Unit3notes Kme401 Book

436 _________________________________________________________ Applied Thermodynamics
11
Boilers and Boiler Calculations
11.1 INTRODUCTION
Steam is extensively used for various applications such as power production, industrial processes, work
interaction, heating etc. With the increasing use of steam in different engineering systems the steam
generation technology has also undergone various developments starting from 100 B.C. when Hero of
Alexandria invented a combined reaction turbine and boiler.
Boiler, also called steam generator is the engineering device which generates steam at constant
pressure. It is a closed vessel, generally made of steel in which vaporization of water takes place. Heat
required for vaporization may be provided by the combustion of fuel in furnace, electricity, nuclear
reactor, hot exhaust gases, solar radiations etc.
Earlier boilers were closed vessels made from sheets of wrought iron which were lapped, riveted
and formed into shapes of simple sphere type or complex sections such as the one shown in Fig. 11.1.
It is the ‘Wagon boiler’ of Watt developed in 1788.
Fig. 11.1 Wagon boiler of Watt, (1788)
According to A.S.M.E. (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, U.S.A.) code a boiler is

defined as a combination of apparatus for producing, furnishing or recovering heat together with the
apparatus for transferring the heat so made available to water which could be heated and vaporised to
steam form.
Boilers and Boiler Calculations ___________________________________________________ 437
Boiler technology got revolutionized during second world war, when the need arose for the
boilers to supply steam to field installations. Field requirements were critical as the boiler installation and
commissioning should take place in minimum time. Therefore the ‘Package boilers’ which were com-
plete with all auxiliaries as one unit came up and gradually transformed into modern boiler having lot of
accessories and mountings. Thus in a boiler other than heat supplying unit, shell and tubes, a number of
other devices are used for its control, safe and efficient operation. Devices which are mounted on boiler
for its control and safe operation are called “mountings” while devices which are mounted on boiler for
improving its performance are called “accessories”. Thus boiler mountings are necessary while boiler
accessories are optional.
11.2 TYPES OF BOILERS

Boilers are of many types. Depending upon their features they can be classified as given under:
(a) Based upon the orientation/axis of the shell: According to the axis of shell boiler can be
classified as vertical boiler and horizontal boiler.
(i) Vertical boiler has its shell vertical.
(ii) Horizontal boiler has its shell horizontal.
(iii) Inclined boiler has its shell inclined.
(b) Based upon utility of boiler: Boilers can be classified as
(i) Stationery boiler, such boilers are stationery and are extensively used in power plants,
industrial processes, heating etc.
(ii) Portable boiler, such boilers are portable and are of small size. These can be of the
following types,
Locomotive boiler, which are exclusively used in locomotives.
Marine boiler, which are used for marine applications.
(c) Based on type of firing employed: According to the nature of heat addition process boilers
can be classified as,
(i) Externally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done externally i.e. furnace is outside
the boiler unit. Such as Lanchashire boiler, Locomotive boiler etc.
(ii) Internally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done internally i.e. furnace is within
the boiler unit. Such as Cochran boiler, Bobcock Wilcox boiler etc.
(d) Based upon the tube content: Based on the fluid inside the tubes, boilers can be,
(i) Fire tube boilers, such boilers have the hot gases inside the tube and water is outside
surrounding them. Examples for these boilers are, Cornish boiler, Cochran boiler,
Lancashire boiler, Locomotive boiler etc.
(ii) Water tube boilers, such boilers have water flowing inside the tubes and hot gases
surround them. Examples for such boilers are Babcock-Wilcox boiler, Stirling boiler,
La-Mont boiler, Benson boiler etc.
(e) Based on type of fuel used: According to the type of fuel used the boilers can be,
(i) Solid fuel fired boilers, such as coal fired boilers etc.
(ii) Liquid fuel fired boilers, such as oil fired boilers etc.
(iii) Gas fired boilers, such as natural gas fired boilers etc.
(f) Based on circulation: According to the flow of water and steam within the boiler circuit the
boilers may be of following types,
(i) Natural circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused by the
density difference which is due to the temperature variation.
(ii) Forced circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused by a
pump i.e. externally assisted circulation.
(g) Based on extent of firing: According to the extent of firing the boilers may be,
(i) Fired boilers, in which heat is provided by fuel firing.
(ii) Unfired boilers, in which heat is provided by some other source except fuel firing such
as hot flue gases etc.
(iii) Supplementary fired boilers, in which a portion of heat is provided by fuel firing and
remaining by some other source.
11.3 REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD BOILER

Different requirements of a good boiler are given below. In general boiler is supposed to generate large
quantity of steam at desired pressure and temperature quickly and efficiently.
(a) It should be capable of generating steam at desired rate at desired pressure and temperature
with minimum fuel consumption and cost.
(b) It should have sufficient steam and water storage capacity to meet fluctuation in demand
and to prevent fluctuation in steam pressure or water level.
(c) Boiler should have a constant and thorough circulation of water.
(d) It should be equipped with all necessary mountings.
(e) Boiler should have capability to get started quickly from cold.
(f) Its construction should be simple and have good workmanship for the ease of inspection
and repairs i.e. easily accessible parts.
(g) Boiler should have its heating surface nearly at right angle to the current of hot gases for
good heat transfer.
(h) There should be minimum frictional power loss during flow of hot gases and water/steam
i.e. pressure drop throughout the system should be minimum.
(i) Tubes should be so designed so as to have minimum soot deposition and good strength
against wear. Boiler should have a mud drum to receive all impurities.
(j) Boiler should have strength to withstand excessive thermal stresses.
(k) Boiler should occupy less floor area and space.
Boilers may be selected for a particular applications considering above general requirements and
constraints, if any. For deciding the boiler for any application, generally following criterion are made;
(i) Steam pressure requirement
(ii) Steam temperature requirement
(iii) Steam generation rate
(iv) Initial cost and constraints
(v) Running and maintenance costs
(vi) Availability of fuel and water
(vii) Inspection and maintenance requirements.
11.4 FIRE TUBE AND WATER TUBE BOILERS

Fire tube boilers are those boilers in which hot gases (combustion products) flow inside the tubes and
water surrounds them. Water extracts heat for its phase transformation from the hot gases flowing
inside the tubes, thus heat is indirectly transferred from hot gas to water through a metal interface.
Such boilers came up in eighteenth century and were extensively used for steam generation in
variety of applications. With the passage of time and coming up of another types of boilers the fire tube
Fig. 11.2 Fire tube boiler
Fig. 11.3 Water tube boiler

boilers have lost their charm to some extent due to limitations in terms of steam pressure. Fire tube
boilers are used for applications having small steam requirement. Different types of fire tube boilers
have been discussed ahead.
Water tube boilers are those boilers in which water flows inside the tubes and hot gases surround
them. This type of boilers came up as a solution to the problem of explosion faced in fire tube boilers
when the pressure and steam generation capacity were increased. In such boilers the shell behaved as
heated pressure vessel subjected to internal pressure which set up tensile stresses (hoop stress) in walls.
Mathematically, this stress can be given as,
P´D
Hoop stress = where P is internal working pressure, D is diameter of shell and t is
2t
thickness of shell wall.
Above expression shows that if ‘P’ (pressure) increases then either ‘D’ (diameter) should be
decreased or ‘t’ (thickness) be increased to keep stress within acceptable limits. While increasing
thickness the mass of boiler and cost of manufacturing both increase therefore the reduction of ‘D’
(diameter) is an attractive option. This became the basis for water tube boilers in which small diameter
of tube facilitated quite high pressure steam generation.
Such boilers came up in late eighteenth and nineteenth century. George Babcock and Stephen
Wilcox gave straight-tube boiler of water tube boiler type in 1867 which was subsequently modified and
developed as present ‘Babcock and Wilcox boiler’.
Water tube boilers may be further classified based on type of tubes employed. These can be
Straight water tube boilers and Bent water tube boilers. Straight water tube boilers are those in which
tubes carrying water are straight from one end to the other end. At the two ends headers are provided.
In general water comes down from drum into down header and after passing through tubes get heated
and evaporated to steam which is carried back to drum through upcomer header or riser. Circulation of
water is caused by the density difference as density of feed water is more than density of hot water/wet/
dry steam due to lower temperature of feed water.
Fig. 11.4 Relative position of boiler sections
Bent water tube boilers are those in which bent tubes are employed for carrying water. Bent water
tubes are advantageous over straight water tubes in many respects. Bent tubes offer better access into
boiler and ease of inspection and maintenance. Also tube arrangement can be modified so as to maximize
heating surface and exposure of tubes to hot gases.
Circulation is better in case of bent tube boilers as compared to straight tube, since the orientation
of tubes in case of former is generally at inclination from vertical while for later it is horizontal. Stirling
boiler is one such boiler. In water tube boilers the heat distribution generally occurs amongst economiser
tubes, evaporator tubes, superheater tubes. Hottest gases are designed to come in contact with super-
heater tubes. The evaporator tubes are in between superheater and economizer tubes. Relative position
of three sections shall be as shown here.
A comparative study between fire tube and water tube boiler is presented below to understand
relative merits of one over the other.
Advantages of fire tube boilers
(a) Fire tube boilers are more flexible and can meet sudden steam demand without much
pressure fluctuations. It is because of the large volume of water contained by these boilers
and heat energy stored in hot water. It may be noted that energy stored in a definite volume
of water at given pressure and temperature shall be more than that stored in same volume
of steam at same thermodynamic states.
(b) Fire tube boilers are less sensitive to the failure of feed water supply as they have large
capacity of water stored. Such feed water supply failure is very damaging in water tube
boilers due to small storage capacity.
(c) Fire tube boilers are rigid and simple in construction, therefore have great reliability and less
initial cost. Number of parts in fire tube boilers is less than those in water tube boilers so
maintenance cost is also small. Since thickness of boiler shell is large enough so the
problems of pitting and erosion are less. Also the large drum of boiler provides ample water
space and desired conditions for dry steam generation.
Advantages of water tube boilers
(a) Steam generation rate is large in water tube boilers as compared to fire tube boilers due to
small quantity of water contained, large heating surface, better circulation of water etc.
Water tube boilers are made in bigger sizes with very high limit to maximum output due to
smaller drum, circulation etc.
(b) Maximum pressure of steam generation is quite high in water tube boilers (125 bar and
above) compared to fire tube boilers (up to 20 bar) due to fluid flowing through tubes of
small diameter and diameter of drum being relatively small.
(c) In case of explosion the steam generation may not stop in water tube boilers as the place
of explosion in tubes can be plugged easily. While in fire tube boilers the explosion is very
dangerous due to large quantity of water flashing into steam.
(d) Water tube boilers are easy to fabricate and transport due to the small size of drum. The
shell of fire tube boiler shall be nearly twice or thrice of the shell of water tube boiler for
same power.
(e) Water tube boilers are generally externally fired and various parts of boiler are more readily
accessible for cleaning, inspection and maintenance, compared to fire tube boilers.
Characteristics of fire tube and water tube boilers are tabulated as under
Table 11.1
Characteristics Fire tube boiler Water tube boiler

(a) Steam Pressure It is limited to 20–30 bar. In It is virtually unlimited
case of waste heat boilers, within metallurgical and
it can be more. design limits.
(b) Unit output Limited to about 20 MW. It is virtually unlimited
within design limits.
(c) Fuel All commercial fuels and tre- Any fuel can be used.
ated waste can be used. Also the furnace size is large.
Characteristics Fire tube boiler Water tube boiler
(d) Erection It is packaged ready for work It is to be shop assembled
site. or erected at site.
(e) Efficiency Normally 80–85%, gross calo- Normally 85–90%,
rific value, but can be further gross calorific but can be
increased using accessories. further increased using
accessories.
(f) Application Generally for heat supply. Generally for power and
heat supply together.
(g) Inspection Frequent inspection requirement. Inspection requirement is
requirement. It is more than in water tube less than in fire tube boiler.
boilers.
Composite boilers: These are the boilers developed as combination of fire tube and water tube
boilers so as to derive advantages of both designs. In these boilers there is no restriction in pressure and
output capabilities. Such boilers are usually transported to site in sections/modules and assembled at
site. Generic arrangement in composite boiler is shown in Fig. 11.5.
Fig. 11.5 Composite boiler
11.5 SIMPLE VERTICAL BOILER

Simple vertical boiler shown in Fig. 11.6 has a vertical boiler shell of cylindrical shape. It has fire box of
cylindrical type inside the shell. Vertical passage of tubular type called uptake is provided over fire box
for exhaust of flue gases. Cross tubes are provided for improving water circulation and increasing
heating surface. At the bottom of fire box a fire grate is provided for burning fuel. Total heating surface
area is about 7–10 times grate area. Man hole and hand holes are provided in the shell for access to inside
of shell. Hot gases raising from fire grate go upwardly and heat the water contained in shell and tubes.
Steam generated in shell can be tapped through a steam stop valve placed on the crown of shell. Such
boilers have steam generation capacity up to 1000 kg per hour and maximum steam pressure up to 10
bar. Size of the boiler ranges from 0.6 m diameter to 2 m diameter and height from 1.2 m to 4 m high.
Boiler efficiency is nearly 50%.
Fig. 11.6 Simple vertical boiler
11.6 COCHRAN BOILER

This is a fire tube boiler of vertical type and came up as a modification over the simple vertical boiler in
order to maximize heating surface. Total heating surface area is 10–25 times the grate area. It has
cylindrical shell with hemispherical crown. Hemispherical geometry offers maximum volume space for
given mass of material and is also very good for strength and maximization of radiant heat absorption.
Figure. 11.7 shows the schematic of Cochran boiler with various mountings upon it. Fire box is also of
hemispherical form. Flue gases flow from fire box to refractory material lined combustion chamber
through a flue pipe. Incomplete combustion if any can get completed in combustion chamber and hot
gases subsequently enter into tubes. After coming out of fire tubes hot gases enter into smoke box
having chimney upon it. As the fire box is separately located so any type of fuel such as wood, paddy
husk, oil fuel etc. can be easily burnt.
These boilers are capable of generating steam up to pressure of 20 bar and steam generating
capacity from 20 kg/hr to 3000 kg/hr. Boilers have dimensions ranging from 1 m diameter and 2 m
height to 3 m diameter and 6 m height. Efficiency of such boilers ranges between 70 and 75%.
Fig. 11.7 Cochran boiler
11.7 LANCASHIRE BOILER

It is a horizontal fire tube boiler. General arrangement in the boiler is shown in Fig. 11.8.
Boiler is mounted on a brickwork setting with front end of shell sloping about 1 : 250 for emptying
the shell. It has a circular shell connected to end plates supported by gusset plates. Two fire tubes run
throughout the length of the boiler. Fire tubes are of diameter less than half the diameter of shell and
diameter of fire tubes is reduced as shown to have access to lower side of boiler.
Fire bridge is provided to prevent fuel from falling over the end of furnace. Fire bridge also helps
in producing a better mixture of air and gases for perfect combustion by partly enveloping the combus-
tion space. Hot gases start from grate area, enter into fire tubes and come out at back of boiler from
where these gases flow towards the front of boiler through bottom flue. Upon reaching the front these
hot gases flow through the side flues and enter the main outlet. Outlet passage may also be used
commonly by more than one boilers. About 85% of actual heat transferred is transferred through
surface of fire tubes while 15% is transferred through bottom and side flues.
Plan, elevation and side views of Lancashire boiler shown in figure explain the furnace, different
firetubes, bottom flues, side flues etc. Dampers are provided at the end of side flues for regulating the
pressure difference (draught) for exit of burnt gases. Other mountings and accessories are shown in the
elevation of Lancashire boiler.
Fig. 11.8 Lancashire boiler
Working pressure in these boilers are in the range of 0.7 MPa to 2 MPa and efficiency of the boiler
is about 65%–70%. Size of these boiler depends upon size of shell which may be 2 m to 3 m in diameter
and 6m to 10m in length.
11.8 CORNISH BOILER
This is a horizontal fire tube boiler having single flue gas tube. General arrangement is very similar to
Lancashire boiler. Water surrounds the flue gas tube in the shell. Hot flue gases after passing through the
tube are divided into two portions at the end of boiler and pass through side flue passages to reach upto
the front of boiler and then enter into bottom flue gas passage for escaping out through chimney after
traversing the entire length of bottom passage. Hot gases thus traverse complete length of passage from
end to end of boiler thrice i.e. through main flue gas tube, side flues and bottom flues. Heat transfer is
more from side flues than bottom flue due to sedimentation in bottom. These boilers are generally
capable of producing steam up to the rate of 1350 kg/hr and maximum steam pressure up to 12 bar.
Shell is generally of length 4 to 7 m and diameter 1.2 to 1.8 m.
Fig. 11.9 Cornish boiler
11.9 LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS

These boilers were invented for getting steam to run a steam engine used in locomotives. These are fire
tube type of boilers. It has basically three parts i.e. smoke box, shell and fire box. Figure 11.10 shows
a general arrangement in locomotive boiler.
Inside fire box the fuel (coal) is burnt over the grate. For feeding fuel the fire hole is used. Hot
gases produced in fire box are diverted by fire brick arch and enter into the fire tubes surrounded with
water. Steam produced gets collected in a steam drum fitted on top of the shell. Arrangement for super
heating is there in these boilers.
As shown the wet steam goes through inlet headers of superheater and after passing through
tubes, it returns to the outlet header of superheater and is taken out for steam engine.
A very large door is provided at the end of smoke box so as to facilitate cleaning and maintenance
of complete boiler.
As it is a moving boiler, therefore, its chimney is completely eliminated. For expelling the burnt
gases (draught) the exhaust steam coming out from steam engine is being used. Thus it is an artificial
draught used in these boilers for expelling burnt gases.
Fig. 11.10 Locomotive boiler
11.10 NESTLER BOILERS
This is fire tube type of fired horizontal axis boiler. Figure 11.11 shows the schematic arrangement in
Nestler boiler. The boiler shell comprising of two thick mild steel plates with large number of fire tubes
fitted between two plates is shown here. A bigger diameter furnace tube extending from burner end to
other end is used for carrying hot flue gases from one smoke box to the other smoke box. At the rear
end smoke box chimney is provided for rejection of exhaust gases.
Fig. 11.11 Nestler boiler

Hot gases pass through furnace tube and enter into rear end smoke box and pass through fire
tubes to front end smoke box for final discharge through chimney. Water surrounding tubes get trans-
formed into steam and gets collected in steam space. Here furnace oil, a dark coloured highly viscous oil
is used for firing in furnace. Oil is first heated up to 80°C by electric heater before being supplied to
burner for injection into furnace tube. Blower is employed for atomization of furnace oil into furnace.
Such boilers are capable of generating steam upto pressure of 10–11 bar.
11.11 BABCOCK AND WILCOX BOILER

It is a water tube boiler suitable for meeting demand of increased pressure and large evaporation
capacity or large sized boiler units. Figure 11.12 shows the Babcock and Wilcox boiler. It has three
main parts:
(i) Steam and water drum
(ii) Water tubes
(iii) Furnace.
Steam and water drum is a long drum fabricated using small shells riveted together. End cover
plates can be opened as and when required. Mountings are mounted on drum as shown. Drum is
followed by water tubes which are arranged below drum and connected to one another and drum
through headers. Header in which water flows from drum to tubes is called down take header while
headers in which flow is from tubes to drum is called uptake header.
Soot deposition takes place in mud box which is connected to downtake header. “Blow off cock”
for blowing out the sediments settled in mud box is shown in figure. Superheater tubes are also shown
in the arrangement, which are U-shape tubes placed horizontally between drum and water tubes. Super-
heating of steam is realized in superheater tubes.
Fig. 11.12 Babcock and Wilcox boiler

Below the superheater and water tubes is the furnace, at the front of which fuel feed hopper is
attached. Mechanical stoker is arranged below the hopper for feeding fuel. Bridge wall and baffles made
of fire resistant bricks are constructed so as to facilitate hot gases moving upward from the grate area,
then downwards and again upwards before escaping to the chimney. A smoke box is put at the back of
furnace through which smoke goes out via chimney, put at top of smoke box. A damper is used for
regulating pressure difference (draught) causing expulsion of hot gases.
The complete boiler unit with all mountings and accessories is suspended by steel slings from
girders resting on steel columns. It is done so as to permit free expansion and contraction of boiler parts
with temperature.
11.12 STIRLING BOILER

