【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1722–2024: Turbines Used in Domestic 50MW High-Power Backpressure Air Separation Units

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Happy May Day 2024! Safety first. Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment. **********************[Ten Years of Progress in Chemical Engineering Equipment] A continuously updated summary post is available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Engineering Forum) ***************** At 10:25 on April 18, 2024, in the presence of leaders and experts from dozens of domestic petrochemical industry companies and design institutes, the high-power back-pressure air separation unit turbine developed by Dongfang Steam Turbine passed its test successfully on the turbine testing platform. The unit fulfilled all the scheduled performance tests, including operations at a maximum speed of 5027 r/min as well as overspeed protection tests. During the testing process, the unit operated smoothly with excellent performance metrics. The steam turbine in this project is used to drive Hualu Hengsheng’s 60,000 Nm3/h air separation unit; it represents the first collaboration between Dongfang Steam Turbine and Hualu Hengsheng Chemical Co., Ltd. To meet Hualu Hengsheng’s thermal and electrical requirements as well as its performance expectations for drive turbines, Dongfang Steam Turbine has adopted self-developed extraction-backpressure type turbines with dual output shafts. After the modification, the rated power of these turbines is 50 MW; their cycle efficiency has increased from around 50% to over 90%, while their heating capacity has increased by 2.5 times. Compared with conventional condensing industrial drive turbines, these turbines offer advantages such as higher economic efficiency, better stability, faster startup times, and greater operational flexibility. They enable annual savings of 60,000 tons of standard coal, representing a practical example of Dongfang Steam Turbine’s commitment to fostering new forms of productive capacity and promoting the development of strategic emerging industries. This project utilizes the industry’s first high-parameter extraction-backpressure type drive turbine, which features a large inlet steam volume flow rate; it can be compared to large supercritical 350MW-class units, and in the field of industrial drives it represents the turbine with the highest inlet steam capacity available at present. The maximum operating speed of the turbine unit exceeds 5000 rpm, and the operating conditions of the regulation stage are severe, requiring high design standards; the use of such high-parameter, large-capacity regulation stages in this field in China is groundbreaking. Relying on its own technology for the control stages of supercritical units with a capacity of 660 MW and above, Dongfang Steam Turbine has successfully developed efficient control stages featuring large axial-sized fir-tree type blade roots with high load-bearing capacity, as well as a high-damping ring-connected design. Meanwhile, the unit design adheres strictly to the API612 standards for drive turbines, ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency across the entire operating range of the unit. This project marks Dongfang Steam Turbine’s breakthrough from scratch in the field of air separation drive units, further verifying and strengthening its technical advantages in the development of large-capacity drive units, while successfully meeting customers’ dual requirements regarding heat generation and performance. This turbine has developed large-capacity deep heating regulation technology, creating a new model for heat generation combined with power production, and serving as a model for drive projects in the petrochemical industry.