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APPLICATION DATA
BOILER CONTROL OVERVIEW
WHY BOILER CONTROL?
Increase uptime and availability.
The primary objective of most boiler operations is main-
taining availability, or uptime. Many facilities have more
than one boiler on-site running in parallel. It is essential
to maintain and upgrade the boiler control systems to
assure steam availability. Modern controls are more reli-
able and can readily adjust to load swings caused by
varying overall plant operations.
Reduce flue gas emissions.
Failure to comply with current emissions regulations
can be as costly as lost utilities. Government mandates
enforced by fines, threat of closure, or imprisonment
will usually provide sufficient incentive to comply with
the regulations and modernize controls if necessary. Im-
proved combustion efficiency reduces unwanted com-
bustion by-products. Anything that goes into the manu-
facture of a product (raw materials, fuel, air, water, etc.)
that is not in the final product is wasted cost. This can
also create added waste disposal problems. By accu-
rately controlling oxygen, fuel flow, and stack tempera-
ture, you will see reductions in plant emissions.
Maintain boiler safety.
A modern control system will provide tight integration
with the flame safety or burner management system to
improve safety. Having access to field data, diagnos-
tics, and alarms, coupled with modern electronic con-
trols, can achieve the desired level of safety and secu-
rity. Password security of configuration software also
assures no unintended changes are made which could
endanger your personnel or equipment.
Control operating costs.
A modern boiler control system will:
Improve combustion efficiency to reduce fuel
consumption by reducing excess air
Reduce engineering, installation, and start-up costs
Reduce maintenance costs associated with older, less
reliable equipment.
Reduce manpower requirements by automatically
responding to load changes
Provide a flexible control strategy to reduce or
eliminate process upsets
Readily make data available for remote monitoring to
determine process unit optimization, boiler efficiency,
and load allocation.
D-Type Boiler from Nebraska Boiler
Photo courtesy of Nebraska Boiler, Lincoln Nebraska, U.S.A.

Siemens Moore is a member

of the
American Boiler Manufactuers Association
The primary purpose of any boiler control system is to
manipulate the firing rate so that the supply of steam
remains in balance with the demand for steam over the
full load range. In addition, it is necessary to maintain
an adequate supply of feedwater and the correct mix-
ture of air and fuel for safe and economical combustion.
This document shows the basic boiler control diagrams
that are common to nearly all boiler control systems.
HIGHLIGHTS
Boiler control systems generally include a number of
subsystems. This document includes the following
boiler control diagrams:
Plant master control
Boiler master control
Combustion control
Single-point positioning control
Parallel positioning control
Full-metered, cross-limited control
O
2
trim control
Furnace pressure control
Drum level (feedwater) control
Single-element control
Two-element control
Three-element control
Single/Three-element control
Drum pressure compensation
PURPOSE
The drum-type watertube boiler is the fundamental
steam generator for both industrial and utility applica-
tions. The steam generated by a boiler may be used as
a heat transfer fluid for process heating, or it may be
expanded in steam turbines to drive rotating machinery
such as fans, compressors, or electric generators.
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a drum-type
boiler. The steam drum and mud drum are mounted in a
furnace and are interconnected with watertubes called
risers and downcomers. The furnace includes one or
more burners for the combustion of an air and fuel mix-
ture. The heat of combustion is transferred to the
watertubes to generate steam. Steam bubbles form in
the tubes (risers) closest to the burner and rise to the
steam drum where they are separated from the water.
The steam in the risers is replaced by water in the
downcomers to provide natural circulation in the
watertubes. A continuous supply of feedwater is
necessary to replace the steam leaving the boiler. In
most cases, the saturated steam leaving the steam
drum is returned to the furnace for superheating as
shown in Figure 1.
A forced draft (FD) fan provides combustion air to the
windbox from which it is delivered to the burners. An
induced draft (ID) fan draws the flue gases from the fur-
nace and drives them up the stack. Heat from the flue
gas is used to preheat the combustion air to improve
efficiency.
Air Heater
FD Fan
ID Fan
Stack
Feedwater
Mud Drum
Flue Gas
Steam Drum
Superheated
Steam
Windbox
Fuel
Air
Furnace
FIGURE 1 Basic Drum-Type Boiler page 3
PLANT MASTER CONTROL
Steam pressure is the key variable that indicates the
state of balance between the supply and demand for
steam. If supply exceeds demand, the pressure will
rise. Conversely, if demand exceeds supply, the pres-
sure will fall. Figure 2 shows a single-loop control dia-
gram that manipulates the firing rate demand to control
steam pressure at the desired setpoint.
Plants may experience fluctuations in demand due to
batch processes or other process changes. In this case,
a steam flow feedforward signal is used with steam
pressure control.
The term Plant Master is most applicable to the situa-
tion in which more than one boiler supplies a common
steam header. In this case, there are multiple boiler
masters but only one plant master. The plant master
generates the master firing rate demand signal that
drives the individual boilers in parallel. With multiple
boilers, the Plant Master is typically configured with a
variable gain, based on the number of boilers in auto-
matic mode.
BOILER MASTER CONTROL
With several boilers supplying a common header in par-
allel, it is generally desirable to provide a way to adjust
the load distribution among the boilers. Depending on
the load and the performance of the individual boilers,
the most efficient operation may be achieved with
some boilers shut down, some boilers base loaded
(constant firing rate), and the remaining boilers allowed
to swing with the load (variable firing rate).
Figure 3 shows a boiler master control diagram to pro-
vide these adjustments. Each boiler master provides a
bias adjustment and an auto/manual transfer switch. In
manual, the operator can reduce the firing rate to a low
fire condition for shutdown, or hold the firing rate at
any appropriate base loading condition. In auto, the
boiler master follows the master firing rate demand sig-
nal except as altered by the bias adjustment. The op-
erator can adjust the boiler master bias up or down to
increase or decrease its share of the load.
A T A