This is a water tube boiler in which bent tubes are connected to three or four drums together. These bent
tubes are inclined as shown in Fig. 11.13. Bent tubes are advantageous in respect to flexibility in maxi-
mizing heating surface and no requirement of headers. For deflecting the hot gases the baffles are
provided. Here three steam drums and one mud drum is shown. Feed water enters the first steam drum
located near the exit passage and pass through tubes to mud drum and subsequently gets raised through
tubes into other steam drum. Thus the water is circulated so as to pick maximum heat from hot gases.
Steam generated is collected in upper portion of steam drums from where it can be extracted out. Hot
gases coming from furnace area travel across the boiler and go out of exit passage after transferring
heat contained by them.
Such boilers are capable of generating steam upto maximum pressure of 60 bar and steam gen-
eration rate up to 50,000 kg/hr.
Fig. 11.13 Stirling boiler
11.13 HIGH PRESSURE BOILER

High pressure boilers generally operate in supercritical range. Need of such boilers is felt because high
pressure and temperature of steam generated in boiler improves plant efficiency. These boilers have
Fig. 11.14 High pressure boiler with natural circulation

forced circulation of water/steam in the boiler. This forced circulation is maintained by employing
suitable pump. The steam drum is of very small size and in some cases it may be even absent too. This
is because of using forced circulation. In case of natural circulation drum size has to be large. Sche-
matic of high pressure boiler is shown in figure 11.14. In fact the high pressure boilers have been
possible because of availability of high temperature resistant materials. Here direct heating of water
tubes is done by the excessively hot gases present in fire box. The fire box has large volume as other-
wise exposed water tubes shall melt. Heat is picked by number of parallel tubes containing water. These
parallel tubes appear as if it is a wall due to close spacing of tubes. Water circulation circuit is shown in
line diagram.
High pressure boilers may have natural circulation in case the steam pressure desired lies between
100 and 170 bar and size is not constraint. High pressure boilers have capability of generating larger
quantity of steam per unit of furnace volume.
High pressure boilers are disadvantageous from safety point of view and therefore, stringent
reliability requirements of mountings is there.
11.14 BENSON BOILER

It is a water tube boiler capable of generating steam at supercritical pressure. Figure 11.15. shows the
schematic of Benson boiler. Mark benson, 1992 conceived the idea of generating steam at supercritical
pressure in which water flashes into vapour without any latent heat requirement. Above critical point the
water transforms into steam in the absence of boiling and without any change in volume i.e. same
density. Contrary to the bubble formation on tube surface impairing heat transfer in the normal pressure
boilers, the supercritical steam generation does not have bubble formation and pulsations etc. due to it.
Steam generation also occurs very quickly in these boilers. As the pressure and temperatures have to be
more than critical point, so material of construction should be strong enough to withstand thermal
stresses. Feed pump has to be of large capacity as pressure inside is quite high, which also lowers the
plant efficiency due to large negative work requirement. Benson boilers generally have steam generation
pressure more than critical pressure and steaming rate of about 130–135 tons/hr. Thermal efficiency of
these boilers is of the order of 90%.
Fig. 11.15 Benson boiler

11.15 LOEFFLER BOILER
This a forced circulation type boiler having both direct and indirect type of heat exchange between
superheated steam/water and hot gases/steam respectively. Schematic arrangement of a Loeffler boiler
is shown in Fig. 11.16. Here the hot combustion gases emerging out of furnace are firstly used for
superheating of steam and secondly for reheating/economiser sections. Steam generation is realized
through the superheated steam being injected into evaporator drum. Saturated steam thus generated in
evaporator drum as a result of mixing of superheated steam and water is picked up by steam circulation
pump. This pump forces saturated steam at high pressure through superheater tubes where the hottest
flue gases from furnace superheat steam coming from evaporator. Flue gases subsequently pass through
reheater/economiser sections as shown. Superheated steam coming out of superheater section is partly
taken out through steam main and remaining is injected into evaporator drum. Generally superheated
steam is divided in proportion of 1 : 2 for steam main and evaporator drum respectively.
Feed water to the boiler is pumped by feed pump through the economiser section to evaporator
drum. Generally steam generated is at pressure of about 120 bar and temperature of 500°C.
Fig. 11.16 Schematic arrangement in Loeffler Boiler
Loeffler boiler is advantageous in many respects such as there is no possibility of soot deposition
in evaporator section. Also by the use of higher pressure steam the heat transfer rate gets improved.
This boiler is much compact as compared to other natural circulation boilers.
11.16 VELOX BOILER

Velox boiler is a fire tube boiler having forced circulation. Boiler has gas turbine, compressor, generator,
feed pump, circulation pump etc. as its integral components. Thus Velox boiler unit is a compact steam
generating plant. Figure 11.17 shows the line diagram of Velox boiler unit.
Boiler unit has a compressor supplying high pressure air at about 3 bar into the oil burner so as to
produce combustion products at high pressure and thus have hot flue gases flowing through fire tubes
at very high velocity of the order of supersonic velocity. Flue gases flowing at supersonic velocity
Fig. 11.17 Velox boiler unit
facilitate very high rate of heat interaction between two fluids, generally of the order of
2 ´ 107 kcal/m3 of combustion volume. Combustion space is lined with concentric vertical tubes having
hot flue gases passing through the inner tube and water surrounding it in outer tube. Hot flue gases pass
through superheater section and subsequently enter into gas turbine for its expansion. Gas turbine drives
the compressor used for producing compressed air. Expanded gases coming out of gas turbine at about
100–125 m/sec enter into economiser where feed water picks up heat from gas turbine exhaust. Hot
feed water coming out of economiser is sent into steam/water drum from where water is circulated
through vertical concentric tubes using a circulating pump. During the water flow in combustion vol-
ume space it partially gets transformed into steam and the mixture is injected tangentially into drum.
Tangential discharge of mixture forms a circulatory flow (vortex) causing steam release due to centrifu-
gal action, thus separation of water/steam. Steam is subsequently passed through superheater section
while water is again circulated using circulation pump. Steam passes through steam headers after
superheating. Surplus energy, if any in gas turbine is used by alternator attached to it which supplements
the electricity requirement in various auxiliary devices.
Velox boilers are very flexible and capable of quick starting. Overall efficiency of the boiler unit is
about 55–60%. Boiler is capable of handling maximum of 100 tons/hr water which is limited by the
limitation of maximum power requirement in compressor.
11.17 LA MONT BOILER

This is a water tube boiler having forced circulation. Schematic showing the arrangement inside boiler
is given in Fig. 11.18. Boiler has vertical shell having three distinct zones having water tubes in them,
namely evaporator section, superheater section and economiser section.
Fig. 11.18 La Mont boiler
Feed water is fed from feed pump to pass through economiser tubes. Hot water from econo-
miser goes into drum from where hot feed water is picked up by a circulating pump. Centrifugal
pump may be steam driven or of electric driven type. Pump increases pressure and water circulates
through evaporation section so as to get converted into steam and enters back to drum. Steam
available in drum enters into superheater tubes and after getting superheated steam leaves through
steam main.
11.18 FLUIDIZED BED BOILER

Fluidized bed combustion is the recent development and large number of boilers are coming up with
this arrangement. Schematic of fluidized bed combustion is shown in Fig. 11.19 for explaining the
principle of fluidized combustion. Here a bed of inert, refractory sand type material is forced to get
fluidized by the air passing through it. Air used for fluidization is heated before being sent into the bed.
Auxiliary fuel which is generally gas gets burnt above or within the bed so as to cause bed tempera-
ture to go up to about 650°C. When suitable temperature level is attained then coal is fed on it or into
it for being burnt. The burning of auxiliary fuel is stopped at the moment when burning of coal
becomes self sustainable.
Fig. 11.19 Horizontal fire tube boiler with fluidized bed
The supply of coal and air are governed by the demand on the boiler. Maximum bed temperature
generally reaches up to 950°C as this temperature control avoids clinker formation and emission of
undesirable salts. For maintaining temperature of bed the arrangement is made for cooling of bed by
water tubes and also by supplying excess air for cooling. Sometimes the low temperature flue gases
leaving boiler are recirculated for bed cooling. Fluidized bed combustion offers advantage of using any
kind of fuel i.e. solid, liquid or gaseous fuel. Also in this type of combustion the use of dolomite or lime
stone as bed material helps in retaining sulphur in fuel. The clinker formation and emission of undesired
substances is also avoided as the combustion can be controlled up to 950°C. Due to large quantity of
both combustible and incombustible material present on the bed there occurs the problems of erosion in
bed tubes and surroundings and also large burden on bed etc.
Fluidized bed combustion is used in both fire tube and water tube boilers but the water tube boiler
offers advantage of greater flexibility in design of furnace shape and allowing for greater freeboard in
which entrained particles can drop back into bed. Air velocity is generally limited to 2.5 m/s as beyond
this the possibility of incomplete combustion increases. Fluidized bed boilers may have different types
of fluidized beds such as,
(i) Shallow beds, which have bed depth up to about 30 cm. Due to such small depth the tubes
for cooling can’t be used in bed and excess air or recirculated flue gases are used for
cooling.
Fig. 11.21 Line diagram for single pressure HRSG
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Fig. 11.22 Multi pressure HRSG
Heat recovery steam generators may generate steam at single pressure or at multiple pressures.
The schematic for single pressure and multi pressure steam generation are shown in Figs. 11.21, 11.22.
Circulation system in such boilers may be natural circulation or forced circulation. Natural circulation
HRSG typically consist of vertical tubes and horizontal flow arrangement. Circulation is maintained by
the density difference between cold water in downcomer and hot steam-water mixture in evaporator
tubes. Forced circulation HRSG are characterized by horizontal tubes with vertical gas flow and use of
pumps to circulate steam-water mixture inside the tubes. Due to vertical arrangement of forced circu-
lation HRSG’s, the plan area required is less. Therefore, where available floor space is limited, vertical
waste heat boilers are suitable. Different aspects like performance, start up time and field erection
requirements are generally same for both forced and natural circulation boilers but the operation and
maintenance costs are higher for forced circulation HRSG due to presence of circulation pump. Gener-
ally horizontal natural circulation HRSG’s are preferred choice, not withstanding their disadvantage in
respect of space requirements. However, in applications where space constraints exist, vertical HRSG’s
with natural circulation have been recently developed.
HRSG’s generating steam at multipressure are attractive as they extract heat effectively and
efficiently. Each pressure level of steam generation requires an economiser, an evaporator and a super-
heater as shown. The positioning of these various heat exchangers in the gas stream is critical as general
design philosophy is to exchange heat from gas to fluid at the highest temperature difference available.
This is best accomplished by making gas and steam/water temperature gradient nearly parallel to each
other. In single pressure HRSG the superheater, evaporator and economiser are placed in descending
order along the gas path while in multi pressure HRSG this general order is maintained but various sections
may be interchanged so that a nearly parallel temperature gradient may be achieved. Figure. 11.23 details
temperature variation along the length of HRSG.
Fig. 11.23 Temperature variation in HRSG
HRSG has three basic parameters of pinch point, approach temperature and allowable gas side
pressure drop through heat recovery system which effect the effectiveness of heat exchange. Pinch
point is the difference between the gas temperature leaving the evaporator section of system and the
saturation temperature corresponding to the steam pressure in that section. Approach temperature is the
difference between the saturation temperature of fluid and inlet temperature of fluid. In general it is seen
that lowering the pinch point shows an increase in total heat recovered in system. However, lowering
pinch point shall require more heat exchange surface and result in increase in cost and gas side draught
losses. Unit investment cost is higher at low pinch point. Thus optimum design is obtained based upon
it. Generally pinch point of 8–10°C is used in view of above aspects.
Lowering the approach temperature can result in more steam production at that pressure level but
high approach temperature offers high level of stability. Higher approach temperatures in economiser
section will eliminate the probability of steam formation in economiser at lower loads or during start up.
The allowable gas side pressure drop through HRSG influences the design and cost of unit. Very
low pressure drop results in large heat exchange surface and low gas velocities. Very small gas velocity
produces higher uncertainty of design with consequence of unstable performances. Generally allowable
pressure drop is 250 mm to 300 mm of H2O.
Stack gas temperature (temperature of exhaust gases leaving HRSG) selection depends upon the
need to effectively recover the heat and also prevent corrosion etc. in stack.
The HRSG may also be of supplementary fired type when heat input by exhaust gases is insuffi-
cient for steam generation of desired quantity and quality. In supplementary fired HRSG burners are also
put in HRSG for increasing its steam generation capacity.
11.20 BOILER MOUNTINGS AND ACCESSORIES

Boiler mountings and accessories have been defined earlier and shown on the different boilers. Different
mountings are
(i) Water level indicator
(ii) Safety valves
(iii) High steam and low water safety valves
(iv) Fusible plug
(v) Pressure gauge
(vi) Stop valve
(vii) Feed check valve
(viii) Blow off cock
(ix) Manhole and mud box
Various boiler accessories are:
(i) Superheater
(ii) Economiser
(iii) Air preheater
(iv) Feed pump
Water level indicator: It is used for knowing
the level of water in boiler as water level inside boiler
should not go below a certain limit. General arrange-
ment is shown in Fig. 11.24 with the different parts in
it.
It has two tubes one is front glass tube while
other is metal tube. Water level is seen through glass
tube which is made strong enough to withstand high
steam pressure and temperature. Two control cocks
Fig. 11.24 Water level indicator
are provided for regulating steam and water passage from boiler to glass tube. For blow off purpose a
blowing cock is also provided as shown. In case of breakage of glass tube the possibility of accident is
prevented by providing two balls. As glass tube breaks the rush of water and steam carries the two balls
with it and closes the openings for glass tube, thus water and steam flowing out can be prevented.
Number of other types of water level indicators are also available.
Safety valve: Its function is to prevent the steam pressure from exceeding a limiting maximum
pressure value. Safety valve should operate automatically by releasing excess steam and bring pressure
down within safe limits. These are of different types such as ‘dead weight safety valve’, ‘lever safety
valve’ ‘spring loaded safety valve’ etc. Figure 11.25 gives the general description of ‘dead weight safety
valve’.
Fig. 11.25 Dead weight safety valve
It has a large vertical pipe on the top of which a valve seat is fixed. Valve rests upon this valve
seat. A weight carrier is hung on the top of valve upon which cast iron rings enclosed in cast iron cover
are placed in weight carrier as dead weight.
When the pressure of steam exceeds the total weight of valve, it is lifted and falls back as steam
pressure gets reduced.
High steam and low water safety valve: This is a combined form of safety valve and low water
level indicator. Figure. 11.26 shows the high steam and low water safety valve. It prevents from exces-
sive pressure as it has a simple lever safety valve loaded by two weights as shown. Low water safety
arrangement is activated through float put in boiler shell and prevents from overheating due to low
water. It has two distinct valves as shown in Fig. 11.26. When the pressure inside goes beyond limiting
value then high steam valve gets lifted up and excess pressure of steam is released. When the water level
goes below critical level then low water valve gets raised up as it is fulcrumed and is linked to float on
one end and balance weight on other end. With raising of low water valve the hemispherical valve shifts
up from valve seat and steam escapes out with hissing sound. This hissing sound is loud enough to warn
attendant about the low water level in boiler. When the water level is correct then high steam valve
simply acts as the dead weight safety valve. A drain pipe is also provided so that the steam getting
condensed can be drained out. Condensation of steam is possible due to throttle of steam during its
release from valves.
Fig. 11.26 High steam and low water safety valve
Fusible plug: It is a safety device used for preventing the level of water from going down below
a critical point and thus avoid overheating. Fusible plug is mounted at crown plate of combustion
chamber.
Fig. 11.27 Fusible plug
Fusible plug has gun metal body and a copper plug put with fusible metal at interface of copper
plug and gun metal body. As water level goes down the heat available from furnace could not be
completely utilized for steam formation and so the overheating may cause melting of fusible metal.
Fusible metal is a low melting point metal. Thus upon melting of lining the copper plug falls down and
water falls from this opening onto furnace and thus quenches fire.
Pressure gauge: It is mounted at front top. Generally Bourdon type pressure gauge are being
used for pressure measurement. Pressure is continuously monitored so as to avoid occurrence of over
shooting of boiler pressure. Although safety devices to protect boiler against pressure rising beyond a
limit are provided but pressure gauges are also used for monitoring pressure.
Stop valve: It regulates the flow of steam from the boiler as shown in Fig 11.28. This is generally
mounted on highest part of boiler shell and performs function of regulating the flow of steam from
boiler. Stop valve generally has main body of cast steel, valve, valve seat and nut etc. are of brass. Stop
valve can be easily operated by rotating the hand wheel which causes lifting or lowering of spindle, thus
causing opening or closing of valve.
Fig. 11.28 Stop valve
Feed check valve: It is a non return valve at the end of delivery pipe from feed water pump and is placed
on boiler shell slightly below normal water level. Figure 11.29 shows the arrangement in a feed check
valve. It has a check valve whose opening and closing are regulated by the position of spindle. By
Fig. 11.29 Feed check valve
hand wheel rotation the position of spindle can be altered suitably. Feed check valve permits unidirec-
tional flow of water from feed pump to be boiler shell. Under normal running the pressure of feed water
coming from pump is more than pressure inside the boiler and so the feed water continues to enter the
shell. While during the non working of feed pump the pressure in boiler shell is more and so the check
valve gets closed.
Blow off cock: It is used for periodical cleaning by discharging the water and sediments from
bottom of boiler. Figure 11.29 shows the blow off cock. Blow off cock is fitted to the bottom of boiler
shell. Blow off cock has a plug of conical type put into the mating casing. Plug position is altered for
opening and closing the flow. Plug has rectangular opening which when comes in line with inlet and
outlet passage then blow off cock is open and when opening is not in line then cock is closed. Plug is
rotated by spindle.
Fig. 11.30 Blow off cock
Blow off cock also helps in regulating the salt concentration as frequent draining helps in throw-
ing out the salt deposited over period of time. Opening blow off cock removes deposited sediments in
boiler.
Manhole and mud box: Manhole provides opening for cleaning, inspection and maintenance
purpose. Mud box is a collection chamber (as shown in Babcock and Wilcox boiler) for collecting the
mud.
Superheater: Its purpose is to super heat steam and is a type of heat exchanger in which steam
flows inside tubes and hot gases surround it. Figure 11.31 shows the smooth tube hairpin type super-
heater (Sudgen’s superheater) and convective and radiant superheater.
Fig. 11.31 Superheater
In hair pin superheater the steam generated is passed through isolating valve to U-shaped steel
tubes. Superheated steam leaves superheater through tube connected to steam stop valve. Hot gases
from fire tube are diverted over superheater tubes by damper as shown. These hot gases upon passing
over steel tubes leave boiler through bottom flue. The convective and radiant superheater as shown has
two set of tubes picking up heat through convection and radiation.
Economizer: It is also a heat recovery device in which feed water is heated from heat available
with exhaust gases. Thus hot feed water available from economizer lowers the fuel requirement in
Fig. 11.32 Economizer

combustion. It is also a type of heat exchanger having exhaust gas and feed water as two fluids. General
arrangement in economizer is shown in Fig. 11.32. Economizer also helps in removal of dissolved gases
by preheating of water and thus minimizes tendency of corrosion and pitting. Hotter feed water also
reduces thermal strain in boiler parts.
Economizer is located in the boiler structure so as to expose the economizer surface to hot gases.
Its location varies with the boiler designs. Typical economizer called Green’s economizer as shown in
Fig. 11.32 has vertical pipes of cast iron fitted with two headers at bottom and top respectively. Feed
water passes through bottom header, economizer tubes and top header to boiler. Thus economizer is
simply a heat exchanger where heat is transferred from hot flue gases to water inside the tubes through
metal interface. Top header is also provided with a safety valve so as to avoid explosion due to excessive
pressure of water developing inside economizer tubes. Bottom header is also provided with a blow off
valve so as to throw out the sediments deposited in feed water. Economizer is also provided with
scrapers fitted to clean pipes from the deposition of soot carried by the flue gases. Continuous scrap-
ping is always desired so as to maximize heat transfer rate. Economizer also has a by pass provided so
that flue gases can be diverted when economizer is out of full or part operation due to failure or cleaning
purpose or feed water temperature control.
Air preheater: It is used for recovering the heat going along with exhaust gases by the air before
being sent to furnace. Heat is recovered by passing exhaust gases through an air to air heat exchanger as
shown in Fig. 11.33. Air preheaters are generally placed after economizer and before chimney. Air when
preheated before supply to furnace/combustion chamber helps in achieving ‘faster rate of combustion’,
‘possibility of burning inferior quality coal/fuel’ and ‘increased rate of evaporation from boiler’ etc.
Air preheaters are of tubular type, plate type and regenerative type. This classification of air
preheaters bases upon the kind of arrangement used for heat exchange between two fluids. Generally,
tubular type air preheater are generally used in small boilers. Tubular air preheater has hot flue gases
passing inside tubes and air blown over these tubes.
Fig. 11.33 Tubular air preheater

