Air leaks into a condenser can significantly increase backpressure, reduce steam turbine output, and cause avoidable efficiency losses.
CerTa Veritas helps you stay ahead of these hidden threats.
Using advanced techniques, we assess condenser performance by monitoring vacuum gradient trends and precisely quantifying air ingress relative to design tolerances. This allows for early detection of performance issues, evaluation of vacuum system capacity, and informed decisions on whether leak detection or maintenance is required.
Air Ingress in Condensers: Impact and Diagnosis
Air ingress in the condenser of a steam turbine system causes an increase in condenser pressure. This leads to a reduction in power output of the steam turbine and thus loss of yield
Vacuum pumps or steam ejectors are used to extract the ingressed air and other non-condensables gases, mixed with some water vapor, from the condenser to the atmosphere
If the air ingress increases over time, the condenser pressure will go up, leading to a (further) decrease in steam turbine power output
Similarly, performance deterioration of the vacuum pump or ejector can result in insufficient removal of non-condensables, leading to the same negative effect.
Once a deteriorated vacuum condition is observed, it's essential to identify the root cause. A key step is to determine the actual air ingress rate and compare it with the system's design specification and the extraction capacity of the pump or ejector.
CerTa Veritas can measure the total air ingress flow by a 'vacuum drop test' using reference leaks with known flow characteristics.
With this measured air ingress flow (non condensables), it can be assessed whether the vacuum pump, or ejector capacity is sufficient for the current situation, or whether corrective actions, such as increasing capacity or locating and sealing leaks, are necessary to restore optimal condenser performance.
Maintain performance. Minimize losses. Make informed decisions.