A T A

Master
Firing Rate
Demand

Boiler #1
Firing Rate
Demand
Boiler #N
Firing Rate
Demand
Boiler #2
Firing Rate
Demand

A T A

PT
P I
A T A
Firing Rate Demand
Steam Header Pressure
FIGURE 2 Plant Master Control
FIGURE 3 Boiler Master Control
page 4
COMBUSTION CONTROL
The primary function of combustion control is to deliver
air and fuel to the burner at a rate that satisfies the fir-
ing rate demand and at a mixture (air/fuel ratio) that pro-
vides safe and efficient combustion. Insufficient air flow
wastes fuel due to incomplete combustion and can
cause an accumulation of combustible gases that can
be ignited explosively by hot spots in the furnace. Too
much air flow wastes fuel by carrying excess heat up
the stack. Combustion controls are designed to achieve
the optimum air/fuel ratio, while guarding against the
hazard caused by insufficient air flow.
Single Point Positioning Control
The simplest combustion control system which can be
applied to boilers is single-point positioning, often re-
ferred to as jackshaft control. It is commonly used on
firetube and small watertube boilers. A single-point po-
sitioning system uses a mechanical linkage to manipu-
late the fuel control valve and the combustion air flow
damper in a fixed relationship. The alignment of the fuel
valve and air damper positioners is critical for this type
of control. Because fuel valves and air dampers have
different flow characteristics, it is necessary to linearize
these flow characteristics. Typically, the air flow charac-
teristic is linearized first, and then the fuel flow charac-
teristic is linearized to match the air flow. When prop-
erly aligned, the percentage of fuel and air flow will
match the percentage demanded by the single control
output.
In a single-point positioning control strategy only, one
measurement is used. This is either the steam header
pressure or the hot water outlet temperature, depend-
ing upon the type of boiler. Both the fuel control valve
and the air damper are positioned based on this signal.
Figure 4 shows the simple feedback control scheme
used in single-point positioning.
PT
PID
T A A
M
G
0
0
0
1
8
1
Steam Header Pressure
f(x)
Fuel Valve
(jackshaft to air)
Parallel Positioning Control
The parallel positioning control system uses a similar
strategy as single point positioning for combustion con-
trol. However, parallel positioning refers to two outputs
used in parallel to control the fuel valve and the air
damper. It is commonly used on package boilers.
In a parallel positioning control strategy. only one mea-
surement is used. This is either the steam header pres-
sure or the hot water outlet temperature, depending
upon the type of boiler. Both the fuel control valve and
the air control valve are positioned based on this signal.
Figure 5 shows the parallel positioning control scheme.
The two controller outputs go to the fuel valve and the
air damper. The jackshaft used in single-point positioning
is replaced by a characterizer within the controller.
Figure 4
Singl-Point Positioning Control
PT
PID
T A
A
M
G
0
0
0
1
9
1
Steam Header Pressure
f(x)
Fuel Valve
Actuator
Steam
Pressure
Setpoint
f(x)
Air Flow
Actuator
T A
f(x)
Figure 5
Parallel Positioning Control
page 5
Full-Metered, Cross-Limited Control
The full-metered, cross-limited control scheme is
sometimes referred to as the standard control arrange-
ment. For metered, cross-limiting control, the fuel and
combustion air flows are used to improve control of the
air to-fuel-ratio. The benefits of this control scheme are:
Compensates for fuel and combustion air flow varia-
tions
Provides active safety constraints to prevent hazard-
ous conditions
In a metered control system, three measurements are
used to balance the fuel/air mixture. These are the
steam header pressure, the fuel flow, and the air flow.
As shown in Figure 6, the combustion controls consist
of fuel flow and air flow control loops that are driven by
the firing rate demand signal. The characterizer on the
air flow measurement scales the air flow signal relative
to the fuel flow signal to provide the optimum air/fuel
ratio. The characterizer points are determined empiri-
cally by testing the boiler at various loads and adjusting
the fuel relative to the air at each test load as needed to
achieve optimum combustion. This allows the air and
fuel flow setpoints to be driven by the same firing rate
demand signal.
The cross-limiting (or lead-lag) circuit assures an air-rich
mixture since the air flow setpoint will always lead the
fuel on an increasing load and lag when the load is de-
creasing.
Figure 6
Full-Metered, Cross-Limited Combustion Control
page 6
O
2
Trim Control
Automatic air/fuel ratio adjustment is generally based on
the percentage of excess oxygen (O