In case of plate type air preheater there are number of plates having air and flue gases flowing
through alternative spacings. In regenerative type air preheater there is a wire mesh rotor which is
alternatively heated and cooled by the hot flue gases and air to be used for combustion.
Feed pump: Feed pump is used for sending water into boiler at the pressure at which steam
generation takes place. It is generally of three types i.e. centrifugal pump, reciprocating pump and
injectors.
A reciprocating type feed pump is shown in Fig. 11.34. In boilers the pumps raise feed water
pressure to the value more than the highest operating pressure of boiler. Pumps also have capability to
deliver feed water in excess to the maximum evaporation rate of boiler. This excess capacity of feed
pump is generally 15–20% of maximum continuous rating and is required to meet one or more of
following situations.
(i) Sometimes excessive steam demand may occur.
(ii) Since boilers are to be blown out frequently to remove depositions and salts, therefore
excess capacity is required.
(iii) Malfunctioning of boiler may cause carrying away of water with steam, thereby causing
water shortage in boiler.
(iv) Over a period of time pump capacity decreases and so excess pump capacity is desired.
Fig. 11.34 Reciprocating type pump, Duplex feed pump

Now a days multistage centrifugal type pumps are used, which have favourable pressure/volume
characteristics.
Steam trap: Steam traps perform function of catching steam getting condensed in the form of
condensate (water) due to partial condensation of steam in pipes, steam jackets etc. Figure 11.35 shows
a bucket type steam trap. Water available due to partial condensation enters steam trap at inlet A. Steam
Fig. 11.35 Bucket type steam trap
trap casing already has water in it and bucket keeps on floating. As the water level in steam trap
casing rises to the extent that water overflows from the bucket, due to excess weight of water in bucket
the bucket sinks down and discharge valve opens causing water to leave through outlet passage B. After
sufficient water is drained out the weight of water in bucket reduces and the bucket starts floating again.
This rise of bucket closes the discharge valve again.
11.21 BOILER DRAUGHT
Draught refers to the pressure difference created for the flow of gases inside the boiler. Boiler unit has
a requirement of the expulsion of combustion products and supply of fresh air inside furnace for
continuous combustion. The obnoxious gases formed during combustion should be discharged at such
an height as will render the gases unobjectionable. A chimney or stack is generally used for carrying
these combustion products from inside of boiler to outside, i.e. draught is created by use of chimney.
Draught may be created naturally or artificially by using some external device. Draught can be classified
as below:
· In this the pressure difference is created naturally without using any positive displacement
device.
· Artificial draught is created using some external assistance causing forced displacement of
gases. It can be created either by using mechanical devices or steam. Artificial draught can
be of induced type, forced type or combination of two types.
Thus the draught in boiler may be said to be required for, ‘providing and maintaining the supply
of sufficient air for combustion’, ‘expulsion of combustion products from furnace region’ and ‘dis-
charge of burnt gases to atmosphere’. The amount of draught required shall depend upon, ‘type of
boiler’, ‘rate of fuel burning’, ‘rate at which combustion products are produced’ and ‘the air require-
ment rate’. As the pressure difference is very small so draught is measured in ‘mm’ of water. Math-
ematically, pressure due to 1 mm of water column is equivalent to 1 kgf/m2.
11.22 NATURAL DRAUGHT

It is produced employing chimney. The natural draught is produced by a chimney due to the fact that the
hot gases inside the chimney are lighter than the outside cold air i.e. density difference of hot gases
inside chimney and cold atmospheric air. Thus in a boiler unit the combustion products (hot) rise from
fuel bed through chimney, and are replaced by fresh air (cold) entering the grate. It means that amount
of draught produced by a chimney depends upon flue-gas temperature. Intensity of draught produced
by chimney also depends upon height of chimney. Draught produced by a taller chimney is large as the
difference in weight between the column of air inside and that of air outside increases with height.
Generally draught is less than 12 kgf/m2 in chimneys.
In stricter terms the word ‘chimney’ is used for brick or concrete structure and ‘stack’ is used
for metallic one. Chimneys are generally made of steel, brick or reinforced concrete. Steel chimneys or
stacks are most desirable for smaller boiler units due to small initial cost, ease of construction and
erection. On account of small space requirement as compared to other stacks, self sustaining steel
stacks are used in some large power plants. Steel stacks have problem of rust and corrosion, so painting
requirements are quite stringent. Brick chimneys are required where permanent chimney with longer life
is required. Such chimneys have inherent disadvantages of leakages etc. across the construction, there-
fore careful construction is required. Leakage of air across chimney wall effects intensity of draught.
Brick chimneys are constructed of round, octagonal, or square section. Generally brick chimney has
two walls with air space between them and inner wall having fire brick lining. Concrete chimneys are
used due to the absence of joints, light weight and space economy as compared with brick chimneys.
Also the reinforced concrete chimney is less expensive compared to brick chimney along with minimum
chances of leakage across walls.
Calculations: As it is obvious from earlier discussion that the vertical duct called chimney creates
natural draught so estimation of height of chimney is very important. Figure 11.36 shows the schematic
of chimney in a boiler unit. During no working of boiler the pressure inside boiler is atmospheric
pressure. Pressure at outlet of chimney will be less than atmospheric pressure due to altitude difference.
Fig. 11.36 Schematic of chimney
During boiler operation the chimney shall be filled with hot gases and the pressure at bottom of
chimney (pb) shall be summation of ‘pressure at chimney outlet’, (p0) and ‘pressure due to hot gas
column of height H’.
Pressure at bottom of chimney = Pressure at outlet + Pressure due to hot gas column
pb = p0 + rg × g × H
where rg is density of hot gases.
However, the pressure at grate level remains unchanged. Pressure difference between the grate
level pressure and bottom of chimney causes flow of gases. This pressure difference is also called static
draught.
Let us consider the combustion of fuel in furnace. Combustion products are released as a result
of this combustion process. Fuel may be considered to be comprising of hydrocarbons.
Fuel + Air ® Combustion products + Heating value
In the hydrocarbon fuel major constituents are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen etc. As a result of
complete combustion carbon gets transformed into carbon dioxide and hydrogen yields steam. The
combustion products have major fraction of carbon dioxide and steam, but the volume of steam is
negligible compared to volume of combustion product. The volume of combustion products can be
taken equal to volume of air supplied, measured at same temperature and pressure.
Let us assume various properties as,
Ta = Atmospheric temperature, K
Tg = Average temperature of hot gases inside chimney, K
T0 = Absolute zero temperature, 273.15 K
ra = Density of air at absolute temperature, 1.293 kg/m3
rg = Density of hot gases inside chimney, kg/m3
Dp = Pressure difference, draught in Pa
Dp¢ = Pressure difference, draught in kgf/m2
hg = Equivalent height of hot gas column to produce draught, Dp in ‘metres’.
hw = Equivalent height of water column in ‘mm’ to produce draught, Dp
m = Mass of air supplied per kg of fuel
C = Hot gas velocity in chimney, m/s
Mg = Discharge rate through chimney, kg/s
Total mass of combustion products (hot gases) for one kg of fuel = (m + 1), kg
Using the assumption regarding combustion products,
Volume of hot gases at temperature, Tg = Volume of air supplied at temperature, Tg
Massof air
=
Density of air at Tg
m
=
F r ×T I
GH T JK
a
g
0
m × Tg
=
r a × T0
Pressure of hot gases in chimney at grate level = Density of hot gases ´ height of chimney ´
gravitational acceleration
FG Mass of hot gases IJ ´ H ´ g
=
H Volume of hot gases at T K g
R| U|
= S
| (m + 1) |V ´ H ´ g
|| FG m × T IJ ||
T H r ×T K W
g
a 0
= SF
R m + 1 I r × T UV H × g
TH m K T W
a 0
Pressure due to cool air (outside) column of height H at grate level

= Density of air at Ta ´ Height ´ g
F r ×T I ´ H ´ g
H T K
a 0
=
a
r a × T0 × H × g
=
Ta
Natural Draught produced = Difference of pressures due to cool air column and hot gas column
of height ‘H’.
Dp =
RS r UV RS
× T0 × H × g
-
UV
( m + 1) × r a × T0 × H × g
T W T
a
Ta m × Tg W
R 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , Pa
×H×gS
TT H m K T W
Dp = ra × T0
a g
Or
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , kgf/m
TT H m K T W
Draught in kgf/m2, Dp¢ = ra×T0×H 2
a g
Substituting values for T0, ra and rounding off values we get,
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , kgf/m
TT H m K T W
Dp¢ = 353 × H 2
a g
Height of hot gas column equivalent to draught produced,

∆p′, kgf m2
hg =
Density of hot gases, kg m3 at Tg
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV
TT H m K T W
r a × T0 × H ×
RS r × T × F m + 1 I UV
a g
=
T T H m KW
a 0
g
R m I × T - 1UV, metres
= H × SF
TH m + 1 K T W
g
hg
a
As the 1 mm of water column exerts a pressure of 1 kgf/m2 so the draught in terms of water
column can be given by,
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , mm of water.
TT H m K T W
hw = ra × T0 × H
a g
Thus natural draught can be mathematically given by Dp, Dp¢, hg and hw.
Actually in boilers this draught requirement is different from that theoretically estimated due to
the draught losses. The magnitude of these losses varies from boiler to boiler due to different arrange-
ments within them. Some of generic losses shall be because of:
· frictional losses due to resistance offered by passage surface roughness, different
equipments as grate, superheater, air preheater, economiser etc. through which gas passes.
· pressure losses in bends, baffles, supports etc.
· kinetic energy required with gases for moving at certain velocity throughout.
Therefore while designing the chimney due considerations should be made for overcoming above
losses. These losses constitute about 20% of the static draught produced.
Hot gas velocity in chimney: Assuming chimney to be frictionless the hot gas velocity in chimney
could be given using the equivalent hot gas column height;
C= 2g × hg , m/s
For the chimney having friction losses, the hot gas velocity shall be lesser. If the equivalent
pressure loss due to friction in hot gas column is given by hf then the velocity of hot gases,
C= c
2g × hg - h f , m/s h
FG hf IJ
=
H
2 g × hg 1 -
hg K
Substituting values for ‘g’
F I
GH JK
hf
C = 4.43 hg 1 -
hg
or C = K × hg
where K is a constant and its value is available for different types of chimneys as given below. It
depends upon the friction loss fraction.
K = 0.825 for brick chimney, and
K = 1.1 for steel chimney
Diameter of chimney: Diameter of chimney could be estimated from the mass flow rate of hot
gases through chimney and its velocity.
Discharge rate
Chimney cross-sectional area, A =
Velocity of hot gases ´ Density of hot gas
4 Mg
Diameter of chimney = ×
π C ⋅ ρg
Discharge through chimney: Mass flow rate of hot gases through chimney could be obtained as,
Mg = Cross-sectional area ´ Velocity of hot gas ´ Density
Mg = A ´ C ´ rg
Mg = A ´ rg ´ K × hg
For hot gas pressure pg , the density of gas rg can be given using perfect gas approximation,
pg
rg = . Here R is gas constant
R Tg
A × pg × K × hg
so Mg =
R Tg
Discharge through chimney can be mathematically maximized for certain conditions. A look at
expression of discharge given earlier shows that for a particular chimney.
RSc h h ´ F 1 I UV
Mg µ
T g GH T JK Wg
= Constant × M
L H × RSFG m IJ × T - 1UVOP 12
N T TH m + 1 K T WQ
g
or Mg 2
g a
Differentiating discharge with respect to hot gas temperature and equating it to zero for optimum
condition,
d Mg
=0
d Tg
Tg 2( m + 1)
we get, =
Ta m
2( m + 1)
or Tg = × Ta
m
d 2 Mg
Upon substituting Tg value in = 0 we see that it is condition for maxima of Mg.
d Tg2
Thus discharge through chimney is maximum for the hot gas temperature given by
Tg = 2 FH m + 1 IK × T a
m
This hot gas temperature shall be slightly more than twice of ambient temperature for maximum
discharge rate through chimney.
For the condition of maximum discharge, draught can be obtained as,
Dpfor max. discharge = ra × T0 × H × g

RS 1 UV
T 2T W
a
r a × T0 × H × g
Dpfor max. discharge =
2 Ta
In terms of water column,
r a × T0 × H
hw, for max. discharge = mm of water column.
2 Ta
Maximum discharge could be obtained upon substituting optimum temperature, Tg
K × A × pg × m × H
Mg, max =
2 R × Ta ( m + 1)
For a smooth and frictionless chimney,
2 g × A × pg × m × H
Mg, max = , kg/s
2 R × Ta ( m + 1)
Above expression for maximum discharge rate can also be used for getting the height of chimney
for a given gas flow rate.
Efficiency of chimney: It has been explained in natural draught that the pressure difference is
created due to density difference caused by temperature difference. Hence it is obvious that the flue
gases should leave at quite high temperature for creating required density difference. Thus the flue gases
leave with sufficient heat energy, which could be used in boiler if some other mechanism is employed
for exhaust of flue gases such as artificial draught. Therefore, efficient chimney should have such a
design so that flue gases leave at lowest possible temperature. Efficiency of chimney is quantification of
the cost of natural draught in terms of energy, i.e. the large amount of usable energy going along waste
hot gases. Normally this efficiency of chimney is less than 1 percent.
Chimney efficiency is defined as the ratio of “energy with unit mass of gas in natural draught”
and “the extra heat carried by same mass of gas due to high temperature in natural draught as compared
to that in artificial draught”.
Energy with unit mass of gas in natural draught
Chimney efficiency =
Extra heat carried away in natural draught compared
to artifical draught by unit mass of gas
Let us assume that the temperature of flue gases in artificial draught is Tg,a which will be less than
Tg in natural draught. Let the specific heat of hot flue gases be Cp,g, J/kg × K.
So, energy with unit mass of hot flue gas in nature draught = 1 ´ hg ´ g, joule
RSFG m IJ × T - 1UV
TH m + 1 K T W
g
= 9.81 ´ H
a
Extra heat carried by unit mass of hot gas in natural draught compared to artificial draught
= Cp, g ´ 1 ´ (Tg – Tg, a)
= Cp, g ´ 1 ´ (Tg – Tg, a), joule
RSF m I × T UV
TH m + 1 K T W
g
9.81 ´ H -1
C bT - T g
hchimney = a
p ,g g g,a
Expression for efficiency of chimney shows that it is directly proportional to the height of chim-
ney, but the efficiency is found to be very small even for very tall chimney. It is seen that about more
than 20% of total heat released gets lost along with hot flue gases in case of natural draught. Therefore
the artificial draught becomes more economical in the situation where cost of harnessing the extra heat
carried with flue gases is less than the cost of energy lost in natural draught.
11.23 ARTIFICIAL DRAUGHT
Artificial draught refers to the externally created draught employing some equipments for it. Its require-
ment is felt, when the natural draught becomes insufficient for exhaust of flue gases. In general it is seen
that for draught requirements being more than 40 mm of water, the natural draught does not work and
becomes highly uneconomical. In the modern large power plants this draught produced by chimney
is insufficient and requires some artificial method. Also the size of boiler units in use today forbid
the use zof natural draught as the flue gas handling capacity is limited. In case of natural draught
the fuel rate upto (20 kg/hr per m2 of grate area could be handled while with artificial draught it
goes up to 300 kg/hr per m2 of grate area. Apart from these limitations the economy of using artificial
draught over natural draught beyond a limit also make it attractive. For same steam generation the fuel
consumption gets reduced by up to 15% with use of artificial draught in a boiler.
Artificial draught may be produced either by mechanical means such as fans, blowers etc. or by
using steam jet for producing draught. Thus artificial draught can be classified as,
(i) Mechanical draught
(ii) Steam jet draught.
Artificial draught systems do not require tall chimney/stack, but small stack is always required
for discharge of flue gases to certain height in atmosphere for minimizing pollution.
11.23.1 Mechanical Draught

Mechanical draught produced using fans, blowers etc. could be of forced type, induced type or the
combination of the two. Line diagram showing the arrangements is shown in Fig. 11.37.
(i) Forced draught: It is the arrangement in which high pressure air is delivered to the furnace
so as to force flue gases out through stack. Air under pressure may be fed to stokers or
grate for which a fan/blower is put at the bottom of furnace. As due to pressurised air the
pressure inside furnace becomes more than atmospheric pressure so it should be properly
sealed, otherwise gas may leak through the cracks in setting into the boiler unit. Also the
flames from furnace may flare out upon opening the fire door, so it should be equipped with
dampers to shut off air supply when furnace doors are opened. It is obvious from here that
the fan in case of forced draught shall handle fresh atmospheric air.
(ii) Induced draught: Induced draught is the one in which the suction created on furnace side
draws flue gases and throws them out through small chimney/stack. Fan is located at base
of chimney in induced draught so as to reduce pressure at fuel bed below atmospheric
pressure. The fan in induced draught shall handle hot flue gases. Power required to drive
the fan/blower in case of induced draught is less than that in case of forced draught fan.
Mathematically it can be given as below.
For volume of fluid handled being V (m3/s) at pressure of p, the power required shall be,
p ×V
=
h mech
In case of induced draught fan, as hot flue gases are to be handled, so,
total mass handled by fan for mf kg of fuel burnt per unit time = mf + m × mf
= mf (1 + m), kg/s
r a × ( m + 1) × T0
From earlier article, density of hot flue gases =
m × Tg
Mass
Therefore, volume handled by fan =
Density
m f (1 + m) × m × Tg
=
r a × (1 + m) × T0
m × m f × Tg
Vinduced =
r a × T0
p × Vinduced
Power required =
h mech
p × m × m f × Tg
Induced draught fan power requirement =
r a × T0 × h mech
In case of forced draught the fan handles air at atmospheric temperature so,
total mass of air handled = mf × m, kg/s
mf × m
Volume of air at absolute zero temperature =
ra
m f × m × Ta
Volume of air at atmospheric temperature = m3/s
r a × T0
p × m f × m × Ta
Power required in forced draught fan =
r a × T0 × h mech
p × m f × m × Ta
Forced draught fan power requirement =
r a × T0 × h mech
Comparing the two power requirements,
Power required in induced draught Tg

