V&M's innovative contribution to meet the challenges of present and future conventional power plants

摘要

Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes is a well-known large producer of steel tubes and pipes. The company offers a wide range of sizes and grades for the power generation Industry. This tubular range has been enlarged, thanks to a strong commercial and R&D agreement with Tubacex, producer of stainless steel tubes. There is a substantial and increasing interest in developing new and more efficient fossil-fired steam power plants, leading to reduced CO_2 emissions and preservation of resources. To meet these requirements, the steam parameters have been increased from the sub-critical ～180 bar and 540 to 565 ℃ to the nowadays usual ultra super-critical 250 to 280 bar and 600 ℃. Additional efficiency improvements are targeted in the coming years by further increase of steam temperature up to 700℃ and to pressure above 300 bar. The increase of the steam parameters will change the profile of the materials used in steam power plants inducing a shift from the ferritic steel grades to stainless steels or Nickel-based alloys (Figure 1). Especially the realisation of the 700℃ Advanced Ultra Super-critical (AUSC) boiler will require extended use of Nickel based alloys and stainless steels for the most severely exposed components [1]. The present paper describes developments within V&M to design and industrialise tubular materials needed for future power plants.