Alexandria Engineering Journal (2015) xxx, xxx–xxx

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Efficiency studies of combination tube boilers

Brundaban Patro

National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha 769008, India

Received 18 March 2015; revised 21 November 2015; accepted 5 December 2015

KEYWORDS Abstract This paper presents the study of combination tube boilers, as applicable to commercial
Boiler efficiency; use, along with the significant features, limitations, and applicability. A heat balance sheet is pre-
Heat loss; pared to know the various heat losses in two different two-pass combination tube boilers, using
Combination tube; low grade coal and rice husk as a fuel. Also, the efficiency of the combination tube boilers is studied
Heat balance sheet; by the direct and heat loss methods. It is observed that the dry flue gas loss is a major loss in the
Energy combination tube boilers. The loss due to the unburnt in the fly ash is very less in the combination
tube boilers, due to the surrounded membrane wall. It is also observed that the loss due to the
unburnt in the bottom ash has a considerable amount for the heat loss, and cannot be ignored.
Ó 2015 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction out of control in near future. Again, Indian coal contains lots
of ash, and low in quality. Therefore, these low grade coals
Nowadays, energy is very important, and therefore, it should should be used properly, to generate maximum energy, with
not be wasted. Almost everywhere, there is a requirement of improved design heating systems.
energy in this physical world. Therefore, the main concern The low calorific value fuels have a major problem, when
should be to recover energy from the waste sources as much used as a boiler fuel. These fuels contain a lot of ash, and
as possible. We should explore new options to generate energy. the quality is low. They require a large furnace for the same
Everyday, many industries and research organizations are amount of power generation, and often, the design of the fur-
engaged with new ideas and thoughts, to explore new sources nace requires to be modified. The fuels, such as rice
of energy. Also we should not rely on fossil fuel energy husk, wood scraps, agro wastes, and low grade coals require
sources, as these sources are depressing down, and seeming a large grate area and furnace volume. Therefore, these fuels
cannot be used in boilers of shell type with internal flues.
Although the fire tube boilers possess a steam reservoir of large
size, they are less efficient. On the other hand, water tube
boilers are more efficient, but they are complicated. Again,
they cannot store a large amount of steam. But the combina-
Abbreviations IBR, Indian Boiler Regulation; GCV, Gross Calorific tion tube boilers maximize both types of the boilers, such as
Value; LCV, Lower Calorific Value; NCV, Net Calorific Value; HCV, fire tube and water tube boilers, to achieve maximum
Higher Calorific Value; TDS, Total Dissolved Solids; DM, advantages.
Demineralization Many researchers have studied the performance of
E-mail address: [email protected] different types of boilers i.e., fire tube boilers and water tube
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria boilers.
University.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2015.12.007
1110-0168 Ó 2015 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article in press as: B. Patro, Efficiency studies of combination tube boilers, Alexandria Eng. J. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2015.12.007
2 B. Patro

Nomenclature

C carbon (CO2)a actual CO2

A ash m mass of dry flue gas in kg/kg of fuel
V volatile matter Cp specific heat of flue gas, kcal/kg °C
M moisture Cps specific heat of superheated steam, kcal/kg °C
S sulphur Tf flue gas temperature, °C
E excess air supplied Tf ambient temperature, °C
H2 hydrogen Mm kg of moisture in the fuel on 1 kg basis
O2 oxygen Ma actual mass of air supplied per kg of fuel
N2 nitrogen MCO mass of CO formation
CO carbon monoxide Mf fuel consumption, kg/h
CO2 carbon dioxide Vm wind velocity, m/s
SO2 sulphur dioxide Ts surface temperature of boiler, K
(CO2)t theoretical CO2 Tak ambient temperature, K

