Reduction of Flow Induced Vibration in the Heat Exchanger of Thermal Power Plant

발전소 열교환기에서의 유동유발 진동저감

This paper reports an example of flow-induced vibration in a very large plant and the whole procedure of reducing the vibration. During the operation of flue gas desurfurization unit of the thermal power plant, serious vibration occurred at all around the unit. The worst vibration was recorded on the heat exchanger surface, which weighed 180 tones, as 17.8 m/$s^2$ in vibration amplitude at 34Hz. To identify the vibration, frequency analysis on the response vibration, the expected excitation force and the system resonance was executed. This investigation revealed that the cause of the vibration was vortex shedding from the circular pipes in the heat exchanger. Vortices from the pipes excited acoustic resonance in the heat exchanger room, which, in turn, made the structure vibrate. Through inserting the baffles between the pipes, which had an effect of cutting the acoustic wave at resonance frequency, the vibration was eliminated dramatically.