Blow-Down Procedure for Marine Boilers

marineinsight.com/tech/boiler/blow-down-procedure-for-marine-boilers

Anish 25 July
2019

Boiler is one of the most important machinery systems on the ship. An economic and
efficient working of a marine boiler on a ship requires timely maintenance and special
care in starting and stopping the boiler. Routine cleanup is extremely helpful in
increasing the working life of a marine boiler.

In this article we have brought to you one such important procedure – boiler blow down,
which has to be performed at a regular interval of times in order to increase the
performance of the boiler.

Why Boiler blowdown?

The water which is circulated inside the boiler tubes and drum contains Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS) along with other dissolved and undissolved solids. During the steam making
process, i.e. when the boiler is in operation, the water is heated and converted into
steam. However, these dissolved solids do not evaporate and get separated from water
or steam, and they tend to settle at the bottom of the boiler shell due to their weight.
This layer will prevent the transfer of heat amid the gases and the water, eventually
overheating the boiler tubes or shell.

Related Read: The Science Behind Marine Boiler Water Circulation on Ships

Different dissolved and undissolved solids lead to scaling, corrosion, erosion etc. The
solid impurities will also be carried over with the steam into the steam system, leading to
deposits inside the heat exchanger surface where the steam is the primary heating
medium.

To minimise all these problems, boiler blowdown is done, which helps in removing the
carbon deposits and other forms of impurities.

Guides To Learn About Marine Boilers:

A Guide To Boiler Construction And Design

A Guide To Boiler Operation And Maintenance

Boiler Blow Down

Boiler blow down is done to remove carbon deposits and other impurities from the
boiler.

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Blow down of the boiler is done to remove two types of impurities – scum and bottom
deposits. This means that blow down is done either for scum or for bottom blow down.
Moreover, the reasons for boiler blow down are:

1. To remove the precipitates formed as a result of chemical addition to the boiler

water.

2. To remove solid particles, dirt, foam or oil molecules from the boiler water. This is
mainly done by scum valve and the procedure is known as “scumming.”

3. To reduce the density of water by reducing the water level.

4. To remove excess water in case of emergency.

Inside a marine boiler, the blowdown arrangement is provided at two levels; at a bottom
level and the water surface level known as “scum blowdown”.

Hence, when the bottom valve is used, the procedure is known as boiler blowdown, and
when the Scum valve is used, the process is known as “scumming.”

Related Read: Video Tutorial: How Ship’s Boiler and Steam System Works?

The boiler water blowdown can be done in two ways depending upon the type, design,
automation used, the capacity and the characteristics of the boiler feedwater system:

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Intermittent or Manual blowdown:
When blowdown is done manually by the boiler operator at regular intervals according
to the established operating program, it is known as Manual blowdown. This type of
blowdown is useful to remove sludge formation or suspended solids from the boiler.
This type of blowdown comes handy when there is an oil ingress in the boiler water due
to leakage in the heat exchanger. Using manual scumming, the oil present in the water
surface can be taken out.

The major drawback of manual blowdown is the heat loss due to hot water going out of
the water drum. The valve is opened slightly making a small quantity of water to go into
the blowdown. Still, there is significant heat and pressure loss.

Continuous blowdown:
Many modern boilers are nowadays provided with blowdown automation.

They allow the continuous blowdown of the boiler water, which helps in keeping the
dissolved and suspended solids under boiler operating limits. This system is known as
continuous blowdown.

In this system, the automation monitors the blowdown continuously and in turn checks
the quality of feed water and the quality of water inside a boiler shell for dissolved and
undissolved impurities. Accordingly, it will automatically open the blowdown valves if
the boiler water TDS exceeds the permissible operating limit.

As the blowdown valves are precisely controlled, the water discharged from the
blowdown removes the maximum amount of dissolved impurities with minimum heat
and water loss from the boiler water, maintaining the boiler efficiency.

Most of the boiler with continuous blowdown automation are fitted with heat recovery
systems, i.e. the hot water from the boiler blowdown is first sent to a heat exchanger
unit which utilises the heat of the water (e.g. to preheat the feedwater by installing a heat
exchanger or heat recovery equipment in the path) before it goes overboard.

The choice of blowdown system, i.e. either manual or continuous and automatic, will
depend on various factors and the blowdown valves will be fitted with suitable
accessories as per the system.

