BOILER

What is a Boiler?
- A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for combustion heat to be transferred
to water until it becomes heated water or steam.
- When water at atmospheric pressure is boiled into steam its volume increases about 1,600
times, producing a force that is almost as explosive as gunpowder. This causes the boiler
to be equipment that must be treated with utmost care.
- The hot water or steam under pressure is then usable for transferring the heat to a process.

Type of boilers

What Type of Boilers are there?

1. Fire Tube Boiler
2. Water Tube Boiler
3. Packaged Boiler
4. Fluidized Bed (FBC) Boiler
5. Stoker Fired Boiler
6. Pulverized Fuel Boiler
7. Waste Heat Boiler
8. Thermic Fluid Heater (not a boiler!)
Fire tube boiler

• This is generally used for relatively small steam capacities and at low to medium steam
pressures.
 • The steam rates for fire tube boilers are up to 12,000 kg/hour with pressures of 18
kg/cm2.
• Fire tube boilers can operate on oil, gas or solid fuels.
The figure illustrates how a fire tube boiler works. The fuel is burned and heats up the water to
steam which is turn channeled to the process. Today, most fire tube boiler are in a packaged
construction for all fuels
Water Tube Boiler

• In a water tube boiler, boiler feed water flows through the tubes and enters the boiler
drum. The circulated water is heated by the combustion gases and converted into steam at
the vapour space in the drum. These boilers are selected when the steam demand as well
as steam pressure requirements are high as in the case of process cum power boiler /
power boilers.
• Most modern water boiler tube designs are within the capacity range 4,500 – 120,000
kg/hour of steam, at very high pressures. Many water tube boilers are of “packaged”
construction if oil and /or gas are to be used as fuel. Solid fuel fired water tube designs
are available but packaged designs are less common.
• The features of water tube boilers are:
• Forced, induced and balanced draft provisions help to improve combustion
efficiency.
• Less tolerance for water quality calls for water treatment plant.
• Higher thermal efficiency levels are possible
Packaged Boiler
• The packaged boiler is so called because it comes as a complete package. Once delivered
to a site, it requires only the steam, water pipe work, fuel supply and electrical
connections to be made to become operational.
• Package boilers are generally of a shell type with a fire tube design so as to achieve high
heat transfer rates by both radiation and convection.
• The features of packaged boilers are:
• Small combustion space and high heat release rate resulting in faster evaporation.
• Large number of small diameter tubes leading to good convective heat transfer.
• Forced or induced draft systems resulting in good combustion efficiency.
• Number of passes resulting in better overall heat transfer.
• Higher thermal efficiency levels compared with other boilers.
• These boilers are classified based on the number of passes - the number of times the hot
combustion gases pass through the boiler.
Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) Boiler
• When an evenly distributed air or gas is passed upward through a finely divided bed of
solid particles such as sand supported on a fine mesh, the particles are undisturbed at low
velocity. As air velocity is gradually increased, a stage is reached when the individual
particles are suspended in the air stream – the bed is called “fluidized”. With further
increase in air velocity, there is bubble formation, vigorous turbulence, rapid mixing and
formation of dense defined bed surface. The bed of solid particles exhibits the properties
of a boiling liquid and assumes the appearance of a fluid – “bubbling fluidized bed”.
If the sand in a fluidized state is heated to the ignition temperature of the coal and the
coal is injected continuously in to the bed, the coal will burn rapidly, and the bed attains a
uniform temperature due to effective mixing. Proper air distribution is vital for
maintaining uniform fluidisation across the bed.). Ash is disposed by dry ash disposal
systems.
• The fuels burnt in these boilers include coal, washery rejects, rice husk, bagasse & other
agricultural wastes.
• The fluidized bed boilers have a wide capacity range- 0.5 T/hr to over 100 T/hr or even
more.
• The fluidized bed combustion (FBC) takes place at about 800oC to 900oC.
• Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) has emerged as a viable alternative and has significant
advantages over a conventional firing system and offers multiple benefits – compact
 boiler design, fuel flexibility, higher combustion efficiency and reduced emission of
noxious pollutants such as SOx and NOx.
•

