Bangalore Institute of technology Department of Mechanical Engineering

1.STEAM POWER PLANT

Different types of fuels used for steam generation.:- Generally there are three types of fuels can be burnt in
any type of steam power plant. They are 1) Solid fuels 2) Liquid fuels 3)Gaseous fuels.
Gaseous fuels:
The gaseous fuels widely used in steam power plants are natural gas, Blast furnace gas. Gaseous fuels may
be either natural gases or manufactured gases. Since the cost of manufactured gases is high only natural
gases are used for power generation. Natural gas is colorless , odorless and is non poisonous its calorific
value lies between 25000KJto 50000 KJ/ m3 .
The various manufactured gases are coal gas, Coke oven gas , Blast furnace gas and producer gas. These
manufactured gases play an less important role in the steam generation.
Advantages:
1) Excess air required is less 2) Uniform mixing of fuels and air is possible 3) Handling is much more
easier compared to the coal. 4) The load changes can be met easily. 5) There is no problem of ash disposal.
6) Operational labourer required is less.
Disadvantages:
1) Storage of gaseous fuels is not easy compared to liquid fuels due to the risk of explosions.
2) The plant must be located near the natural gas field other wise transportation cost increases.

Liquid fuels:
The liquid fuels used in the thermal plant to generate the steam instead of coal as it offers the following
advantages over the coal.
1) The calorific value of liquid fuels is about 40% higher than that of coal or solid fuels.
2) The storage space required for liquid fuels is less.
3) Instantaneous ignition and extinction of fire is possible.
4) Stand by losses are minimum. 5) Efficiency of the boiler is high. 6) Ash handling system can be
eliminated. 7) Oil can be easily metered. The rate of fuel supply to furnace is easy to control.
Disadvantages
1) The overall combustion efficiency of the liquid fuel fired power plant is less compared to the coal fired
power plants
2) The availability of the liquid fuel resources are very limited as compared to the coal resources
Ex. Heavy oils, Bunker C oil , Viscous residue oil, Petroleum and its by products .

Solid Fuels:
Example for solid fuels is Coal. The term coal refers to the rocks in the earth’s crust , produced by the
decaying of the plant materials accumulated overt the millions of years ago. Different types of coals that
are used for steam generation are 1) Lignite 2) Sub Bituminous 3) Bituminous coal 4) Semi Anthracite coal
5) Anthracite coal.
1)Lignite:
It is lowest grade of coal . Its having 30% of moisture calorific value is about 14650 to 19300 KJ/ Kg. Due
to the high moisture content and low calorific value lignite is not easy to transport over long distances. It
is usually burnt by the utilities at the mine sites.
2) Sub Bituminous:
Its calorific value is slightly less than that of the Bituminous coal. Its calorific value is in between 19300
to 26750 KJ / Kg. The moisture content is about 15 to 30%. It is brownish black in colour. These coals
usually burned in the pulverized form.
3) Bituminous coal:
Bituminous coal is widely used in all purposes. It is used in steam generation and in the production of the
coal gas and producer gas. Its moisture content may vary from 6 to 12 %. Its calorific value ranges from
25600 KJ/Kg to 32600 KJ /Kg. Bituminous coal burn easily especially in pulverized form.

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4) Semi Anthracite
It is an intermediate coal between Bituminous and Anthracite coal. It ignites more easily than anthracite to
give a short flame changing from Yellow to Blue . It is having the following properties’
Moisture content = 1 to 2%
Volatile matter = 10 to 15 %
Calorific value= 36000 to 36960 KJ / Kg
5) Anthracite:
It is the most mature and hard form of solid fossil fuel. It is having an fixed Carbon content ranging from
92 to 98%. Anthracite is good domestic fuel for heating and is some times used for steam generation.

Selection of coal for steam generation.

Selecting an suitable coal for steam generation is an very difficult task. The firing qualities of coal are every
important when we are considering an combustion equipments. Slower burning coal generates high fuel
bed temperature s and therefore requires forced draught fan. The fast burning coals require large
combustion chamber. Such coals are suitable for meeting an sudden demand for steam. The most important
factors which are to be considered in the selection of coal are sizing and caking, Swelling properties and
ash fusion temperature . Some times the selection of coal depends on the ash content also.
The following properties of the coal are to be considered for the selection of the coal for steam generation
in steam power plants.1) Burning rate of coal 2) Sizing, Caking , Swelling properties of coals. 3) Finess of
coal.

Selection of site
The following factors should be considered while selecting the site for a steam power station
1) Availability of fuel.
2) Nature of load
3) Cost of land.
4) Availability of water.
5) Transport facilities.
6) Ash disposal facilities.
7) Availability of labour.
8) Size of the plant.
9) Load center.
10) Public problems.
11) Future extensions.
Combustion equipments for steam generators.
The combustion equipment is one of the important component of the steam generator. The combustion
equipment used must have the ability to meet the following requirements.
1) Through mixing of fuel and air.
2) Maintaining of optimum air fuel ratio leading to complete combustion over the full load range.
3) ready and accurate response to the load demand
4) continuous and reliable ignition of the fuel.

Coal handling :
The coal handling plant needs extra attention , while designing a thermal power station, as almost 50% to
60% of the total operating costs consists of fuel purchasing and handling . Fuel system is designed in
accordance with the type and nature off fuel. Plants may use coal oil or gas as the fuel. The different stages
in coal handling are shown below.

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Coal delivery
The method of transporting coal to a power station depends on the location of the plant, but may be one or
more of the following : rail, road , river or sea. Plants situated near river or sea may make use of the
navigation facilities. Stations which cannot make use of these facilities may be supplied coal either by
trucks or by rail. Transportation of trucks is usually used in case the mines are not available. In case rail
transport is to be adopted , the necessary siding for receiving the coal should be brought as near the station
is possible.
Unloading:
Just what kind of equipment will do the best job for unloading depends first of all on how the coal is
received. If the coal is delivered in dump trucks and if the plant site is favourable we may not need
additional unloading equipment. When coal transported by using by sea or rivers unloading bridge or tower
and portable conveyors are used. In case the coal received by rail in hoppers cars, again the coal may be
unloaded quickly by using any of the facilities such as car shakers , Car throwing equipments , Car
dumpers(Rotary), coal accelerators .

Preparation:
If the coal is brought to the site un sized and sizing is desirable for storage or firing purposes. The coal
preparation plant may be located either near the coal receiving point or at the point of actual use. The coal
preparation plant may include the following equipments a) Crushers b) Sizers c) Dryers and d) Magnetic
separators.
Coal preparation plant is as shown below.

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The raw coal is crushed in to required size using crushers. The crushed coal is passed over the sizer which
removes unsized coal and feeds back to the crusher. The crushed coal is further passed to the drier to remove
the moisture from the supplied coal . Before supplying the coal to the storage hopper , the iron scrap and
particles are removed with the help of magnetic separators.
Transfer:
Transfer means the handling of the coal between the unloading point and the final storage point from where
it is discharged to the firing equipment. The equipments used for the transfer of coal may be any one of the
following or a suitable combination there of:a) Belt conveyors b) Screw conveyors c) Bucket Elevators d)
Grab bucket Elevators e) Skip hoists and f) Flight conveyors.

Belt conveyor

Cross section of belt drive

The belt conveyors are suitable for transporting large quantities of coal over large distances. It consists of
endless belt made up of rubber, canvas or balata running over a pair of end drums or pulleys and supported
by series of rollers provided at regular intervals. The return idlers which support the empty belt are plain
rollers and are spaced wide apart. Belt conveyors can be used successfully up to 20 degree inclination to
the horizontal . The load carrying capacity of the belt may vary from 50 to 100 tons /h and it can easily be
transported through 400 meters.
Advantages:
1) It is most economical method of coal transfer.

