CHE10705, Steam Generation and
CHE10705, Steam Generation and
CHE10705, Steam Generation and
Note: The source of the technical material in this volume is the Professional
Engineering Development Program (PEDP) of Engineering Services.
Warning: The material contained in this document was developed for Saudi
Aramco and is intended for the exclusive use of Saudi Aramco’s
employees. Any material contained in this document which is not
already in the public domain may not be copied, reproduced, sold, given,
or disclosed to third parties, or otherwise used in whole, or in part,
without the written permission of the Vice President, Engineering
Services, Saudi Aramco.
CONTENTS PAGES
INFORMATION
BOILER FEEDWATER PUMPS .........................................................................................................1
BOILER FANS.....................................................................................................................................3
BOILER FUEL SYSTEM ....................................................................................................................7
DEAERATORS....................................................................................................................................8
COMBUSTION AIR HEATING........................................................................................................12
BOILER FEEDWATER HEATING...................................................................................................14
BLOWDOWN FACILITIES ..............................................................................................................15
BOILER STACK................................................................................................................................18
WORK AID
WORK AID 1: BFW PUMP DISCHARGE PRESSURE CALCULATION .............................19
WORK AID 2: DEAERATOR STEAM VENT RATES ...........................................................21
WORK AID 3: DEAERATOR HEAT BALANCE EQUATION ..............................................22
WORK AID 4: DEAERATOR HEIGHT EQUATION .............................................................23
WORK AID 5: CONTINUOUS BOILER BLOWDOWN ........................................................24
WORK AID 6: BLOWDOWN DRUM HEAT BALANCE EQUATION .................................25
WORK AID 7: FLASHED STEAM ESTIMATING CURVE...................................................26
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................................................27
REFERENCE
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................29
Saudi Aramco Standards.......................................................................................................29
Saudi Aramco Design Practices ............................................................................................29
Exxon Basic Practices...........................................................................................................29
ASME Publications...............................................................................................................30
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Boiler Fans .................................................................................................................................4
Figure 2. Typical Fan Performance Curves ...............................................................................................5
Figure 3. Typical Forced-Draft Fan Arrangements ....................................................................................6
Figure 4. Deaerators ..................................................................................................................................8
Figure 5. Typical Deaerator Arrangement ...............................................................................................11
Figure 6. Air Preheaters - Elements of a Rotary Regenerative Air Heaters .............................................12
Figure 7. Air Preheaters - Diagrammatic Illustration of Rotary Regenerative Air Heater
(Verticle Shaft Arrangement) with Gas and Air Counterflow ..................................................12
Figure 8. Air Preheaters ...........................................................................................................................13
Figure 9. Typical Boiler Blowdown Facilities .........................................................................................17
Figure 10. BFW Pump Discharge Pressure ...............................................................................................19
Figure 11. Deaerator Steam Vent...............................................................................................................21
Figure 12. Deaerator Heat Balance ............................................................................................................22
Figure 13. Deaerator Height ......................................................................................................................23
Figure 14. Boiler Blowdown .....................................................................................................................24
Figure 15. Blowdown Drum Heat Balance Equation.................................................................................25
Figure 16. Flash Steam Estimating Curve .................................................................................................26
For reliability, two types of drivers are usually provided, electric motors and steam turbines. Spare pumps,
particularly those that are motor driven, are normally provided with low-pressure, automatic cut-in controls.
Boiler feedwater pumps are sized to supply the boilers either at the Manufacturer's Continuous Rating (MCR)
plus overfire or at the installed safety valve rate, whichever is larger, to make certain the boiler does not lose
level. Additional water demands such as blowdown, pump low-flow protection flow if orifice controlled, and
miscellaneous uses such as attemperator water, chemical mixing water, and process water, must be included in
sizing the boiler feedwater pumps.
Since the pumps usually pump hot deaerated water, net positive suction head (NPSH) must be carefully
considered in the design to prevent water flashing in the pumps. This suction pressure is usually obtained from
elevated deaerators.
Equations for calculating pump discharge pressure to supply the boilers while safety valves are blowing.
The boiler feedwater pump discharge pressure, with safety valves blowing, must equal the sum of line pressure
drop, feedwater control valve pressure drop, economizer pressure drop, steam drum pressure, with the safety
valves blowing, and the liquid head from the pump inlet to the steam drum liquid level. The pressure in the
steam drum when the safety valves are blowing is determined as follows. The drum safety valve is set about
4% above the sum of the superheater safety valve setting and the superheater pressure drop so that the
superheater safety valve will relieve first. Thus the drum pressure with 6% accumulation at the drum safety
valve will be:
Drum pressure with safety valves blowing =
(1.04)(1.06) (superheater SV setting plus superheater pressure drop).
BOILER FANS
There are three common configurations for boiler draft. The simplest is natural draft without fans. A stack
provides adequate draft. A more complex arrangement is forced draft, which has a single fan or multiple fans
on the inlet air to provide pressure in the firebox. The fan is supplemented by a stack. Evan more complex is
balanced draft, which utilizes at least two fans, one on the inlet air to the boiler and one on the outlet air from
the boiler to the stack. The inlet fans are called forced draft fans, and the outlet fans are called induced draft
fans.
