BOILER

 A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a meansfor

combustion heat to be transferred into water untilit
becomes heated water or steam.

 The hot water or steam under pressure is then usablefor

transferring the heat to a process.

 Heat is transferred from one body to another by

means of:
(1) radiation (2) convection (3) conduction
 CHEMICAL FEED

Figure: Schematic overview of a boiler room

Boiler system comprises of:

⚫ feed water system,
⚫ steam system and
⚫ fuel system.
 The feed water system
 provides water to the boiler and regulates it automaticallyto
meet the steam demand. Various valves provide access for
maintenance and repair.
 The steam system
 collects and controls the steam produced in the boiler.Steam
is directed through a piping system to the point ofuse.
BOILER

The fuel system

 includes all equipment used to provide fuel to generatethe
necessary heat.
 The equipment required in the fuel system depends on

the type of fuel used in the system.

The two sources of feed water are:

⚫ (1) Condensate or condensed steam returnedfrom
the processes and
⚫ (2) Makeup water (treated raw water) which must
come from outside the boiler room and plant
processes.
Type of Boilers

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
1. Fire Tube Boiler
• Relatively small steam
capacities (12,000 kg/hr)
• Low to medium steam
pressures (18 kg/cm2)
• Operates with oil, gas or
solid fuels
2. Water Tube Boiler

• Used for high steam demand

and pressure requirements
• Capacity range of 4,500 –
120,000 kg/hour
• Combustion efficiency
enhanced by induced draft
provisions
• Lower tolerance for water
quality and needs water
treatment plant
3. Packaged Boiler
• Comes in complete
package
• Features
• High heat transfer
• Faster evaporation
• Good convective heat
transfer
• Good combustion
efficiency
• High thermal efficiency
• Classified based on
number of passes

(BIB Cochran, 2003)

4. Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) Boiler

• Particles (e.g. sand) are

suspended in high velocity air
stream: bubbling fluidized bed
• Combustion at 840° – 950° C
• Fuels: coal, washery rejects,
rice husk, bagasse and
agricultural wastes
• Benefits: compactness, fuel
flexibility, higher combustion
efficiency, reduced SOx & NOx
5. Stoke Fired Boilers

a) Spreader stokers
• Coal is first burnt in suspension then in coal bed
• Flexibility to meet load fluctuations
• Favored in many industrial applications
b) Chain-grate or traveling-grate stoker

• Coal is burnt on moving

steel grate
• Coal gate controls coal
feeding rate
• Uniform coal size for
complete combustion
6. Pulverized Fuel Boiler

• Pulverized coal powder blown with combustion

air into boiler through burner nozzles

• Combustion
temperature at 1300 -
1700 °C
• Benefits: varying coal
quality coal, quick
response to load
changes and high pre-
heat air temperatures

Tangential firing
• Used when waste heat
available at medium/high
temp
• Auxiliary fuel burners used
if steam demand is more
than the waste heat can
generate
• Used in heat recovery from
exhaust gases from gas
turbines and diesel
engines
 Boiler performance
• Causes of poor boiler performance
-Poor combustion
-Heat transfer surface fouling
-Poor operation and maintenance
-Deteriorating fuel and water quality

• Heat balance: identify heat losses

• Boiler efficiency: determine
deviation from best efficiency
Heat Balance
Balancing total energy entering a boiler against
the energy that leaves the boiler in different forms

12.7 % Heat loss due to dry flue gas

8.1 %
Heat loss due to steam in fuel gas
100.0 % 1.7 %
Heat loss due to moisture in fuel
Fuel BOILER 0.3 %
Heat loss due to moisture in air
2.4 %
Heat loss due to unburnts in residue
1.0 %

Heat loss due to radiation & other

73.8 % unaccounted loss
Heat in Steam
Heat Balance
Goal: 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
 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
BOILERS