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2) The rate of coal can be regulated by varying the speed of the belt.
3) The repair and maintenance charges are minimum.
4) The coal can be protected.
5) The power consumption is minimum.
Disadvantages;
1) It is not suitable for short distances and greater heights.
Screw conveyor

It consists of an helicoids screw fitted to a shaft as shown in the figure. The driving mechanism is connected
to one end of the shaft and the other end of the shaft is supported in an enclosed ball bearing. The screw
while rotating in a trough transfers coal from one end to the other end as shown in figure. The diameter of
screw is 15 cm to 50 cm and its speed varies from 70 to 120 rpm and the maximum capacity is 125 tones
per hour.
Advantages:
1) It requires minimum space and is cheap in cost
2) It is most simple and compact
3) It can be made dust tight.
Disadvantages:
1) The power consumption is high.
2) The maximum length limited to 30 meters.
3) The wear and tear is very high therefore life of the equipment is less.

Bucket elevators:

These are used extensively for vertical lifts, through their for horizontal runs is not ruled out. These
elevators consists of relatively small size buckets closely spaced on an endless chain. The coal is carried
by the buckets from the bottom and discharged at the top. Centrifugal type and continuous type bucket
elevators are most commonly used. The maximum height of the elevator is limited to 30.5 m and maximum
inclination to the horizontal is limited to 60 degree. The speed of the chain required in first case is 75 m/min
and continuous type is 35 m/min for 60 tonnes capacity per hour.

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Advantages:
1) Less power is required.
2) Coal can be discharged at elevated places.
3) Less floor area is required.
Disadvantages:
Its capacity is limited to 60 tons per hour and hence not suitable for large capacity stations.

Grab bucket

Grab bucket conveyor is form of hoist which lifts and transfers the load on a single rail or track form one
point to another. This can be used with crane or tower as shown in figure A 2-3 cu-m bucket operating over
a distance of 60 m transfer nearly 100 tons of coal per hour. Its initial cost is high but operation cost is
less.

Flight conveyor

This type of conveyor is generally used for transfer of coal when filling of number of storage bins situated
under the conveyor is required. It consists of one or two strands of chain to which steel scrappers are
attached The scraper scraps the coal through a trough and the coal is discharged in the bottom of the trough
as shown in figure.
Advantages:
1) It requires small head room
2) The speed can be regulated .
3) It can be used for as well as coal transfer.
4) It requires less attention.
Disadvantages:
1) There is excessive wear and tear and hence the life of the conveyor is less.
2) The repair and maintenance charges are high.

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3) The restricting the operating speed to 300m/min is required to reduce the abrasive action.
4) Power consumption is high per unit of coal or ash handled.

Skip hoist:
It is used in high lifts and handling is not continuous. It consists of vertical or inclined hoist way, a bucket
or a car guided by the frame, and a cable for hoisting the bucket.
Advantages:
1) It requires very low maintenance.
2) Power requirement is low.
3) It can handle larger size clinkers.
4) It can be used for handling ash as well as coal
5) It needs minimum floor area.
Disadvantages:
1) The initial cost is high
2) This is not suitable for continuous supply of coal.
3) There is excessive wear of skips and ropes which need frequent replacements.

Out door storage: Whether the storage is large or small , it needs protection against losses by weathering
and by spontaneous combustion. With proper methods adopted even larger outdoor storage can remain
safe. In order to avoid the oxidation of coal the compact layers are formed. To avoid spontaneous
combustion air is allowed move evenly through the layers.

Indoor storage or Live storage:

This is usually a covered storage provided in plants, sufficient to meet day’s requirement of the boiler.
Storage is usually done in bunkers made of steel or reinforced concrete having enough capacity to store
the requisite of coal. From the coal bunkers coal is transferred to the boiler grates.

Weighing: A frequent part of in plant handling is keeping tabs on quantity and quality of coal fired. For
weighing weigh bridge is used. Coal is weighed in transit also by using belt scale.

Fuel Firing methods

Selection of firing method adopted for a particular power plant depends on the following factors.
1) Characteristics of fuel available.
2) Capacity of the plant.
3) Load factor of the power plant.
4) Nature of load fluctuations .
5) Reliability and efficiency of the various combustion equipments.

Depending upon the combustion equipments used boilers can be classified as

1) Solid fuel fired.
2) Liquid fuel fired.
3) Gaseous fuel fired

Solid fuel firing

The classification of combustion system used for coal burning given below.

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Hand firing system is the simplest method for solid fuel firing but it can not be used in modern power plant.
The most commonly used methods for firing the coal are 1) Stoker fire 2) Pulverized fire.

Stoker fire:
Stoker is fuel burning mechanism used for burning fuel on grate. This type of burning mechanism is
suitable where the coal is burned. Stokers are classified as
1) Over feed stokers
2) Under feed stoker.
In over feed stoker the direction of air and coal are opposite to one another. The coal is supplied on to the
grates above the point of air admission. In under feed stoker coal is fed from underneath the grate between
the two tuyers. The direction of fuel and air is same.

Over feed stoker.

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Typical overfeed stoker is as shown in the figure. Coal is fed on to the grate above the point of air admission.
The pressurized air coming from the FD fan enters under the bottom of the grate. The air passing through
the grate opening is heated by absorbing the heat from the ash and grate itself , where as the grate and ash
get cooled . As hot air passes through the incandescent coke layer O2 reacts with Carbon to form Carbon
dioxide. This is an exothermic reaction and releases heat required for continuation of combustion process.
It continues till all the oxygen is consumed. If the incandescent layer thick, CO2 may be partly reduced to
CO(CO2 + C – 2CO) The gasses leaving the incandescent layer are N2 , CO, CO2, H2 . A slight water
reaction may take place with the moisture in air (H2O + C – H2 + CO) . This is an endothermic reaction
and may bring down the temperature of the bed and gas. Stream of gases then passes through the distillation
zone where volatile matter is added from raw coal and then moisture is picked up in the drying zone and
finally emerges above the fuel bed. The gases leaving the upper surface of the fuel bed contain combustible
volatile matter, N2, CO2, CO, H2 and H2O , If the combustion of Carbon , Hydrogen and volatile matter is
to be completed following have to provide .
a) Sufficient fresh air or secondary air is supplied .
b) Ignition point should be in the range 10000C – 13000 C.
c) Creating turbulence by supplying secondary air at right angles to the up flowing gas stream from fuel
bed.
It does not help supplying if the secondary air supplied along with primary air, since more primary air
produces only more carbon monoxide. The presence of the Carbon monoxide in the exhaust gases indicates
the in complete combustion leads to decrease in the efficiency of combustion equipments.

Types of Over feed stoker

1) Traveling grate stoker

2) 2) Spreader stoker

1) Traveling grate stoker

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The traveling grate stoker is as shown in the figure. This type of stoker has the grate which is moving from
one end of the furnace to the other end. This grate may be chain grate type or bar grate type chain grate
stoker is made up of series of Cast Iron chain links connected by pins to form an endless chain. The bar
grate stoker is made up of a series of Cast Iron sections mounted on a carrier bars. The carrier bars are
mounted and ride on two endless drive chains. The traveling grate stoker consist of an endless chain which
forma support for the fuel bed. The chain travels over the two sprocket wheels which are at the front and
rear end of the furnace. The front end sprocket wheel is connected to variable speed drive mechanism. The
grate can be raised or lowered as needed. Simultaneous adjustment of grate speed, fuel bed thickness, and
air flow control, the burning rate so that nothing but ash remains on the grate by the time it reaches furnace
rear. The ash falls on to the ash pit, as the grate turns to make the return trip. A coal gate at the rear of the
coal hopper regulates coal. As the raw coal or green coal on the grate enters the furnace, surface coal gets
ignited from heat of furnace flame and radiant heat rays reflected by ignition arch. The fuel bed becomes
thinner towards the rear of furnace as combustible matter burns off. The secondary air supplied helps in
mixing the gases and supplies oxygen to complete combustion. The coal should have minimum ash content
which will form an layer on the grate. It helps in protecting grate from over heating.
Advantages:
1) Simple and initial cost is low.
2) Its maintenance costs are low
3) It is self cleaning stoker.
4) Heat releases rates can be easily controlled.
5) It gives high heat release rates per unit volume of furnace.
Disadvantages
1. This can not be used for high capacity boilers 200t / hr or more.
2. The temperature of preheated air is limited to 1800c.
3. The clicker troubles are common.
4. The ignition arches are required.
5. The loss of fuel in ash can not be avoided.