1.1. Studies on fire tube boilers also analyzed their influence on boiler efficiency. Tanetsakun-
vatana and Kuprianov [15] have experimentally studied the
Dias et al. [1] have tested the efficiency of a small domestic boi- thermal efficiency of a 300 MW boiler unit, fired with Thai lig-
ler, using different pellets. Ganan et al. [2] have carried out nite fuel. Shieh et al. [16] have studied the improvement of
experimental study of fire tube boilers, to evaluate the perfor- thermal efficiency of a boiler by 1.94% burning multi-gas,
mance. Bujak [3] has used mathematical modeling approaches, and by 0.73% burning coal and multi-gas. They developed
to study the boiler efficiency. Test results of the efficiency were an adaptive data-driven thermal efficiency estimator, and used
compared with real boiler efficiency, and found satisfactory statistical indication of key variables. Gupta et al. [17] have
results. Ghorbani et al. [4] have experimentally studied the studied the improvement of the overall boiler efficiency by
combustion performance of biodiesel blends and diesel in a 2%, adopting some recommendations. Yadav and Singh [18]
boiler. The results have shown that, at a higher level energy, have compared the boiler efficiencies, using two fuels i.e., husk
diesel efficiency was a little higher than that of biodiesel, but and coal. The study concluded that husk was more reliable
at lower level, biodiesels are efficient than diesel. Lee et al. than coal. Lv et al. [19] studied the improvement of boiler ther-
[5] have developed a condensing gas boiler, by studying the mal efficiency by recycling the waste heat. They found 1%
performances of heat exchanger and pilot boiler. Verma increment in boiler efficiency by decreasing the exhaust gas
et al. [6] have studied the performance evaluation of a multi- temperature to 15–20 °C. Mogharia et al. [20] presented a pre-
fuel fired domestic boiler, with respect to the existing European cise numerical study on thermal performance of a D-type
standards and quality labels. Kljajic et al. [7] used a neural net- water cooled boiler, fired with natural gas. Du and Liu [21]
work approach to analyze and predict the boiler efficiency. have tested the efficiency of industrial boilers, by direct and
They also discovered the possibilities for enhancing the boiler indirect methods. Wang et al. [22] developed a thermal effi-
efficiency. Lv et al. [8] studied the energy efficiency of a coal ciency model, taking data from a real gas/solid fuels co-firing
fired boiler by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Tai boiler. They proposed a two-tier approach to modeling ther-
et al. [9] have noticed the increment of the boiler efficiency mal efficiency. Zandeckis et al. [23] have studied the optimiza-
about 1%, by recovering the waste heat. Kang et al. [10] have tion of the thermal performance of a pellet fired boiler, by
developed a test facility to evaluate the performance of a solar and pellet combine system. Efficiency of the boiler was
domestic wood pellet fired boiler. Comparison of different test- improved by changing the location of the air intake point.
ing methods for gas fired domestic boilers, for the efficiency Dhanre et al. [24] have reviewed the energy audit of a boiler
determination has been carried out by Paepe et al. [11]. Again, in a thermal power station. Ghritlahre and Singh [25] have
Verma et al. [12] have studied the performance of the domestic studied the dry flue gas losses and efficiency of an Artificial
pellet fired boilers, as a function of operational loads. Fluidized Bed Combustion (AFBC) boiler, by heat loss
method, considering the excess air effects. They found that
the maximum combustion zone for the boiler was between
1.2. Studies on water tube boilers 3.5% and 5% of O2, and maximum efficiency of the boiler
was obtained for the range of 20–40% of excess air. Mallikar-
Zhou et al. [13] have used modeling approaches, to study the juna et al. [26] have studied the improvement of the boiler effi-
boiler efficiency of a D-type boiler. In the study, the measured ciency, using an air pre-heater. Wu et al. [27] have optimized
performance of a 300,000 lb/h steam boiler was found to show the efficiency of a boiler, using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC)
more dependence on ambient air temperature than on boiler algorithm.
load. Barroso et al. [14] have investigated the efficiency incre- Many researchers as listed above have studied the efficiency
ment of a Retal type boiler, using bagasse as a fuel. They eval- of fire tube and water tube boilers. No literature is found about
uated the process and further adjustment of the boiler’s the combination tube boiler. Therefore, an attempt is made to
operation. They calculated the optimal stack gas temperature study the heat losses and efficiency of two different capacities
as well as the range of the optimal value of excess air. They of combination tube boilers, using low grade fuels.