•
Most operational boiler of this type is of the Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion.
(AFBC). In this boiler, atmospheric air, which acts as both the fluidization and combustion air,
is delivered at a pressure, after being preheated by the exhaust fuel gases.
In Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) type,
• a compressor supplies the Forced Draft (FD) air and the combustor is a pressure
vessel.
• A deep bed is used to extract large amounts of heat. This will improve the
combustion efficiency and sulphur dioxide absorption in the bed.
 • The steam is generated in the two tube bundles, one in the bed and one above it.
Hot flue gases drive a power generating gas turbine.
• The PFBC system can be used for cogeneration (steam and electricity) or
combined cycle power generation.
Stoker Fired Boiler:
• Stokers are classified according to the method of feeding fuel to the furnace and by the
type of grate. The main classifications are:
1. Chain-grate or traveling-grate stoker
2. Spreader stoker
Chain-Grate or Traveling-Grate Stoker Boiler
• Coal is fed onto one end of a moving steel chain grate. As grate moves along the length
of the furnace, the coal burns before dropping off at the end as ash. Some degree of skill
is required, particularly when setting up the grate, air dampers and baffles, to ensure
clean combustion leaving minimum of unburnt carbon in the ash.
• Ignition of coal particles is chiefly due to radiation from fire brick arch, conduction
through the hot solid mass and hot glowing particles fell back on fresh coal charge.
• The coal-feed hopper runs along the entire coal-feed end of the furnace. Acoal grate is
used to control the rate at which coal is fed into the furnace, and to control the thickness
of the coalbed and speed of the grate. Coal must be uniform in size, as large lumps will
not burn out completely by the time they reach the end of the grate. As the bed thickness
decreases from coalfeed end to rear end, different amounts of air are required- more
quantity at coal-feed end and less at rear end.
Spreader Stoker Boiler
Spreader stokers utilize a combination of suspension burning and grate burning.
The coal 9 about ¾ inches size) is continually fed into the furnace above a burning bed of coal.
The coal fines are burned in suspension; the larger particles fall to the grate, where they are
burned in a thin, fast burning coal bed. This method of firing provides good flexibility to meet
load fluctuations, since ignition is almost instantaneous when firing rate is increased. Hence, the
spreader stoker is favored over other types of stokers in many industrial applications.

Pulverized Fuel Boiler

Most coal-fired power station boilers use pulverized coal, and many of the larger industrial
water-tube boilers also use this pulverized fuel. This technology is well developed, and there are
thousands of units around the world, accounting for well over 90% of coal-fired capacity.
The coal is ground (pulverised) to a fine powder, so that less than 2% is +300 micro metre (μm)
and 90-95% is below 75 microns, for a bituminous coal. It should be noted that too fine a powder
is wasteful of grinding mill power. On the other hand, too coarse a powder does not burn
completely in the combustion chamber and results in higher unburnt losses. The pulverised coal
is blown with part of the combustion air into the boiler plant through a series of burner nozzles.
Secondary and tertiary air may also be added. Combustion takes place at temperatures from
1300-1700°C, depending largely on coal grade.
Particle residence time in the boiler is typically 2 to 5 seconds, and the particles must be small
enough for complete combustion to have taken place during this time.
This system has many advantages such as ability to fire varying quality of coal, quick responses
to changes in load, use of high pre-heat air temperatures etc.
One of the most popular systems for firing pulverized coal is the tangential firing using four
burners corner to corner to create a fireball at the center of the furnace.
Assessment of a boiler
Boiler performance
• The performance parameters of a boiler, like efficiency and evaporation ratio, reduces with time
due to poor combustion, heat transfer surface fouling and poor operation and maintenance.
Even for a new boiler, reasons such as deteriorating fuel quality and water quality can result in
poor boiler performance.
• Heat balance and boiler efficiency, which are important in assessing the boiler performance:
• A heat balance helps us to identify avoidable and unavoidable heat losses.
• Boiler efficiency tests help us to find out the deviation of boiler efficiency from the best
efficiency and target problem area for corrective action.
Heat Balance
• An energy flow diagram describes geographically how energy is transformed from fuel into
useful energy, heat and losses

Heat Balance

Balancing total energy entering a boiler against the energy that leaves the boiler in different forms
Most Important: Improve energy efficiency by reducing avoidable losses

Avoidable losses include:

- Stack gas losses (excess air, stack gas temperature)
- Losses by unburnt fuel
- Blow down losses
- Condensate losses
- Convection and radiation
Boiler Efficiency

Combustion efficiency: The combustion efficiency of a boiler is the indication of burner’s ability to burn
fuel. The two parameters which determine the burner efficiency are un-burnt fuel quantities in exhaust
and excess oxygen levels in the exhaust. As the amount of excess air is increased, the quantity of
unburnt fuel in the exhaust decreases. This results in lowering the un-burnt fuel losses but elevating the
enthalpy losses. Hence, it is quite important to maintain a balance between enthalpy losses and
un-burnt losses. Combustion efficiency also varies with the fuel being burnt. Combustion efficiency is
higher for liquid and gaseous fuels than for solid fuels.

