Strength and Service Life of a Steam Turbine Stop and Control Valve Body

Abstract

The stability of operation of steam turbines depends (along with other factors) on the reliable operation of their steam distribution systems, which are based on stop and control valves. This paper considers the strength of the elements of the K-325-23.5 steam turbine valves, in whose bodies, after 30 thousand hours of operation, cracks came to be observed. Previously determined were the nature of gas-dynamic processes in the flow paths of the valves and the temperature state of the valve body in the main stationary modes of operation. To do this, a combined problem of steam flow and thermal conductivity in stop and control valves was solved in a three-dimensional formulation by the finite element method. Different positions of the valve elements were considered taking into account the filter sieve. The assessment of the thermal stress state of the valve body showed that the maximum stresses in different operating modes do not exceed the yield strength. Therefore, the assessment of the creep of the valve body material is important to determine the valve body damage and service life. Modeling the creep of the stop and control valves of the turbine was performed on the basis of three-dimensional models, using the theory of hardening, with the components of unstable and steady creep strains taken into account. The creep was determined at the maximum power of the turbine for all the stationary operating modes. The maximum calculated values of creep strains are concentrated in the valve body branch pipes before the control valves and in the steam inlet chamber, where in practice fatigue defects are observed. However, even for 300 thousand hours of operation of the turbine (with a conditional maximum power) in stationary modes, creep strains do not exceed admissible values. The damage and service life of the valve bodies were assessed by two methods developed at A. Pidhornyi Institute of Mechanical Engineering Problems of the NAS of Ukraine (2011), and I. Polzunov Scientific and Design Association on Research and Design of Power Equipment. (NPO CKTI) – 1986. The results of assessing the damage and the turbine valve body wear from the effects of cyclic loading and creep of the turbine in stationary modes for 40, 200 and 300 thousand hours show that the thermal conditions of the body in the steam inlet chamber are not violated (without taking into account possible body defects after manufacture). The damage in valve body branch pipes after 300 thousand hours of operation exceeds the admissible value, with account taken of the safety margin. At the same time, the damage from creep in stationary operating modes is about 70% of the total damage. The maximum values of damage are observed in the areas of the body where there are defects during the operation of the turbine steam distribution system. The difference between the results of both methods in relation to their average value is ~20%.