Dongducheon Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) is one of the biggest CCPPs in South Korea having a power production capacity of 1,716MW (858MW with two units).
The plant consists of four gas turbines and two steam turbines and generators supplied by MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) and the six BFW pumps supplied by Hyosung Goodsprings.
The plant has faced serious cavitation problems in the AR Valves protecting the pumps because the ARVs are often operated under extremely critical operating conditions.
Plant operation logic and TCA Cooler operations require low flow rates below pump minimum flow, which makes the AR Valves operate at partialload and quite often daily startup/ shutdown operations take place.
Flow rates
Low flow rates often cause cavitation in AR Valves. Each of the three boiler feed pumps (per steam turbine) has the capacity to provide the full rated flow of the HRSG-drum. This is one of the critical load cases, which led to the damage in the AR Valves that were installed at the time.
To cool the turbine, feed water is supplied to a TCA cooler (Turbine Cooling Air). In this heat...
Goodbye cavitation