Thermal efficiency: % of (heat) energy input that is effectively useful in the generated steam

BOILER EFFICENCY
CALCULATION

DIRECT METHOD: 2) INDIRECT METHOD:

Direct Method: The energy gain of the working fluid (water and steam) is compared with the energy
content of the boiler fuel.

Indirect Method: The efficiency is the different between losses and energy input

Boiler Efficiency: Direct Method

This method calculates boiler efficiency by using the basic efficiency formula-
η=(Energy output)/(Energy input) X 100
In order to calculate boiler efficiency by this method, we divide the total energy output of a boiler by
total energy input given to the boiler, multiplied by hundred.

Calculation of direct efficiency-

η = [Q (H-h)/q*GCV]*100

Where,
Q= Quantity of steam generated (kg/hr)
H= Enthalpy of steam (Kcal/kg)
h= Enthalpy of water (kcal/kg)
GCV= Gross calorific value of the fuel.

Example
Find out the efficiency of the boiler by direct method with the data given below:
– Type of boiler : Coal fired
– Quantity of steam (dry) generated : 8 TPH
– Steam pressure (gauge) / temp : 10 kg/cm2(g)/ 180°C
– Quantity of coal consumed : 1.8 TPH
– Feed water temperature : 85°C
– GCV of coal : 3200 kcal/kg
– Enthalpy of steam at 10 kg/cm2 pressure : 665 kcal/kg (saturated)
– Enthalpy of feed water : 85 kcal/kg

It may be noted that boiler may not generate 100% saturated dry steam, and there may be
some amount of wetness in the steam.

Parameters to be monitored:
- Quantity of steam generated per hour (Q) in kg/hr
- Quantity of fuel used per hour (q) in kg/hr
- The working pressure (in kg/cm2(g)) and superheat temperature (oC), if any
- The temperature of feed water (oC)
- Type of fuel and gross calorific value of the fuel (GCV) in kcal/kg of fuel
Direct Method
Advantages
• Quick evaluation
• Few parameters for computation
• Few monitoring instruments
• Easy to compare evaporation ratios with benchmark figures
Disadvantages
• No explanation of low efficiency
• Various losses not calculated
Boiler Efficiency: Indirect Method

The indirect efficiency of a boiler is calculated by finding out the individual losses taking place
in a boiler and then subtracting the sum from 100%. This method involves finding out the
magnitudes of all the measurable losses taking place in a boiler by separate measurements. All
these losses are added and subtracted from 100% to find out the final efficiency. Blow down
valve is kept closed during the procedure. The losses calculated include stack losses, radiation
losses, blowdown losses etc.

Efficiency of boiler ƞ = 100 – (i + ii + iii + iv + v + vi + vii + viii)

Principle losses:

i) Dry flue gas

ii) Evaporation of water formed due to H2 in fuel
iii) Evaporation of moisture in fuel
iv) Moisture present in combustion air
v) Unburnt fuel in fly ash
vi) Unburnt fuel in bottom ash
vii) Radiation and other unaccounted losses
Required calculation data
• Ultimate analysis of fuel (H2, O2, S, C, moisture content, ash content)
• % oxygen or CO2 in the flue gas
• Fuel gas temperature in ◦C (Tf)
• Ambient temperature in ◦C (Ta) and humidity of air in kg/kg of dry air
• GCV of fuel in kcal/kg
• % combustible in ash (in case of solid fuels)
• GCV of ash in kcal/kg (in case of solid fuels)