2
) in the flue gas. If
air and fuel are mixed in chemically correct (stoichiomet-
ric) proportions, the theoretical products of combustion
are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Under ideal condi-
tions, all of the oxygen supplied with the air would be
consumed by the combustion process. Due to incom-
plete mixing, however, it is always necessary to provide
more air than the theoretically correct mixture. This re-
sults in a small percentage of excess O
2
in the flue gas.
A flue gas oxygen analyzer supplies feedback on the
combustion process and is the basis for trimming the
air/fuel ratio to maintain optimum combustion.
AT
P I
A T A
Air/Fuel Ratio
FT
Steam Flow
f(x)
T
Flue Gas O
2
< >
FIGURE 7
O
2
Trim Control
0 Steam Flow
Flue
Gas
O
10%
100%
0
2
FIGURE 8
O
2
Characterizer
Figure 7 shows one method of trimming the air/fuel ra-
tio based on O
2
control. The optimum percentage of O
2
in the flue gas depends on the type of fuel and varies
with load. Therefore, the O
2
setpoint is characterized as
a function of steam flow, which provides an index of the
boiler load. Figure 8 shows a plot of excess O
2
as a
function of steam flow for a particular application. The
controller output is clamped by high and low limits to
prevent driving the air/fuel ratio beyond unsafe or ineffi-
cient limits.
page 7
FURNACE PRESSURE CONTROL
A basic boiler has a steam water system and a fuel-air-
flue gas system. In the fuel-air-flue gas system, the air
and fuel are mixed and ignited in the furnace.
Air and fuel flow into the furnace and flue gas flows out.
The force driving this flow is the differential pressure
between the gases inside the furnace and those out-
side the furnace. Furnace pressure is commonly re-
ferred to as draft or draft pressure. The draft is main-
tained slightly negative to prevent the combustion prod-
ucts and ash from being discharged from the furnace
into surrounding areas through inspection ports, doors,
feeders, etc. For greatest efficiency, the controlled pres-
sure should be as close as possible to atmosphere,
thereby minimizing the ingestion of "tramp air" or excess
air drawn through the openings in the furnace duct work
that cool combustion gases.
Furnaces are classified by the method for moving air
and other gases through the system.
Natural Draft
A natural draft furnace uses the stack (chimney) effect.
Gases inside the stack are less dense than those out-
side the chimney. The gases in the stack will rise, creat-
ing a vacuum (suction) which will draw the combustion
air into the furnace and combustion gases or flue gas
out of the furnace. Natural draft furnaces naturally oper-
ate below atmospheric pressure.
Induced Draft
An induced draft fan draws the gases through the fur-
nace and the combustion air into the furnace. An in-
duced draft fan makes high stacks unnecessary. Control
is accomplished by regulating the fan speed or damper
operation. An induced draft furnace is operated slightly
below atmospheric pressure.
Forced Draft
A forced draft furnace uses a fan or blower to force
combustion air through the system. Control is accom-
plished by regulating the fan speed or damper opera-
tion. This type of furnace is operated slightly above at-
mospheric pressure.
Balanced Draft
Furnaces equipped with both FD and ID fans are called
balanced draft systems. To control furnace pressure, it is
necessary to maintain a balance between the flow in
and flow out of the furnace. Balanced draft furnaces op-
erate at slightly negative pressures to prevent flue gas
leakage to the surroundings. However, too low a pres-
sure must also be avoided to minimize air leakage into
the furnace and, in the extreme, to prevent furnace im-
plosion.
As shown in Figure 10, the FD fan damper is generally
manipulated by the air flow controller, and the ID fan
damper is manipulated by the furnace pressure control-
ler. When the air flow controller manipulates the flow
into the furnace, the pressure will be disturbed unless
there is a corresponding change to the flow out of the
furnace. An impulse feedforward connection couples
the two dampers to minimize the furnace pressure dis-
turbance on a change in air flow. As the impulse decays,
external reset feedback to the furnace pressure control-
ler drives the integral component to maintain the new
steady state ID damper position. The furnace pressure
controller trims the feedforward compensation as re-
quired to control the pressure at setpoint.
Combustion Air
Feedwater
Induced
Draft
Fan
Forced
Draft
Fan
Flue Gas
M
G
0
0
0
2
2
2
Fuel
Furnace
Heat
Exchanger
FIGURE 9 Typical Single Burner Boiler
FIGURE 10
Furnace Pressure Control
FD Fan
Damper
f(x)
ID Fan
Damper
f(x)
PT
P I
T A
Air Flow
Controller
Furnace Pressure
T A
A