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Combination tube boilers 3

2. Constructional description and two fire doors are provided for the firing. In the front
and back brick walls, ash door is provided for ash removal.
As the name indicates, a combination tube boiler contains
both fire tubes and water tubes. The tubes, which are inside 2.1. Technical details
the pressure vessel, are subjected to hot flue gases, while the
tubes, which are attached to the membrane panel, are sub- Construction: Radiant furnace, membrane type water wall
jected to water. The water tube membrane wall construction lined with smoke-cum-water tube boiler.
provides an optimum radiant heat transfer whereas two-pass Design code: IBR 1950 [28] as amended.
fire tubes in the boiler shell provide an adequate convective Maximum evaporation capacity: 2000 kg/h to 20,000 kg/h
heat transfer. Thus, the boiler efficiency is improved. The (from & at 100 °C).
water tube membrane panel is subjected to a large combustion Maximum design and working pressure: 10.54 kg/cm2 to
zone. The combination tube boiler will have an outer casing, 32 kg/cm2 (Gauge).
whose condition is not essential to the working of the boiler. Hydraulic test pressure: 1.5 times of the working pressure.
If it gets dented, the boiler still works. Insulation is required Steam state: dry saturated/superheated.
for the safe work and for energy efficiency. The insulation pro- Flange specifications: as per IBR 1950 [28].
vided is blankets of fiber glass of 3-in. thick (density 40 kg/m3).
The boiler outer casing consists of 3-in. thick fiber glass insu- 3. Significant features, limitations, and applicability
lation enclosed in 18 gauge corrugated aluminum panels.
Fig. 1 shows the pictorial view of a combination tube boiler. 3.1. Significant features
The main components are as follows: 1. Steam shell, 2.
Top header, 3. Bottom header, 4. Down comer, 5. Smoke Significant features of the combination tube boilers are as
tubes, 6. Membrane water tubes, 7. Man hole, 8. Mud hole, follows:
9. Gussets, 10. Pressure gauge, 11. Safety valve, 12. Steam
stop valve, 13. Air vent, 14. Blow down, 15. Water level
The combustion zone is surrounded by a membrane water
header, 16. Feed connection, and 17. Saddle. Fig. 2 shows wall; thus, the radiation losses are minimum.
the orthographic views of a two-pass combination tube boiler
Steam generation is consistent and uninterrupted.
with various components. The steam shell provides a reser-
Large water and steam spaces handle the fluctuating steam
voir for the storage of steam. The top and bottom headers loads much well.
are provided to support the membrane water wall tubes.
Furnace volume is large, therefore, suitable for fuels with
Smoke tubes are placed inside the main shell and carry hot high volatile content.
flue gases, surrounded by water. A man hole is provided at
Very high thermal efficiency is due to the requirement of
the top of the shell for the maintenance work, and a mud less excess air for the combustion.
hole at the bottom to discharge mud and sediments. Gussets
A wide range of fuels can be used, such as rice husk,
are provided inside the shell to support the end plates. All the groundnut shell, low grade coals, saw dust, and other agro
necessary mountings, such as pressure gauge, safety valves (2 and animal wastes.
nos.), steam stop valve, air vent, and blow down are mounted
in the boiler, for the safe working. Feed connection and 3.2. Limitations
water level headers are provided in the boiler. The boiler rests
on two saddles. The complete boiler is placed in a brick wall
Although there are many advantages, these types of boiler
setting, and firing and ash doors are provided. The frontal
design have some limitations. These are as follows:
area of the membrane water wall is enclosed by a brick wall,

Collection and storage of biomass fuels are difficult.

Produces lots of smoke, when biomass or other low grade
fuels are used.

Frequently tube cleaning is required, due to the use of the
low grade fuels.