Indirect Method:
Advantages
• Complete mass and energy balance for each individual stream
• Makes it easier to identify options to improve boiler efficiency
Disadvantages
• Time consuming
• Requires lab facilities for analysis
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
 1. Stack temperature control
2. Feed water preheating using economizers
3. Combustion air pre-heating
4. Incomplete combustion minimization
5. Excess air control
6. Avoid radiation and convection heat loss
7. Automatic blow down control
8. Reduction of scaling and soot losses
9. Reduction of boiler steam pressure
10. Variable speed control
11. Controlling boiler loading
12. Proper boiler scheduling
13. Boiler replacement
Stack Temperature Control
• The stack temperature should be as low as possible. However, it should not be so low that
water vapor in the exhaust condenses on the stack walls. This is important in fuels
containing significant sulphur as low temperature can lead to sulphur dew point
corrosion. Stack temperatures greater than 200°C indicates potential for recovery of
waste heat. It also indicates the scaling of heat transfer/recovery equipment and hence the
urgency of taking an early shut down for water / flue side cleaning.
• Keep as low as possible
• If >200°C then recover waste heat
. Feed Water Preheating Economizers
Typically, the flue gases leaving a modern 3-pass shell boiler are at temperatures of 200 to 300
oC. Thus, there is a potential to recover heat from these gases. The potential for energy savings
depends on the type of boiler installed and the fuel used.
• Potential to recover heat from 200 – 300 oC flue gases leaving a modern 3-pass shell
boiler
Combustion Air Preheating
Combustion air preheating is an alternative to feed water heating. In order to improve thermal
efficiency by 1%, the combustion air temperature must be raised by 20 oC. Most gas and oil
burners used in a boiler plant are not designed for high air-preheat temperatures.
• If combustion air raised by 20°C = 1% improve thermal efficiency
Minimize Incomplete Combustion
• Incomplete combustion can arise from a shortage of air, surplus of fuel or poor
distribution of fuel. You can identify it from the color of the smoke. A quite frequent
cause of incomplete combustion is the poor mixing of fuel and air at the burner.
 • Symptoms:
• Smoke, high CO levels in exit flue gas
• Causes:
• Air shortage, fuel surplus, poor fuel distribution
• Poor mixing of fuel and air
• Oil-fired boiler:
• Improper viscosity, worn tops, cabonization on dips, deterioration of diffusers or
spinner plates
• Coal-fired boiler: non-uniform coal size
Excess Air Control
• Excess air is required in all practical cases to ensure complete combustion, to allow for
the normal variations in combustion and to ensure satisfactory stack conditions for some
fuels.
• The optimum excess air level varies with furnace design, type of burner, fuel and process
variables. It can be determined by conducting tests with different air fuel ratios.
• Controlling excess air to an optimum level always results in reduction in flue gas losses;
for every 1 percent reduction in excess air there is approximately 0.6 percent rise in
efficiency.
• Various methods are available to control the excess air:
• Portable oxygen analyzers and draft gauges can be used to make periodic readings
to guide the operator to manually adjust the flow of air for optimum operation.
Excess air reduction up to 20 percent is feasible.
• The most common method is the continuous oxygen analyzer with a local readout
mounted draft gauge, by which the operator can adjust air flow. A further
reduction of 10-15 percent can be achieved over the previous system.

• Excess air required for complete combustion

• Optimum excess air levels varies
• 1% excess air reduction = 0.6% efficiency rise
• Portable or continuous oxygen analyzers
Radiation and Convection Heat Loss Minimization
• The external surfaces of a shell boiler are hotter than the surroundings. Therefore, the
surfaces lose heat to the surroundings depending on the surface area and the difference in
temperature between the surface and the surroundings. The heat loss from the boiler shell
is normally a fixed energy loss, irrespective of the boiler output. Repairing or augmenting
insulation can reduce heat loss through boiler walls and piping.
Automatic Blow Down Control
Uncontrolled continuous blow down is very wasteful. Automatic blowdown controls can be
installed that sense and respond to boiler water conductivity and pH
Scaling and Soot Loss Reduction
• In oil and coal-fired boilers, soot buildup on tubes acts as an insulator against heat
transfer. Any such deposits should be removed on a regular basis. An estimated 1per cent
efficiency loss occurs with every 22oC increase in stack temperature. Therefore, stack
temperature should be checked and recorded regularly as an indicator of soot deposits. It
is also estimated that 3 mm of soot can cause an increase in fuel consumption by 2.5per
cent due to increased flue gas temperatures. Periodic off-line cleaning of radiant furnace
surfaces, boiler tube banks, economizers and air heaters may be necessary to remove
stubborn deposits.
• Every 22oC increase in stack temperature = 1% efficiency loss
• 3 mm of soot = 2.5% fuel increase
Reduced Boiler Steam Pressure
Reduction of boiler steam pressure is an effective means of reducing fuel consumption by as
much as 1 to 2 per cent. Lower steam pressure gives a lower saturated steam temperature and
without stack heat recovery, a similar reduction in the temperature of the flue gas is obtained.
Steam is generated at pressures normally dictated by the highest pressure and temperature
requirements for a particular process.
Variable Speed Control for Fans, Blowers and Pumps
• Variable speed control is an important means of achieving energy savings. Generally,
combustion air control is affected by throttling dampers fitted at forced and induced draft
fans. Though dampers are simple means of control, they lack accuracy, giving poor
control characteristics at the top and bottom of the operating range. In general, if the load
characteristic of the boiler is variable, the possibility of replacing the dampers by a VSD
should be evaluated.
Control Boiler Loading
The maximum efficiency of the boiler does not occur at full load, but at about two-thirds of the
full load. In general, efficiency of the boiler reduces significantly below 25per cent of the rated
load and operation of boilers below this level should be avoided as far as possible.
• Maximum boiler efficiency: 65-85% of rated load
• Significant efficiency loss: < 25% of rated load

