STEAM BOILERS

Definition

A closed vessel in which steam is produced from water by combustion of fuel

Purpose of boilers
 For generating

power in steam engines or

steam turbines
 In textile

industries for sizing and bleaching

 For heating

the buildings in cold weather and for producing hot water for hot water supply

Primary requirements of a boiler

 The  The

water must be contained safely

steam must be safely delivered in desired condition (as regard its pressure, temperature, quality and required rate)

Boiler terms
 Shell: Consists Shell:

of one or more steel plates bent into a cylindrical form and riveted or welded together. The shell ends are closed with end plates primary function of setting is to confine heat to the boiler and form a passage for gases. It is made of brick work and may form the wall of the furnace and combustion chamber

 Setting: The Setting:

 Grate: Grate:

it is a platform in the furnace upon which fuel is burnt is the chamber formed by the space above the grate and below the boiler shell, in which combustion takes place.

 Furnace: it Furnace:

 Water space

and steam space: the volume of space: the shell that is occupied by the water is termed as water space while the entire shell volume less the water and tubes is called steam space

 Mountings: The Mountings:

items which are used for safety of boiler are called mountings The items which are used for increasing the boiler efficiency are called accessories The level at which water stands in the boiler is called water level

 Accessories: Accessories:

 Water level: level:

 Refractory: insulation Refractory:

material used for lining

combustion chamber
 Foaming: Foaming:

Formation of steam bubbles on the surface of boiler water due to high surface tension of water

 Scale: Scale:

A deposit of medium due to extreme hardness occurring on the water heating surfaces of boiler because of an undesirable condition in the boiler water The removal of mud and other impurities of water from the lowest part of the boiler. Accomplished with the help of blow off cock or valve

 Blowing off: off:

 Lagging: Lagging:

Insulation wrapped on the outside of the boiler shell or steam piping

Boiler accessories
 Feed

pumps: Used to deliver feed water to the pumps: boiler. It is desirable that the quantity of water supplied should be at least equal to that evaporated and supplied to the engine

 Two

types of which are commonly used as feed pumps are (1) reciprocating pump (2) rotary pump

Injector
 Function

of injector is to feed water into the

boiler
 It is

commonly employed for vertical and locomotive boilers and does not find its application in large capacity high pressure boilers used where the space is not available for the installation of feed pump

 Also

Economizer
 Is a

device in which the waste heat of the flue gases is utilized for heating the feed water are of two types Independent type Integral type

 Economizers

Air Pre-heater Pre   

The function of the air pre-heater is to increase the pretemperature of air before it enters the furnace. It is placed after the economizer. Flue gases pass through the economizer and then to the air preheater Degree of preheating depends on  Type of fuel  Type of fuel burning equipment, and  Rating at which the boiler and furnace are operated

Types of air preheaters

I.

Tubular type Plate type Storage type

II.

III.

Super heater
 The

function of a super heater is to increase the temperature of the steam above its saturation point super heater is very important accessory of a boiler and can be used both on fire tube and water tube boilers.

 The

 Advantages


of super heated steam

Steam consumption of the engine or turbine is reduced Erosion of turbine blade is eliminated Efficiency of the steam plant is increased Losses due to condensation in the cylinders and the steam pipes are reduced.

Steam separator
 The

function of a steam separator is to remove the entrained water particles from the steam conveyed to the steam engine or turbine. installed as close to the steam engine as possible on the main steam pipe from the boiler

 It is

 According

to principle of operation the steam separators are classified as follows



Impact or baffle type Reverse current type Centrifugal type

Boiler mountings
gauge  Fusible plug  Steam stop valve  Feed check valve  Blow off cock  Mud and man holes
 Pressure

Pressure gauge
   

To record the steam pressure at which steam is generated in the boiler A bourdon pressure gauge in its simplest form consists of a simple elastic tube One end of the tube is fixed and connected to the steam space in the boiler Other end is connected to a sector through a link

Pressure gauge

Fusible plug
 To

extinguish fire in the event of water level in the boiler shell falling below a certain specified limit  It is installed below boilers water level

Working of Fusible plug



 

When the water level in the shell falls below the top of the plug the steam cannot keep it cool and the fusible metal melts due to over heating. thus the copper plug drops down and is held with in the gun metal body by the ribs. Thus the steam space gets communicated to fire box and extinguishes the fire.