These are more expensive than other type of boilers.

Handling, storage, and disposal of ash are difficult, due to
the use of the low grade fuels.

3.3. Applicability

The combination tube boiler design is a very durable, effi-

cient, and flexible. Most of them are used for the commer-
cial usage. These can be used in brick industry, casting
industry, forging industry, dye and chemical factories, paper
mills, press shop, and many more. Also, these types of boil-
ers are common in lumber processing industries. Many pro-
Figure 1 Pictorial view of a combination tube boiler (Courtesy: duction facilities use combination tube boilers, using
Thermodyne Engineering Systems, Ghaziabad). biomass fuels.

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4 B. Patro

Figure 2 Orthographic views of a two-pass combination tube boiler.

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Combination tube boilers 5

4. Different types of fuels for the combination tube boilers Table 3 Energy contents of low grade coals as per ASTM
D388.
The following fuels are used for the combination tube
Low grade coal Energy content (kcal/kg)
boilers.
Lower Higher
4.1. Solid biomass fuels Peat 1000 1500
Lignite 3000 4500
Sub-bituminous 4500 6500
Everyday, the need of new and alternate energy sources is
growing, due to the shrinkage of fossil fuels. From the past
180 years, biomass fuels have been used, due to their availabil-
ity, and can be renewable. Solid biomass fuels are renewable Peat: Partially carbonized plant debris, which is accumu-
fuels, which are nothing but organic materials. These fuels con- lated in the earths crust, is called peat. It is organic sediment.
tain low calorific values, compared to fossil fuels. Three steps i.e., burial, compaction, and coalification will
These fuels are typically consumed onsite or transported to transform it into coal. In dry ash-free basis, it has a carbon
short distances only (e.g., less than 40 miles). These fuels con- content of less than 60%.
tain high moisture, which increases weight, and simultaneously Lignite: After Peat, lignite is the lowest rank of the coal,
increases the transportation cost. The combustion perfor- which is brown-black coal. It is a type of peat, which has been
mance is also decreased, due to high moisture content. But transformed into a rock. Sometimes, it contains plant struc-
these fuels cannot be ignored, as a new energy source, since tures of the recognizable quantity. In dry ash-free basis, there
these are renewable. Table 1 shows the different solid biomass is 60–70% of carbon content in it. Some low-level lignite is also
fuels. called as ‘‘brown coal” in UK, Australia, and Europe.
The higher heating values of various solid biomass fuels [29] Sub-bituminous: Sub-bituminous coal is a kind of lignite
per dry-kg are shown in Table 2. coal, which has been subjected to organic metamorphism.
The level of organic metamorphism is high during the process.
4.2. Low grade coals Some of the oxygen and hydrogen in the coal are driven off dur-
ing the metamorphism. In dry ash-free basis, it contains 71–
Low grade coals are the low energy content of the coal, which 77% of carbon. It is further sub-divided into three types, such
is the amount of energy that will be released by the combustion as sub-bituminous A, sub-bituminous B, and sub-bituminous
of 1 kg of coal. Low grade coals are classified as follows: C, on the basis of heating value. The heating value of sub-
bituminous A is 5483 kcal/kg, sub-bituminous B is 5076 kcal/

Peat kg, and sub-bituminous C is 4960 kcal/kg.