How to calculate the percentage of blowdown:

Quantity blowdown water/Quantity feedwater X 100 = % blowdown

Related Read: Choosing A Marine Boiler While Designing A Ship

Procedure for Scumming and Bottom Blow Down

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Below is the procedure for the boiler blow down using the blow down valve located at
the bottom of the boiler. In order to do scumming, instead of bottom blow down, the
scum valve is to be opened.

Steps for blow down procedure are as follows:

Kindly refer the diagram to understand the blow down procedure properly.

A modern boiler should never be blown down while the boiler is steaming at high rates.
While performing the blowdown, the shipside valve should always be open first, then the
blowdown valve. This will allow control to the operator in case a pipe burst.

1. Open the overboard or ship side valve(1) first.

2. Open the blow down valve (2), this valve is a non-return valve.

3. The blow down valve adjacent to the boiler (2) should be opened fully so as to
prevent cutting of the valve seat.

4. The rate of blow down is controlled by the valve (3).

5. After blow down close the valve in reverse order.

6. A hot drain pipe even when all valves are closed indicates a leaking blow down
valve.

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If the boiler is blown down for inspection, first the firing needs to be stopped and allow
the boiler to cool off. Open the boiler vent plug which will allow natural cooling at
atmospheric pressure.

Ensure the overboard valve (non-return) is functioning properly so that no seawater can
enter the boiler pipeline else it will create a vacuum due to sudden steam cooling leading
to a pipe burst.

Once the boiler blowdown is completed, open the belly plug to remove the remaining
content in the engine room bilges.

Related Read: Boiler Mountings: A Comprehensive List

Advantages of boiler blowdown:

Blowdown of boiler water at regular intervals keeps the total dissolved solid
impurities under the rated limits
The process helps in preventing corrosion as it removes the impurities which
accelerate the corrosion process
It helps in preventing scaling of boiler tubes and internal surface
It prevents the carryover of impurities and contaminants with the steam, providing
the pure steam
It prevents scaling of internal parts of the heat exchanger where the pure steam
goes as a heating medium

Disadvantages of boiler blowdown:

If the procedure is not done correctly with the determined schedule, the blowdown
of boiler water tends to increase the heat as well as pressure losses.
The heat and pressure losses from the boiler water blowdown will reduce boiler
efficiency.
If the blowdown arrangement is manual, additional work hours needed to conduct
the operation

Related Read: 6 Practical Tips On Improving Boiler Efficiency for Professional Marine
Engineers

Requirements and Regulation:

If there is oil sheen visible in the boiler gauge glass or hotwell inspection glass. As
the oil will be on the water surface, ensure not to do scum blowdown else it will
cause oil pollution
The oil leakage inside the boiler water to be stopped and all efforts to be made to
clear the oil from hotwell by filling freshwater and removing oil-water.

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 Ensure the operator knows the Vessel General Permit areas and complies with
chapter 12 of VGP and do not discharge any wastewater from the boiler blowdown
in the restricted areas except for safety reasons.
The vessel must ensure not to discharge any boiler water via boiler blowdown in
port waters. This is because the water consists of different chemicals or other
additives which are added to reduce impurities or prevent scale formations.
The boiler blowdown must be done as far from shore as possible.
The Master and the duty officer on the bridge must be informed before
commencing the blowdown operation.
The boiler blowdown operation must be recorded in the Engine Room Logbook
which must include the starting and the stopping time operation
If the boiler blowdown or hot well water is transferred to the bilges, the same must
be recorded in ORB and engine room logbook

Related Read: Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) & Convention for Prevention of Marine Pollution
(MARPOL): A General Overview

The boiler blowdown can be done in territorial water or harbour only in the following
conditions:

If the ship is entering the dry dock, it will need to blowdown boiler
For any safety reasons

How to minimise boiler blowdown?

Chemical Treatment:

The main aim of doing a boiler blowdown is to reduce the dissolved impurities in the
boiler water, which leads to scale formation.

The scale formation will directly lead to heat transfer within the internal surface of the
boiler leading to a reduction in boiler efficiency.

If the boiler water can be tested regularly and accordingly treated effectively using
various chemicals in the hot well, the feed water will have fewer impurities making it
good for the use.

The need for the boiler blowdown will inturn reduce leading to saving of water and
reduction in heat and pressure losses.

Boiler Water Blowdown Reduction:

With an increase in boiler blowdown, the water and fuel consumption of the boiler water
will increase. The best practice is to remove the manual blowdown system and to install
an automatic boiler water measurement and blowdown system.

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This system will effectively monitor the impurities in the boiler and open the discharge
blowdown valve accordingly, as explained in the continuous blowdown system above.

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