Thus damage to the fire box which could burn up is avoided By removing the gun metal plug and copper plug the Fusible plug can be put in position again by inserting the fusible metal usually lead or metal alloy

Steam stop valve



A valve is a device that regulates the flow of a fluid (gases , fluidized solids slurries or liquids) by opening or closing or partially obstructing various passageways Function : to shut off or regulate the flow of steam from the boiler to the steam pipe or steam from the steam pipe to the engine

Steam stop valve

Feed check valve



To allow the feed water to pass in to the boiler

To prevent the back flow of water from the boiler in the event of the failure of the feed pump

Blow off cock



To drain out water from the boiler for internal cleaning inspection or other purposes

Mud and man holes



To allow men to enter in to the boiler for inspection and repair

Classification of boilers
 Horizontal,

vertical or inclined  Fire tube and water tube  Externally fired and internally fired  Forced circulation and natural circulation  High pressure and low pressure  Stationary and portable  Single tube and multi tube

Horizontal, Horizontal, vertical or inclined

 If the

axis of the boiler is horizontal, vertical or inclined then it is called horizontal, vertical or inclined boiler respectively

Fire tube and water tube

 If hot

gases are inside the tube and water is outside the tube, it is called fire-tube boiler. fire Examples: Cochran, Lancashire and locomotive boilers  If water is inside the tube and hot gases are outside the tube, it is called fire-tube boiler. fire Examples:

Babcock and Wilcox, Stirling, Yarrow boiler etc

Externally fired and internally fired

 The

boiler is known as externally fired if the fire is outside the shell.  Examples: Babcock and Wilcox, Stirling
 The

boiler is known as internally fired if the furnace is located inside the boiler shell. Cochran, Lancashire

 Examples:

Forced circulation and natural circulation

 In

forced circulation type of boilers, the circulation of water is done by a forced pump  Examples: Velox, Lamont, Benson boiler  In natural circulation type of boilers, circulation of water in the boiler takes place due to natural convection currents produced by the application of heat  Examples: Lancashire, Babcock and Wilcox

High pressure and low pressure

 The

boilers which produce steam at pressures of 80 bar and above are called high pressure boilers  Examples: Babcock and Wilcox, Velox, Lamont, Benson boilers  The boilers which produce steam at pressure below 80 bar are called low pressure boilers  Examples: Cochran, Cornish, Lancashire and locomotive boilers

Stationary and portable

 Stationary boilers

are used for power plantplantsteam, for central station utility power plants, for plant process steam etc or portable boilers include locomotive type, and other small unit for temporary use at sites

 Mobile

Single tube and multi tube

 The

fire tube boilers are classified as single tube or multi-tube boilers, depending upon multiwhether the fire tube is one or more than one

 Examples

of single tube boilers are Cornish and simple vertical boiler

Comparison of fire tube and water tube boilers

Particulars Position of water and hot gases Mode of firing Operation pressure Rate of steam production Suitability Risk on bursting Fire-tube boilers FireHot gases inside the tubes and water outside the tubes Generally internally fired Limited to 16 bar Lower Not suitable for large power plants Involves lesser risk of explosion due to lower pressure For a given power it occupies more floor area Difficult WaterWater-tube boilers Water inside the tubes and hot gases outside the tubes Externally fired Can go up to 100 bar Higher Suitable for large power plants More risk on bursting due to high pressure For a given power it occupies less floor area Simple

Floor area Construction

Cont
Particulars Transportation Shell diameter Chances of explosion Treatment of water Accessibility of various parts Requirement of skill Fire-tube boilers FireDifficult Large for same power Less Not so necessary Various parts not so easily accessible for cleaning, repair and inspection Require less skill for efficient and economic working WaterWater-tube boilers Simple Small for same power More More necessary More accessible

