Numerical Simulation of the Influence of Deposits on Heat Transfer Process in a Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Flue gas entrains a large number of ash particles which are composed of alkali substances into the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The deposition of particles on the tube surface of heat transfer can reduce the heat transfer efficiency significantly. In the present work, an Eulerian-Lagrangian model based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is implemented to simulation flue gas turbulent flow, heat transfer and the particle transport in the HRSG. Several User-Defined Functions (UDFs) are developed to predict the particle deposition/rebounding as well as the influence of physical properties and microstructure of deposits on the heat transfer process. The results show that only after one day deposition, the total heat transfer rate reduces 27.68% compared with the case no deposition. Furthermore, the total heat transfer rate reduces to only 238.74kW after 30 days of continuous operation without any slag removal manipulation. Both numerical simulation and field measurement identify that the deposits play an important role in the heat transfer in the HRSG. Especially, when the deposits can't be removed designedly according to the actual operating conditions, the HRSG experiences a noticeable decline in heat transfer efficiency due to continuous fouling and slagging on the tube surface.