= = More than 1
Power required in forced draught Ta
As Tg > Ta so the power requirement in induced draught is more than that of forced draught.
Fig. 11.37 Mechanical draught
(iii) Balanced draught: Sometimes it is seen that forced draught or induced draught alone is not
suitable for boiler unit due to their own inherent limitations. In these situations a combination
of forced draught and induced draught is being used. Such combined arrangement for
draught is called balanced draught. Here both forced draught fan/blower and induced draught
fan/blower are employed. Forced draught fan ensures complete supply of air for proper
combustion after overcoming all resistances while induced draught fan takes care of post
combustion resistances, thus ensuring complete removal of flue gases. Pressure variation in
balanced draught shows the pressure values through out boiler unit.
Fig. 11.38 Pressure variation in balanced draught
(iv) Comparison of forced and induced draught: A comparison of forced and induced draught
system shows that,
· Power requirement is more in case of induced draught fan blower as compared to forced
draught because of hot flue gases being handled by induced draught fan and atmospheric
air being handled by forced draught fan. Induced draught fan size may be upto twice of the
fan size in forced draught. Material of induced draught fan should be capable of handling
hot gases laden with solid particles (ash).
· As the induced draught fan/blower withstands high temperature, so the fan cooling
requirements are very stringent as compared to forced draught.
· Leakage of atmospheric air into furnace due to sub atmospheric pressure inside the induced
draught system causes dilution of flue gases.
In case of forced draught, the pressure inside is more than atmospheric pressure so
chances of leakage of furnace gases out to atmosphere are there. This may cause blow out
upon opening of furnace doors in case of forced draught.
· Combustion rate is better in case of forced draught system due to better air dispersion
across the grate, as compared to induced draught system.
· Maintenance is easy in forced draught fan as compared to induced draught due to their
locations.
(v) Advantages of mechanical draught: Mechanical draught has various advantages in
comparison with natural draught. Such as,
· Better fuel economy due to complete utilization of heat in boiler, i.e. flue gases could be
cooled to lowest possible temperature before exhaust.
· Better combustion rate as compared to natural draught system, because of better distribution
and mixing of air and fuel.
· Combustion and evaporation rates can be easily regulated in case of mechanical draught by
varying operating states of fan/blower.
· Inferior quality fuel may also be used in mechanical draught.
· Height of chimney/stack used in mechanical draught is much smaller as compared to natural
draught.
· Boiler plant efficiency gets improved with mechanical draught.
· Efficiency of mechanical draught is much more than that of natural draught.
· Fuel burning per unit grate area per unit time is up to 300 kg/m2·hr in mechanical draught
as compared to upto 100 kg/m2·hr in natural draught.
· Mass of flue gases handled is more in mechanical draught as compared to natural draught.
11.23.2 Steam Jet Draught

Artificial draught may also be produced by steam jets. Draught produced using steam jets may also be
of induced type or forced type. In case of forced steam jet draught, the steam jet is located so as to
force air and steam up through the bed, i.e. steam-jet is placed before the grate. In case of induced
draught the steam jet is placed near stack with direction to smoke box so as to induce air across the
grate and throw it out from stack. Steam jet draught is simple, cheap and requires minimum attention.
With forced draught, the use of steam jet also prevents the formation of clinkers, thus permitting for low
grade fuels in furnace. Schematic for steam jet draught is shown in Fig. 11.39. Steam jet draught is
disadvantageous because of the fact that steam is not available initially when boiler unit just starts. Steam
for draught is taken from boiler unit itself. Initially high pressure steam may be supplied externally.
Steam jet draught is used in locomotive boilers.
Various merits of steam jet draught are listed below,
Fig. 11.39 Schematic for steam jet draught.
· For operation of steam jet draught steam is required, which is available without much
investment.
· Low grade fuels can also be used in furnace with steam jet draught.
· Steam jet draught is simple, economical, requires least attention and minimum space.
· Use of steam and its mixing with ash/burnt residuals prevent formation of clinkers.
11.24 EQUIVALENT EVAPORATION

From earlier discussions it is seen that there exists a large variety of the boilers in terms of their
arrangement, efficiency, steam generation rate, steam condition, type of fuel used, firing method and
draught etc. For comparing one boiler with other any of the above parameters can not be considered as
they are interdependent. Therefore, for comparing the capacity of boilers working at different pressures,
temperatures, different final steam conditions etc. a parameter called “equivalent evaporation” can be
used. Equivalent evaporation actually indicates the amount of heat added in the boiler for steam
generation. Equivalent evaporation refers to the quantity of dry saturated steam generated per unit time
from feed water at 100°C to steam at 100°C at the saturation pressure corresponding to 100°C.
Sometimes it is also called equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C. Thus, mathematically it could
be given as,
Mass of steam generated per hour ×
(Heat supplied to generate steam in boiler )
Equivalent evaporation =
Heat supplied for steam generation at
100°C from water at 100°C (i.e. Latent heat )
Heat supplied for generating steam at 100°C from water at 100°C at respective saturation
pressure is 538.9 or 539 kcal/kg.
For a boiler generating steam at ‘m’ kg/hr at some pressure ‘p’ and temperature ‘T’, the heat
supplied for steam generation = m ´ (h – hw), where h is enthalpy of final steam generated and hw is
enthalpy of feed water. Enthalpy of final steam shall be;
h =hf + hfg = hg, for final steam being dry saturated steam hf, hfg and hg are used for their usual
meanings.
h = hf + x × hfg, for wet steam as final steam.
h = hg + cp, sup. steam × (Tsup – Tsat), for superheated final steam.
RS mah - h f UV
T 538.9 W
w
Equivalent evaporation, (kg/kg of fuel) =
Equivalent evaporation is thus a parameter which could be used for comparing the capacities of
different boilers.
11.25 BOILER EFFICIENCY

Boiler efficiency quantifies, how effectively the heat is being used in boiler. Thus it could be given by the
ratio of heat actually used for steam generation and total heat available due to combustion of fuel in
boiler.
Heat used in steam generation
Boiler efficiency =
Total heat available due to fuel burning
m ( h − hw )
=
m f × C.V.
here mf is the mass of fuel burnt per hour, C.V. is calorific value of fuel used (kcal/kg), m is mass
of steam generated per hour and enthalpies h and hw are that of final steam and feed water, kcal/kg.
Generally high heating value of fuel is used as calorific value of fuel.
11.26 HEAT BALANCE ON BOILER

Heat balance on boiler refers to the accounting for total heat released inside boiler and its distribution.
Total heat available inside boiler is due to burning of fuel and can be quantified by the product of mass
of fuel and heating value of fuel. Heat distribution can be given comprising of the following, based on
unit mass of fuel burnt.
(a) Heat used for generation of steam: Heat taken for generation of steam per kg of fuel burnt
shall be;
Qsteam = msteam × (h – hw)
Here msteam is mass of steam generated per kg of fuel burnt, h is enthalpy of final steam
produced and hw is enthalpy of feed water.
Qsteam = Equivalent evaporation ´ 539, kcal/kg of fuel burnt
(b) Heat lost due to incomplete combustion: Combustion is said to be complete when the carbon
and hydrogen present in fuel get burnt into carbon dioxide and water vapour respectively.
If the carbon burns into carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide then combustion is said
to be incomplete. This incomplete combustion can be easily made complete by supplying
excess air and devising for its fast mixing with fuel inside combustion chamber. Heat loss
due to incomplete combustion can be quantified by knowing the additional heat that would
be available with complete combustion.
Heat loss due to incomplete combustion = Heat released when carbon burns into CO2 – Heat
released when carbon burns into CO.
During complete combustion of carbon into CO2, 3.38 ´ 104 kJ of heat is released while
with incomplete combustion of carbon into CO, 1.012 ´ 104 kJ of heat is released by
burning one kg, of carbon. Hence heat loss due to incomplete combustion of one kg of
carbon shall be
= (3.38 ´ 104 – 1.012 ´ 104), kJ
= 2.368 ´ 104 kJ per kg of carbon
In order to get the estimate of total heat loss, it is first required to get the mass of carbon
burnt to CO instead of CO2. For which the mass fraction of CO present in flue gas mixture
comprising of CO and CO2 is required.
fCO
Fraction of CO in flue gases =
fCO + fCO 2
where fCO and fCO2 are percentage by volume of CO and CO2 present in flue gases.
FG fCO IJ ´ f
Mass of carbon burnt into CO instead of CO2 =
Hf CO + f CO 2 K c
where fC is fraction of carbon present in per kg of fuel.

Qincomplete = Heat loss due to incomplete combustion
FG fCO IJ
=
Hf CO + f CO 2 K ´ fc ´ 2.368 ´ 104, kJ/kg of fuel
(c) Heat loss to dry flue gases: A large portion of heat getting lost goes along with flue gases.
Flue gases leaving boiler comprises of dry flue gases and steam. Heat loss with dry flue
gases can be given by,
Qdry flue = mdfg ´ Cpg ´ (Tg – Ta)
where mdfg is mass of dry flue gas per kg of fuel, Cpg is specific heat of dry flue gas and
Tg and Ta are temperature of flue gas and air entering combustion chamber.
(d) Heat loss to steam in flue gases: Steam is produced due to burning of hydrogen present in
fuel into water vapour. Heat lost with steam in flue gases shall be
Qsteam in flue = ms ´ (hs1 – hf1)
where ms is mass of steam produced per kg of fuel, hs1 and hf1 are “enthalpy values of steam
at gas temperature Tg and partial pressure of vapour in flue gas” and “enthalpy of water at
mean boiler temperature” respectively.
(e) Heat lost in unburnt fuel: Some portion of heat may get lost in unburnt fuel, which could
be given by the product of mass of unburnt fuel per kg of fuel and its calorific value, as
Qunburnt = mubf ´ CV
where mubf is mass of unburnt fuel per kg of fuel and CV is calorific value of fuel.
(f) Heat loss due to moisture in fuel: Moisture present in fuel shall also cause the loss of heat. This
moisture shall get evaporated and superheated as fuel is burnt. For evaporation and superheating
of moisture latent and sensible heat requirement shall be met from heat available in boiler due
to burning of fuel. Mathematically, for unit mass of fuel burnt, it can be given as,
Qmoisture = mmoist ´ (hs2 – hf2)
where mmoist is mass of moisture per kg of fuel burnt, hs2 is enthalpy of final steam produced
and hf2 is enthalpy of water at boiler furnace temperature.
(g) Heat loss due to convection, radiation and other unaccountable losses: In a boiler heat also
gets lost due to convection, radiation from the boiler’s surface exposed to atmosphere. The
heat loss may also be there due to unconsumed hydrogen and hydrocarbon etc. Exact
quantification of these losses is not possible, therefore these can be estimated by the
difference of total heat available and cumulative heat loss described from (a) to (f).
Heat loss due to convection, radiation and other unaccounted losses = Heat released by per
kg fuel burnt – S Heat loss components described from (a) to (f).
Qunaccounted = (mf ´ CV) – (Qsteam + Qincomplete + Qdry flue + Qsteam in flue + Qunburnt + Qmoisture)
Heat balance sheet can be drawn after the above different components are quantified. It gives
a quick account of heat released and its distribution for unit mass of fuel burnt or unit time.
Heat balanced sheet shall be as given below.
Table 11.2 Heat balance sheet on per minute basis (unit time basis)
Total Heat Supplied Heat distribution percentage, %

(kcal) percentage (kcal)
Qstream ´ 100
Q = mf ´ CV 100% (a) Heat used for generation
Q
Qsteam = msteam × (h – hw)
Qincomplete ´ 100
(b) Heat lost due to incomplete
Q
combustion, Qincomplete
F I
GH f JK
fco
= ´ fc ´ 2.368
co + fco2
´ 104 ´ 4.18 Qdry flue ´ 100
(c) Heat lost due to dry flue gas,
Qdry flue Q
= mdfg × Cpg × (Tg – Ta) Qsteam in flue ´ 100
(d) heat loss of steam in flue gas,
Q
(contd.)
Total Heat Supplied Heat distribution
(kcal) percentage kcal percentage, %
Qsteam in flue = ms × (hs1 – hf1)
Qunbrunt ´ 100
(e) Heat lost in unburnt fuels
Qunburnt = mubf × CV Q
Qmoisture ´ 100
(f) Heat loss due to moisture in fuel
Qmoisture = mmoist × (hs2 – hf2) Q
(g) Heat loss due to convection,
Qunaccounted ´ 100
radiation and other unaccounted
losses,Qunaccounted = Q – Qsteam – Q
Qincomplete – Qdry flue– Qsteam in flue
– Qunburnt – Qmoisture
11.27 BOILER TRIAL

Boiler trial refers to running the boiler under test conditions for its performance estimation. It gives the
steam generation capacity of boiler, thermal efficiency of plant and heat balance sheet of the boiler.
Under trial the boiler is run for quite long durations so as to attain steady state. Generally the boilers are
run for 4 to 6 hours duration for the boilers of oil fired type and coal fired types. Duration of boiler run
for attaining steady state changes from boiler to boiler. Observations are taken after the boiler attains
steady state for a duration ranging from 10–15 minutes. Measurements are made for fuel supply, com-
bustion analysis, steam generation rate and its quality/state, flue gas and their analysis, temperature and
pressure at salient locations and all other measurements as required for heat balance sheet preparation.
EXAMPLES
1. A boiler has chimney of 30 m height to produce natural draught of 12 mm of water column.

Ambient air temperature is 27°C and boiler furnace requires 20 kg of air per kg of fuel for complete
combustion. Determine minimum temperature of burnt gases leaving chimney.
Solution:
Given: m = 20 kg air per kg of fuel, H = 30 m, Ta = 273 + 27 = 300 K
Draught in terms of water column,
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , mm of water
TT H m K T W
hw = ra × T0 × H ×
a g
Substituting ra, T0 and rounding off

RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV , mm of water
TT H m K T W
hw = 353 H
a g
12 = 353 ´ 30 S
R 1 - F 20 + 1 I × 1 UV
T 300 H 20 K T W g
Tg = 432.86 K
Temperature of burnt gases = 432.86 K Ans.

2. Determine the height of chimney required in a boiler having natural draught equivalent to 20 mm
of water. The flue gases are at temperature of 300°C, atmospheric air temperature is 27°C and 18 kg air
per kg of fuel is required in boiler.
Solution:
Given: m = 18 kg air per kg of fuel, hw = 20 mm, Ta = 300K, Tg = 573 K
Draught in terms of water column,
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV mm of water
TT H m K T W
hw = 353 H
a g
-F
18 + 1 I 1
20 = 353 H { }
300 H 18 K 573
1
×
H = 37.99 m
Height of chimney = 37.99 m Ans.
3. A boiler house has natural draught chimney of 20 m height. Flue gases are at temperature of
380°C and ambient temperature is 27°C. Determine the draught in mm of water column for maximum
discharge through chimney and also the air supplied per kg of fuel.
Solution:
Given: Height of chimney, H = 20 m, Tg = 653 K, Ta = 300 K
For maximum discharge condition,
Tg
=2 FH m + 1 IK
Ta m
FH
2 1+
1 IK = 653
m 300
m = 11.32 kg air per kg of fuel
Air supplied = 11.32 kg/kg of fuel Ans.

Draught in mm of water column
LM 1 - FH 11.32 + 1 IK × 1 OP
hw = 353 ´ 20
N 300 11.32 653 Q
hw = 11.77 mm of water
Draught = 11.77 mm of water Ans.
4. A boiler may have waste gases leaving the installation when artificial draught is used at 150°C.
The natural draught chimney is of 60 m height. The hot gases within chimney are at temperature of
300°C and air requirement is 19 kg per kg of fuel burnt. The atmospheric air is at 17°C temperature and
mean specific heat of hot gases is 1.0032 kJ/kg × K. The calorific value of fuel burnt is 32604 kJ/kg.
Determine
(i) the draught produced in mm of water
(ii) the efficiency of chimney
(iii) the extra heat carried away by flue gases per kg of fuel.
Solution:
Given: Tg = 300 + 273 = 573 K, Ta = 17 + 273 = 290 K, Tg, a = 150 + 273, H = 60 m, m = 19 kg
air per kg of fuel, Tg, a = 423 K
Draught in mm of water column
LM 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 OP
NT H m K T Q
hw = 353 × H ×
a g
= 353 ´ 60 ´ L
MN 290 - FH 19 IK × 573 OPQ
1 19 + 1 1
= 34.13 mm
Draught = 34.13 mm of water column Ans.
TH m + 1 K T W
g
9.81 ´ H ´
c × bT - T g
a
Chimney efficiency =
pg g g,a
9.81 ´ 60 ´ RSF
19 I 573 U
=
HT 19 + 1 K × 290 - 1VW
1.0032 ´ ( 573 - 423) ´ 10 3
= 3.431 ´ 10–3 or 0.3431%
Chimney efficiency = 0.3431% Ans.

Extra heat carried by flue gases per kg of fuel
= (19 + 1) Cp, g ´ (Tg – Tg, a)
= 20 ´ 1.0032 ´ (573 – 423)
= 3009.6 kJ per kg of fuel
Extra heat carried away by flue gases per kg
of fuel burnt = 3009.6 kJ Ans.
5. Determine the temperature of hot flue gases, natural draught produced and efficiency of
chimney for maximum discharge through chimney having height of 80 m. Boiler furnace is supplied
with 20 kg air per kg of fuel. The minimum temperature of hot gases with artificial draught is 110°C.
Temperature of surroundings is 27°C and specific heat of flue gases is 1.0032 kJ/kg K.
Solution:
Given: Ta = 27 + 273 = 300 K, Tg, a = 110 + 273 = 383 K, m = 20, H = 80m, cp, g = 1.0032 kJ/kg × K
For maximum discharge through chimney,

Tg
=2 FH m + 1 IK
Ta m
Tg = 300 ´ 2 ´ FH 20 + 1 IK = 630 K
20
Natural draught produced in mm of water column,
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV
TT H m K T W
hw = 353 × H ×
a g
-F
20 + 1 I 1
= 353 ´ 80 ´ { }
300 H 20 K 630
1
×
hw = 47.07 mm of water
RSF m I ´ T - 1UV
TH m + 1 K T W
g
9.81 ´ H ´
c ´ cT - T h
a
Efficiency of chimney =
p, g g g,a
9.81 ´ 80 ´ {FH
20 I 630
- 1}
21 K 300
´
=
1.0032 ´ ( 630 - 383) ´ 10 3
= 3.167 ´ 10–3 or 0.3167%
Hot gas temperature in chimney = 630 K