Lignite

Sub-bituminous coals 4.2.1. Chemical composition of the low grade coals
Composition of coal varies widely. Generally, it is composed of
six rings of carbon atoms, joined together with significant
Table 1 Different solid biomass fuels. amounts of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Also some
Different solid Example
amount of sulfur and other environmental pollutants are pre-
biomass fuels sent there. Usually, coal is analyzed for proximate analysis
i.e., fixed carbon, volatile matter, ash, and moisture content.
Forestry residues Woody debris and slash from forest
The contents of sulfur and nitrogen cannot be neglected, as
Mill residues By-products, such as sawdust and wood chips
from lumber mills and rice husk from rice
the emissions of these two contents can cause acid rain, during
mills the coal burning. The energy contents of the low grade coals as
Agricultural Crop wastes, vineyard and orchard pruning, per ASTM D388 [30] are shown in Table 3.
residues various rejected agricultural products, etc.
Urban wood and Construction wood wastes and residential
5. Heat balance sheet
yard wastes organics collected by municipal programs or
recycling centers, etc.
The complete history of the heat interaction in a boiler is
known, with the help of a heat balance sheet. The efficiency
of a boiler is never 100%. This is due to the reason of the uti-
lization of only a portion of the heat supplied by the fuel,
Table 2 Higher heating values of various solid biomass fuels.
and the remaining is lost. The efficiency can easily be measured,
Biomass fuel Higher heating value (kcal/kg) by measuring all the losses occurring in the boiler. A heat bal-
Wood chips 4992 ance sheet shows the heat supplied by 1 kg of fuel, and the heat
Bagasse 5064 utilized. The heat supplied by the fuel is mainly used for raising
Straw 3630 the steam, and the remaining heat is lost.
Rice husk 3607
Pine bark 4872 5.1. Heat losses in combination tube boilers
Corn stover 4443
Cotton stalks 4538
Black coffee husks 4443 The following heat losses are applicable to a combination tube
boiler with solid fuels [31]:

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6 B. Patro

HL1: Heat loss due to dry flue gas (%). ðcÞ Actual mass of air supplied per kg of fuel ðMaÞ
HL2: Heat loss due to evaporation of water formed due to ¼ f1 þ %E=100g  theoretical air ð10Þ
hydrogen in the fuel (%).
HL3: Heat loss due to moisture content in the fuel (%). The various losses, associated with the operation of a com-
HL4: Heat loss due to moisture content in the air (%). bination tube boiler, are discussed below with the required
HL5: Heat loss due to the formation of carbon monoxide formula.
(%).
HL6: Heat loss due to surface radiation, convection, and 5.2.1. HL1: Heat loss due to dry flue gas (%)
other unaccounted losses (%). This is the major loss in the boiler operation, and can be cal-
HL7: Heat loss due to unburnt carbon (%). culated with the following formula:
Other unaccounted losses are difficult to measure. m  Cp ðTf  Ta Þ
HL1 ¼  100 ð11Þ
GCV of the fuel
5.2. Calculation procedure and formula where m = mass of dry flue gas in kg/kg of fuel.

Conversion of proximate analysis to ultimate analysis is ¼ Combustion products from the fuel
: CO2 þ SO2 þ Nitrogen in the fuel
%C ¼ 0:97ð%CÞ þ 0:7ð%V þ 0:1ð%AÞÞ  %Mð0:6  0:01ð%MÞÞ
ð1Þ þ Nitrogen in the actual mass of the air supplied
þ O2 in the flue gas ð12Þ
%H2 ¼ 0:036ð%CÞ þ 0:086ð%V  0:1ð%AÞÞ
In the calculation of mass of the dry flue gas, water vapor in
 0:0035ð%MÞ2ð1  0:02ð%MÞÞ ð2Þ the flue gas should not be considered. The losses due to these
components should not be included in the dry flue gas loss,
%N2 ¼ 2:10  0:020ð%VÞ ð3Þ since they are separately calculated as a wet flue gas loss.
where C = carbon, A = ash, V = volatile matter, and
M = moisture. Cp = Specific heat of flue gas, kcal/kg °C,
For computing the occurrence of boiler losses, stoichiomet- Tf = Flue gas temperature, °C,
ric or theoretical air fuel ratio and excess air supplied are to be Ta = Ambient temperature, °C.
determined first. The formulas are given below:
For simple, easy, and quick calculation, use the following:
ðaÞ Theoretical air required for the complete combustion
¼ ½ð11:6  %CÞ þ f34:8  ð%H2  %O2 =8Þg Total mass of flue gas ðmÞ=kg of fuel