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Spreader Stoker

The coal from coal hopper is fed by a rotating feeder, a drum fitted with short blades on its surfaces, to the
spreader or distributor below. Which projects the coal particles on to the grate holding an ignited fuel bed.
The finer particles burn in suspension and the coarse particles are consumed on the grate. The speed of the
feeder directly proportional to the steam out put of the boiler. The secondary air helps in creating turbulence
and completing combustion. In high capacity boilers may have traveling grate stoker in addition to spreader
stoker. The grate consists of Cast Iron links underneath the grate connect all the bars to a lever. Moving
lever makes the ash fall through to the ash pit below. Spreader stokers capable of burning any type of coal.
Advantages:
1) Almost any type of the coal can be burnt.
2) Clinkering problem is less.
3) It is having quick response to varying load.
4) The quantity of excess air required is less.
5) The operation cost is low.
Disadvantages:
1) The problem of fly ash is high. It requires an dust collector to prevent the environment pollution.
2) Coal particles trapping mechanism is necessary to prevent their escape with excess air.
3) Its operating efficiency decreases with varying sizes of coal.

Vibrating stoker

Its operation of similar to that of the chain grate stoker except that fuel feed and fuel bed movement are
accomplished by vibration. The vibration and the inclination of the grate cause the fuel to move through
the furnace towards the ash pit. The vibrating conditions of the fuel bed permits the use of wider range of
fuels. Vibrating grate stokers are suitable for medium volatile Bituminous coal and Lignite but at reduced
burn rates.

Under feed stoker

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In this type of stokers the fuel and air move in the same direction. In this case coal is fed from underneath
the grate by screw conveyor or by a ram. Primary air after passing through the holes in the grate meets the
raw coal . As the air diffuse through the bed of raw coal picks up moisture and then pass through the
distillation zone where volatile matter is added. When gas stream next passes through the incandescent
coke region, volatile matter burns readily with the secondary air fed at the top. The gases in this type stoker
are at higher temperature than over feed stoker. The under feed method is best suited for burning semi
Bituminous and Bituminous coals high in volatile matter.
Types of Under feed stokers.
1) Single retort Stoker 2) Multi retort stoker.

1) Single retort stoker

The arrangement of single retort stoker is shown in figure in the form of two views. The fuel is placed in
large hopper on the front of the furnace and then further fed by reciprocating ram or screw conveyor in to
the bottom of the horizontal trough. Air is supplied through the tuyers provided along upper edge of the

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grate. The ash and clicker are collected on the ash plate provided with dumping arrangement. The coal
feeding capacity of a single retort stoker varies from 100 to 2000 Kg / Hr.

2) Multi retort stoker

Tuyers
Incandescent zone
Distilation zone
Green coal

Stoker ram
Extension grate

Damper Wind box

inlet
Damper Pushers
Discharge
Ash

Daft gauge
connection
Multi retort stoker is as shown in figure . It consists of series of alternate retorts and tuyers boxes for
supply of air . Each retort is fitted with reciprocating ram for feeding and pusher plates for uniform
distribution of coal. Coal falling from hopper is pushed forward during inward stroke of the stoker ram.
Then distributing ram pushes the entire coal down length of the stoker. The ash formed is collected at the
end as shown in the figure. The number of retorts may be vary from 2 to 20 with burning capacity varying
from 300 kg to 2000 Kg /hr/retort.
Advantages
1) High thermal efficiency compared to chain grate stoker.
2) Combustion rate is high 3) Combustion is continuous 4) Grate is self cleaning 5) Smoke less operation
6) Stokers are suitable for non clinker high volatile and low ash content coal.
Disadvantages
1) It requires large building space.
2) Clicnker problems are high.
3) Low grade coals with high ash content can not be burn economically.
4) Initial cost of the unit is high.

Pulverized fuel firing system.

In pulverized fuel firing system the coal is grinded in to a fine powder form with the help of grinding mill
and then projected in to the combustion chamber with the help of hot air current. This hot air is known as

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the primary air. The amount of the air required for complete combustion is supplied separately in the
combustion chamber. It helps in creating turbulence, so that uniform and intimate mixing of coal particles
and air can take place inside combustion chamber. The efficiency of the pulverized fuel firing system
mostly depends upon the size of the particles of the coal in the coal powder . The finess of the coal particles
should be such that 70% of it would pass through 200 mesh sieve and 98% through a 50 mesh
sieve.

Coal handling for pulverized fuel plant is shown in figure

Advantages:
1) Any grade of coal can be used.
2) Stand by losses are reduced and banking losses are eliminated.

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3) Efficiency of combustion is high compared to other methods of solid fuel firing methods.
4) Boiler unit can be started up from cold rapidly and efficiently.
5) Practically free from slagging and clinker troubles.
6) Furnace has no moving parts subjected high temperatures.
7) The furnace volume required is less.
8) This system works successfully with or in combination with gas and oil.
9) Greater capacity to meet the peak loads.
10) Practically no ash handling problems.
11) The structural arrangements and flooring are simple.
12) The external heating surfaces are free from corrosion.

Disadvantages:
1) Coal preparation plant is necessary.
2) High capital cost.
3) Handling of fly ash makes the system uneconomical.
4) Special equipment is needed to start this system.
5) Larger building space is needed especially with central system..
6) Skilled operators are required.
7) Refractory material surfaces are affected by high furnace temperatures.
8) Atmospheric pollution created by the fly ash is can not be completely eliminated.
9) The possibility of explosion is more as coal burns like gas.
10) The maintenance of furnace brick work is costly.

There are two methods of pulverized fuel firing. They are unit system and central or Bin system. In unit
system each burner of the plant has its own pulveriser and handling units. In central or Bin system fuel is
pulverized in the central plant and then distributed to each burner with the help of high pressure air current.

Unit system

In unit system each burner of the plant has its own pulverizer and handling units. The pulveriser an
together with feeder , separator and fans may be arranged to form an complete unit or mill. The number
of units required depends on the capacity of the boiler. Raw coal from coal hopper fed to the pulverizing
mill through feeder . Hot air from or flue gases passed through the feeder to dry the coal before feeding
to the pulveriser. The pulverized coal is carried from the mill with the help of induced draught fan as
shown in figure. This further carries the coal through the pipes to the burner. Secondary air supplied to
the burner before fuel entry in to the combustion chamber is as shown in figure helps in creating the

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turbulence as well as supplying additional air required for completing the combustion of the coal
particles in the furnace.
Advantages:
1) It is simple in layout and cheaper than central system.
2) It allows direct control of combustion rate from the pulveriser.
3) Maintenance charges are less.
4) The coal transportation is simple.
Disadvantages.
1) The performance of pulverizing mill is poor.
2) Degree of flexibility is less than central system.
3) The fault in the preparation unit may put entire steam generator out of use.
4) There is excessive wear and tear of the blades of fan as it handles air and coal particles.
5) Strict maintenance of the mill is required because the entire plant operation depends on it

Central or Bin system

The central system or Bin system fuel is pulverized in the central plant and then distributed to each
burner with the help of high pressure air current. Crushed and sized coal is fed to the drier from coal
bunker by gravity as shown in figure. The dried coal fed to the pulverizing mill with the help of air, as
shown in figure ,separated in the cyclone separator. The separated pulverized coal is transferred to the
central bunker using conveyor as shown in figure. Oversized coal particles are fed back to the
pulverizing mill for further processing. The storage bin may contain 12 to 24 hours of supply of
pulverized coal. The energy consumption is 15 to 25 KW-Hr / Ton of coal pulverized.

Advantages:
1) The reliability of plant is high.
2) The central system is flexible . Supply of the coal can be maintained to the burners without any
interruption.
3) Burner operation is independent of coal preparation.