Natural draught = 47.07 mm of water
Chimney efficiency = 0.3167% Ans.
6. In a boiler installation coal is burnt at the rate of 2.5 ´ 103 kg/hr and hot gases are generated
at the rate of 20 kg per kg of coal burnt. Hot gases are at the temperature of 327°C and ambient air
temperature is 27°C. Different pressure losses in furnace grate, flues, bends and chimney are measured
to be 7 mm, 6 mm, 3 mm, and 2 mm of water respectively. Hot gases leaving chimney have velocity
equivalent to 1.2 mm of water column. Considering the actual natural draught to be 90% of theoretical
draught determine the height and diameter of chimney.
Solution:
Given: Tg = 327 + 273 = 600 K, Ta = 27 + 273 = 300 K, m + 1 = 20, m = 19 kg air/kg fuel
Pressure head required to overcome different losses and velocity head shall be sum of all losses,
given h = 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 = 18 mm of water.
Theoretically the draught of 18 mm of water is to be produced but as mentioned, the actual
draught will be more than theoretical draught produced.
18
Actual natural draught, hw = = 20 mm of water.
0.9
RS 1 - F m + 1 I × 1 UV
TT H m K T W
Let height of chimney be H, hw =353 × H
a g
-F
20 I
20 = 353 ´ H { }
H K
1 1
´
300 19 600
∴ H = 35.88 m
Density of hot gases, rg =

r a × T0 FH m + 1 IK
Tg m
= 353 FH m + 1 IK
Tg m
353 F 19 + 1 I
rg =
600
´
H K = 0.619 kg/m
19
3
Velocity of hot gases, C = 2 g × hg
TH m + 1 K T W
g
Height of hot gases column, hg = H
a
= 35.88 ´ {FH FH
19 I 600 I
- 1}
20 K 300 K
´
hg = 32.29 m
2.5 ´ 10 3 ´ 20
Mass flow rate of hot gases, Mg = = 13.89 kg/s
3600
Velocity, C= 2 g hg = 2 ´ 9.81 ´ 32.29 = 25.17 m/s
p 2
Mg = D ´ C ´ rg
4
4´M
D=
p ´ c ´ rg
4 ´ 13.89
Diameter of chimney, D=
p ´ 25.17 ´ 0.619
D = 1.06 m
Diameter of chimney = 1.06 m Ans.
7. Determine the capacity of motor required for running induced draught fan and forced draught
fan required for maintaining draught of 50 mm of water column. Consider hot gases to leave boiler at
300°C, coal being burnt per hour at the rate of 2000 kg/hr, air supplied at the rate of 19 kg/kg of coal,
ambient air temperature of 27°C and mechanical efficiency as 90%.
Solution:
P × m × M × T1
Power required in FD fan =
r T0 × h mech
P×m× M ×T
Power required in 1D fan =
r T0 × h mech
Given, T1 = 300 K, T0 = 273 K, T = 573 K, m = 19 kg/kg coal,
M = 2000 kg/hr = 0.556 kg/s, r = 1.293 kg/m3,
hwater = 50 mm or 50 kgf/m2, hmech = 0.90
P = 50 kgf/m2
or
P = 490.5 N/m2
Substituting in expression for power outputs,
490 × 5 ´ 19 ´ 0.556 ´ 300
For FD fan, power =
1.293 ´ 273 ´ 0.90
= 4893.11 W
= 4.89 kW
490 × 5 ´ 19 ´ 0.556 ´ 573
For 1D fan, power = = 9345.84 W
1.293 ´ 273 ´ 0.90
= 9.35 kW
Power for FD fan = 4.89 kW
Power for 1D fan = 9.35 kW Ans.
8. A boiler installation is seen to have operating parameters as given under when natural draught
system, forced draught system and induced draught systems are used. Considering specific heat of hot
gases as 1.0032 kJ/kg × K determine,
(i) the ratio of power required for induced and forced draught system.
(ii) the ratio of heat carried away with flue gases in artificial draught and natural draught.
Artificial draught
Natural draught
Forced Induced
Hot gas temperature, °C 327 27 177
Temperature of surroundings, °C 27 27 27
Mass of air required per
kg of fuel 25 20 20
Solution:
Brake power for induced draught Tg (177 + 273)
= = = 1.5
Brake power for forced draught Ta ( 27 + 273)
Heat carried by hot flue gases in artificial draught for unit mass of fuel burnt
Qg, a d = (20 + 1) ´ 1.0032 ´ (177 – 27)
= 3160.08 kJ per kg of fuel burnt
Heat carried by hot flue gases in natural draught for unit mass of fuel burnt
Qg, ad = (25 + 1) ´ 1.0032 ´ (327 – 27)
= 7824.96 kJ per kg of fuel burnt
Thus it shows that significantly large amount of heat is lost in natural draught as compared to
3160.08
artificial draught. Ratio of heat carried away in artificial and natural draught = = 0.404
7824.96
Ratio of power required = 1.5
Ratio of heat carried away = 0.404 Ans.
9. Determine the actual evaporation per kg of coal and the equivalent evaporation if during
boiler trial of one hour duration following observations are made:
Feed water supply temperature: 27°C
Mean steam generation pressure: 10 bar,
Dryness fraction of steam generated: 0.95
Feed water supplied: 2500 kg/hr
Coal burnt: 275 kg/hr
Mass of water in boiler after trial = 300 kg less than that at commencenent of trial.
Solution:
From steam table at 10 bar, hf = 762.81 kJ/kg, hg = 2778.1 kJ/kg
hfg = 2015.29 kJ/kg
Enthalpy of steam steam generated, h = hf + x × hfg
= 762.81 + 0.95 ´ 2015.29
h = 2677.34 kJ/kg
Mass of water evaporator per hour = 2500 + 300 = 2800 kg/hr
2800
Water evaporated per kg of coal = = 10.18 kg per kg of coal.
275
Actual evaporation = 10.18 kg per kg of coal Ans.
10.18 ´ 2677.34
Equivalent evaporation = = 12.08 kg per kg of coal
2257
Equivalent evaporation = 12.08 kg per kg of coal Ans.
10. A boiler is being tested for 24 hours and during this trial steam at average pressure of 10 bar,
dry saturated is produced from 15 ton of water consuming 1.5 ton of coal. Composition of coal has 3%
moisture and 4% ash. Feed water is added at 35°C. Determine,
(i) the boiler efficiency,
(ii) the equivalent evaporation per kg of dry coal, and
(iii) the equivalent evaporation per kg of combustible present in coal.
Solution:
Enthalpy of steam generated = hg at 10 bar = 2778.1 kJ/kg
Heat supplied per kg of water for steam generation = 2778.1 – 4.18 ´ 35
= 2631.8 kJ/kg
15 ´ 10 3
Steam generated per kg of coal = = 10 kg
1.5 ´ 10 3
10 ´ 2631.8
Boiler efficiency = = 0.8744 or 87.44%
30.1 ´ 10 3
Boiler efficiency = 87.44% Ans.
10 ´ 2631.8
Equivalent evaporation per kg of dry coal =
2257 ´ (1 - 0.03)
= 12.02 kg
Equivalent evaporation per kg of combustible present in coal
12.02 ´ 0.97
=
0.93
= 12.53 kg
Equivalent evaporation per kg of dry coal = 12.02 kg
Equivalent evaporation per kg of combustible = 12.53 kg Ans.
11. During the boiler trial for 24 hours following observations were made.
Steam generation: 16 bar, dry saturated.
Coal consumed: 10,000 kg
Rate of steam generation: 2500 kg/hr
Feed water temperature: 27°C
Total heating surface area: 3000 m2
Total grate area: 4m2
Calorific value of coal: 28000 kJ/kg
Determine:
(i) the mass of coal burnt per m2 of grate per hour
(ii) the equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per kg of coal
(iii) the equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per m2 of total heating surface per hour
(iv) the boiler efficiency
Solution:
10,000
Coal burnt per hour = = 416.67 kg/hr
24
416.67
Coal burnt per m2 of grate per hour =
4
= 104.17 kg/m2 grate surface per hr
Equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per kg of coal can be obtained by the ratio of heat added
to steam per kg of coal burnt and latent heat from and at 100°C
Heat added to steam per kg of coal burnt
=
Latent heat from and at100° C
2500
Rate of steam generated per kg of coal = = 5.99 » 6 kg steam/kg coal
416.67
Heat added to steam per kg of coal = 6 [hg at 16 bar – 4.18 ´ 27}
= 6{2794 – 112.86}
= 16086.84 kJ
Latent, heat from and at 100°C = 2257 kJ/kg
16086.84
Equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per kg of coal =
2257
= 7.13 kg
Equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per m2 of total surface per hour
7.13 ´ 416.67
=
3000
= 0.99 kg
7.13 × 2257
28000
Mass of coal burnt per m2 of grate per hour = 104.17 kg
Equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per kg of coal = 7.13 kg
Equivalent evaporation from and at 100°C per m2 of total heating surface per hour = 0.99 kg
Boiler efficiency = 57.47% Ans.
12. Steam is generated in a boiler at 30 bar 300°C at the rate of 11 kg/s with feed water entering
economiser at 100°C. During one hour test 5000 kg fuel is used in boiler. Calorific value of fuel is
35000 kJ/kg. For the feed water being supplied to boiler to be at 27°C determine;
(i) the equivalent evaporation per kg of fuel
(ii) the boiler efficiency
(iii) the percentage of fuel energy utilised in economiser
Solution:
Mass of steam generated per kg of fuel = 7.92 kg/kg fuel = FH

11 ´ 3600 IK
5000
Heat added to per kg steam per kg of fuel = (Enthalpy of steam at 30 bar, 300°C – Enthalpy of
feed water)
= (2993.5 – (4.18 ´ 27))
= 2880.64 kJ
7.92 ´ 2880.64
Equivalent evaporation per kg of fuel = = 10.11 kg
2257
10.11 ´ 2257
35000
Heat utilised in economiser per kg of fuel = 7.92 ´ 4.18 ´ (100 – 27)
= 2416.71 kJ
2416.71
Percentage of energy utilised in economiser = = 0.069, or 6.9%
35000
Equivalent evaporation per kg of fuel = 10.11 kg
Boiler efficiency = 65.19%
Percentage of energy utilised in economiser = 6.9% Ans.
13. A boiler is capable of generating 8 kg steam per kg of fuel at 400°C. Feed water is supplied
at pressure of 30 bar, 40°C and leaves economiser at 150°C for entering to evaporator. Steam leaves
evaporator with dryness fraction of 0.98 and enters the superheater. Fuel used has calorific value of
29000 kJ/kg. Considering no pressure loss inside the boiler determine boiler efficiency and fraction of
heat given to steam in each section of boiler.
Solution:
From steam table; hf at 30 bar = 1008.42 kJ/kg, hg at 30 bar = 2804.2 kJ/kg
Enthalpy of final steam generated = hat 30 bar, 400°C
= 3230.9 kJ/kg
Heat supplied per kg of fuel = 1 ´ 29000 kJ/kg = 29000 kJ/kg
Heat to be added for per kg steam generation = hat 30 bar, 400°C – hwater at 40°C
= 3230.9 – 4.18(40)
= 3063.7 kJ/kg
8 ´ 3063.7
Boiler efficiency = = 0.8452 » 84.52%
29000
Heat added in economiser per kg of steam generated = 4.18 ´ (150 – 40)
= 459.8 kJ/kg
459.8
% Fraction of heat in economiser = ´ 100
3063.7
= 15.01%
Heat added in evaporator per kg of steam generated
= (hf at 30 bar + 0.98 ´ hfg at 30 bar) – (4.18 ´ 150)
= 1008.42 + (0.98 ´ 1795.78) – 627
= 2141.28 kJ/kg
2141.28
% Fraction of heat in evaporator = ´ 100 = 69.89%
3063.7
Heat added in super heater per kg of steam generated, by difference
= (3063.7 – 459.8 – 2141.28)
= 462.62 kJ/kg
462.62
% Fraction of heat in superheater = ´ 100 = 15.1%
3063.7
% fraction of heat in economiser, evaporator and superheater
= 15.01%, 69.89% and 15.1% Ans.
14. During a boiler trial the volumetric analysis of flue gases (combustion products) going across
the economiser section are 8.4% CO2, 11.3% O2 and 80.3% N2 and 8% CO2, 11.4% O2 and 80.6% N2
respectively at inlet and exit of economiser section of boiler. Feed water enters economiser at 20°C and
leaves at 125°C at the rate of 3 kg/s. Temperature of flue gases at inlet and exit of economiser are 425°C
and 300°C respectively. Coal is supplied to boiler at the rate of 18 kg/min and the coal used has 80% of
carbon by mass in it. Considering atmospheric air to be at 15°C and specific heat of flue gases as
1.05 kJ/kg × °C determine,
(i) the heat released by flue gases in economiser section,
(ii) the amount of air leaked into economiser,
(iii) the heat gained by feed water in economiser.
Solution:
Given: 0.8 kg of C in 1 kg of coal.
Table 11.3 gives the mass of dry flue gas at inlet and exit of economiser as 23.65 kg and 24.78 kg
respectively. Thus, there is increase in mass of dry flue gases from inlet to exit. This increase in flue
gases may be attributed to the leakage of air.
Therefore, air leakage in economiser per kg of coal
= 24.78 – 23.65
= 1.13 kg air per kg coal
Heat rejected by flue gases during its’ passage through economiser shall be given by the differ-
ence of heat entering with flue gas and air leakage and heat leaving with flue gases at exit of economiser.
Table 9.3 Volumetric and gravimetric analysis of flue gas in economiser
Constituents Mol. Wt. Volume per m3, (b) Proportional mass C per kg of flue gases,
(c = a ´ b) FG c IJ ´ 12
d =
H S c K 44
(a) At inlet At exit At inlet At exit At inlet At exit
CO2 44 0.084 0.08 3.696 3.52 0.03383 0.03228
O2 32 0.113 0.114 3.616 3.648 Dry flue gas per kg Dry flue gas per kg of
0.8 0.8
of coal = coal =
0.03383 0.03228
= 23.65 kg = 24.78 kg
N2 28 0.803 0.806 22.484 22.568
Total 1.00 1.00 29.796 29.736
It may be assumed that the specific heat of leakage and flue gases are same.
Heat entering economiser with flue gases and leakage
= (23.65 ´ 1.05 ´ 425) + (1.13 ´ 1.05 ´ 15)
= 10571.61 kJ
Heat leaving economiser with flue gases = (24.78 ´ 1.05 ´ 300)
= 7805.7 kJ
Thus, heat lost in economiser per kg of coal = 10571.61 – 7805.7
= 2765.91 kJ
Heat picked by feed water in economiser per kg of coal
= mw ´ Cp,w ´ DT
= FH 3 ´ 60 IK ´ 4.18 ´ (125 – 20)

18
= 3971 kJ per kg of coal
Heat released by flue gases = 2765.91 kJ per kg of coal
Air leakage = 1.13 kg air per kg of coal
Heat gained by feed water = 3971 kJ per kg of coal Ans.
15. Draw up a heat balance sheet for the boiler in kJ per kg of dry coal and also determine the
boiler efficiency and effectiveness of air heater for the following data obtained during boiler trial. The
boiler has economiser and air preheater as two accessories in it.
Atmospheric air temperature: 15°C
Steam generation: 40 bar, 400°C
Steam generated per kg of coal = 8 kg
Feed water temperature at inlet to economiser = 27°C
Feed water temperature at exit of economiser = 137°C
Moisture in coal burnt = 1.5%
Flue gas temperature entering air heater =300°C
Flue gas temperature leaving air heater and entering chimney = 150°C
Temperature of air entering boiler furnace = 120°C
Dry coal composition by mass = 84% C, 4% H2, 7% O2 and remainder ash
Dry flue gas composition by volume = 12.5% CO2, 7.5% O2, 80% N2
Datum temperature = 15°C
Calorific value of coal = 32600 kJ/kg
For air and dry flue gas, cp =1.0032 kJ/kg × K
Partial pressure of vapour in flue gas = 0.075 bar
Specific pressure of vapour = 2.0064 kJ/kg × K
Determine the boiler efficiency and the efficiency of heat exchange in air heater.
Also prepare heat balance sheet in kJ per kg of dry coal.
Solution:
Here the schematic of economiser, boiler and air heater are as shown below:
Fig. 11.40
Let us now determine the mass of dry flue gas per kg of dry coal for which the mass of carbon per
kg of dry flue gas can be obtained by the following analysis.
Composition by Molecular Mass of Mass per kg Mass of carbon
volume of dry weight constituents of dry flue gas, per kg of
a
flue gas (a) b = dry flue gas
Sa
CO2 = 0.125 44 0.125 ´ 44 = 5.5 0.1815
0.1815 ´ 12
O2 = 0.075 32 0.075 ´ 32 = 2.4 0.0792 = 0.0495
N2 = 0.80 28 0.80 ´ 28 = 22.4 0.7393 44
Sa = 30.3
The dry coal is given to have C as 0.84 kg per kg of coal.
carbon present per kg of coal
Therefore, the mass of dry flue gas per kg of coal =
carbon present per kg of dry flue gas
0.84
= = 16.97 kg dry flue gas per kg of coal
0.0495
For the given coal composition the H2O produced during combustion = 0.04 ´ 9 = 0.36
Given coal has 0.05 kg ash per kg of coal.
Amount of air supplied for combustion of one kg of dry coal
= 16.97 – (1 – ash content – H2O formed)
= 16.97 – (1 – 0.05 – 0.36)
= 16.38 kg
Moisture in coal burnt per kg of coal
Moisture per kg of dry coal =
Mass of dry coal per kg of coal fired
0.015
=
(1 - 0.015)
= 0.0152 kg
Hence, the total moisture per kg of dry coal = 0.36 + 0.0152 = 0.3752 kg
8
Steam generated per kg of dry coal = = 8.12 kg steam
(1 - 0.015)
From steam tables
Enthalpy of steam generated = hat 40 bar, 400°C = 3213.6 kJ/kg
At partial pressure of vapour i.e. 0.075 bar, saturation temperature is 40.29°C
and hg at 0.075 bar = 1168.79 kJ/kg
For the given datum temperature of 15°C the heat available with steam, dry flue gas, moisture in
flue gas, feed water etc. can be estimated as under.
Heat available with steam = 8.12 (3213.6 – (4.18 ´ 15)) = 25585.31 kJ
Heat carried by dry flue gases = (16.97 ´ 1.0032 ´ (150 – 15)
= 2298.28 kJ
Heat carried by moisture in flue gas
= 0.3752 ´ {(168.79 – (4.18 ´ 15)) + 2.0064 ´ (150 – 40.29)}
= 122.39 kJ
Heat available with feed water = 8.12 ´ (27 – 15) ´ 4.18 = 407.29 kJ
Heat available with one kg of coal = 32600 kJ/kg
The heat balance sheet may be prepared for datum state of 15°C as under per kg of dry coal.
Heat Supplied/kg of coal Heat Utilized/kg of coal
Quantity, kJ% Quantity, kJ%
(a) Heat utilized by steam 25585.31 77.51%
Heat available 32600 98.77% (b) Heat carried by dry 2298.28 6.96%
with coal flue gas
Heat available 407.29 1.23% (c) Heat carried by moisture
with feed in flue gas 122.39 0.37
water
(d) Heat loss due to
radiation etc. 5001.31 15.16
Total 33007.29 100% 33007.29 100%
Boiler efficiency can be obtained as under,

Heat utilized by steam per kg of coal = 8.12 (3213.6 – (4.18 ´ 27))
= 25178.01 kJ
Heat supplied by fuel = 32600 kJ/kg coal
25178.01
Boiler efficiency = = 77.23%
32600
For getting the efficiency of heat exchange in air heater the accounting may be made for total heat
available and heat utilized.
Heat utilized by air = 16.38 ´ 1.0032 ´ (120 – 15)
= 1725.4 kJ/kg coal
Heat available in air heater = Heat available with dry flue gas + Heat supplied by the moisture.
= {16.97 ´ 1.0032 ´ (300 – 137)} + {0.3752 ´ 2.0064 ´ (300 – 137)}
= 2897.67 kJ/kg coal
1725.4
Efficiency of heat exchange in air heater = = 59.54%
2897.67
Efficiency of heat exchange in air heater = 59.54% Ans.
16. In a boiler the coal utilized has composition by mass as 85% C, 5% H2, 6% ash and remaining
oxygen. The combustion results in flue gases at 200°C temperature and composition by volume of dry
flue gas as 11% CO2, 1% CO, 8% O2 and 80% N2. The temperature of air is 20°C and the pressure of
flue gas is 1.5 bar. Consider the specific heat of dry flue gas as 1.0032 kJ/kg, specific heat of super-
heated steam 2.05 kJ/kg.K, air to have 23% O2 by mass and calorific value of 1 kg CO getting burnt to
CO2 as 10,000 kJ/kg.
Determine,
(a) total air supplied per kg of coal,
(b) heat carried away by moist flue gas per kg of coal, and
(c) the partial pressure of steam in hot flue gas.
Solution:
Here for getting the mass of air supplied per kg of coal the combustion analysis may be carried out
as under.
Composition Molecular Mass of Mass per kg Mass of
by weight constituents of dry flue carbon per kg of
volume of dry (a) gas dry flue gas
a
flue (b) =
Sa
12
CO2 = 0.11 44 0.11 ´ 44 = 4.84 0.1611 0.1611 ´ = 0.0439
44
12
CO = 0.01 28 0.01 ´ 28 = 0.28 0.0093 0.0093 ´ = 0.0039
28
O2 = 0.08 32 0.08 ´ 32 = 2.56 0.0085 ———————————
N2 = 0.80 28 0.80 ´ 28 = 22.4 0.7457 Total mass of
carbon = 0.0478
Total = 1.00 Sa = 30.04 Sb = 0.9246
Mass of dry flue gas per kg of coal