Efficiency computation of Boilers

•Efficiency testing helps us to find out how far the
boiler efficiency drifts away from the best efficiency.
•Any observed abnormal deviations could therefore be
investigated to pinpoint the problem area for necessary
corrective action.
•Hence it is necessary to find out the current level of
efficiency for performance evaluation, which is a pre
requisite for energy conservation action in industry.
•Most standards for computation of boiler efficiency,
including IS 8753 and BS845 are designed for spot
measurement of boiler efficiency. Basically Boiler
efficiency can be tested by the following methods:
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
BOILERS
 The performance parameters of 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, water quality etc. can result in poor boiler
performance.
 Boiler efficiency tests help us to find out the deviation of
boiler efficiency from the best efficiency and target problem
area for corrective action.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
BOILERS
 Thermal efficiency of boiler is defined as the percentage
of heat input that is effectively utilised togenerate steam.

 There are two methods of assessing boiler efficiency.

 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF BOILERS
Direct Method
 This is also known as ‘input-output method’ due to thefact
that it needs only the useful output (steam) and the heat
input (i.e. fuel) for evaluating the efficiency.

 This efficiency can be evaluated using the formula

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
BOILERS

 Parameters to be monitored for the calculation of

boiler efficiency by direct method are :

 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) and superheat temperature (oC), ifany

 The temperature of feed water (oC)

 Type of fuel and gross calorific value of the fuel (GCV) in kcal/kg of fuel
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF BOILERS

Where,
⚫ hg – Enthalpy of saturated steam in kcal/kg of steam
⚫ hf - Enthalpy of feed water in kcal/kg of water
DIRECT METHOD

 Advantages of direct method:

⚫ Plant people can evaluate quickly the efficiencyof
boilers
⚫ Requires few parameters for computation
 ⚫ Needs few instruments for monitoring

 Disadvantages of direct method:

⚫ Does not give clues to the operator as to why
efficiency of system is lower
⚫ Does not calculate various losses accountablefor
various efficiency levels
 INDIRECT METHOD
 Indirect method is also called as heat loss method.

 The efficiency can be arrived at, by subtracting the heatloss

fractions from 100.

 The principle losses that occur in a boiler are:

⚫ Loss of heat due to dry fluegas
⚫ Loss of heat due to moisture in fuel and combustion air
⚫ Loss of heat due to combustion of hydrogen
⚫ Loss of heat due to radiation
⚫ Loss of heat due to unburnt fuel
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES
 Thedata required for calculation of boiler efficiency
using indirect method are:

⚫ Ultimate analysis of fuel (H2, O2, S, C, moisture content, ash

content)
⚫ Percentage of Oxygen or CO2 in the flue gas
⚫ Flue gas temperature in 0C (Tf)
⚫ Ambient temperature in 0C (Ta) & humidity of air in kg/kg of dry
air.
⚫ GCV of fuel in kcal/kg
⚫ Percentage combustible in ash (in case of solid fuels)
⚫ GCV of ash in kcal/kg (in case of solid fuels)
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES
1. Stack Temperature
2. Feed Water Preheating using Economiser
3. Combustion Air Preheat
4. Incomplete Combustion
5. Excess Air Control
6. Radiation and Convection Heat Loss
7. Automatic Blowdown Control
8. Reduction of Scaling and Soot Losses
9. Proper Boiler Scheduling
10. Boiler Replacement
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

1. Stack Temperature
 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 indicate the scaling of heat transfer/recovery equipment and

hence the urgency of taking an early shut down for water /flue side
cleaning.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES
2. Feed Water Preheating using Economiser
 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 flue gas exit temperature from a boiler is usually maintained ata
minimum of 200 oC, so that the sulphur oxides in the flue gas donot
condense and cause corrosion in heat transfer surfaces.

 When a clean fuel such as natural gas, LPG or gas oil is used, the
economy of heat recovery must be worked out, as the flue gas
temperature may be well below 200oC.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

 The potential for energy saving depends on the type ofboiler

installed and the fuel used.