Forced-draft boilers are most common in industrial plants. Balanced-draft boilers are usually larger and
typically are used in utility stations.
Typical sizing criteria for a forced-draft fan are:
• Design flow = 120% of design air at MCR
The design air rate at MCR should include about 20% excess air for oil firing and 15% excess air for gas firing.
A low air flow cutout is usually provided for safety reasons to cut off fuel if there is not adequate combustion
air. Normally, only one forced-draft fan per boiler is provided, although some installations have two fans for
reliability.
Air flow can be controlled by inlet guide vanes or by turbine speed if the fans are turbine driven.
Figure 1 shows two views of a forced-draft fan with inlet guide vanes.
Figure 2 shows typical fan curves comparing shaft horsepower, pressure, and efficiency with flow. The static
pressure and efficiency curves are used most often. The total pressure and efficiency curves are rarely used
because they include the air velocity head, which can seldom be used in overcoming flow resistance.
Figure 3 shows typical forced-draft fan arrangements and controls. The notes explain the protection provided
for parallel fans.
DEAERATORS
Deaeration removes dissolved gases, primarily oxygen, from boiler feedwater. Vacuum deaerators are used
where cold water is desired. A typical use is with demineralizers to reduce chemical operating costs and to
protect resins from oxygen damage. In these deaerators, water flows down through trays or packing. Steam jet
ejectors or mechanical vacuum pumps produce the vacuum required to remove oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon
dioxide.
The use of low-pressure steam in a pressure deaerator to heat boiler feedwater is a secondary benefit of
deaerators. This operation is energy efficient and helps to protect economizers from corrosion that might result
when sulfur acids condense out of flue gas onto the economizer tubes.
Commonly used deaerators are spray, tray, combination spray and tray, and some newer designs that use
packing instead of trays. Two types and designs of pressure deaerators can be seen in Figure 4. Pressure
deaerators are often called deaerating heaters, since they remove oxygen and heat the water.
Figure 4. Deaerators
In deaerating heaters, the inlet makeup water is usually at ambient temperature. It can be mixed with hot
condensate. This blend is intimately mixed with steam and is heated to within 2 to 4°F of saturation at the
operating pressure of the deaerator. A typical operating pressure is 15 psig, although pressures from 10 to 50
psig are also used.
A vent rate of a mixture of steam and removed gases is required for deaeration. Work Aid 2 shows two graphs
for estimating steam lost when gases are vented from spray and tray deaerators. For example, approximately
140 lb/hr of steam would be vented from a 100,000 lb/hr spray deaerator, while a maximum of 100 lb/hr of
steam would be vented from a comparable tray type deaerator.
The steam requirement for deaerating and heating can be calculated using a heat and material balance. To
achieve satisfactory deaeration, the minimum temperature rise from the blended inlet temperature to saturation
temperature must be at least 10°F for a tray deaerator and 30°F for a spray deaerator.
To determine the steam requirement for a deaerating heater, the equation on Work Aid 3 can be used. As an
example, assume the boiler feedwater requirement is 100,000 lb/hr, condensate returned is 50,000 lb/hr,
deaeration steam is saturated at 15 psig, feedwater makeup or treated water is at 80°F and condensate is at
150°F.
First determine the enthalpy of each component in the balance.
h steam (15 psig, SAT), hs = 1,164 But/lb
The design capacity for either pressure or vacuum deaerators should be equal to the maximum deaerated water
demand. Many plants have only one 100% capacity deaerator; but tow (or more) 50% capacity deaerators are
also common. For example, at Ras Tanura there are two deaerators for eight 150-psig boilers and six deaerators
for ten 625-psig boilers.
The design pressure is normally equal to the safety valve setting of the supply steam system. A "sentinel" valve
is usually installed and set 1 to 2 psi below the safety valve set point to warn of potential problems.
A deaerator has two sections, a deaeration section and a storage section. The deaeration section is constructed
of stainless steel or is stainless-steel clad. It is sized by the vendor based upon design specifications from the
purchaser. The storage section is carbon steel. A typical design could have a holdup at maximum flow of
about 20 minutes from overflow to empty and 10 minutes from low-level alarm to empty.
The height of the deaerator installation is critical, because it provides the required NPSH for the boiler
feedwater pumps. The height is determined with the deaerator operating 5 psig below normal operating
pressure to account for pressure variations in the low-pressure steam supply to the deaerator. Work Aid 4 gives
the equation for determining the minimum height of a deaerator.
Deaerator storage vessels have a tendency to form stress and water quality-related cracks. Heat relieving of
deaerator storage vessels is recommended to prevent these cracks.
Figure 5 shows a typical deaeration arrangement with instruments and controls. Recovered condensate and
deaeration steam are admitted without control. Makeup treated water is admitted under level control.
Excessive water is dumped by high-level control.