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4) The pulverising mill may work at the part load because of storage capacity available in the storage
bin.
5) Power consumption per ton of coal handled is less .
6) As the fans handle only air there is no problem of excessive wear and tear.
7) The labourers required is less .
Disadvantages.
1) Initial cost is high and occupies a larger space.
2) The overall power consumption per ton of coal handled is higher than unit system due to high power
consumption by auxiliaries.
3) The operation and maintenance charges are higher than unit system of same capacity.
4) There is possibility of fire hazard due to the stored pulverized coal.

Equipments or components of the pulverized coal fired plant.

The main equipments used in the pulverized coal fires plant are
1) Primary crushers .
2) Magnetic separators.
3) Coal driers .
4) Pulverizing mill
5) Burners.

Primary crushers
Crushing of coal is required when we are handling un sized coal. Plant using pulverized coal generally
specifies the top size, larger than what can not be handled by the pulveriser, making crushing necessary
to prepare coal for pulverization following types of crushers are used.
1) Ring crushers
2) Hammer mill crushers.
3) Bread ford breaker.
4) Rotary breaker
5) Single roll crushers.

Ring crushers

In this type of crushers coal is fed at top of crushers and is crushed by the action of ring that pivot off
centre on a rotor. Adjustable plate helps in varying the size of discharge coal. It can be used as off or
on plant site.
Hammer coal crusher

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In this type of coal crusher also the coal is fed from the top and is crushed by the action of swinging
hammers that are pivoted on a rotor. Swinging hammers are attached to the central drum. As the drum
rotates coal particles coming in between the swinging hammers and adjustable plates crushed . The
crushed sized coal falls out of the crusher through the opening provided at the bottom. The adjustable
plates used to vary the size of discharge coal.
Brad ford crushers.

It is used in large capacity plant. It comprises of large cylinder consisting of perforated steel screen
plates to which lifting shelves are attached inside . The cylinder rotates slowly at about 20 rpm and
receives feed at the one end. The coal is lifted by the shelves , the breaking action is accomplished by
the repeated lifting and dropping of the coal until its size permits it to discharge through the perforation
made . The size of the perforation determine the size of crushed coal. The main advantage is
rejection of the foreign matter and to produce relatively uniform size coal particles.

Rotary breakers.

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The crushing of coal takes place between the rotating cylinder and rollers. The crushing action is
combination of both lifting and dropping of the coal and also by the crushing action of coal between
rollers and rotating cylinder.

Single roll crushers

The crushing of coal takes place between adjustable plate and rotating single roller having teeth on the
circumference. The size of the coal particle can be varied by varying the gap between adjustable plate
and rotating roller.

Pulveriser:

Pulverisers are devices that are used to produce coal in the powder form. They are also called as
pulverizing mills. The pulverizing process consists of three stages namely i) Feeding ii) Drying iii)
Grinding . Feeding system controls automatically air required for drying and transporting pulverized
fuel to the burner depending on the boiler demand. For pulverization of coal has to be dry and dusty.
Dryer are an integral part of the pulverizing equipment. For drying coal part of primary air passing
through the air preheater at 3500c is utilized. The third stage of pulverization process is the grinding
and equipment used for this action is known as the grinding mill. Four different types of pulverizing
mills are used .
a) Ball and race mill
b) Bowl mill.
c) Ball mill.
d) Hammer mill.

a) Ball and race mill

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This is also known as the contact mill. The coal is crushed between two moving surfaces ball and race.
The upper race is stationary and the lower race is driven by worm and gear, holds the steel balls between
them. The coal is allowed to fall on the inside of the race from feeder or hopper. Moving balls and race
catches coal between them to crush in to a powder. Springs are used to hold down the upper race and
adjust the force needed for crushing. Hot air supplied picks up the coal dust as it flows between the ball
and races and then enters in to the classifier, moving and fixed vanes make the entering air to form a
cyclonic flow which helps to through the oversized particles on to the wall of classifier. The oversized
particles slide down for further grinding in the mill. The coal particles of required size carried to burners
with air from the top of the classifier.

b) Bowl mill

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The bowl mill grinds the coal between a whirling bowl & rollers mounted on pivoted axis. The
pulveriser consists of stationary rollers and power driven balls in which pulverization takes place as the
coal passes between the bowl and rollers. The hot primary air supplied in to the bowl picks up coal
parcels and passes through the classifier. Where oversized coal particles falls back to bowl for further
grinding. The required size coal particles along the primary air supplied to the burner.

c) Ball Mill with double classifier

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The line diagram of the ball mill is as shown in figure . It consist of a large cylinder partly filled with
varying sized steel balls. The coal from coal hopper fed in to the cylinder with the help of crew
conveyor. At the same time required quantity of hot air from air preheater is also enters. As the cylinder
rotates pulverization takes place between the balls and the coal. The stream of hot air picks up the
pulverized coal and pass through the classifier. The oversized coal particles thrown out of the air stream
in the classifier and fine coal particles are passed to the burner through exhaust fan. Ball mill capable
of pulverizing 10 tons of coal / hr containing 4% moisture requires 28 tons of steel balls and consumes
20- 25 KW – Hr energy per ton of coal pulverized.

d) Hammer mill

The hammer mills have swinging hammers connected to an inner ring and placed within the rotating
drum. The coal to be pulverized is fed in to the path of hammers. Grinding is done by the combination
of impact on large particles and attrition on small particles . The hot air is supplied to dry the coal as
well as carrying coal particles to burners. It is compact low in cost and simple in operation. How ever
its maintenance is costly and its capacity is limited. The power consumption is high when fine powder
is required.

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Pulverised fuel burners.

Burners are devices use to burn coal particle by uniform mixing of coal and air and creation of
turbulence within the furnace. The air which carries pulverized coal in to the furnace through the burner
is primary air. The secondary air required for completing combustion is supplied separately around the
burner or else where in the furnace.
The main requirements of pulverized fuel burners are.
1) It should mix thoroughly primary air with coal particles and secondary air.
2) It should create turbulence and maintain stable combustion.
3) It should control the flame shape and it travel in the furnace.
4) The velocity of primary air and coal particles should be same as that of flame velocity to avoid flash
back.
5) The burner should have ability to with stand overheating due internal fires and excessive abrasive
wear.

Types of pulverized burners are

1) Long flame or U- Flame burners. Or streamlined burners.
2) Turbulent burners.
3) Tangential burners.
4) Cyclone burners

1) Long flame burners.

The tertiary air supplied around the burner to provide better mixing of primary air and fuel. The burner
discharges air and fuel mixture vertically down wards with no turbulence to provide long flame. Heated
secondary air supplied at right angles to the flame creates turbulence that required rapid combustion.
This type of burners are suitable for burning low volatile slower burning coal particles.

2) Turbulent Burners.

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These burners are also called as short flame burners. Turbulent burners can project flame horizontally
or at small inclination to the furnace. The fuel – primary air mixture and secondary hot air are arranged
to pass through the burner in such a way tat there is good mixing and the mixture is projected in highly
turbulent form in to the furnace. The mixture burns intensely and combustion is completed in a short
distance. The burning rate of turbulent burners is high compared to other types of burners. Turbulent
burners are preferred for high volatile coal and they are used in modern power plants.

3) Tangential burners.

It consists of four different burners located at 4 corners of the furnace. The discharge of fuel and air
mixture directed tangentially to an imaginary circle in the centre of the furnace. The swirling action
creates necessary turbulence required for completing the combustion in short period. The tips of the
burners can be angled through a small vertical arc. So as to raise or lower the position of turbulent
combustion region in the furnace. It helps in maintaining constant super heat temperature of steam as
load varies. This arrangement can provide 1000c difference in furnace gas exit temperature.

Advantages

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1) Parts of burners are well protected.

2) High combustion efficiency and turbulence existing throught the furnace.
3) Liquid, gaseous and pulverized fuel can be readily fired either separately or in combination.