Massof carbon per kg of coal ( given as 0.85)
=
Massof carbon per kg of dry flue gas
0.85
= = 17.78 kg/kg of coal
0.0478
H2O generated during combustion = 0.05 ´ 9 = 0.45 kg/kg of coal
Mass of air supplied per kg of coal = 17.78 – (1 – ash – H2O)
= 17.78 – (1 – 0.06 – 0.45)
= 17.29 kg/kg of coal
Total air supplied per kg of coal = 17.29 kg Ans.
For the pressure of flue gas being 1.5 bar the partial pressure of steam can be given as
No.of H 2 O mol in flue gas
´ Total pressure
Total no.of mol in flue gas
FH 0.45 IK
18
=
FH 17.78 + 0.45 IK ´ 1.05 = 0.04 bar
30.04 18
The enthalpy of this steam from steam table,
hg at 0.04bar = 2554.4 kJ/kg, Tsat = 28.96°C
Therefore, heat in vapour = 0.45 {(2554.4 – 4.18 ´ 20) + 2.05 ´ (200 – 28.96)}
= 1269.64 kJ/kg of coal
Heat in dry flue gas = 1.0032 ´ (17.78 ´ (200 – 20)) = 3210.64 kJ/kg of coal
0.28
Heat in CO = ´ 17.78 ´ 10000 = 1657.26 kJ/kg of coal
30.04
Total heat carried by most flue gas = 1269.64 + 3210.64 + 1657.26
= 6137.54 kJ/kg of coal
Partial pressure of steam = 0.04 bar
Heat carried by moist flue gas per kg of coal = 6137.54 kJ Ans.
17. A boiler unit generates steam at 20 bar, 300°C from feed water supplied to boiler at 50°C.
Coal used in boiler has calorific value of 30,000 kJ/kg and is used at rate of 600 kg/hr for steam
generation rate of 5000 kg/hr. Determine the overall efficiency of boiler and the equivalent evaporation
of boiler unit at 100°C in kg/hr.
Determine the saving of coal in kg/hr if an economiser fitted to boiler to raise feed water
temperature up to 75°C increases the overall efficiency of boiler unit by 5% for all other things remaining
same.
Solution:
5000
Steam generation per unit coal burnt per hour =
600
msteam = 8.33kg steam/kg of coal
At 20 bar, 300°C, the enthalpy of final steam,
hfinal = 3023.5 kJ/kg
Enthalpy of feed water ,
hwater = 209.33 kJ/kg
8.33(3023.5 − 209.33)
Overall efficiency of boiler =
30000
= 0.7814 = 78.14%
Equivalent evaporation of boiler unit
msteam ( hfinal − hwater )
=
2257
8.33(3023.5 − 209.33)
=
2257
= 10.386 kg steam per kg of coal
Equivalent evaporation of boiler unit at 100°C in kg/hr
= (10.386 × 600) kg/hr = 6231.6 kg/hr
After fitting economiser the enthalpy of feed water,
hwater = 313.93 kJ/kg
Modified overall efficiency of boiler unit = 78.14 + 5 = 83.14%
Let the coal consumption be mcoal kg per hour.
(3023.5 − 313.93) × 5000

Modified overall efficiency of boiler unit = 0.8314 =
mcoal × 30,000
mcoal = 543.17 kg/hr

Saving of coal = 600 – 543.17 = 56.83 kg/hr Ans.
18. A boiler generates 5000 kg/hr steam at 20 bar, 0.98 dry from feed water supplied to it at
60°C. Boiler sums on coal supplied at the rate of 600 kg/hr and air supplied at the rate of 16 kg per kg
coal. The calorific value of coal is 30000 kJ/kg and boiler room temperature is 20°C. Considering 86%
of heat being lost with flue gases. Determine temperature of flue gases leaving boiler. Take specific heat
of flue gases as 1.005 kJ/kg·K.
Solution: Mass of steam generated per kg of coal
5000
= = 8.33 kg steam per kg coal
600
Enthalpy of final steam produced at 20 bar, 0.98 dry
hfinal = hf at 20 bar + 0.98 × hfg at 20 bar
= 908.79 + (0.98 × 1890.7)
= 2761.67 kJ/kg
Enthalpy of feed water,
hwater = hf at 60° C = 251.13 kJ/kg
Heat utilized for steam generation = 8.33(2761.67 – 251.13)
= 20912.8 kJ per kg of coal
For the given coal, the heat lost per kg of coal
= 30,000 – 20912.8
= 9087.2 kJ per kg coal
Heat lost with flue gases = 0.86 × 9087.2 = 7814.9 kJ per kg coal
Let the temperature of flue gases leaving boiler be Tgas.
Heat lost with flue gases = 7814.9 = (mflue + mair) × cp gas (Tgas – 293)
7814.19 = (16 + 1) × 1.005 × (Tgas – 293)
Tgas = 750.37 K = 477.37°C Ans.
19. In a boiler unit forced draught fan delivers ambient air at 20°C with velocity of 20 m/s.
The draught lost through grate is 30 mm of water column. Determine the power required to drive the fan
if fan's mechanical efficiency is 80% and coal is burnt at the rate of 1000 kg per hour and air is
supplied at the rate of 16 kg per kg of coal. Ambient pressure and density of air may be taken as 1.01325
bar and 1.29 kg/m3.
Solution:
Total draught loss = Pressure equivalent to velocity head + Draught loss through grate.
Pressure equivalent to velocity head
1 1
=ρV 2 = × 1.29 × (20) 2 = 258 N/m2
2 2
Since 1 mm of water column is equal to 9.81 N/m2;
258
so pressure equivalent to velocity head = = 26.29 mm of water
9.81
Hence total draught loss = 26.29 + 30 = 56.29 mm of water column
Pressure required, p = 56.29 × 9.81, N/m2 = 552.21 N/m2
p·m f ·ma ·Ta
Forced draught fan power requirement =
ρa ·To ·ηmech
552.21 × 1000 × 16 × 293

= ,W
1.29 × 273 × 0.80 × 3600
F.D. fan, power = 2552.39 W or 2.55 kW Ans.
20. A boiler unit has 45 m high chimney through which flue gases at 630K flow. Air requirement
is 15 kg air per kg of fuel burnt and ambient temperature is 300 K. Determine the draught produced in
mm of water column, equivalent draught in metre of hot gas column and temperature of chimney
gases for maximum discharge in a given time and the draught produced. Also find the efficiency of
chimney if the minimum temperature of artificial draught is 150°C and mean specific heat of flue gas
is 1.005 kJ/kg.K. If net calorific value of fuel is 30,000 kJ/kg then determine the percentage of extra
heat spent in natural draught.
Solution: Given Tg = 630K, Ta = 300K, Tg, a = 150 + 273 = 423K, H = 45m, m = 15 kg air/kg fuel
 1  m +1 1 
Draught in mm of water column = hw = 353H  −  . 
 Ta  m  Tg 
 1  15 + 1  1 
hw = 353 × 45  − . 
 300  15  630 
hw = 26.06 mm of water column Ans.
 m  Tg 
Draught in metres of hot gas column = hg = H   . − 1
 m + 1  Ta 
 15  630 
hg = 45  . − 1
 15 + 1  300 
hg = 43.59 metres of hot gas column Ans.
Temperature of chimney gases for maximum discharge,
 m +1
Tg,max = Ta ·2· 
 m 
 15 + 1 
⇒ Tg,max = 300 × 2 ×   = 640K . Ans.
 15 
Draught produced for condition of maximum discharge.
1 m + 1  1 
h w = 353H  −  . 
 Ta  m  Tg 
 1  15 + 1  1 
= 353 × 45  − ×  = 26.05 mm
 300  15  630 
= 26.05 mm of water column Ans.
 m  Tg 
9.81× H ×   − 1
Efficiency of chimney =
 m + 1  Ta 
c p, g (Tg − Tg ,a )
 15  630 
9.81× 45 ×  × − 1
 15 + 1  300 
=
1.005 × (630 − 423) × 103
= 2.0556 × 10–3
Efficiency of chimney = 0.2056% Ans.
Extra heat carried away by the flue gases per kg of fuel
= (15 + 1) × cp.g × (Tg – Tg,a)
= (15 + 1) × 1.005 × (630 – 423)
= 3328.56 kJ
3328.56
% Heat spent in natural draught = × 100
30000
percentage extra heat carried in natural draught = 11.09% Ans.
21. In a boiler installation dry flue gases are formed at the mean temperature of 630 K when
outside air temperature is 300 K. Air is consumed at the rate of 15 kg air per kg of coal and coal is
required at the rate of 1600 kg per hour. Actual draught may be taken as 60% of theoretical draught.
Determine height of chimney, if the various draught losses are 14 mm of water column.
14
Solution: Theoretical draught = = 23.33 mm of water column
0.6
 1 m + 1  1 
We know hw = 353 × H  −   
Ta  m  Tg 
 1  15 + 1  1 
⇒ 23.33 = 353H  −  
 300  15  630 
⇒ H = 40.29 m
22. A boiler unit has forced draught fan maintaining draught of 100 mm of water column while
discharging 30 m3/s through outlet section of 1.8m2 area. Ambient temperature is 300 K and assume
mass of 1 m3 of air at NTP as 1.293 kg to find out power of motor of forced draught fan if fan
efficiency is 85%. Determine the power consumption if FD fan is substituted by ID fan of similar
efficiency considering flue gas temperature of 150°C.
Solution: Considering the discharge rate, the velocity of air through outlet
30 m.m f
= = 16.67m/s =
1.8 ρa
Pressure created due to the gases flowing at 16.67 m/s
1 1
= ρV 2 = × 1.293 × (16.67)2
2 2
= 179.66 N/m2
or 18.31 mm of water
Total draught = Static draught + Draught due to discharge
= (100 + 18.31)mm of water
= 118.31 mm of water column
P ⋅ m ⋅ m f Ta
Power of motor of forced draught fan =
ρa To ⋅ ηmech
118.31 × 9.81 × 300 × 30
= = 45.01 kW
0.85 × 273 × 103
Tg , a
Power consumption of induced draught (ID) fan = PowerFD ×
Ta
423
= 45.01× = 63.46 kW Ans.
300
23. In a boiler installation feed water enters at 30°C and leaves economiser section at 110°C
for being fed into boiler. Steam generated in boiler at 20 bar, 0.98 dry and fed to super heater where
its' temperature is raised up to 300°C. For the coal with calorific value of 30,500 kJ/kg and steam
generation rate of 10kg/kg of coal burnt determine the energy received per kg of water and steam
in economiser, boiler and superheater section as fraction of energy supplied by coal. Take Cp,feed water =
4.18 kJ/kg·K, Cp,superheated steam = 2.093 kJ/kg·K.
Solution:
Fig. 11.41
From steam table, h4 = 3023.5 kJ/kg
hf at 20 bar = 908.79 kJ/kg
hfg at 20 bar = 1890.7 kJ/kg
h3 = 908.79 + (0.98 × 1890.7) = 2761.7 kJ/kg
For feed water, h1 = hf at 30°C = 125.79 kJ/kg
Total heat supplied = (h4 – h1) = (3023.5 – 125.79) = 2897.71 kJ/kg
Heat consumed in economiser = Cp, feed water × (110 – 30)
= 4.18 × (110 – 30) = 334.4 kJ/kg steam
= 334.4 × 8 = 2678.4 kJ/kg coal
Heat consumed in boiler = h3 – h2 = 2761.7 – (Cp feed water × 110)
= 2301.9 kJ/kg steam
= 2301.9 × 8 = 18415.2 kJ/kg coal
Heat consumed in super heater = h4 – h3 = 3023.5 – 2761.7
= 261.8 kJ/kg steam
= 261.8 × 8 = 2094.4 kJ/kg coal
Heat provided by burning of coal = 30,500 kJ/kg coal
Fraction of energy consumed in economiser
2678.4
= = 0.0878 or 8.78% Ans.
30,500
18415.2
Fraction of energy consumed in boiler = = 0.6038 or 60.38% Ans.
30500
2094.4
Fracton of energy consumed in superheater = = 0.0687 or 6.87%
30500
-:-4+15-
11.1 Define boiler.
11.2 Classify the boilers and briefly describe each type of them.
11.3 Enlist the requirements of a good boiler.
11.4 Differentiate between fire tube and water tube boilers.
11.5 Describe briefly a vertical boiler. Also give its’ neat sketch.
11.6 Sketch and completely label a Lancashire boiler. Also explain its’ working.
11.7 Sketch and describe working of Locomotive boilers.
11.8 What do you understand by high pressure boilers?
11.9 Explain working of Bacock and Wilcox boiler.
11.10 Sketch and describe a Stirling boiler.
11.11 Sketch and describe working of Loeffler boiler.
11.12 Differentiate between mountings and accessories.
11.13 Classify mountings into safety fittings and control fittings.
11.14 Describe superheater, economiser and air preheater with neat sketches. Also indicate suitable
location of these on a boiler with line diagram.
11.15 Write short notes on, water level indicator, safety valves, fusible plug, feed check valve, pressure
gauge, stop valve and blow off cock.
11.16 Define boiler draught and also classify it.
11.17 Describe functions of chimney in a boiler.
11.18 Obtain the expression for the natural draught in terms of height of water column. Also state the
assumption made.
11.19 Derive the condition for maximum discharge through a chimney in natural draught.
11.20 Compare natural draught with artificial draught.
11.21 Describe briefly different types of mechanical draught.
11.22 Compare the power requirements for forced draught and induced draught.
11.23 Define equivalent evaporation and also give its significance.
11.24 Describe balanced draught.
11.25 What is meant by boiler trial? Explain.
11.26 Determine the height of chimney required to produce draught equivalent to 16.7 mm of water
column for the flue gases at 300°C and ambient temperature of 20°C. Take the air requirement to
be 20 kg/kg of fuel. [30 m]
11.27 Calculate the draught produced in mm of water by chimney of 35 m height, flue gas temperature
of 643 K, boiler house temperature of 307 K and air supplied at 18.8 kg per kg of coal.
[20 mm]
11.28 Show that the height of chimney required for producing a draight equivalent to 15 mm of water
can not be less than 30 m, if the flue gas temperature is 250°C, ambient temperature is 20°C and
minimum 18 kg air per kg of fuel is required.
684 ________________________________________________________ Applied Thermodynamics
15
Steam Condenser
15.1 INTRODUCTION
Condenser is one of the essential components of steam power plants as it facilitates condensation of
steam at given conditions with minimum expenditure of energy and minimum loss of heat and finally
gives condensate which can be recirculated by feed pump to boiler for steam generation. Condenser
generally operates at pressure less than atmospheric pressure. In the steam power plant the use of
condenser permits expansion in steam turbine even upto less than atmospheric pressure and subse-
quently condensing steam to yield condensate for recirculation thus improving plant efficiency and
output. Expansion in steam turbine/engine can not be extended to pressures less than atmospheric in the
absence of condenser.
“Condenser can be defined as device used for condensation of steam at constant pressure;
generally pressure is less than atmospheric pressure”. Condenser is thus a closed vessel which is
generally maintained at vacuum and cold fluid is circulated for picking heat from steam to cause its
condensation. Use of Condenser offers advantages such as hotter feed water for being sent to boiler’,
‘removal of air and non condensable dissolved gases from feed water’, ‘recovery of condensate reduces
treated water requirement’, ‘expansion upto subatmospheric conditions and capital cost is reduced by
recycling of feed water’ etc. Increase in expansion work due to use of condenser is shown in Fig. 15.1
on p-V diagram.
Fig. 15.1 p-V diagram showing how condenser increases work output in steam engine
Steam power plant employing condenser and the condensing plant are shown in Fig. 15.2.
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 685
Fig. 15.2 Schematic for steam power plant having condensing plant
Discharge from steam turbine passes into condenser where it is condensed using cooling water
being circulated employing coolant pump. Condensate being at pressure less than atmospheric pressure
is to be sucked out using condensate extraction pump. Condensate is extracted and sent to hot well from
where it is pumped to boiler using feed pump. Dissolved gases and air etc. if any are extracted out from
condenser using air extraction pump. This air or vapour may be present because of air leaking into
vacuum system and air coming with steam. Cooling water for supply to condenser is taken either from
some river or from cooling tower. Cooling water requirement may be up to 100 kg water per kg of
steam or even more depending upon the type of condenser and its capacity. Cooling tower cools the hot
cooling water leaving condenser to get cooled by evaporation of water and heat exchange with air.
Water evaporated or lost in cooling tower is compensated by the make up treated water available
from feed water treatment plant.
15.2 CLASSIFICATION OF CONDENSER

Condenser can be broadly classified on the basis of type of heat exchange i.e. direct or indirect contact
condensers.
(i) Direct contact type or Mixing type or Jet condenser
(ii) Indirect contact type or Non-mixing type or Surface condenser
(iii) Evaporative condenser
Jet condensers have direct contact between steam and cooling fluid thereby causing contamina-
tion of condensate. Surface condensers have indirect heat exchange through metal interface and the two
fluids do not come in direct contact to each other. Evaporative condensers use evaporation of water for
heat extraction and is well suited for dry weather so that evaporation is not difficult. Due to direct
contact of two fluids the circulating water requirement is much less in jet condenser as compared to
other types of condensers. Space requirement and size of condenser etc. are also less with jet condens-
ers. Surface condenser is advantageous over direct contact type condensers because any type of cool-
ing fluid can be used in it and also there is no scope of contamination etc. Different types of condensers
are discussed ahead.
(i) Jet condenser: In jet condenser the steam to be condensed and cooling water are intimately
mixed by breaking up of water in the form of spray and allowing small sized water particles to fall down
through the body of steam. The water may also be discharged out through suitably shaped nozzles into
body of steam. Thus it is desired to atomize water into small sized particles so that increased surface
area is available for heat exchange between hot and cold fluid. Number of arrangements for flow of
steam and water are available such as; counter flow type having steam entering from bottom and
flowing upwards while water enters from top and falls downwards with air pump connected on top
where air is colder etc. Jet condenser may be further classified based on relative movement of two
fluids, and based on arrangement used for removal of condensate.
Based on relative moment of two fluids jet condenser can be,
(a) Counter flow jet condenser
(b) Parallel flow jet condenser
Based on arrangement for removal of condensate jet condenser can be,
(a) Low level jet condenser
(b) High level jet condenser
(c) Ejector condenser
Fig. 15.3 Schematic of low level jet condenser

Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 687
(a) Low level jet condenser: Low level jet condenser is the one which is placed at low level such
that vacuum inside condenser draws cooling water into condenser from river/pond/cooling tower.
Difference between atmospheric pressure (at which cooling water is available) and condenser pressure
causes flow of cooling water from cooling water reservoir to condenser i.e. (patm – pcond). Flow of
steam and cooling water could be parallel flow or counter flow type. Counter flow type and parallel flow
type low level jet condensers are shown in Fig. 15.3. There is provision for extraction of air and
dissolved gases from top of condenser by using air extraction pump. Condensate extraction pump is
used for taking out condensate from condenser and sending it to hot well.
Cooling water supplied to jet condenser has generally a large percentage of dissolved air which
gets liberated due to atomization of water, vacuum and heating of water and is extracted out. Low level
jet condenser suffers from inherent drawback that in the event of failure of condensate extraction pump
condenser shall be flooded with cooling water.
(b) High level jet condenser: High level jet condenser is the one which is placed at a height more
than that of water and water is to be injected into condenser using a pump and the condensate will flow
out of condenser because of gravity. Here no condensate extraction pump is required, instead pump is
required for pumping water upto condenser inlet. High level jet condenser is also called as ‘barometric
condenser’. High level jet condenser is placed at suitable height depending upon efficient drainage and
capacity of sump (hot well) into which tail pipe of condenser discharges out. Mathematically, it could be
said that jet condenser placed above hotwell by 10.36 m shall be high level jet condenser or barometric
condenser. High level jet condenser may also be of counterflow type or parallel flow type depending
upon the direction of flow of steam and cooling water. Figure 15.4 shows counterflow high level jet
condenser.
Fig. 15.4 Schematic of high level condenser