þ ð4:35  %SÞ=100 kg=kg of fuel ¼ mass of actual air supplied=kg of fuel þ 1 kg of fuel
½From the fuel analysis
where %C, %H2, %O2, and %S are the percentage of carbon, 5.2.2. HL2: Heat loss due to evaporation of water formed due to
hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur present in the fuel. H2 in fuel (%)
The combustion of hydrogen causes a heat loss. This is due to
%O2
ðbÞ % of excess air supplied ð%EÞ ¼  100 the reason that the product of combustion is water. Again, this
21  %O2 ð5Þ water is converted to steam, and this carries away the heat in
½From the flue gas analysis the form of its latent heat.
Take CO2 measurement if O2 measurement is not 9  H2  f584 þ Cps ðTf  Ta Þg
available. HL2 ¼  100 ð13Þ
GCV of fuel
7900  ½%ðCO2 Þt  %ðCO2 Þa  where H2 = kg of hydrogen present in the fuel on 1 kg basis,
¼
%ðCO2 Þa  ½100  %ðCO2 Þt  ð6Þ Cps = Specific heat of superheated steam, kcal/kg °C,
½From the flue gas analysis 584 = Latent heat corresponding to the partial pressure of
the water vapor.
where (CO2)t = theoretical CO2 and (CO2)a = actual CO2
in the flue gas.
5.2.3. HL3: Heat loss due to moisture present in the fuel (%)
Moisture present in the fuel, entering the boiler with the fuel,
Moles of C
ðCO2 Þt ¼ ð7Þ leaves as a superheated vapor. This moisture loss is made up
Moles of N2 þ Moles of C of the sensible heat loss, to bring the moisture to the boiling
point. The latent heat of evaporation of the moisture and the
Weight of N2 in the theoretical air
Moles of N2 ¼ degree of superheat required, bringing this steam to the tem-
Mole weight of N2
perature of the exhaust gas, cause the heat loss. This loss can
Weight of N2 in the fuel be calculated with the following formula:
þ ð8Þ
Mole weight of N2
Mm  f584 þ Cps ðTf  Ta Þg
HL3 ¼  100 ð14Þ
Weight of C in the fuel GCV of fuel
Moles of C ¼ ð9Þ
Molecular weight of C where Mm = kg of moisture in the fuel on 1 kg basis.

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Combination tube boilers 7

5.2.4. HL4: Heat loss due to moisture present in the air (%) 5.2.7. HL7: Heat loss due to unburnt carbon (%)
Humidity in the entering air is superheated, as it passes Some amount of carbon is present in the ash, and this consti-
through the steam boiler. This is considered as a boiler loss, tutes a potential heat loss in the fuel in the operation of a boi-
because this heat passes up the stack. We must know the mois- ler. To calculate these heat losses, samples of ash need to be
ture present in the combustion air and the amount of the air analyzed, for the measurement of carbon content present in
supplied per unit mass of coal burned, to relate this loss to the ash. Again, the quantity of ash produced per unit of fuel
the mass of the coal burned. The mass of water vapor that burnt must also be given.
air contains can be obtained from the psychometric chart.
The typical values are shown in Table 4. HL7 ¼ Heat loss due to unburnt carbon in the fly ash ð%Þ
þ Heat loss due to unburnt carbon in the bottom ash ð%Þ
Ma  humidity factor  Cps  ðTf  Ta Þ
HL4 ¼  100 ð15Þ
GCV of the fuel
where heat loss due to unburnt in fly ash ð%Þ
Humidity factor ¼ kg of water=kg of dry air ðTotal ash collected=kg of fuel burntÞ  GCV of the fly ash
¼  100
GCV of the fuel
ð20Þ

