Combined Cycle Power Plant Start-Up Effects and Constraints of the HRSG

The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is an integral part of the combined cycle power plant which includes combustion turbine and steam turbine in addition to heat recovery steam generator. The start-up of the heat recovery steam generator, therefore, has an influence on the start-up of the total plant. The paper discusses various constraints, both external and internal, which affect the Steam Generator start-up and in turn influence the start-up of the total plant. Considerations in the design of the steam generator to accommodate the plant start-up requirements, along with the effect of the cyclic or base loaded operation are also discussed. The paper also presents a procedure which may be adopted in the conceptual design of the plant for an optimized system, a system which can accommodate the total plant start-up requirements without undue constraints on the availability of the full plant output.