Proper Boiler Scheduling

 • Since, the optimum efficiency of boilers occurs at 65-85 percent of full load, it is usually
more efficient, on the whole, to operate a fewer number of boilers at higher loads, than to
operate a large number at low loads.
Boiler Replacement
Financially attractive if existing boiler is
• Old and inefficient
• Not capable of firing cheaper substitution fuel
• Over or under-sized for present requirements
• Not designed for ideal loading conditions
Boiler blow down
• When water is boiled and steam is generated, any dissolved solids contained in the water
remain in the boiler. Above a certain level of concentration, these solids encourage
foaming and cause carryover of water into the steam. The deposits also lead to scale
formation inside the boiler, resulting in localized overheating and finally causing boiler
tube failure.
• The control of total dissolved solids (TDS) is achieved by 'blowing down‘: a certain
volume of water is blown off and is automatically replaced by feed water
• It is, therefore, necessary to control the level of concentration of the solids and this is
• achieved by the process of ‘blowing down’, where a certain volume of water is blown off
and is automatically replaced by feed water – thus maintaining the optimum level of total
dissolved solids (TDS) in the boiler water. Blow down is necessary to protect the surfaces
of the heat exchanger in the boiler. However, blow down can be a significant source of
heat loss, if improperly carried out. The maximum amount of total dissolved solids (TDS)
concentration permissible in various types of boilers is given below
• Recommended TDS levels for selected boilers given below :
• Boiler Type Maximum TDS (ppm)
1. Lancashire 10,000 ppm
2. Smoke and water tube boilers (12 kg/cm2) 5,000 ppm
3. Low pressure Water tube boiler 2000–3000
4. High Pressure Water tube boiler with superheater etc. 3,000–3,500 ppm
5. Package and economic boilers 3,000 ppm
6. Coil boilers and steam generators 2000 (in the feed water
• The quantity of blow down required to control boiler water solids concentration is
calculated by using the following formula:
Blow down in percentage = (feed water TDS x Make up water) / maximum
permissible TDS in boiler water.
Blowdown calculations
The quantity of blowdown required to control boiler water solids concentration is calculated by
using the following formula:
Blow down (%) = Feed water TDS × % Make up water /Maximum Permissible TDS in Boiler
water
If maximum permissible limit of TDS as in a package boiler is 3000 ppm, percentage make
up water is 10% and TDS in feed water is 300 ppm, then the percentage blow down is given as:
= 300 x 10/ 3000
= 1%

If boiler evaporation rate is 3000 kg/hr then required blow down rate is:
3000 x 1/100

= 30 kg/hr
• Since it is tedious and time consuming to measure TDS in a boiler water system,
conductivity measurement is used for monitoring the overall TDS present in the boiler. A
rise in conductivity indicates a rise in the "contamination" of the boiler water.
Benefits of Blowdown
• Good boiler blow down control can significantly reduce treatment and operational costs
that include:
– Lower pretreatment costs
– Less make-up water consumption
– Reduced maintenance downtime
– Increased boiler life
– Lower consumption of treatment chemicals