Require more skill and careful attention

Lancashire boiler
 Reliable,

has simplicity of design, ease of operation and less operating and maintenance costs  Commonly used in sugar-mills and textile sugarindustries where along with the power steam and steam for the process work is also needed

Cont
 Consists

of cylindrical shell inside which two large tubes are spaced is constructed with several rings of cylindrical from it is placed horizontally over a brick work which forms several channels for the flow of hot gases furnace is placed at the front end of each

 Shell

 The

tube

Locomotive boiler

 Consists

of cylindrical barrel with rectangular fire box at one end and smoke box at another end gases generated due to burning of coal are deflected by an arch of fire bricks, so that walls of the fire box may be heated properly heat of the hot gases is transmitted into water through the heating surfaces of fire tubes

 Hot

 The

Babcock and Wilcox boiler

Cont
 It consists

of a drum connected to a series of front end and rear end header by short riser tubes these headers are connected a series of inclined (150 or more) water tubes hole is provided in the header in front of each tube for cleaning and inspection of tubes

 To

 A hand

Cont
Feed valve is provided to fill the drum and inclined tubes with water  Through the fire door fuel is supplied to grate where it is burnt  The hot gases are forced to move upwards between the tubes by baffle plates  The water from the drums flows through the inclined tubes via down take header and goes back into the shell in the form of water and steam via uptake header


Nestler boiler

Nestler boiler
 Fire tube

type of fired horizontal axis boiler  The boiler shell consists of two mild steel thick plates with large number of fire tubes fitted between two plates  A bigger diameter furnace tube extending from burner end to other end is used for carrying hot flue gases from one smoke box to other smoke box

 At

the rare end smoke box chimney is provided for the rejection of exhaust gases  Hot gases passes through the furnace tube and enter into the rear end smoke box and pass through fire tubes to the front end smoke box for final discharge through chimney  Water surrounding tubes get transformed into steam and gets collected in steam space.  Oil is first heated up to 80oc by electric heater before being supplied to burner for injection into furnace tube.

 Blower

is employed for atomization of furnace oil into furnace a boilers are capable of generating steam up to 10-11 bar.

 Such

Bent tube boilers

Straight tube boilers has many disadvantages like 1. They had less accessibility and poorer inspection capability, considerable time, labour and expense were required to open up or close the bolts in the headers, and to remove and replace the gaskets 2. Inadequate design and imperfect fabrication of hand hole caps (cleaning purpose) resulted in much leakage 3. Circulation was sluggish sluggish due to low head, and limited steam disengaging surface made inadequate separation of steam and water reducing steam rate

Bent tube boilers offers many advantages over straight-tube boilers The notable among them being greater accessibility for inspection, cleaning, and maintenance, and ability to operate at higher steaming rates and to deliver drier steam

Four drum stirling boiler

Five-drum form

flows downwards from the mud drum to headers feeding the tubes lining the walls of the radiant surface  The low density steam-water mixture rises up to the steam drum at the upper side  The steam is separated and flows to the central drum, where it is removed  Feed water enters the drum at the left and mixes with the saturated liquid in the drum  The cooled liquid flows down to mud drum
 Water

Cochran boiler


One of the best types of vertical multi-tube boiler Consists of a cylindrical shell with a dome shaped top where the space is provided for steam The furnace is one piece construction and is seamless

Cont..

Its crown has a hemispherical shape and thus provides maximum volume of space The fuel is burnt on the grate and ash is collected and disposed from the ash pit The gases of combustion produced by burning the fuel enter the combustion chamber through the flue tube

They strike against fire brick lining which directs them to pass through number of horizontal tubes, being surrounded by water After which the gases escape to the atmosphere through the smoke box and chimney A number of hand holes are provided around the outer shell for cleaning purposes

a component of steam generator Basic requirements :  Through mixing of fuel and air  Optimum fuel-air ratios leading to most complete combustion possible maintained over full load range  Ready and accurate response of rate of fuel feed to load demand

 It is

Contd..
 Continuous  Practical

and reliable ignition of fuel

distillation of volatile components of coal followed by adequate action control over point of formation and accumulation of ash, when coal is the fuel