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Engineering Encyclopedia Process
Steam Generation-Boiler Auxiliaries
Some arrangements of tubular air heaters to suit various directions of gas and air flow
With permission from Babcock and Wilcox
BLOWDOWN FACILITIES
Blowdown facilities limit solids buildup in the boiler water caused by evaporation. The system must safely
dispose of the flashing steam and hot liquid.
Blowdown from high-pressure boilers may be flashed at several levels. For example, 600-psig blowdown may
be flashed at 125 psig, at 15 psig, and at atmospheric pressure. Drums are used as the flash vessels. Flashed
steam is recovered except for that steam flashed at atmospheric pressure. The liquid is flashed at a lower
pressure or sent to the sewer or waste disposal. Flashing in the sewer should be avoided because of the
personnel hazard. Heat exchange between the blowdown waste liquid and cold makeup water is common when
energy costs are high.
The blowdown rate depends on the boiler feedwater quality. With demineralized water, blowdown may be
about 1% with a system designed for 5 to 10% to allow adjustments in boiler drum water quality. With zeolite-
softened water, blowdown may be 5 to 10%, with a system designed for 10% or more.
The amount of flashed steam is determined by a heat and material balance. Liquid holdup in the flash drums is
usually 2 minutes from high-liquid level to low-liquid level and 5 minutes from high-liquid level to the
emergency low level.
The calculation procedure for determining blowdown rate is shown in Work Aid 5. For example, assume that
for a 600-psig boiler, the makeup water has 4-ppm silica. The desired maximum concentration recommended
in the boiler drum water is 35 ppm. The blowdown rate required to control silica would be:
C BFW
C BD – C BFW ( )
x% = 100
x= 4 × 100
35 – 4
= 12.9%
where:
CBFW = Concentration in boiler feedwater in ppm
CBD = Concentration in boiler drum in ppm
h BD = 475 Btu / lb
h FS = 1,193 Btu / lb
h c = 325 Btu / lb
(h BD – h c )
Flow FS = Flow BD
(h FS – h c )
F FS = 100
(475 – 325 )
1,193 – 325
= 17.2 lb / hr
BOILER STACK
The boiler stack provides the required draft for natural draft boilers and disperses flue gas at a safe location for
all boilers.
Stack temperatures can be as high as 390 to 500°F when high sulfur fuels are burned. For fuels low in sulfur,
stack temperatures can be considerably lower (300°F or less) with larger air preheaters.
Common stacks are often used for two and even more boilers. Isolation is provided so that individual boilers
can be removed from service for maintenance.
The BFW pump discharge pressure is normally based on supplying feedwater to the boiler drum when the
safety valves are blowing. When you establish the BFW pump DP, it is also necessary to establish the DP of
the feedwater control valve.
The feedwater control valve must have the range to handle both the operating case where the safety valves are
blowing and the operating case where the boilers are at 20% capacity.
Case I - Safety Valves Blowing
PD = DP1 + PSH
PDS = PD [1.04] [1.06]
PBFW = DP4 + DP3 + DP2 +PDS + H(0.433 psi/ft) (SG)
NOTE: For boiler pressures between 100 and 800 psig, use "flash" pressure curves from lower left-hand to
upper right-hand corner and the bottom axis. For boiler pressures above 800 psig, use "flash" pressure curves
slanting from lower right-hand to upper left-hand corner and top axis.
Figure 16. Flash Steam Estimating Curve
GLOSSARY
atomizing steam Steam used to disperse liquid fuel to a fine spray at the burner tip.
attemperator A boiler accessory for reducing and controlling the steam outlet
temperature from the boiler.
balance Adjusting the operation of the steam system to minimize the amount of
pressure reduction between the various steam pressure levels.
blowdown Water removed from the boiler to control the level of dissolved impurities
in the boiler water.
boiler feedwater (BFW) Treated water that has been heated, deaerated, and dosed with chemicals
to remove residual oxygen.
burner a mechanical device used to introduce air and fuel into the boiler at the
proper conditions to establish and maintain ignition and combustion.
economizer A device for transferring heat from the flue gas to the BFW before the
BFW enters the boiler drum.
flue gas Gaseous products from the combustion of fuel.
high-pressure BFW heater A shell-and-tube heat exchanger located downstream of the deaerating
heater and used to preheat BFW above 250°F.
MCR Manufacturers Continuous Rating, which is the design output capacity of
the boiler, in tons per hour.
mud drum or lower drum A cylindrical vessel near the bottom of the boiler which acts as a
collection and distribution header. Solids and sediment tend to
accumulate in this drum and are removed by intermittent blowdown.
overfire A short time rating given to some boilers by the manufacturer. An
example is 110% capacity limited to a maximum of 1 hour.
steam drum A cylindrical vessel near the top of the boiler that acts as a distribution and
collection header and a release point for steam. The drum also houses
separation equipment to dry the steam.
superheater A heat transfer surface downstream of the steam drum, designed to raise
the steam temperature above the saturation temperature. The superheater
is arranged within the boiler to absorb heat by radiation, convection, or
both.
treated water Raw water which has been processed in the water treating plant to reduce
the level of suspended and dissolved impurities.
REFERENCES
ASME Publications
• Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code