 For a typically older model shell boiler, with a flue gas exit
temperature of 260oC, an economizer could be used to reduce it
to 200oC, increasing the feed water temperature by 15oC.

 Increase in overall thermal efficiency would be in the orderof

3%.

 For a modern 3-pass shell boiler firing natural gas with aflue
gas exit temperature of 140oC a condensing economizer
would reduce the exit temperature to 65oC increasing thermal
efficiency by 5%.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

3. Combustion Air Preheat

 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 designedfor
high air preheat temperatures.

 Modern burners can withstand much higher combustion air

preheat,
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES
4. Incomplete Combustion

 Incomplete combustion can arise from a shortage of air or poor

distribution of fuel.

 It is usually obvious from the colour or smoke, and must be

corrected immediately.

 In the case of oil and gas fired systems, CO or smoke (for oil fired
systems only) with normal or high excess air indicates burner system
problems.

 A more frequent cause of incomplete combustion is the poor mixingof

fuel and air at the burner.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

 With coal firing, unburned carbon can comprise a big loss. It occurs as
carbon-in-ash and may amount to more than 2% of theheat supplied to
the boiler.

 Non uniform fuel size could be one of the reasons for incomplete
combustion.

 In chain grate stokers, large lumps will not burn out completely,while
small pieces and fines may block the air passage, thus causing poor
air distribution.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

5. Excess Air Control

 Excess air is required in all practical cases to ensure complete

combustion
 The optimum excess air level for maximum boiler efficiency
occurs when the sum of the losses due to incomplete combustion
and loss due to heat in flue gases is minimum.

 This level varies with furnace design, type of burner, fuel and
process variables.

 It can be determined by conducting tests with different air fuel

ratios.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

 Controlling excess air to an optimum level always results in reduction

in flue gas losses; for every 1% reduction in excess airthere is
approximately 0.6% rise in efficiency.

 Portable oxygen analysers and draft gauges can be used to makeperiodic

readings to guide the operator to manually adjust the flow of air for
optimum operation.

 Excess air reduction up to 20% is feasible.

 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

6. Radiation and Convection Heat Loss

 The external surfaces of a shell boiler are hotter than the

surroundings.

 The surfaces thus lose heat to the surroundings depending on the

surface area and the difference in temperature between thesurface and
the surroundings.

 Repairing or augmenting insulation can reduce heat loss

through boiler walls and piping.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

7. Automatic Blowdown Control

 Uncontrolled continuous blowdown is very wasteful.

 Automatic blowdown controls can be installed that sense and

respond to boiler water conductivity and pH.

 A 10% blow down in a 15 kg/cm2 boiler results in 3% efficiency

loss.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

8. Reduction of Scaling and Soot Losses

 In oil and coal-fired boilers, soot buildup on tubes acts as an

insulator against heat transfer.

 Also same result will occur due to scaling on the water side.

 High exit gas temperatures at normal excess air indicate poorheat

transfer performance.

 Waterside deposits require a review of water treatment

procedures and tube cleaning to remove deposits.

 An estimated 1% efficiency loss occurs with every 22oC

increase in stack temperature.
 ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES

9. Proper Boiler Scheduling

 Since, the optimum efficiency of boilers occurs at 65-85% offull

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.
10. Boiler Replacement

 The potential savings from replacing a boiler depend onthe

anticipated change in overall efficiency.