 Adequate

Solid fuels fired

Hand fired

Stoker fired

Pulverized fuel fired

Underfeed stockers

Overfeed stockers

Unit system

Central system

Both

Liquid fuel fired

Injection system Evaporator system Combination of both

Gaseous fuel fired

 Atmospheric  High

pressure system

pressure system

 Initial cost of

equipment  Sufficient combustion space and its liability to withstand high flame temp  Area of grate  Operating cost  Minimum smoke nuisance  Flexibility of operation  Arrangements for through mixing of air with fuel for efficient combustion

A

stoker is a power operated fuel feeding mechanism and grate  A cheaper grade of fuel can be used  A higher efficiency can be attained  A greater flexibility of operations assured  Less smoke produced  Generally less building space is necessary  Can be used for small or large boiler units  Very reliable , maintenance charges are reasonably low

 Practically  Reduction  Capital

immune for explosion in auxiliary plant

investment as compared to pulverized fuel system is less reserve is gained by the large amount of coal stored on the grate in the event of coal handling plant failure

 Some

 Construction  In case

is complicated

of very large units the initial cost may be rather higher than with pulverized fuel always a certain amount of loss of coal in the form of riddling through the gates vibrations in the steam demand cannot be met to the same degree

 There is

 Sudden

 Troubles

due to slagging and clinkering of combustion chamber walls are experienced and stand by losses are always present

 Banking

 Structural arrangements

are not so simple and surrounding floors have to be designed for heavy loadings excessive wear of moving parts due to abrasive action of coal

 There is

 In overfeed

stokers the coal is fed into the grate above the point of air admission  The fuel bed section receives fresh coal from top surfaces  The ignition plane lies between green coal and incandescent coke  The air enters the bottom of the grate under pressure  In flowing through the grate opening the air is heated while it cools the grate

 The

warm air then passes through a layer of hot ashes and picks up the heat energy region immediately above the ashes contains a mixture of incandescent coke and ash, coke content increasing upward direction the air comes in contact with incandescent coke, the O2 reacts with carbon to form CO2 vapor entering with the air reacts with coke to form CO2, CO and free H2

 The

 As

 Water

 Upon

further travel through the incandescent region some of the CO2 reacts with coke to form CO no free O2 will be present in the gases leaving the incandescent region fuel undergoing distillation of its volatile matter forms the top-most layer of the fuel bed

 Hence

 Fresh

 Heat

for distillation and eventually ignition comes from

conduction from the incandescent coke below 2. From high temperature gases diffusing through the surface of the bed 3. By radiation from flames and hot gases in the furnace 4. From the hot furnace walls
1. By

 The

ignition zone lies directly below the raw fuel undergoing distillation  To burn gases additional secondary air must be fed into the furnace to supply the needed oxygen  The secondary air must be injected at considerable speed to create turbulence and to penetrate to all parts of the area above the fuel bed  The combustible gases then completely burn in the furnace

 Fuel,

coke and ash in the fuel bed move in the direction opposite to that of air and gases fuel continually drops on the surface of the bed rising air feed cools the ash until it finally rests in a plane immediately adjacent to the grate

 Raw

 The

Types of overfeed stokers

1 Travelling grate stoker

Chain grate type Bar grate type

2 Spreader stoker

 A chain

grate stoker consists of flexible endless chain which forms a support for the fuel bed  The chain travels over sprocket wheels one at the front and one at the rear of furnace  The front sprocket is connected to a variable speed drive mechanism  The grate should be saved from being overheated, for this, coal should have sufficient ash content which will form a layer on grate

 Simple

in construction  Initial cost low  Maintenance charges low  Self-cleaning stoker  Giving high release rates per unit volume of the furnace  Heat release rates can be controlled just by controlling the speed of the chain

 Preheated

air temperatures are limited to 1800C

maximum  The clinker troubles are very common  There is always some loss of coal in the form of fine particles through riddlings  Ignition arches are required  This cannot be used for high capacity boilers