Cyclone Burner

It consists of horizontal cylinder of water cooled construction , 2 to 3 meters in diameter and 2.5 m in
length . The horizontal axis of the burner is slightly deflected downward towards the boiler. These
burners are externally attached to the furnace. The cyclone burner receives pulverized coal carried by
the primary air tangentially to the cylinder at outer end creates strong and highly turbulent Vortex.
Secondary air enters in to the cylinder tangentially to complete the combustion. These burners can be
rotated by 30 degree up and down it helps in controlling the super heater temperature. The fuel
supplied burns quickly with high heat liberate rates with temperature around 20000c . The ash forms
the molten film over the inner wall surface and molten ash flows to an ash disposal system. The cyclone
burners give best results with low grade fuel.

Advantages

1) Crushed coal can be used instead of costly pulverized coal.

2) It can burn low grades of coal.
3) Percentage of excess of air required is less
4) Combustion efficiency is high
5) Combustion rates ca be easily controlled by varying fuel and air supply
6) High furnace temperature can be obtained.

Ash handling system

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General layout of ash handling system

Large quantity of ash is produced by the power plants. Which are burning coals having high ash
content. The ash should be discharged and dumped at sufficient distance from the power plant because
of the following reasons.
1) The ash content is dusty
2) It is very hot when it comes out of the furnace
3) It produces poisonous gases and corrosive acids when mixed with water.
The amount of ash produced is as large as 20% of total coal burnt during the day. In order to handle
this large quantity of ash use of mechanical handling equipment becomes necessary. Any ash handling
system consists of the following operations.
1) Removal of ash from the furnace.
2) Carrying of ashes from ash hopper to storage with the help of conveyor.
3) Quenching of hot ash before carrying is desirable and necessary as it offers the following
advantages.
a) Reduces the temperature .
b) Reduces dustiness of ash.
c) Reduces the corrosive action.
d) Disintegrate large clinkers in to smaller one .
e) It act as sealing against the air entering in to boiler.

Ash handling equipment.

The main requirements of good ash handling plants are listed below.
1) It should be capable of handling large volume of ash.
2) It should be capable of handling large clickers with minimum attention.
3) The plant should have high rates of handling.
4) The operation should be noise less as much as possible.
5) It should deal effectively both hot and wet ash.
6) The initial cost, operating and maintenance charges should be minimum as per as possible.

The generally used ash handling systems are classified in to four groups.

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1) Mechanical handling system

2) Hydraulic handling system.
3) Pneumatic handling system.
4) Steam jet system.

Mechanical ash handling system.

This system of handling ash is used in low capacity power plants. The hot ash coming out of furnace
allowed to fall on to the belt conveyor moving through the water trough . Cooled ash carried
continuously by belt conveyor to the ash bunker . The ash is removed from the ash bunker to the
dumping site with the help of trucks.

Hydraulic handling system.

In this system ash is carried with the flow of water . The hydraulic system, is subdivide in to low
velocity system and high velocity system.
Low velocity system.

In this system water trough is provided just below the boiler and water is made to flow through the
trough. The ash falling directly in to the drain and it is carried by water to the sump. In the sump ash is

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separated from water , separated water is used again while the ash collected in the sump is removed to
the dumping yard. The capacity of this system is 50 tons/ hr.

High velocity or high pressure system.

The ash hoppers below the boilers are fitted with water nozzles at the top and on the sides. The top
nozzle quench ash and side nozzle provide driving force to carry the ash through a trough. The cooled
ash with high velocity water is carried to the sump. The water is re circulated again after separating it
out from the ash. Capacity of the system is 120 tons /hr and distance is 1000 meters.

Advantages

1) The system is clan , dustless, totally enclose and pollution free.

2) The ash can be discharged at a considerable distance.
3) Its handling capacity is large hence it can be used in large capacity power plants.
4) Working parts do not come in contact with ash.
5) It can also be used to handle molten ash.

Pneumatic handling system.

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In primary and secondary separation working on cyclone principle and then it is collected in the ash hopper
as shown in the figure. The clean air is discharged from the top of the secondary air separator in to the
atmosphere through the exhauster. Exhauster may be mechanical type with filter or washer to ensure that
the exhauster handles clean air or it may use steam jet or water jet for its operation. Mechanical exhausters
are used in large power stations. While steam exhausters are used in small and medium power stations.
The pneumatic system can handle abrasive as well as fine materials such as fly ash as soot.
The capacity of system varies from 15 -25 tons/hr.
Advantages:
1) The system is flexible.
2) There is no spillage and re handling.
3) No chances of ash freezing and sticking of the materials , ash can be discharged freely by gravity.
4) Dustless operation as the system is totally closed.
5) Cost / ton of ash handled is comparatively less.
Disadvantages.
1) Wear and tear of pipes is high and hence the maintenance costs are high.
2) The operation is noisy compared to other systems .

Steam jet system

In this type of ash handling system, a jet of high pressure steam is passed in the direction of ash travel
through a conveying pipe in which ash from the boiler ash hopper is fed. The ash is deposited in the ash
hopper . The velocity is given to the steam by forcing it through the pipe under pressure greater than that
of atmosphere.

Advantages:

1) It does not requires any auxiliary drivers.

2) Capital coat and maintenance costs are low.
3) It requires less space.
4) Equipment can be installed in any position

Disadvantages
1) Noisy operation.
2) Wear and tear of pipes is high.

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3) Capacity of this system is limited to 15 tons/hr

Dust collection
Any gas borne matter larger than 1 micron (0.001mm) in diameter we called it as dust. If the particles are
mainly ash particles then it is called fly ash. If the particles are in turn mixed with some quantity of carbon,
then the matter is known as the cinders. The size of cinders is usually greater than 100 micron. Incomplete
combustion volatile components of fuel produces smoke, consists of particles smaller than 10 micron. The
removal of dust and cinders from flue gas can be achieved by using dust collectors. These are classified as
1) Mechanical dust collectors.
2) Electrical dust collectors.

Mechanical dust collectors.

The basic principle used in the mechanical dust collection is as shown in the figure.

a) Sudden velocity decreasing method: Enlarging cross sectional area off the dust carrying pipe helps
in slow down of the gas so that dust particles will have the chance to settle out are allowed to fall
down.
b) Abrupt change of flow direction.: When gas makes a sharp change in flow direction the heavier
particles tend to keep goinig in original direction and so settle out.
c) Impingement upon small baffles: The larger dust particles may be knocked out of the gas stream
by impingement on baffles. These are used to drop large cinders from the gases.
Mechanical dust collectors can be further classified as wet type and dry type. The wet type dust collectors
are also called as scrubbers . Scrubbers operate with water sprays to wash dust from the air. Large quantity
of wash water is required for central power stations and this system is rarely used. This also produces waste
water that may require chemical neutralization before it may be discharged in to the natural water bodies.
Scrubbers may be 1) Packed type 2)Spray type 3) Impingement type

Dry collectors
Dry collectors are the most commonly used . One example for dry dust collectors is cyclone separator. In
this type of mechanical dust collector, a high velocity gas stream carrying the dust particles enters at high

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velocity and tangential to the conical shell. This produces a whirling motion of the gas within the chamber
and throws heavier dust particles to the sides and fall out of the gas stream and are collected at the bottom
of the collector. The gas from the conical shell is passed through the secondary chamber as shown in figure
for final separation.

Advantages
1) Maintenance cost is low.
2) Efficiency is higher for bigger size particles.
3) Its efficiency increases with increasing the load.
Disadvantages
1) It requires more power than other collectors.
2) It is not flexible.
3) Pressure loss is comparatively high.
4) The collection efficiency decreases as the finess of dust particles increases.
5) It requires large head room.

Electrostatic precipitator.

Electrostatic precipitator are extensively used in removal of fly ash from electric utility boiler emissions.
The dust laden gas is passed between oppositely charged conductors and it becomes ionized. As the dust
laden gas passed through these charged electrodes, both negative and positive ions are formed. The ionized
gas is further passed through the collecting unit which consists of set of vertical plates. Alternates plates

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are charged and earthed. As the alternate plates are grounded, high intensity electrostatic field exerts a force
on positively charged dust particles and drives them towards the grounded plate. The deposited dust
particles are removed from the plates by giving the shaking motion to the plates . Dust removed collected
in the dust hoppers.
Advantages
1) It is more effective in removing small particle.
2) Its efficiency s high.
3) The drought losses are least.
4) It provides ease of operation.

