Compiled by Dr.

Sumanta Banerjee, Mechanical Engineering Department

BOILER DRAUGHT (Concluding Part)

CONDITION FOR MAXIMUM CHIMNEY DISCHARGE:

Let us suppose,
The mean cross-sectional area of the chimney  A ;
The average velocity of hot flue gas across an arbitrary cross-section (inside the chimney)  V ;
The density of flue gas inside the chimney   .
Consequently, the flue gas discharge rate M at the chosen cross-section is:
M  AV . ( )
We can consider a reciprocal variation of the gas density with the temperature inside the chimney as
  1 T2 , where T2 is the mean flue gas temperature. This is intuitive as the mass density decreases with
rise in temperature. Therefore, one can write   k T2 (constant of proportionality is k ). Assuming the
friction losses as negligible, we can write V  4.43 H  (from Eq. (13)) and consider Eq. (11) for the
draught head H in meter of gas column. Thus, we can combine Eq. (11), Eq. (13), and Eq. (14) to
obtain ̇ as:
   m T2  
M   A 4.43 H  m  T2  1  k ; M
  A 4.43 H   k ; M   k1    1 , say . ( )
T2  m 1 T1   T2 T2  m 1 T1  
In Eq. (15), k1 is a constant parameter and is given by k1  A k  4.43 H . Thus we may write Eq. (15) as:

 
  k  m  1   1  .
M ( )
1
 m 1 T1T2  T22 
Differentiating M (in Eq. (16)) with respect to T2 and equating it to zero, we get the condition for
maximum discharge. Therefore, we proceed as follows:
m 1 1 2
1 2    2  3
dM 1 m 1 1   m 1 1 2  1 m  1 T1 T2 T2
 0;  k1     2       2  3   0;  k1    0;
dT2 2  m  1 T1T2 T2   m  1 T1 T2 T2  2 m 1 1
 
m  1 T1T2 T22
m 1 1 2 m 1 1 2 m 1 2  m 1
   2  3  0;    2  3 ;   ;  T2  2 T1 .
m  1 T1 T2 T2 m  1 T1 T2 T2 m  1 T1 T2  m 
( )
 m  1
The above calculations yield the relation T2  2 T1 , between the temperature of the flue gas T2 
 m 
and the atmospheric temperature T1  , as the condition for maximum discharge.
NOTE: From Eq. (17), we conclude that for maximum discharge the temperature of flue gas should be
more than twice the atmospheric temperature. For maximum discharge, there should be heat extraction
from the flue gases to the fullest.
The height of hot gas column H  producing the draught for maximum (mass) rate of discharge of hot
gases is obtained by substituting the value of T2 (obtained in Eq. (17)) in Eq. (11):
 m 2m  1T1  
H   H     1  H meters . ( )
  m  1 mT 1  

Power Plant Engineering Tutorial (MECH 4242) Page 1

 Compiled by Dr. Sumanta Banerjee, Mechanical Engineering Department
The draught pressure (in mm of water) for maximum discharge is obtained by substituting the value of
T2 (obtained in Eq. (17)) in Eq. (10) as follows:
 
 1 m 1 1  353H 176.5H
h  353H      mm. of water . ( )
 T1 m  m  1  2T1 T1
 2 T1 
  m  

POWER REQUIRED IN DRIVING A FAN:

The power of a fan (or air power) is the power required to deliver (or discharge) air (or gas) at a certain
volumetric rate. To estimate the power required, let us assume that:
Draught pressure (in N m 2 )  p  9.81  h mm. of water ;
Volume flow rate of air (or flue gas) through the fan in m 3 min  V ;
Efficiency of fan   f
pV
Work transfer rate by a fan  pressure  volume  pV Nm min  Watts
60
pV
Therefore, power required to drive the fan , P  Watts ( )
60   f
NOTE: The above expression is the power that the motor must supply in order to drive the fan. This
should naturally be higher than the work transfer rate by the fan, as there are internal and external
irreversibilities during the work transfer process. The presence of  f term in the denominator takes care
of this aspect.
Now, we have considered that the mass of air actually used (in kg), per kg of fuel burnt, is m . If we
assume further that the mass of fuel burnt in kg min is M , the mass of air required shall be mM kg min .
Also, we have calculated the specific volume of air at to be v 0  0.773 m 3 kg . So, the volumetric rate
3
of air handled at (for the above fuel burning rate) is V0  0.773mM m min . At (outside)
temperature of T1 (K), the volumetric rate of air required to be handled is therefore:
V0T1 0.773mMT1 0.773mMT1 mMT1 3
V    m min . [ ]
T0 T0 273 353
This is precisely the volume of air that needs to be handled by a forced draught (F.D.) fan. So, the power
required to drive the F.D. fan is:
pmMT1 9.81 h mMT1 h mMT1
PF . D.    Watts . [ ]
60  353   f 60  353   f 60  36   f
NOTE: We know that:
1 p
9.81 N m 2  1 mm W .C.;  1 N m 2  mm W .C.;  p N m 2  mm W .C.  h mm W .C.;  p  9.81h .
9.81 9.81
Let us now turn our attention to the power requirements of an induced draught (I.D.) fan. We know
that the mass of flue gas drawn (per kg of fuel) by the I.D. fan is m  1 kg . If the rate of fuel consumption
in kg min is M , then the mass rate of flue gas handled by the I.D. fan is M m  1 kg min . As the volume
of flue gases at is nearly equal to the volume of air used at , the volume of flue gases at
3
(handled per minute) is V0  0.773mM m min . At (outside) temperature of T2 (K):

Power Plant Engineering Tutorial (MECH 4242) Page 2

 Compiled by Dr. Sumanta Banerjee, Mechanical Engineering Department
V0T2 0.773mMT2 0.773mMT2 mMT2 3
V    m min . [ ]
T0 T0 273 353
Equation (23) is the expression for the volumetric rate of air required to be handled. Therefore, the
power required to drive the I.D. fan is:
pmMT2 9.81 h mMT2 h mMT2
PI . D.    Watts . [ ]
60  353   f 60  353   f 60  36   f

EFFICIENCY OF CHIMNEY:
The chimney efficiency is defined as the ratio of the energy required to produce the artificial draught
(expressed in meter head, or J kg of flue gas) to the mechanical equivalent of extra heat carried away
per kg of flue gases due to the natural draught. Let:
Height of the flue gas column, or the artificial draught produced (in meter head)  H  ;
Temperature of flue inside the chimney (in K) with natural draught  T2 ;
Temperature of flue inside the chimney (in K) with artificial draught  T ;
Specific heat of flue gases (in kJ kg K )  c p .
NOTE: The value of specific heat of flue gas may be taken as 1.005 kJ kg K .
We know that the energy required producing the artificial draught, per kg of flue gas
 gH  J kg of flue gas ;
Extra heat carried away, per kg of flue gas, due to natural draught  1  c p T2  T  kJ kg of flue gas
 1000  c p T2  T  J kg of flue gas
Therefore, the chimney efficiency is:
gH 
C  . [ ]
1000  c p T2  T 
NOTE:
 The efficiency of chimney is less than 1 percent ;
 m T  
 The value of H  may be substituted as H   H   2   1 meters .
 m  1 T1  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The material has been prepared by drawing resources from ‘A Textbook of
Thermal Engineering’ by Khurmi and Gupta (S. Chand Publications). This study-aid has been prepared to
supplement class-room teaching for senior undergraduate students taking an introductory course in Power
Plant Engineering.

Power Plant Engineering Tutorial (MECH 4242) Page 3