What Is A Boiler?

A boiler is defined as "a closed vessel in which water or other liquid is heated, steam or vapor is
generated, steam is superheated, or any combination thereof, under pressure or vacuum, for use
external to itself, by the direct application of energy from the combustion of fuels, from
electricity or nuclear energy."

Types Of Boiler:

 Water Tube Boiler

 Fire Tube Boiler
 Steam Boiler
 Hot Water Boiler

Components Of Boiler:
 Dearator :
A deaerator is a device that is widely used for the removal of oxygen and other dissolved gases
from the feedwater to steam-generating boilers.

Economiser:
An economizer is a mechanical device used to reduce energy consumption. Economizers recycle
energy produced within a system or leverage environmental temperature differences to achieve
efficiency improvements.

Superheater:
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used in
steam engines or in processes, such as steam reforming. There are three types
ofsuperheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired.

Difference between WaterTube & fire tube Boiler:

Water tube boiler:Boilers are made with a "tube - in - shell" construction, and the name implies
what is in the tube. In a water tube boiler, the water circulates through the tubes, and the burner
is usually under them. Most of the time, the "shell" of this style of boiler would not be
watertight. Commonly water tube boiler is appropriate for significant gas streams going above
enormous amounts of generated steam (lb/hr) and also can certainly manage high temperature
and pressure of steam

Firetube Boilers:

- compact construction
- efficient, straight tube design
- lower total cost of ownership
- easier access and maintenance
- good load surge handling @ pressure
- simple operation
Watertube Boilers:

- higher operating pressures

- higher temperature output
- safe, dependable design
- precise load fluctuation handling
- superheated steam generation
- fast heat recovery
- better turn down

Detailed analysis of WaterTube Boiler:

In a water-tube boiler the water is inside the tubes and combustion gases pass around the outside
of the tubes. The advantages of a water-tube boiler are a lower unit weight-per-pound of steam
generated, less time required to raise steampressure, a greater flexibility for responding to load
changes, and a greater ability to operate at high rates of steam generation.

PROCESS

Why it is necessary to treat the raw water?

Raw water coming from different sources contains dissolved salts and un-dissolved or suspended
impurities. It is necessary to remove harmful salts dissolved into the water before feeding it to
the boiler. Because-
(1) The deposition of dissolved salts and suspended impurities will form a scale on the inside
wall of different heat-exchangers and thus there will create excessive pressure and thermal stress
(due to uneven heat exchange across the wall of heat-exchanger) inside the heat-exchangers,
which may lead to the explosion and serious hazards for boilers.

(2) The harmful dissolved salts may react with various parts of boiler through which it flows,
thereby corrode the surfaces.
(3) Corrosion damage may occur to turbine blades.
Hence, boiler feed water treatment is very much required to remove such dissolved and
suspended impurities from water before feeding it to boiler.

Arrangements for Boiler Feed Water Treatment:

For continuous supply of feed water to boiler, after removing impurities, there are two types of
plant generally incorporated. These are:

(1) Demineralization plant (D M plant)

(2) Reverse Osmosis plant (R O plant)
Demineralization plant employs a chemical method to separate out the dissolved salt in raw
water. But reverse osmosis plant employs a simple physical method to separate the dissolved
salts. Before feeding the raw water to these plants sand filtration is done by different filters.
Along with these plants there are two deaerators, which remove dissolved oxygen in the feed
water, as traces of oxygen may react with boiler tubes and thereby corrode those.

Demineralization Plant:

The function of demineralization plant is to remove dissolved salt by ion exchange method
(chemical method) and there by producing pure feed water for boiler.

The salts which make the water hard are generally-

 chloride,
 carbonates,
 bi-carbonates,
 silicates & phosphates of sodium,
 potassium,
 iron,
 calcium and magnesium.