K f(t)
Impulse
page 8
BOILER DRUM LEVEL (FEEDWATER) CONTROL
BENEFITS
Maximizes steam quality
Maintains proper drum level to prevent damage to
boiler
The cylindrical vessel where the water-steam interface
occurs is called the boiler drum. Boiler drum level is a
critical variable in the safe operation of a boiler. A low
drum level risks uncovering the watertubes and expos-
ing them to heat stress and damage. High drum level
risks water carry over into the steam header and expos-
ing steam turbines to corrosion and damage. The level
control problem is complicated by inverse response
transients known as shrink and swell.
Simply put, shrink and swell refer to a decreased or an
increased drum level signal due to the formation of less
or more vapor bubbles in the water, and no change in
the amount of water in the drum. This condition pro-
duces level changes during boiler load changes in the
opposite direction of what is expected with a particular
load change. Although only temporary, this can cause
severe control system overshoot or undershoot.
Single-Element Drum Level Control
The single-element system is the simplest type used for
controlling packaged firetube and watertube boilers. In
this strategy, control is based on the boiler drum level
FIGURE11
Drum Level Control Schemes
measurement only. This does not allow for compensa-
tion of any shrink or swell and, therefore, is only an ac-
ceptable control strategy for small boilers with slow
load changes.
Two-Element Drum Level Control
In two-element control, steam flow is measured along
with boiler drum level. The steam flow signal is used in
a feedforward control loop to anticipate the need for an
increase in feedwater to maintain a constant drum level.
This strategy requires the differential pressure across
the feedwater control valve to remain constant, as well
as the control valve signal vs. flow profile. Boilers with
moderate load changes can usually be controlled with
this strategy.
Three-Element Drum Level Control
Three-element drum level control adds a feedwater flow
signal to the steam flow and boiler drum level signals
used in two-element feedwater control. The drum level
controller manipulates the feedwater flow setpoint in
conjunction with feedforward from the steam flow mea-
surement. The feedforward component keeps the
feedwater supply in balance with the steam demand.
The drum level controller trims the feedwater flow
setpoint to compensate for errors in the flow measure-
ments or any other unmeasured load disturbances (e.g.
blowdown) that may effect the drum level. Three-ele-
ment control is used in boilers that experience wide,
fast load changes, and is the most widely used control
strategy.
page 9
Single/Three-Element Drum Level Control
During startup or low load operation, the flow measure-
ments used in the three-element control strategy may
fall well below the rangeability limits of these
flowmeters. In that situation, three-element drum level
control becomes erratic, and it is better to control the
drum level with a single loop (one-element) control
strategy.
As shown in Figure 12, drum level control switches au-
tomatically from three-element to one-element when
steam flow falls below an adjustable low limit. Separate
level controllers are used to allow different controller
tuning for one-element versus three-element control
and to provide appropriate controller tracking strategies
to provide for bumpless transfer between these two
control modes.
DRUM PRESSURE COMPENSATION
When the design steam pressure exceeds 500 psig,
pressure compensation of the drum level signal is rec-
ommended. This is necessary to provide an accurate
drum level signal over the full operating range, from am-
bient conditions up to normal operating pressure and
temperature. The level measurement is a hydrostatic
measurement based on the differential pressure devel-
oped between top and bottom pressure taps in the
drum. The differential pressure developed is a function
of both the water level and the densities of the water
and steam in the drum. Over a wide range of pressure
and temperature, the change in density has a significant
effect on the differential pressure. Pressure compensa-
tion corrects the differential pressure measurement to
represent the actual liquid level in spite of changes in
density.
Figure 13 shows the derivation of the drum level equa-
tion as a function of the differential pressure and the
specific gravities of the liquid (G
f
), vapor (G
g
), and filled
reference leg (G
r
). All of the specific gravities are refer-
enced to the density of water at 68F, since this is the
standard reference temperature used to calibrate differ-
ential pressure transmitters in inches of water. The deri-
vation is based on inches of level (L) relative to the bot-
tom pressure tap. However, it is conventional practice
to define the level range (L
0
) with zero representing the
normal water level. Therefore, the equation derived for L
must be biased an amount X
B
to shift the zero point of
the L
0
range. Notice that the portion of the range above
(X
A
) and below (X
B
) the normal water level are not nec-
essarily equal and are, therefore, treated as indepen-
dent variables.
The differential pressure transmitter is shown with the
bottom tap connected to the high pressure connection
and the top tap connected to the low pressure connec-
tion via the filled reference leg. This connection arrange-
ment provides for an output signal that varies directly
with level. However, with this arrangement, it should be
noted that the pressure at the high pressure connection
will always be less than or equal to the pressure at the
low pressure connection. This results in a differential
pressure range that varies from -X to 0 inches of water.
Some users may prefer to reverse these connections, in
which case the transmitter output signal must be re-
versed prior to compensation with these equations.
T A
Feedwater
Valve
Feedwater
Flow
Drum
Level
T
Steam
Flow
A
Lo Steam
Flow
3-Element
1-Element
LT FT FT

