STEAM PLANT PIPING VIBRATION STUDY AND RESOLUTION

摘要

The world's largest district steam co-generation plant was successfully brought on line following major modifications in the spring of 2005. During the initial "shake-down" operation of the high pressure steam send-out system, piping vibrations were experienced, which disrupted flow meters and other equipment. Operation of one of five identical flow control valves, used in parallel to regulate steam flow to the street distribution system, resulted in the high vibration levels. To investigate the cause of the vibrations, a project was undertaken, which included testing of the piping system utilizing dynamic pressure transducers and accelerometers and engineering analysis of the acoustics and piping structural dynamics. Multiple combinations of open and closed valves were investigated, and the likely root cause was identified as flow-induced vibration originating at a tee in the system. A piping layout modification was designed. The modification consisted of rerouting the piping downstream of one flow control valve to bypass the source of the flow-induced vibration. Following the piping modification, further tests were conducted that showed the reconfiguration successfully mitigated the vibration.