Effect of Key Parameter Variations on Coal Consumption Rate of Coal-Fired Units in Deep Peak-Shaving

  • FU Jinming ,
  • ZHU Shujun ,
  • SUN Yunkai ,
  • LIU Yuhua ,
  • CHAI Zhen ,
  • LYU Qinggang
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  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Online published: 2025-09-01

Supported by

This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA 29010500) and the Special Research Assistant Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025

Abstract

The green transition of power systems relies on the accurate measurement of the economic cost associated with the deep peak-shaving process in coal-fired power plants. To evaluate the variation in the coal consumption rate during low-load operation, a model of a 300 MW coal-fired unit was established, with less than 1% deviation from the actual operation value. The results indicate that the coal consumption rate at 20% load can increase to 1.48 times the full-load value. When the excess air coefficient is reduced by 0.3 at low-load conditions, between 40% and 20% load, the exhaust gas temperature is reduced by approximately 5°C, leading to a decrease in the coal consumption rate. In addition, elevating the steam temperature to the design value can reduce the coal consumption rate by 6% to 13%, and increase the inlet temperature of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) process by 10°C. Improving the turbine efficiency during peak-shaving significantly reduces the coal consumption cost, and the enhancement of the mean steam temperature is an efficient approach. This study offers a theoretical reference for the retrofitting, design and economic operation of coal-fired units in peak-shaving, thereby supporting energy system transitions.

Cite this article

FU Jinming , ZHU Shujun , SUN Yunkai , LIU Yuhua , CHAI Zhen , LYU Qinggang . Effect of Key Parameter Variations on Coal Consumption Rate of Coal-Fired Units in Deep Peak-Shaving[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(5) : 1583 -1598 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2150-1

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