PI

FCV

PI

PI
DPT PT
f(x)
Drum
Level
Drum
Pressure
Gg
Compensated
Drum Level

+

A
X
GrX
P - Gg X + Gr X
Gf - Gg Gf
+
-
-
+
P
GgX
A
Lo
Xb

A
f(x)
Figure 12
Single/Three-element
Drum Level Control
Figure 13
Drum Level
Compensation
page 10
The first compensation equation assumes the input sig-
nal from the level transmitter represents actual differen-
tial pressure. If the differential pressure signal has been
configured to represent uncompensated level (instead
of differential pressure), the second compensation
equation should be used.
DPT
Vapor
Gg
Steam Drum
Reference Leg
Gr
P = Gf L + Gg (X - L) - Gr X
P = (Gf - Gg) L + Gg X - Gr X
L = (P - Gg X + Gr X)/(Gf - Gg)
NOTE: All specific gravities (G) are referenced to water @ 68F
L = Lo + Xb
Lo = L - Xb
Lo = (P - Gg X + Gr X)/(Gf - Gg) - Xb
If the P input is configured using the uncompensated level range, then:
for DPT calibration: -X to 0
and (Lo)unc range: -Xb to Xa
[P - (-X)]/X = [(Lo)unc - (-Xb)]/[Xa - (-Xb)]
but X = Xa + Xb
P + Xa + Xb = (Lo)unc + Xb
P = (Lo)unc + Xb - Xa - Xb
P = (Lo)unc - Xa
Lo = [(Lo)unc - Xa - Gg X + Gr X)]/(Gf - Gg) - Xb
L
X
H L
Liquid
Gf
Lo
Xb
Xa
0
P
As shown in Figure 14, the specific gravities of the liq-
uid and vapor in the drum are characterized functions of
pressure based on data available in the steam tables.
The reference leg data is treated as a constant and is
also determined from steam table data using the actual
temperature of the reference leg and normal operating
pressure conditions.
Figure 14 Drum Level Measurment
page 11
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