The City of Medicine Hat Power Plant in Alberta, Canada, desired to upgrade its

power station to better service area residents. The main focus of the project was
to devise a means to allow the plant to solely run on a single Combustion Gas
Turbine/HRSG system at night. This scenario produced the need for a reliable
backup steam source should the single operating GT system trip unexpectedly,
thereby causing an unwanted city-wide blackout. Plant executives tapped the
services of Peter Stanley, PE, a senior boiler consultant at HRST, Inc., Eden Prairie,
Minn., to develop the specs for an auxiliary D-type, superheated natural gas-red
boiler system.
The backup boiler had to meet two main criteria. First, it had to be maintained in
a hot standby mode, so in the event of an unexpected turbine trip, the auxiliary
boiler could be brought online in less than ve minutes. Secondly, the boiler had to
be able to meet future Alberta emissions regulations, projected to be 15 ppm NOx.
According to Stanley, meeting these criteria was challenging to the six bidders.
Only Cleaver-Brooks and one other bidder offered an affordable solution.
During the initial proposal review meeting, city engineers met with Cleaver-Brooks
local representative Tundra Process Solutions, and Cleaver-Brooks Engineered
Boiler Systems (EBS) Sales Manager Jason Jacobi. During the discussions, Jacobi
proposed a custom boiler solution, and the meeting turned into a working session.
The group began designing the boiler on a whiteboard and utilized Jacobis laptop
computer, which was loaded with Cleaver-Brooks proprietary programs, to model
the boiler performance under varying conditions. Due to this and multiple other
reasons, Cleaver-Brooks was awarded the standby boiler project, nicknamed
future 15 ppm ready by plant engineers.
Jacobi took the specs and design input
back to the engineering team at Cleaver-
Brooks EBS, who began working on
a Nebraska Custom D-Type boiler
capable of generating 150,000 lb/hr of
steam at 600 psi and 750F. Jacobi is
quick to point out, We have the nest
engineering and manufacturing teams
in the industry, between our Lincoln,
Neb., and Montreal, Quebec, locations. I
knew that they would not only succeed
in executing this challenging project,
but that they would exceed customer
expectations while doing so.
Cleaver-Brooks Engineers Custom-
Designed Nebraska D-Type Superheated
Steam Boiler for Alberta Power Plant
CASE STUDY:
City of Medicine Hat
Industry: Power/Utility
CITY OF MEDICINE HAT
LOCATION
Alberta, Canada
PROFILE
The City of Medicine Hat is a
Power Plant in Alberta, Canada
that desired an upgrade to its
power station to better service area
residents.
CHALLENGE
Devise a means to allow the
plant to run solely on a single
Combustion Gas Turbine/HRSG
system at night.
SOLUTION
An auxillary steam source.
A Nebraska Custom D-Type
Superheated boiler capable of
generating 150,000 lb/hr of steam
at 600 psi and 750F.
RESULTS
Exceeded contract guarantees on:
Steam capacity and pressure
Boiler efciency
Noise level
Steam purity
NOx and CO emissions
requirements
Backup Boiler Is Hot-Standby Ready and Can Meet
Future Emissions Regulations
Custom Nebraska D-Type Boiler capable of generating
150,000 lb/hr of steam ready for rail shipment.
To achieve the rst requirement of being
hot-standby ready, Cleaver-Brooks
engineers incorporated their proprietary
Natcom burner, which includes a unique
Center Core stabilizing gas injector that
typically is used to improve ame stability
and turndown. For this application,
the Center Core doubles as a second,
smaller burner during hot standby. Heat
input is approximately 5% MCR. This
maintains the boiler at pressure so it can
be ramped to full load quickly. To avoid
damage to the superheater during this
operating condition, it was nested safely in
the convection bank of the boiler, behind multiple rows of screen tubes.
To meet the projected 15 ppm NOx limit, the engineers developed an optimum
conguration, taking into consideration the gas pressure drop, economizer exit
gas temperature and fan power consumption. Multiple rows of nned tubes of
density 3 ns/in were used in the low-temperature zone of the convection bank
to optimize the energy transfer. This innovative tube nning strategy lowers
boiler gas side pressure drop, so it can accommodate the future higher ue gas
recirculation (FGR) required to achieve tougher NOx emission regulations. The
Nebraska Custom D-Type boiler can be upgraded to 15 ppm NOx with minimal
changes. In the future, the city only has to change the fan, burner nozzles and
reprogram the controls. The existing boiler, burner and other equipment can
remain intact, which will save the City of Medicine Hat signicant costs down
the road.
There are many other innovative features incorporated into this critical standby
boiler system. An integral dual-stage superheater system with interstage spray
attemporation was provided to maintain a constant steam temperature over the
specied turndown. A sweetwater condenser was utilized to ensure the highest
purity water is delivered to the interstage spray attemporator. This ensures that
the power turbine receives pure, superheated steam, thus avoiding the potential
for costly blade damage. Boiler tube wall thicknesses were upgraded beyond
ASME code requirements and all tubes were seal-welded to the boiler drums to
survive aggressive ramping and heavy cycling service. Cleaver-Brooks standard
Nebraska Boiler design with refractory-free front and rear furnace walls and 100%
welded gas seals also gave city engineers peace of mind that this boiler will
operate safely and reliably for years to come.
Cleaver-Brooks shipped the custom boiler to the Medicine Hat Power Plant in
May 2010, and it was commissioned in March 2011.
Today, the boiler is maintained in a hot standby mode (approx. 5% MCR). In the
event of a system trip of the main HRSGs, the auxiliary boiler stands ready for
immediate backup steam generation. The boiler operator can demand transfer
of the standby burner (with a 10 hp fan) to the main burner (with 400 hp FD fan)
and vice versa without a time-intensive NFPA shutdown-restart sequence. As a
result, the backup boiler can achieve full load within ve minutes.
Stanley with HRST conducted thorough performance tests on the boiler in March
2011. The Nebraska Custom D-Type Superheated boiler exceeded contract
guarantees with regard to: steam capacity and pressure, steam temperature
50% to 100% MCR, boiler efciency, noise level, steam purity, as well as
NOx and CO emissions requirements, among other parameters.
CB-8493
10/2013
The Natcom burner has a unique Center
Core technology for improved ame stability
and turndown as well as hot standby
capability.
Contact:
Cleaver-Brooks
6940 Cornhusker Hwy
Lincoln, NE 68507
Ofce: 402.434.2000
E-mail: ebssales@cleaverbrooks.com
cleaverbrooks.com