Study on Reheater Tube Wall Temperature in a 1000 MW Ultra-Supercritical Unit Under Flexible Peak-Shaving Conditions

As coal-fired power plants shift from being primary power sources to operating as flexible peak-shaving units, the reheater—a critical component of the boiler’s ‘four tubes’—has attracted significant attention. This study focuses on the tube wall temperature distributions of the reheater at different loads and measurement points, analyzing factors that contribute to its uneven heat distribution. The results indicate that the heat distribution across the tubes of the low temperature reheater (LRH) is uneven. From the left to the right side of the tube panel, the tube wall temperatures form two parabolic profiles. The tubes most susceptible to overheating are the first tube of the 91st panel and the first tube of the 181st panel. For the high-temperature reheater (HRH), at an electrical load of 217.7 MW, the maximum temperature difference is higher than that of LRH. At all other electrical loads, however, the maximum temperature difference of the HRH is lower than that of the LRH. The LRH is at a higher risk of tube rupture caused by uneven heating compared to the HRH.