5.2.5. HL5: Heat loss due to formation of carbon monoxide (%) and heat loss due to unburnt in bottom ash ð%Þ
This is due to the incomplete combustion i.e., partial conver- ðTotal ash collected=kg of fuel burntÞ  GCV of the bottom ash
¼  100
sion of C to CO. GCV of the fuel
ð21Þ
%CO  C 5744
HL5 ¼   100 ð16Þ
%CO þ %ðCO2 Þa GCV of the fuel
6. Boiler efficiency
or
when CO is obtained in ppm, during the flue gas analysis, In order to know the performance of boilers, it is very impor-
use the following formula: tant to test the efficiency of boilers. Testing of the boiler effi-
ciency calculates the best possible efficiency, which drifts
CO formationðMCO Þ ¼ CO ðin ppmÞ  10:6  Mf  28 ð17Þ
away from the test efficiency. Therefore, corrective action
Mf = fuel consumption, kg/h could be taken, to rectify the observed problem areas, for
achieving the best efficiency. There are two methods i.e., direct
HL5 ¼ MCO  5744 ð18Þ method and indirect method (heat loss method), for the effi-
ciency test of boilers [32].
where 5744 is the heat loss due to partial combustion of the
carbon. 6.1. Direct method of testing

5.2.6. HL6: Heat loss due to radiation and convection (%) Direct method of testing the boiler efficiency is also known as
The other heat losses from a boiler consist of loss of the heat input–output method. This efficiency can be evaluated, using
by radiation and convection. These losses are from the boiler the following formula:
casting into the surrounding boiler house. In general, surface Heat output
heat losses and other unaccounted losses are assumed, based Boiler efficiency ¼  100
Heat input
on the capacity and type of the boiler. However, these losses Steam flow rate  ðsteam enthalpy  feed water enthalpyÞ
¼
can be calculated, if the surface area of the boiler and its sur- Fuel firing rate  GCV of fuel
face temperature are known.  100
Radiation heat loss, W/m2, is ð22Þ

¼ 0:548  ½ðTs =55:55Þ4  ðTak =55:55Þ4  þ 1:957

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 6.2. Indirect method of testing (heat loss method)
 ðTs  Tak Þ1:25  ½ð196:85Vm þ 68:9Þ=68:9 ð19Þ
The heat loss method is more accurate than the direct method.
where Vm = wind velocity, m/s, Ts = surface temperature of
In this method, the efficiency of the boiler is calculated, by sub-
the boiler, K, Tak = ambient temperature, K.
tracting all the heat losses in a boiler from 100.
Therefore, boiler efficiency by heat loss method is
Table 4 Typical values of mass of the water vapor in the air. ¼ 100  ðHL1 þ HL2 þ HL3 þ HL4 þ HL5 þ HL6 þ HL7Þ
Dry bulb Wet bulb Relative kg of water vapor per ð23Þ
temperature temperature humidity kg of dry air (value)
(°C) (°C) (%)
20 20 100 0.0148
7. Use of various instruments
20 15 50 0.0086
30 21 50 0.012 The following instruments, which are given in Table 5, are
40 30 50 0.023 used for the measurement of various quantities.