 In this

type of stoker the coal is not fed into furnace by means of grate  The function of the grate is only to support a bed of ash and move it out of the furnace  From the coal hopper, coal is fed into the path of a rotor by means of a conveyor  And it is thrown into the furnace by the rotor and burnt in suspension  The air for combustion is supplied through the holes in the grate

 The

secondary air to create turbulence and supply oxygen for thorough combustion of coal is supplied through nozzles located directly above the ignition arch  Unburnt coal and ash are deposited on the grate which can be moved periodically to remove ash out of the furnace  Spreader stokers can burn any type of coal

 A wide

variety of coal can be burnt  This stoker is simple to operate, easy to light up and bring into commission  The use of high temperature preheated air is possible  Operation cost is considerably low  The clinking difficulties are reduced even with coals which have high clinkering tendencies

 Volatile matter

is easily burnt  Fire arches etc. Are generally not required with this type of stokers

 It is

difficult to operate spreader with varying sizes of coal with varying moisture content  Fly-ash is much more  No remedy for clinker troubles  There is a possibility of some fuel loss in the cinders up the stack because of the thin fuel bed and suspension burning

Hand fired system

Manual feeding system Very old system Used in small scale applications.

Hand fired system

 Air entering

through the holes in the grate comes in contact with the raw coal  Then it passes through the incandescent coke where reactions similar to overfeed system takes place  The gases produced then pass through a layer of ash  The secondary air is supplied to burn combustible gases  The underfeed principle is suitable for burning the semi-bituminous and bituminous coal

 High

thermal efficiency as compared to chain grate stokers  Combustion rate is considerably higher  The grate is self cleaning  Part load efficiency is high particularly with multi retort type  Different variety of coal can be used  Much higher steaming rates are possible with this type of stoker

 Grate bars,

tuyeres and retorts are not subjected to high temp as they remain contact with fresh coal  Overload capacity of the boiler is high as large amount of coal is carried on the grate  Smokeless operation is possible even at very light load  With use of clinker grinder, more heat can be liberated out of the fuel

 Substantial

amount of coal always remains on the grate so that boiler may remain in service in the event of temporary breakdown of the coal supply system  It can be used with all refractory furnaces because of non-exposure of stoker mechanism to the furnace

 High

initial cost  Require large building space  The clinker troubles are usually present  Low grade fuels with high ash content cannot be burnt economically

Contd..

 Coal

is reduced to a fine powder with the help of grinding mill and then projected into the combustion chamber with the help of hot air current  The amount of air (secondary air) required to complete the combustion is supplied separately to the combustion chamber  The resulting turbulence in the combustion chamber helps for uniform mixing of fuel and air

 The

amount of air which is used to carry the coal and dry it before entering into the combustion chamber is known as primary air  The efficiency of the pulverized fuel firing system mostly depends upon the size of the powder

 Any

grade of coal can be used since coal is powdered before use  The rate of feed of the fuel can be regulated properly resulting in the economy  Since there is almost complete combustion of the fuel there is increased rate of evaporation and higher boiler efficiency

capacity to meet peak loads  The system is practically free from sagging and clinkering troubles  No stand by losses due to banked fires  Practically no ash handling problems  No moving parts in the furnace is subjected to high temperatures  This system works successfully with or in combination with gas or oil  Much smaller quantity of air is required as compared to that of stoker firing
 Greater

free from clinker troubles  The external heating surfaces are free from corrosion  It is possible to use highly preheated secondary air which helps for rapid flame propagation  The furnace volume required is considerably less
 Practically

 High

capital cost  Lot of flyash in the exhaust, which makes the removing of fine dust uneconomical  The possibility of explosion is more as coal burns like a gas  The maintenance of furnace brick work is costly  Special equipment is needed to start this system

 Skilled operators

are required  A separate coal preparation plant is necessary  High furnace temps cause rapid deterioration of the refractory surfaces of the furnace  Nuisance is created by the emission of very fine particles of grit and dust  Fine regular grinding of fuel and proper distribution of burners is usually difficult to achieve

Self study topics

1.

Schematic diagrams of modern steam generators Cyclone furnace Fluidized bed combustion

2.

3.

THANK YOU