Type of Boilers

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Boilers

Boilers are used to supply heat to a process under control temperature.

Type of Boilers

There are basically two types of boilers as follows.

1. Fire tube (for low capacity, low pressure and variable load applications)
2. Water tube (for high capacity and high pressure applications)

Fire Tube Boilers – hot gas pass through boiler tubes

Water Tube Boiler – Water and steam pass through boiler tubes
Boiler System

Here there is a closed process. Condensed steam during the process is returned to the boiler in
closed processes. In open processes, there is no any return. Steam trap only permit water to
pass through it. Therefore steam traps are used to maximize heat usage at steam for the
process.

The Energy/Cost Opportunities for Boilers

There are different way to reduce energy loss (or increase the efficiency) of boilers and get
maximum benefits out of boiler as follow.

1. Improve boiler efficiency by reducing the excess air level in the boiler
Burner manufacturer design the excess air factor. Higher the excess air factor lowers the
overall boiler efficiency. Excess air factor depends on the fuel we used. It varies from
1.05 – 1.4 when the fuel is switched gas to solid fuel respectively. There is an atomizer in
the burner for fuel atomization. Atomized fuel increases surface area for better reaction
with oxygen. This will reduce the excess air factor.

2. Improve boiler efficiency by adjusting pressure settings


The flue gas temperature could be around 230°C when the boiler is operated at 10 bar
(186°C saturated). The pitch point difference is about 50°C. If you change the pressure
settings down then pinch point increases, results more heat transfer from flue gas to water
inside. This will reduce the flue gas exit temperature.
3. Improve boiler efficiency by installing air pre-heater or economizer
Typically when low sulfur fuel is used stag gas temperature (flue gas) could be drop up to
200°C. But the economic analysis says that the dropping flue gas temperature by
increasing heat transfer area in the pressure vessel is not cost effective with existing fuel
tariff. Installing of an economizer could reduce investment. Heat recovery from stag gas
would bring down its temperature. The heat sink is made up boiler feed water or water
from feed water tank which is less than 100°C.

4. Change condensate recovery rate and recover of flash steam


5. Improve the steam trap maintenance program
Steam trap maintenance could be different from many years due to restrictions of man
power and financial resources. But the result could be increasing the basic fuel cost.
While improving the trap maintenance, it is important to incorporate the new technology
trap and valve station to facilitate maintenance fast and easy.

6. Eliminate the leaks in the steam and condensate pipe line


7. Improve insulation
8. Boiler blow down
To avoid boiler problems water must be periodically discharged or blowing down from
the boiler to control the concentration of suspended and total dissolved solid (TDS) in the
fluid of the boiler. Surface blow down is often done continuously to reduce the level of
dissolved solid. Bottom blow down is performed periodically to remove such form from
the bottom of the boiler.

Boiler blow down benefits:


 Less water, fuel and treatment chemical needed
 Less maintenance and repair cost
 Save manual supervision for other task
 Cleaner and more efficient system
 Reduce operating cost
 Minimize energy loss

Boiler blow down benefits:


 Insufficient blow down may cause carried over of boiler water into the steam on
the formation of deposits on the boiler tubes.
 The blow amount required is a function of boiler type, capacity, pressure,
chemical treatment program and feed water quality.
 The optimum blow down amount is difficult to calculate and control by
measuring the conductivity of feed water. Conductivity is a viable indicator of
Total Dissolved Solid (TDS). Typically blow down rate range from 4% to 8% of
boiler feed water flow rate.
 But blow down rate can be high as 20% with extremely poor quality feed water.

𝐹𝑆
Blow down rate = 𝐵−𝐹

F = feed water TDS level (ppm)


B = allowed TDS level in side boiler (ppm)
S = boiler capacity level (kg/h)

9. Avoid over capacity boiler


The loss of energy is mainly due to the surface of the boiler. Higher capacity higher the
outside surface area higher the investment and loss of energy.

Maximum allowable pressure 10 bar


Capacity 2000 kg/h, from and at 100°C

2000×ℎ𝑓𝑔 100
At 10 bar capacity = ℎ ; if feed water temperature is 70°C
𝑔 10 𝑏𝑎𝑟 − ℎ70 10 𝑏𝑎𝑟

The term from and at 100°C means when boiler should is operated at 1 bar (100°C
saturated) and feed water temperature is at 100°C, the boiler generate steam at a rate of
2000 kg/h

10. Effect of over sizing of pipe network


 The pipe will be more expensive that the necessity
 Greater volume of condensate will be formed due to greater energy loss due to
high surface area
 High insulation cost
 Poor steam quality due to greater volume of condensate
 Tendency of water hammering
 So over sizing of pipe net work should be avoided.
11. Run the system in co-generation mode
Install a back pressure turbine between the process and the boiler which is having the
working pressure well above the process requirement.

Question

(i) Write down Four benefits of boiler blow down.


(ii) Mentioned Six energy/cost saving opportunities other than boiler blow down can be
taken in to action for boilers.
(iii) It has been mentioned as boiler capacity is 2000 kg/h, from and at 100ºC. Find the
capacity of the boiler at 10 bar if feed water temperature is 70ºC. (At 100ºC latent
heat of water = 2256.9 kJ/kg, At 10 bar latent heat of water = 2013.6 kJ/kg, At 10 bar
saturation temperature of water = 180ºC, Specific heat capacity of water = 4.18
kJ/kgK)

Answer

Answers for part (i) and (ii) are given in the note.

(iii) ℎ𝑔 10𝑏𝑎𝑟 − ℎ70,10𝑏𝑎𝑟 = 4.18(180 − 70) + 2013.6 = 2473.4

2000 × ℎ𝑓𝑔 100


𝐴𝑡 10 𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
ℎ𝑔 10𝑏𝑎𝑟 − ℎ70,10𝑏𝑎𝑟

2000×2256.9
= 2473.4

= 1825 kg/h

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