Gibson Station Increases Flow Rate with CCI Technology

Gibson power plant is replacing its existing sootblower control valves with five CCI angle DRAG® valves in an effort to increase the current flow rate three to four times plus maintain velocity control. When installed, these valves will be used for units 2, 3, and 4 of the generating station to contribute to improved plant efficiency.

In the sootblower application, two of the most important functional requirements that must be met are good rangeability and tight shutoff. These are necessary to help prevent several potential problems such as poor control, trim and body wear, and seat leakage. CCI DRAG® technology will allow for a highly reliable and precise level of flow control, thus guaranteeing longer life because the potential damaging effects of high flow velocity are eliminated. CCI valves for sootblower header control have been designed to meet requirements such as Class V shutoff, which is necessary because any leakage through a header control valve will increase downstream pressure and pop the safety valves when the sootblower is closed, causing a lag in start-up. The new valves are also designed with over the plug flow, which keeps the disk heated. This design prevents thermal transient problems in valves that are often closed for a period of time, but upon opening contains trim that heats up much faster than the valve body which can prevent costly maintenance issues.

Published in SOLUTIONS Fall 2001