Boilers

Boiler

 Pressure vessel

 Heat produced by combustion

 Coal, Oil, Gas, Agro-wastes etc.

 Heat Transferred to water

 Generates steam
 Classification based on
combustion & heat transfer

Fire tube boiler Characteristics

• Low initial investment
• Hot gases from
• High efficiency (80%)
combustion
• Flow inside tubes • Meets wide & sudden load
fluctuations
• Tubes submerged in
• Only slight pressure change
water - Large volume of water
stored in shell
• Small industrial boilers
• Ready use after delivery at
site
Water tube boiler
• Water flow through

tubes
• Tubes surrounded by
hot combustion gases
Characteristics
• Power plant boiler
• High capacity boilers

• Used for high pressure

steam

• Requires more
instrumentation & control

• Controlling parameters
Oil fired high capacity
Water tube boiler
Electrical boilers
• High operating cost as compared to
fuel fired boilers
• No stack losses, no burner cleaning
or adjustment
• Very low steam requirements
• Canteen boilers
• Autoclaves & sterilizers in
pharmaceutical industries
Parameters for energy efficient operation

 Excess air in flue gas

 Combustibles in flue gas
 Exhaust flue gas temperature
- Waste heat recovery depends on the Sulphur
dew point

 Steam pressure
- Depends on process requirements
 Oil temperature for atomisation
 Boiler blow down
 Air quantity for combustion -
An important parameter for energy efficiency

Exact air quantity

 Theoretical air requirement

Mixing capability
can be estimated from
combustion theory - Solid < Liquid < Gas

Lesser the mixing capability

 Excess air required
- more the quantity of
 Quantity of excess air excess air
depends on mixing capability
of fuel
 Basic principles of combustion
Fuel ingredients : C, H & S

C + O2 : CO2
2H2 + O2 : 2H20
S + O2 : SO2

Excess air % Efficiency %

10 84.8
100 78.5
140 75.0
Keeping stack temperature constant
Effect of air quantity on efficiency

Less air Excess air

%

Air quantity
 Typical excess air requirements and
resultant level of oxygen in flue gases
Coal
Pulverised firing 4.0-5.0 20-30
Stoker firing 4.5-6.5 25-40
Fluidised bed
combustion 4.0-4.5 20-25
Oil 1.0-3.0 5-15
Natural gas 1.0-2.0 5-10
Black liquor 1.0-2.0 5-10
Reduce excess air to optimal level
 Coal fired boiler

ESP

SA Fan

ID Fan
FD Fan
Combustion Optimisation Procedure - 2
Coal fired boiler - big size

IF
High Oxygen High CO High CO
Nil CO Less Oxygen High Oxygen

THEN
Reduce FD & ID air Increase air Mainly leakages
Maintain boiler Increase over-grate air Multiple samples
draught
Grate speed to be Reason for CO
slightly reduced
Watch for unburnt
coal
Feasible levels of efficiency in boilers

Type of fuel used Efficiency %

Natural gas 88
Light Diesel Oil 86
Furnace oil/ LSHS 85
Pulverised coal 86
Stoker fired coal 80
Fluidised bed combustion of coal 85
Agro-wastes 70-75

Efficiency based on GCV of the fuel

Leakages 1

3
SA Fan
ESP
2
ID Fan
FD Fan

% excess air = O2 /(21 - O2 ) x 100

Actual air = Fuel fed x Theoretical air /per kg of fuel

x (1+ 30% excess air)
 Air infiltration costs money

Disadvantages
 Decreases flue gas temperature

- Decreases FD air preheating temp.

- Decreases BFW preheating temp.

 Lower temperatures lead to metal corrosion

 Increases quantity of flue gas

 Volume of gas handled by ID fan increases

- Leads to increase in power consumption

 Instruments
Portable combustion analyser
- Merits & Demerits

- Small size, multiple boilers

On-line O2 analyser

- Large boilers (say, 70 TPH)

- Location

- Whether automatic?

On-line CO/O2 analyser with O2 trim control

- High capacity boiler

 Flue gas temperature

High temperature

- Excess fuel firing

- Fouled tubes (scaling inside/outside tubes)

Reasons for fouling

- Combustion particles deposition

- Water treatment inadequate

Every 22°C drop  1% efficiency increase

 Flue gas temperature
Better to reduce exhaust temperature

Lowest permissible exhaust temperature

depends on Sulphur content in fuel
For 1% Sulphur content in fuel
- Recommended lowest exhaust flue gas temp. is
about 150°C
- For FO, LSHS and Coal

Reduce exhaust flue gas temperature to

optimum levels
%SULFUR Vs. DEW POINT OF FLUE GAS
Method of approach for reducing
flue gas temperature

If an oil fired boiler of 10 kg/cm2 has flue gas

temperature of 290°C
• Check whether 2-pass or 3-pass?

• If 2-pass - O.K, long run consider 3-pass

• If 3-pass boiler and temperature too high

- Boiler possibly scaled

- Time for shutdown & cleaning

 Method of approach for reducing
flue gas temperature

Alternatives

• Low pressure economiser

• Pressurised economiser

• Air preheater vs Economiser

 80 - 90°C

6 mts
160°C

BFW 230°C LPE

30°C

Boiler

Low Pressure Economiser

 Low Pressure Economiser

Characteristics
• Simple, cheap and saves energy

Limitation

• Saves less with condensate recovery

• Height of feed water tank important

LIC

160°C

230°C PE

BFW

Boiler
Pressurised Economiser
 Pressurised Economiser

Characteristics
• Low capacity boilers have lot of
operational problems

- Level control & steaming

- To be designed with recirculation

• Temperature difference 40°C

• Costly, savings has to justify

 Steam pressure

Every 4.8 kg/cm2 drop  1% increase in efficiency

Lower operating pressure results in

• Lower flue gas temperature

• Lower heat loss

• Higher efficiency

• Lesser steam leaks

Reduce steam pressure to suit process requirements

 Boiler blow down
When water evaporates

• Dissolved solids gets

Very important operation concentrated
• Safety • Solids precipitates
• Energy efficiency • Coating of tubes
• Avoids scale formation
• Minimises heat transfer

• Large scale deposits can melt

• Proper water treatment & blowdown practise essential

• Always use soft water or DM water

• Minimises blowdown % in boiler

 Install boiler blow down heat
recovery system

Background Modification
• Blow down system - 7.5 TPD  Installed flash vessel
• No heat recovery system  Flash steam used to preheat
feed water
• Good potential

Annual savings : Rs.7.67 lakhs

Investment : Rs.5.00 lakhs
Payback period : 9 months
Boiler blow down - heat recovery system

PIC

Steam

Boiler Deaerator

BFW
Flash
pump
vessel
80°C

30°C
 Boiler Blow Down

Boiler

62 ata

Blow down
 Multi Stage Flash Steam Recovery

Boiler

62 ata

Stage - I
Flash Vessel
42 ata

Stage - II

12 ata

Stage - III

1.5 ata
DM water in

To Drain
To Deaerator
Target values for boiler drum water
Boiler outlet
Total solids
pressure
(ppm)
(kg/cm2)
0-21 3500
21-32 3000
32-42 2500
42-53 2000
53-63 1500
63-70 1250
70-105 1000
105-140 750
Boiler water limits vary with operating pressure
Thank you