Fig. 15.5 Ejector condenser

High level jet condenser do not pose problem of flooding of condenser in the event of failure of
pump as it is in case of low level jet condensers. But high level jet condensers are costlier than low level
jet condenser. Also there is loss of vacuum between turbine and condenser in case of high level jet
condenser.
Ejector condenser: Ejector condenser has water jet discharging through the series of guide cones
which guide steam on to the surface of water jet. Discharge of water through these convergent nozzles
causes partial vacuum due to conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy. Subsequently water jet
enters the diffuser nozzle where kinetic energy is converted into the pressure head and water is dis-
charged against the vacuum pull. Ejector condensers are well suited for moderate vacuum only.
Steam is injected in condenser with non return valve in between and is condensed by the mixing
with cooling water. Condensation of steam further increases vacuum.
Ejector condenser do not require air pump because of air entraining effect of water jet itself. Here
condensing jet has number of nozzles arranged concentrically and have their axis inclined at such an
angle that water jet assumes the form of inverted cone. Around the water jet the guide cones are
arranged with increasing area from bottom to top. Water will be colder in upper part of condensing cone
as compared to lower down. The temperature difference between steam and water at top will be greater
than at lower end and so the condensation is greatest at top and gradually diminishes to zero at bottom.
In case of failure of cooling water supply water may be sucked from hot well to go into steam pipe, but
this is prevented by non-return valve in steam supply line.
(ii) Non mixing type or surface condensers: Surface condensers are the most common types of
condenser and offer great advantage in terms of no contamination of feed water. In these condensers
the steam to be condensed and cooling fluid (water) do not come in contact with one another, instead
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 689
the heat transfer occurs between two fluids through surface in between. Generally, cooling water flows
through the pipes/tubes and steam surrounds them. These condensers are preferred in the locations
where large quantity of poor quality cooling fluid (impure water) is available and condensate is to be
recirculated. Surface condensers can be classified based on number of passes of condenser i.e. single
pass or multipass. Number of times the cooling water crosses any transverse section is called a pass.
Surface condensers may be of ‘down flow type’ or ‘central flow type’ depending on the type of flow of
condensate and tube arrangement. Typical surface condenser having two passes, down flow type and
central flow type arrangement are shown in Fig. 15.6.
Fig. 15.6 Surface condenser

Two pass surface condenser has cooling water entering from one end and coming out after
twice traversing through the tubes (generally, brass) containing water and surrounded by steam to be
condensed. Condensate gets collected at bottom and is subsequently sucked by condensate extraction
pump. Steam is admitted from the top. Cooling water may be picked directly from river/pond/cooling
tower. For extraction of air the provision is made for air pump. Thus, this type of condenser has three
pumps i.e. one for circulating cooling water, second for condensate extraction and third for air extrac-
tion. In surface condenser the space occupied by tubes in shell is about 10% of shell volume. Steam is
not passed through the tubes because at this steam pressure the specific volume of steam is large
requiring large number of tubes.
Down flow condenser has steam and air entering from top and flowing downwards across the
bundle of tubes having cooling water flowing through them. Air is extracted from bottom and before
being handled by air pump it is flown through air cooler so as to reduce the temperature of air. Low
temperature of air enhances the air handling capacity of pump. With the flow of steam down and
simultaneous heat exchange the condensate is taken out by condensate extraction pump.
Central flow condenser has air cooling section in the centre of condenser. Steam enters from top
and passes over the tube banks of similar type as in case of down flow condenser. As air is being sucked
from centre so the flow of steam is radially inwards towards the centre. During this flow steam passes
over tubes. Condensate is collected from bottom. In this type of condenser there is better contact
between steam and tubes because of radial flow of steam in whole of condenser, thus arrangement is
better as compared to down flow condenser.
In different designs of condenser it is always attempted to have maximum heat transfer between
two fluids. Also air extraction should be done effectively.
Thus designer of condenser should keep following things in consideration for making a better
design surface condenser.
(i) Steam should be uniformly distributed over cooling water tubes. i.e. cooling surface.
(ii) Distribution of steam should be such that there is minimum pressure loss.
(iii) Number of tubes should be minimum. Water must be flown inside tubes and steam should
surround them.
(iv) Tubes should be cleaned from inside and outside both. Although on external surface the
steam surrounding tubes prevents deposition. For internal cleaning of tubes mechanical or
chemical means of cleaning be used at frequent intervals.
(v) Leakage of air into condenser (due to vacuum) should be prevented as it reduces the work
output. Also this reduces the heat transfer rate. Even if there is leakage of air, arrangement
should be made for quick and effective removal of air with minimum work input.
(vi) Air should be cooled to maximum extent inside condenser before being thrown out as this
shall cause condensation if possible within condenser and thus reduce loss of condensate.
Also the cool air shall enhance air handling capacity of pump.
(vii) Rate of circulation of cooling water should be such that the range of temperature variation
in cooling water lies near the optimum temperature range. Generally, the cooling water
temperature rise is limited to 10°C for having maximum heat exchange between two fluids.
(viii) Material of tubes is generally taken as brass. Tube material should be such as to offer
maximum heat transfer rate i.e. high thermal conductivity. Generally, surface condensers are
bulky and require large space.
(ix) Cost of surface condenser should be kept low. Capital cost, running and maintenance cost
should be maintained as low as possible. Generally, these costs are high in case of surface
condenser as compared to other types of condensers.
(iii) Evaporative condenser: Evaporative condensers are generally used where the availability of
water is very poor. Figure 15.7 shows the schematic of such type of condenser where water falls from
top through the nozzles over the condenser coil. Water picks up heat from the steam flowing through
condenser coil and gets warmed up. This water is recirculated by circulation pump. Air flow inside
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 691
condenser is maintained by using exhaust fan. This flow of air across condenser coil may be natural or
forced to enhance the cooling rate.
Fig. 15.7 Evaporative condenser

Water gets evaporated and evaporated vapours are taken by air leaving condenser. Heat required
for evaporation is extracted finally from the steam flowing inside tubes and thus causing its phase
transformation. For preventing the exit of water vapours with air going out the separator/eliminator is
put on the top before the final exit by which water vapour are recovered upto certain extent. Evaporative
condensers are named so because the technique of evaporation is used for realizing the cooling. Amount
of water to be sprinkled on condenser tubes should be just sufficient to maintain tube surface in thor-
oughly wet state. In case of air being humid the vapourizing capacity of wet air gets reduced compared
to dry air and so the performance of evaporative condenser deteriorates when humidity in atmosphere is
high.
Evaporative condenser is advantageous over the surface condenser as the vacuum maintained in
evaporative condenser is not very high and the water requirement is small. These condensers are gener-
ally used in small capacity power plants where shortage of water supply is there.
15.3 AIR LEAKAGE

Generally, inside the condenser pressure less than atmospheric pressure is maintained, thereby increasing
the chances of air leakage into condenser. Leakage of air occurs due to leaking joints, packings, glands
etc. along with air in dissolved form coming with feed water. This leakage of air accounts up to 0.005%
and 0.5% of steam condensed in case of jet type condenser and surface condensers respectively. Thus,
leakage of air is practically always there in the condensers. Air leakage causes the reduction in work
done per kg of steam as it increases the back pressure. Also the quantity of water required for condensation
of steam is increased due to lowering of partial pressure of steam due to pressure of air. At low pressure
the latent heat of steam to be released is more than at higher pressure. Air (having lower conductivity)
when present between water and steam hampers the heat exchange and also takes away a portion of
heat. Because of this reason also the more quantity of cooling water is required. Hence, leakage of air
reduces the condenser efficiency and auxiliary devices such as reciprocating pump, rotary pump, steam
ejector or air pumps etc. are required. Also the presence of air increases corrosive action as the corrosion
depends largely upon the oxygen content.
Since air leakage in condenser is quite damaging to the performance of condenser so air leakage
should be detected and subsequent extraction of air being done. Air leakage is detected by isolating
condenser from the rest of plant after the steady states are attained in it i.e. pressure and temperature
become steady. After isolation of condenser from plant by stopping the steam and cooling fluid pump, if
the vacuum gauge and thermometer readings change then it shows that their is air leakage. For iden-
tifying location of leak points, the soap bubble test is carried out in carried out in which the bubble
formation occurs at leak point if soapy water is put on that after filling condenser with air. Thus, for
soap bubble test condenser needs to be emptied and filled with high pressure air. This test has drawback
that condenser is to be made non functional and running of plant suffers till the test is performed.
For locating the sources of air leakage during the operational state of condenser peppermint oil
test may be used. In this peppermint oil is applied at suspected sources of leak point and in case of
leakage at the joint peppermint oil fumes enter the condenser and will come out with the air. Odour of
peppermint could be felt in the air leaving condenser. Leak joints can also be detected by passing candle
flame over the probable joint. In case of leakage the flame gets distorted.
15.4 CONDENSER PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

The vacuum inside the condenser can be quantified by looking at barometer reading which gives atmos-
pheric pressure and vacuum gauge reading and taking their difference to get absolute pressure inside
condenser.
Thus, Absolute pressure (in cm) in condenser = (Barometric head in cm of Hg) – (Vacuum
pressure in cm of Hg)
Generally, this barometric head depends upon the atmospheric conditions and so the absolute
pressure also keeps on changing depending upon it. In order to take care for these variations a pressure
head called as corrected vacuum in condenser is being defined. This corrected vacuum pressure is
defined in reference to 76 cm of mercury which is the standard barometric head as below,
Corrected vacuum pressure (in cm of Hg) = 76 – Absolute pressure in condenser (in cm of Hg).
Therefore, the corrected vacuum pressure is used in cases where barometric head differs from
76 cm of mercury.
By the Dalton’s law of partial pressures, the absolute pressure inside condenser is the sum of
partial pressures of steam and air inside it. The partial pressure of steam shall be equal to the saturation
pressure corresponding to entering steam temperature. This partial pressure of steam could be seen
from steam table. Mathematically, absolute pressure in condenser (pc), as per Dalton’s law;
pc = pa + ps
where pa is partial pressure of air and ps is partial pressure of steam.
Theoretically the vacuum in condenser can be given as, pv, th = pb – ps where pv, th is theoretical
vacuum is condenser and pb is barometric pressure. It could be understood that the leakage of air into
condenser shall disturb the vacuum inside the condenser and actually due to this air leaked into con-
denser the condenser pressure is always greater than the theoretical condenser pressure.
In the absence of air leakage and with air leakage their is loss in performance of condenser and so
we need to quantify this effect. ‘Vacuum efficiency’ of condenser is such parameter which is defined by
the ratio of actual vacuum to theoretical vacuum inside condenser. Actually vacuum in condenser in the
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 693
presence of air leakage can be given by;
pv, act = pb – (pa + ps)
Actual vacuum in condenser ( pv , act )

Theoretical vacuum in condenser, ( pv, th )
Thus, vacuum efficiency of condenser =
a
pb - pa + ps f
Vacuum efficiency =
a f
pb - ps
Here, partial pressure of air (pa ) shall be zero in the absence of air leakage and vacuum efficiency
shall be 100%. If we look at mathematical expression of efficiency, it is obvious that vacuum efficiency
increases with reduction in partial pressure of air.
Also the vacuum efficiency shall increase with decrease in barometric pressure for constant exit
steam pressure and condenser actual pressure. In case of less cooling water the condenser pressure
increases and reduces the vacuum efficiency of condenser for other pressures remaining same. De-
signer always wishes to have condenser with highest vacuum efficiency i.e. close to 100%.
‘Condenser efficiency’ is another condenser performance parameter. It is given by the ratio of
actual rise in cooling water temperature to the maximum possible temperature rise. Condenser facilitates
heat exchange between two fluids and under ideal conditions the steam should only reject latent heat to
cooling water so as to yield condensate at saturated liquid condition. Thus, there should be no undercooling
of condensate in ideal condenser. Therefore, ideal condenser may be defined as condenser in which
steam rejects only latent heat to cooling fluid and condensate is available without any undercooling. Ideal
condenser requires minimum quantity of cooling water and shows maximum gain in cooling water
temperature so as to condense the steam. Mathematically,
Actual rise in cooling water temperature
Condenser efficiency =
Maximum possible temperature rise
Here, the maximum possible temperature rise = {(Saturated temperature corresponding to condenser
pressure) – (Cooling water inlet temperature)}
15.5 COOLING TOWER

Cooling tower is similar to evaporative condenser where water used for cooling is being cooled effec-
tively. Water used for cooling becomes hotter after extracting heat from condenser steam and needs to
be cooled down if it is to be recycled. Cooling towers are preferably used where the water supply is
limited and cooling water has to be recirculated without being thrown out.
Cooling tower is such an arrangement made of wood or metal structure having baffles inside to
facilitate better heat exchange between hot water falling down and atmospheric air blowing across it.
Generally, hot water is admitted from top and is broken into small size (atomized) while falling down. Air
enters tower at bottom and flows upward either due to natural draught or forced draught as the case
may be. Air picks up heat by intimate contact with hot water particles and leaves cooling tower from exit
passage at top. Cooled water falls down and is collected in a tank at bottom of cooling tower. The heat
transfer from hot water to air occurs due to evaporative cooling of water and convective heating of air
both. The effectiveness of cooling tower diminishes in humid weather conditions due to reduced capac-
ity of air. Dry air shall offer better cooling effectiveness as compared to moist air. During cooling there
occurs some loss of water as it is carried away by air. This water loss may be from 1 to 4% due to
evaporation and drift losses.
Typical values for a 500 MW steam power plant indicate that this plant has exhaust of steam at the
rate of 3.6 kg/kWh at full load, requiring 18 ´ 107 kg per hour of cooling water and to cool this cooling
water air requirement is about 30 ´ 106 kg per hour in cooling tower.
Fig. 15.8 Cooling tower

Figure 15.8 shows schematic of different cooling towers. The performance of cooling tower
depends largely upon the duration of contact between water particle and air, surface area of contact
between water particle and air, humidity of air and relative velocity of air and water flow etc.
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 695
EXAMPLES
1. In a condenser the vacuum of 71 cm of Hg is maintained with barometer reading of 76 cm in
Hg. Temperature in condenser is 35°C while hot well is at temperature of 30°C. The cooling water is
circulated at the rate of 800 kg/min and condensate is available at 25 kg/min. The temperature of
cooling water at inlet and outlet are 15°C and 25°C. Determine the mass of air in kg/m3 of condenser
volume, dryness fraction of steam entering condenser and vacuum efficiency. Take mercury density as
0.0135951 kg/cm3, g = 9.81 m/s2.
Solution:
Absolute pressure in the condenser
pt = (76 – 71) ´ 10–2 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 106 ´ 9.81 = 6668.396 N/m2
= 6.67 kPa
Partial pressure of steam in condenser = Saturation pressure of steam corresponding to 35°C
(from steam table)
ps = 5.62 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa = pt – ps = 6.67 – 5.63 = 1.04 kPa
Mass of air per m3 of condenser volume can be obtained from gas equation,
pa × V 1.04 ´ 1
ma = = = 0.012 kg/m3
RT ( 273 + 35) ´ 0.287
Let the enthalpy of steam entering condenser be hs so by heat balance,
mw ´ Cp ´ (Tw – Tw ) = ms×(hs – Cp × Tc )
w o i w
mw= 800 kg/min, ms = 25 kg/min, Tw = 25°C, Tw = 15°C, Tc = 30°C
o i
800 ´ 4.18 (25 – 15) = 25 (hs – 4.18 ´ 30)
hs= 1463 kJ/kg
Let dryness fraction of steam entering be x.
hs = 1463 = hf at 35°C + x × hfg at 35°C
1463 = 146.68 + x × 2418.6
Þ x = 0.5442
( 76 - 5) ´ 0.0135951 ´ 10 4 ´ 9.81
Vacuum efficiency =
cc h
76 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 10 4 ´ 9.81 - 5.63 ´ 103 h
= 0.9891 or 98.91%
Mass of air in kg/m3 of condenser volume = 0.012 kg/m3, dryness fraction of Ans.
steam entering = 0.5442, Vacuum efficiency = 98.91%
2. A condenser has vacuum of 70 cm of Hg when barometer reading is 76 cm. Condenser has
temperature of 30°C. Air leaks into condenser at the rate of 1 kg air per 2500 kg steam. Calculate (i) the
capacity of air pump per kg of steam for removal of air from steam entering condenser, and (ii) the mass
of water vapour accompanying this air.
Solution:
Absolute pressure in condenser = (76 – 70) cm of Hg
= 6 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 104 ´ 9.81 = 8002.67 Pa
pt = 8.003 kPa
Partial pressure of steam, ps = Saturation pressure corresponding to 30°C from steam table
ps = 4.246 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa = Total pressure in condenser – Partial pressure of steam
pa = pt – ps = 3.757 kPa
1
Mass of air accompanying per kg steam due to leakage = = 0.0004 kg
2500
Using gas equation, pa × V = mRT
mRT 0.0004 ´ 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 30 )
Volume of air per kg of steam = =
pa 3.757
= 9.26 ´ 10–3 m3/kg
Capacity of air pump = 9.26 ´ 10–3 m3 per kg steam Ans.
Volume of water vapour accompanying air shall be equal to the volume of air.
So volume of water vapour accompanying air = 9.26 ´ 10–3 m3/kg
Specific volume of dry steam at condenser temperature of 30°C = vg at 30°C = 32.89 m3/kg
9.26 ´ 10 - 3
Mass of water vapour accompanying air =
32.89
= 2.82 ´ 10–4 kg/kg of steam
Mass of water vapour accompanying air = 2.82 ´ 10–4 kg/kg of steam Ans.
3. During the trial on a condenser it is seen to have vacuum of 67 cm of Hg while barometer

reading is 75 cm of Hg. The mean condenser temperature is 40°C and temperature of hot well is 35°C.
Circulating water flows at 1000 kg/min for giving condensate at the rate of 50 kg/min. Temperature of
cooling water at inlet and exit are 10°C and 25°C. Determine, (i) the vacuum corrected to standard
barometer reading of 76 cm. (ii) the vacuum efficiency of condenser, (iii) the undercooling of conden-
sate, (iv) the condenser efficiency, (v) the state of steam entering condenser, (vi) the mass of air per m3
of condenser volume, and (vii) the mass of air per kg of uncondensed steam.
Solution:
Vacuum corrected to standard barometer reading of 76 cm
= 76 – (75 – 67) = 68 cm Hg
Corrected vacuum = 68 cm Hg Ans.
Absolute pressure in condenser = 75 – 67 = 8 cm of Hg or (8 ´ 0.0135951

´ 104 ´ 9.81 = 10.67 kPa)
or, pt = 10.67 kPa
Partial pressure of steam, ps = Saturation pressure at 40°C from steam table
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 697
ps = 7.384 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa = pt – ps = 3.286 kPa
Actual vacuum ( 75 - 8) ´ 0.0135951 ´ 10 4 ´ 9.81
Vacuum efficiency =
Theoretical vacuum
=
b g
75 ´ 0.0145951 ´ 10 4 ´ 9.81 - 7.384 ´ 10 3
= 0.9645 or 96.45%
Ans.Vacuum efficiency = 96.45%
Undercooling of condensate = 40 – 35 = 5°C
Ans. Undercooling = 5°C
cT w out - Tw in h
Condenser efficiency =
cT sat corresponding to pt - Tw in h
Saturation temperature corresponding to absolute pressure in condenser, 40.01 kPa.
Tsat corresponding to pt = 46.9°C, from steam table.
Tw out = 25°C, Tw in = 10°C
25 - 10
Condenser efficiency = = 0.4065 or 40.65%
46.9 - 10
Let us consider enthalpy of steam entering be h kJ/kg and dryness fraction be x. By applying heat
balance,
ms × (h – cp × Tc) = mw × cp × (Tw – Tw )
w w o i
ms = 50 kg/min, mw = 1000 kg/min
50(h – 4.18 ´ 40) = 1000 ´ 4.18 (25 – 10)
h = 1421.2 kJ/kg = hf at 40°C + x × hfg at 40°C
1421.2 = 167.57 + x×2406.7
x = 0.5209
Dryness fraction of steam entering = 0.5209 Ans.