Disadvantages:
1) Use of electrical equipment for converting AC in to DC is necessary.
2) The space required is larger than wet system.
3) Collectors must be protected from sparking .
4) The running costs are high.

High pressure boilers.

For generating steam up to 30 bar pressure with flow rates up to about 30 tones / hr can be achieved with
the use of shell boilers using fire tube principles. These boilers are known as the low pressure boilers. High
pressure boilers are operating with pressures ranging from 30 bar to 300 bars, steam flow rate vary between

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30 to 650 tones /hr and maximum temperature is around 6000c having furnace height varying from 32 to
62 m. In high pressure boilers water tube principle is used. The boilers operating at pressure 221 bar . Then
such boilers are known as the sub critical boilers. The boilers operating above 221 bar steam pressure are
called super critical boilers.

The unique feature of high pressure boilers are

i) Method of water circulation.

Use of natural circulation is limited to sub critical boilers with pressures less than 221 bar. In high pressure
boilers forced circulation of water is used instead of natural circulation. With the increase in pressure in the
boiler, the pressure difference causing the natural flow of water decreases and this becomes zero at critical
pressure of steam 221 bar, because the density of water and steam is same at critical pressure. Therefore
the use of forced circulation becomes necessary. Forced circulation of water is achieved with the help of
pumps these pumps are known as forced circulation pumps.

ii) Arrangement of drums and tubing.

In order to avoid large resistance to flow of water these boilers have a parallel set of tubes arrangement.
They have small steam separating drum or may be entirely free of drum.

iii) Improved method of heating.

The following methods are used to improve the heating.

1) heat added to produce steam can be avoid by eliminating latent heat of evaporation at pressure
above critical (221 Bar).
2) Super heated steam is used to heat water by mixing.
3) Heat transfer coefficients can be improved by increasing gas and water velocities above sonic
velocity.

Advantages:

1) Scale formation is avoided due to the use of high velocity of water.

2) Light weight tubes can be used.
3) Reduction in number of tubes used.
4) Boilers are capable of meeting rapid load changes.
5) Completely eliminates the high head which is needed for natural circulation.
6) Since all parts are heated uniformly which eliminates danger of overheating and setting up thermal
stresses.
7) Construction time required is less.

Lamont boiler

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The schematic arrangement of Lamont boiler is as shown in figure .The feed water from hot well is pumped
in to the steam separating drum with the help of the feed pump. The circulating pump draws water from
the drum and delivers it under pressure to the headers. These headers distribute the water to the steam
generating tubes or evaporator, part of the water evaporated is separated in the steam separator drum. The
steam from the top of the drum is allowed to enter super heater s located in the path of hot gases. As the
steam is drawn from the super heater , an equivalent quantity of feed water is supplied through the
economizer in to the drum. The large quantity of water circulated prevents the tubes from being overheated.
These boilers can be built to generate 45 to 50 tones/hr of super heated stem at pressure of 130 bar and at
a temperature of 5000c . The major disadvantage of this boiler is the formation of scale due the presence of
dissolved gases in the water it decreases heat transfer rate and efficiency of the boiler.

Loeffler boiler.

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The major difficulty of salt deposition and sediments experienced in Lamont boiler was solved in Loeffler
boiler by preventing the flow of water to the boiler tubes. In Loeffler boiler, feed water passes through an
economizer before its entry in to the evaporating drum. Superheated steam mixing with drum water and
evaporates it in to saturated steam. The saturated steam flows through radiant and convective super heaters.
About 2/3rd of the steam returns to the demand 1/3rd leaves as the steam generator out put. The steam
coming out of from HP turbine is passed through reheater before supplying to LP turbine. The steam
generating capacity of this boiler is 100 tones/hr at 140 bar pressure. It is best suited for land and sea
transport power generation.

Benson:

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One of the difficulty experienced in Lamont boiler is the formation and attachment of bubbles on the inner
surfaces of the heating tubes.
In Benson boiler the difficulty of bubble formation experienced in Lamont boiler is avoided by raising the
boiler pressure to critical pressure (221.6Bar) . The arrangement of the boiler components is as shown if
the figure. The Benson boiler is the drum less once through boiler. This boiler takes the feed water in at
one end and discharges it as superheated steam at the other end. Feed water flows through the radiant tube
section to evaporate partly. Where major part of the water is converted in to steam. The remaining water is
evaporated in the convection evaporator tubes. The saturated high pressure steam is further passes through
super heater before leaving the unit.
Major problem that experienced with this boiler is the salt deposition. To avoid this difficulty the boiler is
normally flashed out after every 4000 working hours to remove the salt. Capacity of this boiler is 150 tones
/ hr of steam generation with pressure 300 bar at 6000c.

Advantages
1) There may be no pressure limitation and it may be as high as super critical.
2) Absence of drum and hence cost is less.
3) Evaporation is quick.
4) Light in weight.
5) Space re4quired is less.
6) Expansion problem is less compared to drum type boiler.

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Disadvantage
1) The deposition of salt in evaporator tube is common.
2) Over heating of tubes incase of insufficient water supply.
3) It requires close coordination between steam generation and feed water supply.
4) There is a greater chance of corrosion of evaporator tubes.

Velox boiler.

The Velox boiler is a high pressure , forced circulation pressurized or forced combustion boiler with the
limitation of firing with oil or gas. Air is compressed to about 2.5 bar in an compressor run by gas turbine
before being supplied to an furnace. Compressed air helps in generating high velocity gas and also at the
same time release of greater amount of heat . The heat transferred from gases to water while passing
through the annulus to generate the steam. The mixture of water and steam thus formed then passes in to
separator. The separated steam is further passed in to the super heater and then supplied to the prime move.
The water removed from mixture is again passed in to the water tubes with the help of a pump. The gases
coming out of the combustion chamber are used for superheating steam in super heater. The gases coming
out of the gas turbine are used to heat water in economizer. The capacity of this boiler is limited to 100
tones /hr

Advantages:

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1) High combustion rates are possible.

2) Low excess air is required.
3) It is very compact.
4) It can be quickly started.

Schmidt Boiler

It consist of two separate circuits. In primary circuit steam is produced from distilled water. The generated
steam is passed through an heating coil located in evaporator drum. The steam produced in the evaporator
drum from impure water is passed through the super heater and then supplied to the prime mover. The
high pressure condensate formed in the submerged heating coil is circulated through the low pressure feed
water pre heater to raise the fed water temperature to its saturation temperature.
Advantages:
1) Overheating of tubes is completely eliminated.
2) It is capable of taking wide fluctuation of loads.
3) Removal of salts deposited is easy.

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Accessories for steam generators:

Different devices that are used for the safety and to improve the efficiency of steam generators, are
classified in to two groups
a) Boiler mountings b) Boiler accessories
a) Boiler mountings: Boiler mountings are those devices which are mounted over the body of the boiler
itself for the safety of the boiler and for complete control of the process of steam generation. Some of the
mountings are 1) Two safety valves 2) Water level indicators 3) Pressure gauges 4) Fusible plug 5) Steam
stop valve 6) Feed check valve 7) Blow off cock 8) Inspector test gauge 9) Man and mud hole.
b) Boiler accessories : These are those devices which are installed either inside or out side the boiler to
increase the efficiency of the plant and or for proper working of the plant. The following accessories are
used in the boiler.
1) Air preheater
2) Economizers
3)Super heaters
4) De super heaters
5) Steam separators
6) Pressure reducing valve

Super heaters :
The function of the super heater is to remove the last traces of moisture from the saturated steam coming
out of the boiler and to increase its temperature sufficiently above saturation temperature. Super heating of
steam helps in improving the overall efficiency and it also avoids too much condensation in the last stages
of the turbine which avoids the blade erosion. Super heaters helps in recovering as large as 40% of heat in
steam generators. Modern super heaters are made up of special high strength steel alloys (
0 0
Chromium Molybdenum) it can be operated in the temperature range of 540 C - 650 C . If the operating
temperature is between 4600 C - 5100 C Carbon steel is sufficient.
Super heaters are classified in to three categories as
a) Convection zone heaters.
b) Radiation zone heaters.
c) External heaters.
Convection zone super heaters are usually of the horizontal type, heat transfer takes place from hot gases
to the super heater due to the convection . Due to chances of condensation during short time, shut down
super heaters in the convection zone are invariably made as drainable type. Radiant super heaters receive
heat by direct radiation. Heat available to the radiant super heater does not increase at the same rate as
steam mass flow within the tubes thus steam temperature decreases. External super heaters are once through
design. If it is not possible to locate the super heater within the boiler , it may be located externally.