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8 B. Patro

Table 5 Use of various instruments. Table 6 Data of the combination tube boilers.
Measurements Instrument Description Test 1 Test 2
% of CO2, O2, and CO Flue gas analyzer (portable or Rate of fuel firing, kg/h 650 1075
fixed type) Rate of steam generation, kg/h 3000 5000
Available or used draft Draft gauge (differential Steam pressure, kg/cm2 (gauge) 10.54 14.00
pressure manometer type) Steam temperature, °C 186 198
TDS (boiler water, feed water, TDS meter (conductivity type) Feed water temperature, °C 80 85
and make-up water) % of CO2 in the Flue gas 14 13
Flow rate (steam, water, fuel, Flow meter (as applicable) % of CO in the flue gas 0.55 0.5
and air) Average flue gas temperature, °C 180 183
Ambient temperature, °C 31 33
Humidity in the ambient air, kg/kg of dry air 0.0204 0.018
Surface temperature of the boiler, °C 65 70
8. Testing preparations Wind velocity around the boiler, m/s 3.6 3.4
Total heating surface area of the boiler, m2 120 200
GCV of the bottom ash, kcal/kg 809 930
Testing preparations are required for any test, for the smooth GCV of the fly ash, kcal/kg 452.4 660.5
operations. At First, the specific fuel at the required rate is Ratio of the bottom ash to the fly ash 90:10 80:20
burnt. When the boiler is under steady load, testing is done. GCV of the coal, kcal/kg 3558 3609
During the warming up period of boilers, testing is avoided. Fuel analysis
For the testing to be done, the boiler is operated under steady Carbon 41.85% 38.3%
load conditions (generally full load) for a period of 1 h after Hydrogen 2.1% 5.7%
which the readings are taken during the next hour of steady Nitrogen 1.5% 0.6%
operation, to enable the efficiency to be calculated. Therefore, Oxygen 14.85% 31.2%
for the single test, it requires 2 h. The number of sample data Ash 8.6% 16%
taken per experiment is three. This is for the checking of any Moisture 31.1% 8.2%
mismatch data, and to ensure the readings are ok. The fuel
and ash sampling is done. After the sampling, analysis of the
fuel and ash is carried out, and accuracy of the analysis is
ensured. Proper working of all the instruments is ensured. At different locations. There are 10 numbers of temperature sen-
last, any air infiltration in the combustion area is checked. sors on both the fire tube and water tube sections. The final
Air infiltration is the unintentional or accidental introduction surface temperature of boiler is the arithmetic mean of the
of outside air into the combustion chamber. Sources of infiltra- measured individual surface temperatures. An economizer is
tion air may be cracks or leaks. used to heat the feed water before entering into the boiler,
by utilizing the exhaust gases. The economizer used is an exter-
9. Boiler tests nal economizer. The economizer is located between the flue gas
outlet of boiler and an air pre-heater. The flue gas is exhausted
The following two tests are conducted for two different capac- into the atmosphere with the help of a chimney. Before the
ities of combination tube boilers, with two different fuels. A entry of flue gas into the chimney it passes through an econo-
low grade coal with GCV of 3558 kcal/kg is used, as a fuel mizer, an air-preheater, a multi-cyclone dust collector, and an
for test 1, and rice husk with GCV of 3609 kcal/kg is used, induced draft fan.
as a fuel for test 2. Table 6 shows the data, which are collected for the combi-
nation tube boilers, during the testing at Thermodyne Engi-
9.1. Tests neering Systems, Ghaziabad.

The following measurements are carried out during the test: 10. Results and discussion

i. Water parameters (temperature and pressure of water at

economizer inlet and DM water quality). The summary of the heat balance sheet for the tests 1 and 2 of
ii. Steam parameters (temperature and pressure of steam at the combination tube boilers is shown in Table 7.
boiler outlet and steam flow rates). It is seen from both the tests that the dry flue gas loss is a
iii. Fuel (collection and ultimate analysis of the fuel). major loss in the combination tube boilers. The loss due to
iv. Flue gas analysis (flue gas readings). the unburnt in the fly ash is very less in the combination tube
v. Ash analysis (collection of ash samples). boilers, for both the tests, due to the surrounded membrane
vi. Surface conditions (surface temperatures). wall. It is also seen that the loss due to the unburnt in the bot-
tom ash has a considerable amount for the heat loss, and can-
The ash and residuals of combustion are removed from not be ignored.
time to time through the ash doors provided in the brick wall The calculated efficiencies of the combination tube boilers,
setting, over which the boiler sits. The surface temperature of as per the above two methods are shown in Table 8.
boiler is measured by installing 20 numbers of resistance type It is seen from Table 8 that the combination tube boilers
temperature sensors on the outer surface of the boiler at give good acceptable efficiency, even with the low grade fuels.

Please cite this article in press as: B. Patro, Efficiency studies of combination tube boilers, Alexandria Eng. J. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2015.12.007
Combination tube boilers 9

Table 7 Summary of the heat balance sheet for the tests 1 and References
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Please cite this article in press as: B. Patro, Efficiency studies of combination tube boilers, Alexandria Eng. J. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2015.12.007