Mass of air per m3 of condenser volume
pa × V 3.286 ´ 1
m= = = 0.0366 kg/m3
RTc 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 40)
Volume of per kg of uncondensed steam = vg at 40°C = 19.52 m3/kg
Mass of air in one kg of uncondensed steam = Mass of air in 19.52 m3 volume
3.286 ´ 19.52
= = 0.714 kg
0.287 ´ ( 40 + 273)
Mass of air/m3 of condenser volume = 0.0366 kg/m3 Ans.

Mass of air in per kg of uncondensed steam = 0.714 kg
4. In a surface condenser operating with steam turbine the vacuum near inlet of air pump is 69 cm
of Hg when barometer reading is 76 cm of Hg. Temperature at inlet of vacuum pump is 30°C. Air
leakage occurs at the rate of 60 kg/hr. Determine,
(i) the capacity of air pump in m3/hr and mass of vapour extracted with air in kg/hr.
(ii) the dimension of reciprocating air pump cylinder if it runs at 240 rpm and L/D ratio is 1.5.
Solution:
Absolute pressure at inlet to air pump = (76 – 69) = 7 cm Hg, or
= 7 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 104 ´ 9.81
pt = 9.336 kPa
Partial pressure of vapour at 30°C = Saturation pressure at 30°C
ps = 4.246 kPa
Volume of 60 kg air at pressure of 89.112 kPa
60 ´ 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 30 )
V =
5.09
= 1025.1 m3/hr
Capacity of air pump in m3/hr = 1025.1 m3/hr Ans.

p 2
Volume handled, m3/hr = D ´ L ´ N ´ 60 = 1025.1
4
p
1025.1 = ´ 1.5 D3 ´ 240 ´ 60
4
D = 0.3924 m or 39.24 cm
L = 58.86 cm
V 1025.1
Mass of water vapour going with air = = = 31.17 kg/hr
Vg at 30° C 32.89
Bore = 39.24 cm, Stroke = 58.86 cm

Mass of water vapour extracted with air = 31.17 kg/hr Ans.
5. A steam condenser is supplied with 1000 kg/min steam in 0.9 dry state. The pressure at suction
of air extraction pump on condenser is 70 cm of Hg and barometer reads 77 cm of Hg. Temperature in
suction pipe is 30°C and air leaks at the rate of 5 ´ 10–4 kg per kg of steam. Cooling water temperature
gets increased by 15°C. Determine the mass handled by dry air extractor and cooling water circulation
rate in kg/min.
Solution:
Absolute pressure in condenser = (77 – 70) = 7 cm of Hg or (7 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 104 ´ 9.81)
pt = 9.34 kPa
Partial pressure of steam, ps = Saturation pressure corresponding to 30°C = 4.246 kPa
Rate of air extraction per minute = 5 ´ 10–4 ´ 1000 = 0.5 kg/min
mRT 0.5 ´ 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 30 )
Volume of air extracted per minute = =
pa 5.094
3
= 8.54 m /min
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 699
Specific volume corresponding to 30°C, vg = 32.89 m3/kg
Volume of air extracted = Volume of mixture sucked per minute = 8.54 m3/min
8.54
Mass of steam extracted in mixture handled per minute = = 0.2596 kg/min
32.89
Therefore, mass handled by air extraction pump = 0.5 + 0.2596 = 0.7596 kg/min
Mass handled by air pump = 0.7596 kg/min Ans.
Enthalpy of steam entering condenser, h = hf at 30°C + 0.9 (hfg at 30°C)
= 125.79 + (0.9 ´ 2430.5)
= 2313.24 kJ/kg
Mass flow rate of circulating water can be obtained by energy balance on condenser,
mw ´ Cpw ´ (DTw) = ms ´ (h – Cpw ´ Tc)
mw ´ 4.18 ´ 15 = 1000 ´ (2313.24 – 4.18 ´ 303)
m w = 16693.78 kg/min
Water circulation rate = 16693.78 kg/min Ans.
6. In a surface condenser vacuum of 70 cm Hg is maintained when the barometric pressure is
76 cm Hg. Steam enters 0.85 dry into condenser at the rate of 300 kg/min. Temperature of condensate is
30°C and the rise in circulating water temperature is 20°C. For sending water through condenser and
piping a pressure head of 5 m is required. For surface condenser determine,
(i) the flow surface area required when water flows at 50 m/min,
(ii) the cooling surface area required when heat transfer rate is 15 ´ 105 kJ/m2 × hr °C.
(iii) the total head required to be developed by pump
Solution:
Absolute pressure in condenser = 76 – 70 = 6 cm of Hg, or, (6 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 104 ´ 9.81) Pa
pt = 8.002 kPa
Partial pressure of steam, ps = Saturation pressure corresponding to 30°C
= 4.246 kPa
Applying heat balance on condenser,
mw ´ 4.18 ´ 20 = (hf at 30°C + 0.85 × hfg at 30°C – 4.18 ´ 30) ´ 300
mw = 7415 kg/min
7415 3
Volume flow of water = m /min = 7.415 m3/min
1000
Velocity flow rateof water 7.415
Flow surface area requirement = =
Velocity of water flow 50
= 0.1483 m2
Flow surface area required = 0.1483 m2 Ans.
Total heat given by steam
Cooling surface area required =
Heat transfer rate
FG h
f at 30 °C + 0.85 IJ ´ 60
=
300 ´
H ´h fg at 30 ° C - 4.18 ´ 30K
15 ´ 10 5
= 0.413 ´ 60
= 24.79 m2
Cooling surface area required = 24.79 m2 Ans.
Velocity head present =

1
´ FH IK
50 2
´
1
= 0.0354 m
2 60 9.81
Total head required = Pressure head + Velocity head
= 5 + 0.0354 = 5.0354 m
Head required = 5.0354 m Ans.
7. A jet condenser has steam entering at 350 kg/min when vacuum of 680 mm is maintained in it
and the barometer reads 760 mm. Air mass going into condenser is 0.05% of steam mass entering. Water
at 20°C enters the condenser to condense the steam such that temperature of condensate is 30°C. Volume
of water required is 0.02 m3 per kg steam. The volume of air dissolved in the water injected may be
considered as 5% of volume of water at atmospheric pressure. Determine the volume handling capacity
of air pump for removing air and condensate when pump has volumetric efficiency of 90%.
Solution:
Absolute pressure in condenser = (76 – 68) = 8 cm of Hg
or, = (8 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 9.81 ´ 104 ´ 10–3)
pt = 10.67 kPa
Partial pressure of steam,
ps = Saturation pressure corresponding to 30°C
ps = 4.246 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa = pt – ps = 10.67 – 4.246 = 6.424 kPa
Volume of cooling water required per minute = 350 ´ 0.02 = 7m3/min
350 ´ 0.05
Mass of air going into condenser with steam per minute =
100
= 0.175 kg/min
7´5
Volume of air entering per minute with cooling water =
100
= 0.35 m3/min
pV
Mass of air with cooling water, using pV = mRT, m =
RT
here p = atmospheric pressure = 101.3 kPa, V = 0.35 m3, R = 0.287 kJ/kg×K
T = 273 + 20 = 293 K
101.3 ´ 0.35
Mass of air with cooling water = = 0.422 kg/min
0.287 ´ 293
Thus, total mass of air inside condenser per minute
= (Mass of air with steam + Mass of air with cooling water)
= 0.175 + 0.422 = 0.597 kg/min
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 701
Volume of air corresponding to 0.597 kg/min
0.597 ´ 0.287 ´ (273 + 30)
= = 8.08 m3/min
6.424
Volume of steam condensed (condensate) = 350 ´ vf at 30°C
= 350 ´ 0.001004 = 0.3514 m3/min
Total capacity of air pump (wet air pump) = Volume of condensate/min + Volume of air/min
+ Volume of cooling water/min.
= 0.3514 + 8.08 + 7
= 15.4314 m3/min
15.4314
Actual capacity of air pump = = 17.15 m3/min
0.9
Capacity of air pump = 17.15 m3/min Ans.
8. A barometric jet condenser has steam entering at the rate of 20 kg/min and 12 kg cooling water
per kg of steam is supplied into it for condensation. After condensation the cooling water and conden-
sate leave at 40°C. Cooling water enters the condenser at 20°C. Vacuum of 650 mm Hg is maintained
inside condenser while barometer read 760 mm Hg. An air pump is put for extracting air from conden-
sate at the rate of 2m3 of wet mixture per minute. At the suction side of air pump a vacuum of 660 mm
Hg and temperature of 35°C is observed.
Determine,
(i) the dryness fraction of steam entering condenser,
(ii) the mass of air entering condenser per minute,
(iii) the effective pressure head at tail of barometric condenser.
Solution:
Absolute pressure in condenser, pt = (760 – 650) ´ 10–1 = 11 cm Hg
or,
pt = 11 ´ 104 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 9.81 ´ 10–3, kPa
pt = 14.67 kPa
Partial pressure of steam, ps = Saturation pressure corresponding to 40°C
= 7.384 kPa
Cooling water required = 12 ´ 20 = 240 kg/min
Let the dryness fraction of steam entering condenser be x and enthalpy h.
Heat balance on condenser yields;
ms × h + mw × cpw × Twi = (ms + mw) cpw × Two
20×h + (240 ´ 4.18 ´ 20) = (20 + 240) ´ 4.18 ´ 40
h = 1170.4 kJ/kg = hf at 40°C + x×hfg at 40°C
1170.4 = 167.57 + (x×2406.7)
Þ x = 0.4167
Dryness fraction of steam entering = 0.4167 Ans.

Absolute pressure at suction of air pump = (760 – 660) ´ 10–1 = 10 cm Hg or
(10 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 104 ´ 9.81 ´ 10–3 = 13.34 kPa)
Partial pressure of steam at suction of air pump = Saturation pressure at 35°C.
p¢s = 5.628 kPa
Partial pressure of air, p¢a = 13.34 – 5.628 = 7.712 kPa
Now, at suction of pump volume of air will be equal to the volume of mixture.
Volume of mixture = Volume of air = 2 m3
p ¢a V 7.712 ´ 2
Mass of air entering = =
RT ¢a 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 35)
= 0.1745 kg/min
Effective pressure head tail of barometric condenser
= Head corresponding to (Barometric pressure – Absolute
pressure in condenser)
(101.3 - 14.67) ´ 10 3
= = 0.649 m
9.81 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 10 6
Mass of air entering = 0.1745 kg/min Ans.

Head = 0.649 m
9. A steam condenser has steam entering at 35°C and condensate being removed at 34°C. Con-
denser has two pumps one for extracting air and other for extraction of condensate. Air is removed at
temperature of 33°C. The air leaks into condenser at the rate of 3 kg/hr. Consider the pressure inside
condenser to remain uniform and neglect change in pressure due to air at steam inlet. Determine the
volume of air handled by air pump in kg/hr and also determine the volume to be handled if a combined
air and condensate pump is being used.
Solution:
Partial pressure of steam at 35°C = Saturation pressure corresponding to 35°C.
ps = 5.628 kPa
If the pressure of air at inlet is neglected then the total pressure in condenser,
pt = ps = 5.628 kPa.
At the suction of air pump, partial pressure of steam
= Saturation pressure corresponding to 33°C
ps¢ = 5.075 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa¢ = pt – ps¢ = 5.628 – 5.075 = 0.553 kPa
mRTa ¢ 3 ´ 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 33)
Volume of air handled by air pump = =
pa ¢ 0.553
= 467.43 m3/hr
In case the air and condensate mixture is to be handled by same pump then,
Partial pressure of steam = Saturation pressure corresponding to 34°C
ps² = 5.352 kPa
Partial pressure of air, pa² = pt – ps² = 5.628 – 5.352 = 0.276 kPa
Steam Condenser _______________________________________________________________ 703
3 ´ 0.287 ´ ( 273 + 34 )
Volume of air = Volume of mixture handled by pump =
0.276
= 957.71 m3/hr
Volume of air handled = 467.43 m3/hr Ans.
Volume of mixture handled = 957.71 m3/hr
10. In a surface condenser the vacuum at inlet is seen to be 72 cm Hg and at outlet it is 73 cm Hg.
The barometer reading is 76 cm and the dryness fraction of steam at inlet is 0.92. Cooling water entering
the condenser is at 20°C. Considering no air in the condenser and the temperature rise in cooling water
to be maximum determine.
(i) the minimum amount of undercooling.
(ii) the amount of cooling water required per kg of steam.
Solution:
Inlet pressure in condenser = (76 – 72) cm Hg = 4 cm Hg.
= 4 ´ 104 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 9.81 ´ 10–3
= 5.335 kPa
Outlet pressure in condenser = (76 – 73) cm Hg = 3 cm Hg
= 3 ´ 104 ´ 0.0135951 ´ 9.81 ´ 10–3
= 4.001 kPa
Since there is no air in condenser so the 5.335 kPa and 4.001 kPa will be the pressure of steam.
Saturation temperature corresponding to above pressures give temperature at inlet and outlet respec-
tively.
Saturation temperature at inlet =33.87°C, (from steam table at 5.335 kPa)
Saturation temperature at outlet =28.96°C, (from steam table at 4.001 kPa)
Thus, steam will leave at maximum temperature of 28.96°C
The minimum amount of undercooling = 33.87 – 28.96 = 4.91°C
For maximum temperature rise of cooling water the temperature of cooling water outlet will be
equal to the temperature of steam at inlet of 33.87°C.
Therefore, the maximum rise in cooling water temperature
= 33.87 – 20 = 13.87°C
Enthalpy of steam entering, h = hf at 33.87°C + 0.92 ´ hfg at 33.87°C
h = 141.97 + (0.92 ´ 2421.33) = 2369.59 kJ/kg
Let mass of cooling water required be m kg per kg steam.
Heat balance on condenser yields,
m ´ 4.18 ´ 13.87 = 1 ´ (2369.59 – 4.18 ´ 28.96)
Þ m = 38.78 kg water per kg of steam
Undercooling = 4.91°C Ans.
Cooling water requirement = 38.78 kg/kg steam
EXERCISE
15.1 What do you understand by condenser? Discuss its significance.
15.2 How does condenser improve performance of steam power plant?
15.3 Discuss different types of condenser briefly.
15.4 Differentiate between surface condenser and jet condenser.
15.5 Give a sketch of barometric jet condenser and explain its working.
15.6 Discuss the effect of air leakage upon the performance of condenser.
15.7 How the air leaking into condenser is extracted out? Explain.
15.8 Describe the factors affecting the efficiency of condensing plant.
15.9 Discuss the relevance of Dalton’s law of partial pressures in condenser calculations.
15.10 What do you understand by cooling towers? Explain their utility.
15.11 Determine the vacuum efficiency of a surface condenser having vacuum of 715 mm of Hg and
temperature of 32°C. The barometer reading is 765 mm of Hg. [98%]
15.12 A surface condenser having vacuum of 715 mm Hg and temperature of 32°C has cooling water
circulated at 800 kg/min. The cooling water entering condenser becomes warmer by 14°C. The
condensate is available from condenser at 25 kg/min. The hot well temperature is 30°C. Barometer
reading is 765 mm of Hg. Determine the mass of air in kg/m3 of condenser volume and dryness
fraction of steam entering. [0.022 kg/m3, 0.84]
15.13 A surface condenser has vacuum of 71 cm Hg and mean temperature of 35°C. The barometer
reading is 76.5 cm Hg. The hot well temperature is 28°C. Steam enters condenser at 2000 kg/hr
and requires cooling water at 8°C at the rate of 1000 kg/min. Cooling water leaves condenser at
24°C. Determine
(i) the vacuum efficiency of condenser,
(ii) the undercooling in condenser
(iii) corrected vacuum in reference to standard barometer reading, (iv) the condenser efficiency.
[0.982, 7°C, 70.5 cm Hg, 0.505]
15.14 In a surface condenser steam enters at 40°C and dryness fraction of 0.85. Air leaks into it at 0.25
kg/min. An air pump is provided upon the condenser for extracting out air. Temperature at suction
of air pump is 32°C while condensate temperature is 35°C. Determine.
(i) the reading of vacuum gauge
(ii) the volume handling capacity of air pump in m3/hr
(iii) the loss of condensate in kg/hr.
[705 mm Hg, 500 m3/hr, 16.9 kg/hr]
15.15 A steam turbine discharges steam into a surface condenser having vacuum of 700 mm Hg. The
barometer reading is 760 mm Hg. Leakage into condenser is seen to be 1.4 kg/min. The air pump
is employed for extracting out air leaking in. Temperature at the inlet of air pump is 20°C. The air
pump is of reciprocating type running at 300 rpm and has L : D ratio of 2 : 1. Determine,
(i) the capacity of air pump is m3/hr
(ii) the dimensions of air pump
(iii) the mass of vapour going out with air in air pump, kg/hr.
[1250 m3/hr, bore: 35.36 cm, stroke: 70.72 cm, 21.5 kg/hr]
15.16 A surface condenser handles condensate at 70.15 cm Hg when barometer reads 76 cm Hg. Steam
entering at 2360 kg/hr requires cooling water at 6.81 ´ 102 kg/hr, 10°C. Cooling water leaves
condenser at 27.8°C while condenser has mean temperature of 37°C. Air leaks into condenser at
0.3 kg/min. Determine,
(i) the mass of vapour going out with air per hour
(ii) the state of steam entering.
[119 kg/hr, 0.89]

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436 _________________________________________________________ Applied Thermodynamics

Fig. 11.1 Wagon boiler of Watt, (1788)

According to A.S.M.E. (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, U.S.A.) code a boiler is

11.2 TYPES OF BOILERS

11.3 REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD BOILER

11.4 FIRE TUBE AND WATER TUBE BOILERS

Fig. 11.2 Fire tube boiler

Fig. 11.3 Water tube boiler

Fig. 11.4 Relative position of boiler sections

Characteristics Fire tube boiler Water tube boiler

Fig. 11.5 Composite boiler

11.5 SIMPLE VERTICAL BOILER

Fig. 11.6 Simple vertical boiler

11.6 COCHRAN BOILER

Fig. 11.7 Cochran boiler

11.7 LANCASHIRE BOILER

Fig. 11.8 Lancashire boiler

Fig. 11.9 Cornish boiler

11.9 LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS

Fig. 11.11 Nestler boiler

11.11 BABCOCK AND WILCOX BOILER

Fig. 11.12 Babcock and Wilcox boiler

11.12 STIRLING BOILER

Fig. 11.13 Stirling boiler

11.13 HIGH PRESSURE BOILER

Fig. 11.14 High pressure boiler with natural circulation

11.14 BENSON BOILER

Fig. 11.15 Benson boiler

Fig. 11.16 Schematic arrangement in Loeffler Boiler

11.16 VELOX BOILER

Fig. 11.17 Velox boiler unit

11.17 LA MONT BOILER

Fig. 11.18 La Mont boiler

11.18 FLUIDIZED BED BOILER

Fig. 11.19 Horizontal fire tube boiler with fluidized bed

Fig. 11.21 Line diagram for single pressure HRSG

Fig. 11.22 Multi pressure HRSG

Fig. 11.23 Temperature variation in HRSG

11.20 BOILER MOUNTINGS AND ACCESSORIES

Fig. 11.25 Dead weight safety valve

Fig. 11.26 High steam and low water safety valve

Fig. 11.27 Fusible plug

Fig. 11.28 Stop valve

Fig. 11.29 Feed check valve

Fig. 11.30 Blow off cock

Fig. 11.31 Superheater

Fig. 11.32 Economizer

Fig. 11.33 Tubular air preheater

Fig. 11.34 Reciprocating type pump, Duplex feed pump

Fig. 11.35 Bucket type steam trap

11.22 NATURAL DRAUGHT

Fig. 11.36 Schematic of chimney

Pressure due to cool air (outside) column of height H at grate level

Substituting values for T0, ra and rounding off values we get,

Height of hot gas column equivalent to draught produced,

Dpfor max. discharge = ra × T0 × H × g

11.23.1 Mechanical Draught

Comparing the two power requirements,

Power required in induced draught Tg

Fig. 11.37 Mechanical draught