Based on mechanical construction there are three kinds of super heaters namely pendant , inverted and
horizontal as shown below.

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Pendant type super heaters are those that are hung from above they have the advantage of firm structural
support but disadvantage of flow blockage by condensed steam after cold shut down. To avoid this problem
inverted tube arrangement is used. To combine the advantages of both horizontal type super heaters are
used.
Super heaters may be made in the form of coils or platens .The coil may be single, double with one tube
and double coil with two tubes as shown below.

Super heater temperature control

For successful operation of prime mover it is necessary to supply steam as far as possible at constant
temperature and pressure . Steam pressure can be easily regulated by means of safety valve invariably
mounted on the boiler. Control of steam temperature is really a problem with boiler designers. Accurate
steam temperature control is necessary for avoiding over stressing of super heater tubes and to maintain
overall efficiency as high as possible.
Common methods used for controlling super heat temperature of the steam are listed below.
1) By passing the furnace gas around the super heaters
2) Tilting burner in furnace.
3) Using desuperheater.
4) Pre condensing control
5) Gas recirculation.
6) Twin furnace arrangement.
7) Coil immersion in the boiler drum

1) By passing the furnace gas around the super heaters.

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In this method part of the flue gases are by passed with the help of damper as shown in the figure . Even
though the this method can be used successfully to control steam temperatures but finding an suitable
material to with stand erosion and high temperatures in the gas passage have limited the use of damper
method of control.

2) Tilting burner in furnace.

The temperature of the steam coming out of super heaters is controlled by tilting the burners up or down
through a range of 300C . By tilting the burner down ward in a furnace much of heat is given to the water
walls by the gas and the gas entering the super heater system is relatively cool. If the burner tilted up ward,
then the heat given to the boiler water wall is less and hot gas enters the super heat region to increase the
steam temperatures.
3) Desuper heaters using water spray

The temperature of the steam can be controlled by injecting the water either before the super heater or
between the sections of super heaters .

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4) Pre condensing control:

The temperature of the steam can be controlled by condensing the steam coming out of boiler with a small
condenser with the help of feed water as shown in the figure . Automatic control regulates the amount of
feed water passing through the condenser.

5) Gas re circulation:

The gas coming out of the economizer is partially re circulated in to the furnace with the help of a fan as
shown in figure. The re circulated gas forms an blanket inside the furnace wall. This reduces the heat
absorption by water walls and increases the heat absorption by super heater.

6) Twin furnace arrangement.

Twin furnace arrangement is as shown in the figure below. It is an extension of separately fired super
heater. Varying the firing rates between the furnaces controls the super heat temperature.

7) Coil immersion in the boiler drum

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The arrangement of this system is shown in the figure. A portion of the steam from low temperature section
of super heater by passed to a coil immersed in lower drum of the boiler under the control of by pass valve,
later it is actuated by the final temperature of the steam. Thus making system automatic. The desuper
heated steam in the boiler drum is returned and mixed with non desuperheated steam in the junction header
and final super heating takes place in the second stage super heater . This method is used in Bacock and
Wilcox boiler. The advantages of this method are 1) There is no erosive action on the equipment by gases
2) Over heating of the metal at high temperatures.

Economizers:
Economizer is a feed water heater deriving heat from the flue gases discharged from the boiler. The
function of economizer is to heat the feed water coming up to nearly saturation temperature corresponding
to the boiler pressure by utilizing energy of the hot flue gases leaving the super heater or re heater which
is generally at temperatures varying from 3700C to 5700C. Economizers are usually placed between last
super heater and the air preheaters. They have been built in vertical coils of continuous tubes connected
between inlet and outlet headers with each sections formed in to an several horizontal paths connected by
1800 Vertical at a pitch of 45 to 50 mm spacing depending on the type of fuel and ash characteristics.

Types of Economizers:
Basically there are two types of economizers
1) Plain tube economizer(With return bend)

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Plain tubes are generally used in Lancashire boiler working with natural draught. The tubes are made up of
cast Iron to prevent corrosive action by the flue gases. The waste flue gases flow out side the economizer
tubes and heat is transferred to the feed water flowing inside the tubes. The external surfaces of the tubes
are continuously cleaned with the help of soot scrappers to maintain an constant heat transfer.

2) Gilled tube economizer : (With return bend)

A reduction in economizer size together with increased heat transmission can be obtained by casting
rectangular gills on the bare tube walls. Up to 50 bar pressure cast iron gilled tube economizers can be
used. Greater than 50 bar pressure applications steel tubes are used but gills are made up of cast iron are
shrunk to them.
Advantages of Economizers:
1) It helps in reduction of soot and fly ash.
2) Fuel savings will be higher than theoretically calculated.
3) It helps in reduction of thermal stresses in the pressurized parts of the boiler and promotes the better
internal mixing.
4) Hardness problem of water can be minimized

Air preheaters
Air preheater utilize some of the heat energy left in the gases before exhausting them to atmosphere. The
heat carried with the flue gases coming out of economizer is further utilized for preheating the air before
supplying in to the combustion chamber. It helps in improving the efficiency of the boiler. Air preheaters
are necessary equipments used for supply of hot air for drying the coal in pulverized mill and satisfactory
combustion of fuel in furnace.
Advantages of preheating air are
1) Improved combustion
2) Successful use of low grade fuel.
3) Increased thermal efficiency
4) Saving in fuel consumption
5) Increased steam generation capacity.
Air preheaters are divided in to two groups
1) Regenerative ( Ljungstorm preheater )
2) Recuperative preheater.
1) Regenerative preheater :

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In this type of preheater heat is transferred from the hot flue gases, first to an intermediate heat storage
medium, then to air. The most common is the rotary air preheater known as Ljungstrom preheater. Rotor
driven by a electric motor. The rotor is having several radial members they form sectors. The sectors are
filled with heating surface composed of steel sheets. They constitute a heat storage medium of the preheater.
A stationary seal covers the equivalent of two opposite sectors. Half of the remaining sectors are exposed
at any instant to the hot gases which are moving in one direction . The sectors in the other half are exposed
to the air which is moving in the opposite direction. As the rotating sectors enters the gas zone they are
progressively heated by the gas. They store heat as sensible heat. When they enter air zone they
progressively give up this heat to the air . The seal system reduces the leakage.

2) Recuperative air preheater:

In this type of air preheaters heat is directly transferred to the air from hot gases across the heat exchange
surface.
There are two types of recuperative air preheaters
a) Tubular air preheaters
b) Plate type air preheater

a) Tubular air preheaters:

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Tubular air preheater is as shown in the figure. It works similar to the counter flow heat exchanger . The
flue gases flow through the tubes and air is passed over the outer surface of the tubes. The horizontal baffles
are provided as shown in the figure to increase time of contact which will help for higher heat transfer. In
some designs tube row staggering is used to improve the air distribution. The steel tubes of 3 to 10 m in
height and 6 to 8 cm in diameters are commonly used. The gases reverse their direction near the bottom of
the air heater, and a soot hoper is fitted to the bottom of air preheater casing to collect soot.

Plate type air preheater:

GAS IN

AIR OUT

GAS OUT
AIR IN

It consists of rectangular flat plates spaced from 1.5 to 2.5 cm apart leaving alternate air and gas passages.
This type of air heaters is not used in modern installation as it more expensive compared to the tubular air
heater.