 Since boiler plants traditionally have a useful life of well

over 25 years, replacement must be carefully studied.
 Furnace

A furnace is an equipment to melt metals

• for casting or
• for heating materials or
• for change of shape (rolling, forging etc) or
for change of properties (heat treatment).
 Types and classification of furnaces

Based on the method of generating heat: combustion

type(using fuels) and electric type
According Open fire place furnace
to mode of
heat Heated through liquid medium
transfer
Forging

Re-rolling
Furnace According Periodical (Batch / continuous
classification to mode of pusher)
Continuous Pot
charging

Glass tank
melting
Recuperative
(regenerative /
Mode of heat
recovery recuperative)
Regenerative
 Characteristics of an Efficient Furnace

Furnace should be designed so that in

a given time, as much of material as
possible can be heated to an uniform
temperature as possible with the least
possible fuel and labour.
• Since flue gases directly contact the stock, the type of
fuel chosen is very important.
For example, some stock will not tolerate sulphur in
the fuel. Also use of solid fuels will release particulate
matter (dust), which will interfere with the stock
placed inside the furnace.
Hence, majority of the furnaces use liquid fuel,
gaseous fuel or electricity as energy input.

• Ferrous (steel, cast iron) melting furnaces such as

induction and arc furnaces use electricity
• Non-ferrous melting furnaces use oil.
 Oil Fired Furnaces

• Furnace oil is the major fuel used in reheating and

heat treatment furnaces
• LDO is used in furnaces where presence of sulphur is
undesirable.
• Furnaces operate with efficiencies as low as 7% as
against upto 90% achievable in other combustion
equipment such as boiler.
This is because of the high temperature at which the
furnaces operate to meet the required demand. For
example, a furnace heating the stock to 1200oC will
have its exhaust gases leaving atleast at 1200oC
resulting in a high heat loss through the stack.
 Forging Furnaces

Used for preheating billets and ingots to attain a‘forge’

temperature.
The furnace temperature is maintained at 1200 to 1250oC.
Forging furnaces, use an open fireplace system and
mostof the heat is transmitted by radiation.
The typical loading in a forging furnace is 5 to 6 tones
with the furnace operating for 16 to 18 hours daily.
The total operating cycle can be divided into (i) heat-
uptime (ii) soaking time and (iii) forging time.
Specific fuel consumption depends upon the type of
material and number of ‘reheats’required.
Batch type furnace:
• Used for heating up scrap, small ingots and billets weighing 2 to 20
kg. for batch type rerolling.
• Charging and discharging of the ‘material’ is done manually and the
final product is in the form of rods and strips.
• Operating temperature is 1200
oC.

• Total cycle time can be categorized into heat-up time and rerolling time.
Continuous Pusher Type:
• The process flow and operating cycles of a continuous pushertype is
the same as that of the batch furnace.
• The material or stock recovers a part of the heat in flue gasesas it
moves down the length of the furnace.
• Operating temperature is
1250oC.
• Heat absorption by the material in the furnace is slow, steady and
uniform throughout the cross-section compared with batch type.
 Heat Transfer in Furnaces
Radiation from the
flame,hot
combustion products
and the furnacewalls
and roof
• Convection due to
the movement of hot
gases over the stock
surface
Performance Evaluation of atypical Furnace
Figure 4.10 Heat losses in industrial heating Furnaces
 various furnace losses

General Fuel Economy

Measures in
1) Correct heat distribution
2) Operating at the desired
temperature
3) Reducing heat losses from
furnace openings
4) Maintaining correct amount of
furnace draught
5) Optimum capacity utilization
6) Waste heat recovery from the
flue gases
7) Minimum refractory losses
8) Use of Ceramic Coatings
OVEN
The principle used in electric oven is electric energy. An electric oven
produces heat electrically using a heating element in the form of coils
and tubes. The heating element converts electrical energy into heat
through the process of resistance. Ovens typically use between 2000 and
5000 watt The enclosed environment of an oven allows heat to fully
penetrate the food, cooking it thoroughly without burning or
overcooking it. This oven feature helps make the food taste richer as the
heat increases the flavor.
How to make the most of your oven's energy
1. Shut the front door. Don't open the oven door more than you
need to as the temperature drops fast.
2. Keep it clean.
3. Harness residual heat.
4. Ceraamic or glass pans hold heat better than metal ones. This
means that one can cook dishes at a lower temperature.