On-Line performance monitoring of turbine cycle for 500 MWe nuclear power plants

In order to monitor the performance of turbine generator (TC) and secondary cycle system, a software has been developed for on-line performance testing of turbine cycle for the 500 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Plants. A number of subroutines were first developed and then inter-connected to finally compute the desired heat rate as well as performance of individual equipment in the cycle. The program is capable of conducting acceptance tests as well as diagnostic tests for various system equipment. The program has been validated with reference to the heat flow diagrams supplied by the turbine vendor. The program is mainly based on equations and test methods as per ASME PTC 6A-1982 (Test Code for Steam Turbines), ASME PTC 12.2–1955 (Steam Condensing Apparatus), HEI Standards for steam surface condensers and documents/data supplied by the turbine vendors. Details of the program are given in the paper.