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Corrosion and Deposits in Water-Cooled Generator Stator Windings: Part 4: Operating Experience with Flow Restrictions in Stator Cooling Water Systems

Matthias Svoboda and Thomas Bauer

A common problem with water-cooled generator stator windings is plugging of the hollow conductors that act as cooling channels. The causes are sometimes difficult to identify, but some common factors can be found. Insufficient layup during outages is a common one. The importance of good monitoring and maintenance practices is highlighted throughout the discussed examples.

The stator is the main concern, because of its vulnerability to oxide deposits in the hollow conductors and the fact that if it fails, the whole power plant has to be shut down. Strainers and filters can also plug up and act as early warning devices for stator plugging. If replacing them is not an option, chemical cleaning can help, but it usually only removes the symptoms.

Proactive treatment of these problems should be a priority, as damages can go into the millions. Even when cleaning is still possible, persistent deposits can often only be removed by more invasive treatments.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(2), 62–72

A Review of Important Wet-Limestone Scrubbing Details

Brad Buecker

Coal combustion releases a number of harmful compounds that need to be removed from the flue gas before discharge to the atmosphere. One of these compounds is sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The most common process to remove SO2 is wet-limestone flue gas desulfurization (WFGD). This article examines the fundamentals of this process and discusses modern developments to maximize scrubbing efficiency in these systems.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(2), 78–83

IAPWS TGD9-18; Air In-leakage in Steam–Water Cycles

The International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam

This Technical Guidance Document considers the phenomenon of air in-leakage (AIL) in fossil, combined cycle / HRSG, and biomass plants. It covers the importance of AIL to the performance and cycle chemistry control of generating plants. The sources of AIL are delineated as well as the background science. The monitoring equipment/techniques are provided in Section 4. Controlling guidance for AIL in the most common generating plants worldwide is covered in Section 6, as well the customization aspects for other plants with varying equipment in Section 7. The document represents the accumulated experience of the IAPWS Power Cycle Chemistry (PCC) Working Group with representation from 24 countries.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(2), 90–127

Film Forming Substances (FFS) Conference, FFS2019 – Highlights and Press Release

The third FFS International Conference was held on the 19th – 21st March 2019 in Heidelberg, Germany chaired by Barry Dooley of Structural Integrity. FFS2019 was a unique conference on a narrow topic in cycle chemistry control of power plants but attracted over 70 participants from 22 countries.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(2), 130–131

Corrosion and Deposits in Water-Cooled Generator Stator Windings: Part 3: Removal of Flow Restrictions

Thomas Bauer, Matthias Svoboda, and Robert Svoboda

Flow restrictions in generator stator bar hollow conductors can be removed either mechanically or chemically. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages and in certain cases only a combination of both leads to success.

Mechanical cleaning can open up completely plugged hollow conductors at the inlet or outlet of the bars, while chemical cleaning thoroughly removes all copper oxides, also within the bars. However, as with all chemical cleaning methods, there must be access for the chemicals to the copper oxide deposits so the chemicals can dissolve and remove the plugging.

To prevent metallic deposits, it is important that the chemical cleaning be performed under oxidizing conditions. Additionally, it might also be useful to apply a post-cleaning surface treatment under certain conditions.

It is recommended to take any kind of plugging seriously and to start reacting when first signs of plugging occur. Once severe conditions have developed, this might lead to power downrates, a decrease in insulation lifetime, forced outages or in the worst case even irreversible damage to the generator.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(1), 8–20

Electrochemical Corrosion Potential Monitoring in BWRs

Yoichi Wada, Kazushige Ishida, Masahiko Tachibana, Nobuyuki Ota, and Makoto Nagase

The status of Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy’s electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) sensor development and ECP measurement in boiling water reactors (BWRs) is reviewed. Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy (Hitachi-GE) has been dedicated to developing and providing ECP sensors and applied ECP monitoring to various BWRs since the ECP has been an index of stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Hitachi-GE considers simultaneous use of at least 2 types of ECP sensor and employment of a guard drive circuit for the ECP measuring system to be essential. Results of ECP measurement in hydrogen water chemistry (HWC) showed that the ECPs were above 0.1 V(SHE) before HWC and decreased with an increase in the hydrogen concentration in the feedwater. Compared to the bottom region, the ECP in the primary loop recirculation system decreased at lower hydrogen dosage. Hitachi-GE recommends long-term and in-situ ECP monitoring because the ECP is affected by core management and the direct measurement of the ECP is more meaningful for SCC evaluation.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(1), 26–39

PowerPlant Chemistry^® Interview

Tapio Werder

On January 1st, 2019, the publishing house Waesseri GmbH was transformed into the new company PPCHEM AG. To introduce this change to our readers, Tapio Werder, Editor in Chief of the PowerPlant Chemistry^® journal, talks to Michael Rziha, Chief Key Expert for Plant Chemistry at PPCHEM AG.

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(1), 40–41

2018’s Scientific and Technical Contributions

PowerPlant Chemistry 2019, 21(1), 42–49