 64a is controlled. The first fan 64a is controlled such that the pressure value measured by the pressure gauge 9 at the outlet of the condenser comes close to a target value.

(24) Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 4 in more detail. The control procedure of the controller 10 roughly includes three steps.

(25) In step S1, firstly, the valve 60a illustrated in FIG. 2 is opened, and the rotating speed control of the first fan 64a is performed such that the pressure value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 comes closer to the target value regardless of the quantity of the heat inflow. Specifically, the controller 10 reduces the rotating speed of the first fan 64a when the pressure value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 is smaller than the target value, and increases the rotating speed of the first fan 64a when the pressure value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 is larger than the target value. It is preferred that the above rotating speed control be performed by using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control.

(26) When the above target value is set to be larger than the atmospheric pressure, it is possible to suppress degradation in power generation efficiency due to air mixed into the condenser 6. However, when the target value is too large, the cooling capacity of the condenser 6 degrades.

(27) Thus, it is preferable to input the measured value of a barometer, not illustrated, provided at the outside of the condenser 6 to the controller 10, and to control by using a value 0 percent to 50 percent larger than the measured value as the target value. According to the above setting of the target value, it is possible to suppress degradation in the output of power generation while the pressure in the condenser 6 is maintained to be larger than the atmospheric pressure.

(28) Furthermore, preferably, the target may be 20 percent larger than the measured value of the barometer. According to the above setting, it is possible to avoid a negative pressure in the system when the temperature of hot water as a high-temperature heat source or the temperature of the outside air as a low-temperature heat source changes.

(29) In parallel with step S1, the controller 10 performs open/close control of the valves 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f other than valve 60a, in step S2 where the quantity of the heat flowing into the condenser 6 is relatively small. Step S2 includes substeps S2a, S2b and S2c to perform the open/close control as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, on the basis of a predetermined priority of opening/closing valves, the controller 10 increases the number of opened valves of 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f when the rotating speed of the first fan 64a is higher than an upper limit value, and reduces the number of opened valves of 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f when the rotating speed of the first fan 64a is lower than an lower limit value. When all of the valves of 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f are opened, the open/close control of the valves 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f is terminated, the process proceeds to step S3 in a state that the respective valves are opened.

(30) In step S3 after step S2, the controller 10 controls activation/deactivation of the second fans 64c and 64e so as to control the number of the second fans operating. Step S3 includes substeps S3a, S3b and S3c to perform the activation/deactivation as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, on the basis of a predetermined priority of activation of the second fans 64c and 64e, the controller 10 activates at least one of the second fans 64c and 64e when all of the valves of 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f are opened and the rotating speed of the first fan 64a is higher than the upper limit value, and deactivates the at least one of the second fans 64c and 64e when the rotating speed of the first fan 64a is lower than the lower limit value. When all of the second fans 64c and 64e stop and the rotating speed of the first fan 64a is lower than the lower limit value, step S3 is terminated and the process returns to step S2.

(31) The key point of the above example in the light of power consumption reduction is that there is provided with plural heat exchangers for air-cooling a working medium indirectly through a wall, a plurality valves arranged at the plurality of heat exchangers, respectively, plural fans for cooling at least one of the plurality of heat exchangers, a sensor for measuring the pressure value of the working medium at an outlet of one of the plurality of heat exchangers, and a controller for performing open/close control of the plurality of valves such that the pressure value obtained by the sensor comes closer to a target value before activation of two or more of the fans. According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the opportunity in which the two or more fans operate, since the open/close control of the valves is performed on a priority basis before activation of the fans. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the power consumption for the fans.

(32) Next, the data flow of the present apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 5. The controller 10 performs the rotating speed control of the first fan 64a in step S1, on the basis of the measured value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 and the target value.

(33) In addition, the controller 10 monitors the measured rotating speed or the instruction value of the rotating speed of the first fan 64a, and performs the open/close control of the valves of 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f in step S2, on the basis of these values.

(34) The controller 10 monitors the measured rotating speed or the instruction value of the rotating speed of the first fan 64a, and performs control so as to open the valves when either one of these rotating speeds becomes higher than an upper limit value and to close the valves when either one of these rotating speeds becomes lower than a lower limit value.

(35) The controller 10 monitors the number of opened valves of the valves of 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f. When all of the valves are opened, the controller 10 starts to control the number of operating fans of the second fans. The controller 10 monitors the measured rotating speed or the instruction value of the rotating speed of the first fan 64a, and performs control so as to activate at least one of the second fans when either one of these rotating speeds becomes higher than an upper limit value, and to deactivate the at least one of the second fans when either one of these rotating speeds becomes lower that a lower limit value. When the quantity of the heat inflow decreases and then all of the second fans 64c and 64e stop and the rotating speed of the first fan 64a becomes lower than the lower limit value, step S3 is terminated and the process returned to the open/close control of the valves in step S2.

Second Example

(36) The following configuration may be adopted as a modification example of the above first example. With regard to the open/close control of the valves of 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e, and 60f in the above first example, the respective valves may be flow regulating valves, and the flow rates of the working media flowing through the heat exchangers, respectively, may be controlled. In such a configuration, the priority between the valves corresponding to the increase of the quantity of the heat inflow is predetermined. The controller 10 performs control such that, after the opening degree of the valve with relatively high priority becomes 100%, the valve with next priority starts to open. Furthermore, the controller 10 reduces the opening degree of the flow regulating valves when the pressure value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 is smaller than the target value, and increases the opening degree of the flow regulating valves when the pressure value obtained by the pressure gauge 9 is larger than the target value.

Third Example

(37) The following configuration may be adopted as a modification example of the above first example or the above second example. The thermometer 11 for measuring the working medium at the outlet of the heat exchanger may be used instead of measuring the pressure at the outlet of the condenser 6 by the pressure gauge 9. The controller 10 may calculate the pressure value of the working medium at the outlet of the heat exchanger on the basis of the temperature measured by the thermometer 11, and may perform the similar control as that of the above first example or the above second example. Specifically, in the case of normal pentane, for example, the saturation vapor pressure value (Pst) at a temperature (T1) is calculated by using the following formula 2. When a different medium is used as a working medium, the calculation formula of the saturation vapor pressure value (Pst) may be modified accordingly depending on the characteristic of the working medium.
Pst=0.0003(T1).sup.3+0.0159(T1).sup.2+1.1844(T1)+24.316(Formula 2)

(38) As discussed above, according to the examples of the present invention, when the target value is set to be equal to or larger than the atmospheric pressure, it is possible to prevent the pressure in the condenser from being a negative pressure relative to the atmospheric pressure, so as to prevent the air from being mixed with the working medium.