Vacuum Drop Test of Air-Cooled Condensers in Operation

Scientific Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Physics - Thermodynamics, , language: English, abstract: Vacuum tightness is critical for air-cooled condensers operating at low absolute pressure. Low vacuum is aimed for because vacuum dominates the power plant efficiency. To verify vacuum tightness usually a vacuum drop test is made with the system empty at normal atmospheric temperature and free of any liquids. This test is done before commissioning of the power unit and generally follows the recommendations of the Heat Exchanger Institute (HEI) as outlined in §6.1.1 of ¿Standards for Steam Jet Vacuum Systems¿.
However, over time of operation the power plant may develop leakages, which were not present at the time of the original drop test. This calls for a tightness test at operating conditions where pre-conditions for the standard vacuum drop test are not fulfilled. The report describes a vacuum drop test without interfering too much into normal power plant operation. The test is suitable for stationary operating conditions using standard operation readings.

The assessment of leakage flow is based on the measured vacuum decay rate. It is shown that vacuum decay rates taken from tests before and after commissioning are different. Contractual fixing of acceptable vacuum decay rates should therefore be treated with care. Example graphs for easy evaluation are given.