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Cooling towers and cooling ponds

Necessity of cooling the condenser water

1) Cooling water system is one of the most important system of power plant and its availability
predominantly decides the plant site.
2) As the cooling water takes the latent heat of steam in the condenser, the temperature of water increases.
The hot water coming out of the condenser can not be used again and again in a closed system without
pre-cooling. This is because the hot water coming out of condenser if again used it will not absorb the
heat as two reaches near to saturation temperature of steam at condenser pressure an the condenser vacuum
can not be maintained. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to pre cool the water coming out of condenser
before using again.
Cooling towers and ponds are used for cooling water coming out of the condenser to make it suitable for
reusing in the plant.

Cooling towers:
The purpose of cooling towers is to cool the warmed water discharged from condenser and feed the cooled
water back to the condenser. By this way cooling water requirement get reduced to make up water supply
only. The cooling towers may be wet type or dry type.

Wet cooling towers employ a hot water distributing system that showers or sprays the water evenly over a
lattice work of closely set horizontal bars called fills or packaging. Since the water splashes down from one
fill level to the next by gravity . There is a through mixing of water falling with air moving through the fill.
The intimate mix between water and air results in enhancement of heat and mass transfer(Evaporation)
which cools the water. The cold water gets collected at the bottom of tower in concrete basin from where
it is pumped back to the condenser in a closed system or returned to the water body in open system. The
resulting hot and moist air leaves the tower at the top.
Wet cooling towers are classified as either
i) Mechanical draught cooling towers
ii) Natural draught cooling towers
i) Mechanical draught cooling towers.

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In this case air is moved by one or more mechanically driven fans. The fan could be of forced draught (FD)
type or Induced draught (ID) type. The FD fan is mounted on the lower sides to force air in to the tower
while in ID type ID fan is located on the top of the tower. FD type is thermodynamically superior but it is
having s=disadvantages like leakage, recirculation of hot and moist air and frost accumulation at fan in lets
during winter operation. Therefore induced draught type wet cooling towers are commonly used. In this
type air enters through the large openings provided at the bottom of the tower at slow velocity and passes
through the fill. The fan located at the top of the tower exhausts the hot humid air in to the atmosphere.
The fans are propeller type and driven by electric motor. The blades of the fan are usually made of cast
aluminum, stainless steel or fiber glass to safe guard against the corrosion.
Advantages:
1) It is independent of climate conditions.
2) Low initial capital costs and low physical profile.
3) More efficient and more safe.
Disadvantages:
1) High power consumption by fans
2) Noise produced is enormous.
3) Operating and maintenance costs are more.

Natural draught cooling towers

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In this type of cooling towers there are no fans. These towers depend for air flow upon the natural driving
pressure caused by the difference in densities between the cool out side air and the hot humid air inside.
The driving pressure differential is expressed as
Pd = (o-i) gH ,
Where H is height of tower above the fill, o and I are densities of air out side and inside .
Since (o-i) is relatively small , so H must be large enough to cause desired Pd and as a result natural
draught cooling towers are very tall towers .Towers are usually of hyperbolic profiles and due to this natural
draught towers are called by name hyperbolic towers. The advantage of this type of towers is that their
greater resistance to outside wind loading compared to other shapes. The natural draught towers may be
counter flow type or cross flow type. In counter flow the fill is inside where as in cross flow the sits out
side the tower.
Advantages:
(i) Low operating and maintenance cost .
(ii) It gives more or less trouble free operation
(iii) Considerable less ground area required.
(iv) Towers may be as high as 125 m and 100 m in diameter at the base with the capability of withstanding
winds of very high speed.
Disadvantages:
(i) High initial cost
(ii) Its performance depends on the atmospheric conditions.

Dry cooling towers:

Dry cooling towers are those in which water pass through the finned tubes over which the cooling air is
passed. A dry cooling tower can be either mechanical draught or natural draught. They are very suitable
where there is scarcity of water. The plant could be located on fuel source site to avoid transportation cost
. They are less expensive and maintenance costs are low. The main disadvantage is less efficient than wet
type, work at high back pressure which decreases the plant out put and efficiency. Dry cooling towers are
of two types direct and indirect

Direct dry cooling towers:

In this type of cooling tower turbine exhaust steam is admitted in to a steam header through large ducts
and is condensed as it flows downward through a large number of finned tubes or coils arranged in parallel

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which are cooled by the atmospheric air flowing in a natural draught cooling towers or forced draught fan.
The condensate flows by gravity and gets collected in condenser receiver from where it is pumped in to
the plant feed water system.

Indirect dry cooling tower

There are three design concepts available for indirect dry cooling towers
i) With conventional surface condenser.

It uses a conventional surface condenser in which circulating water goes through the finned tubes cooled
by atmospheric air in the tower. The finned tubes may be either cooled by air through natural draught or
induced draught system. This design is similar to the design of two heat exchangers in series and thus two
temperatures drops , one between steam and water and another one between water and air. If this type of
towers is used in the plant efficiency will be low compared to once through system.

ii) Using an open or direct contact condenser:

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It eliminates the intermediate water loop of first design concept and uses an direct contact condenser. Since
the operation is in the closed mode circulating water can be mixed with steam from plant and hence use of
open type condenser is justified. The exhaust steam from turbine enters the open type condenser. Where
cold water is sprayed in to the steam for intimate mixing. The condensate falls to the bottom of the
condenser from which most of it is pumped by recirculation pump under positive pressure to finned tubing
in the tower. This part of the condensate is cooled and is returned to the condenser sprayers. The condensate
equal to the steam flow , is pumped to the plant water system by the condensate pump. In this case also
cooling towers may be natural or forced draught. A water recover turbine may be used to recover some of
the work of pump. This concept of indirect dry cooling tower is efficient more economical and more
feasible for large plants.

3) Using Vaporizing coolant.

This design uses vaporizing coolant instead of water. Nearly saturated liquid ammonia enters surface
condenser and is vaporized to saturated vapor . Vapor flows to finned coils and is condensed to saturated
liquid and finally pumped to the condenser. Since the heat transfer coefficient is very high compared to the
convective heat transfer in single phase fluid. Thus the use of ammonia reduces the size and power
requirement of the equipment.

Advantages of dry cooling towers:

1) There is no thermal pollution and loss of water due to evaporation.
2) Power plant can be located closer to the load centre .
3) There is minimum air pollution.
4) There is no fog , no blowdown treatment , no windage loss of water, no evaporative loss of water and
no thermal discharge to water source.
Disadvantages:
1) Their performance is dependent on the atmospheric conditions and so turbine exhaust temperature s are
much higher resulting in a substantial loss of turbine efficiency , most critical in warm climates.
2)Due to low heat transfer coefficient , dry cooling towers require enormous volumes of air, large surface
areas and are less effective at high natural air temperatures.
Cooling lakes or cooling ponds.
Cooling lakes are also known as the cooling ponds .These are the oldest and simplest type of artificially
made heat rejection system. Hot circulating water from the condenser is simply dumped in to an artificially
made lake and left to cool. Cooled water from the lake is returned to the water circulating system. Cooling
is accomplished naturally by evaporation by thermal radiation to sky and convection by wind. It requires
large land area. The main disadvantages of cooling lake is that very low cooling effectiveness and costs of
structure. Some of the advantages are
1) Simplicity
2) Low maintenance
3) It can be operated for extended periods without make up water
4) Only mechanical equipment needed is pump

Types of cooling ponds.

The common types of cooling ponds used in practice are listed below.
1) Single deck and double deck systems.
i) Single deck system

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In this type of cooling ponds the spray nozzles are arranges at the same elevation as shown in figure. Its
effectiveness is less than the double deck system.

ii) Double deck system.

In this type spray nozzles are arranged at different elevation as shown in the figure. Its cooling effect is
more than single deck system as water comes in contact with air at low temperature.

2) Natural and directed flow system.

i) Natural flow system

In natural flow system water coming out from the condenser is directly allowed to flow in to the pond. This
system rarely used.

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ii) Directed flow system

In this type of cooling pond the hot water coming out of condenser enters the middle channel. Then it
reaches the far end of channel and divides in to two currents. Baffles walls are used to traverse water
several times in the pond before uniting at the intake point. The cooling achieved is more effective.

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