In D M plant there are three types of resin used for boiler feed water treatment process –

(1) Cation exchange resin

(2) Anion exchange resin
(3) Mixed Bed resin
1. Resins are chemical substances (usually polymers of high molecular weight) used to react
with salts & eliminates them by chemical process.
2. As the name suggests, the cation exchange resin, exchanges the cation & anion exchange
resin, exchanges anions with the salts dissolved in hard-water.

Cation Exchange Resin

NaCl + RSO 3 H = RSO 3 - Na + + HCl Thus H2 SO 4 , H2 CO 3

are also produced. We have removed Na + but the water has become acidic.

Anion Exchange Resin

HCl + R4 NOH = R4 NCl + H2 O

This way we have eliminated Cl - and thus acidity of the water. Similar reaction for H2 SO4 also.

Mixed Bed Resins

These mixed bed resins are used in Demineralization plant of boiler feed water treatment, to
remove the ions (especially Na + and SO 3 2- ) which may further present in the water after
foregoing process of purification.

Degasser:

The function of degasser tower is to remove carbonate ions by forming carbon-di-oxide. In

degasser tower stream of water is poured from top & air is blown from bottom to top. In the
pressure of air the carbonic acid (H2 CO 3 ) present in the water dissociates into H2 O and CO 2 .
H2 CO3 = H2 O + CO 2
This CO 2 is free to mix with air.
Benefits of using degasser are:
(1) It removes the carbonic acid and other gases mixed with water by simple physical method &
thereby reduce the chances of corrosion.
(2) It saves the resins which are very costly chemicals and thereby improves the economy of
boiler feed water treatment process.
The H2 CO 3 free water is now collected in degasser sump and then pumped to anion exchange
resin inlet.

Reverse Osmosis Plant (RO Plant)

Like demineralization plant there is another stage of water treatment which is known as reverse
osmosis plant. RO plant: uses the process known as reverse osmosis to produce salt-free water.
The theoretical aspect is described below:-
Osmosis is a process in which only the solvent molecules pass through a semi-permeable
membrane from higher solvent density to lower solvent density (i.e. from solution of lower
density to the solution of higher density).

Osmotic pressure :- It is the minimum pressure that should be applied on the higher density
solution so that no osmosis takes place through the semi-permeable membrane is called the
osmotic pressure (π).

π = iCRT Where, C is concentration of solution,

R is universal gas constant,
T is temperature in Kelvin scale,
i is van’t Hoff’s factor, different for different solutions. i = 1 for infinitely dilute solution. Hence
osmotic Pressure is a function of temperature.

Reverse Osmosis Plant:

In RO plant using reverse osmosis phenomenon salt-free water is taken out from raw water after
the sand filtration. Purity of the salt-free water depends on effectiveness of the permeable
membrane.
The layout of a typical Reverse Osmosis Plant is given below

Steam air pre-heater require some steam which will reduce the efficiency of the power plant. The
procedure is described below:
(1) Sodium hypochlorite(NaOCl) is injected to raw water to kill the algae or bacteria present in
the raw water. Otherwise they may cause harm to the multi grade-filter (MGF).
(2) The multi- grade filter is the primitive type of filter where sand, stone-chips, stones are used
in stacks to remove the large size suspended particles from the raw water.
(3) The net filter again removes medium-size suspended particles, where the raw water passes
through the net minute vents.
(4) Then by ultra-filtration very small suspended particles are removed. After long usage of
ultra-filtration unit, it requires back-wash, and then it is back-washed with water & three
chemicals, viz. HCL, NaOH & NaOCl (Sodium Hypochlorite). HCl Removes iron by dissolving
it. It also removes the basic salts those are rejected on UFU. NaOH ← It helps to remove acidic
salt. NaOCl ← To kill algae and bacteria inside the UFU.
(5) After ultra-filtration the water is stored into RO feed tank & then pumped with RO feed
pump of Reverse Osmosis Plant. In the channel the water is mixed with HCL (for pH controlling,
as the water coming from RO plant or RO permeate water should have pH around 6.0) and
SMBS (sodium meta bi-sulphate) [Na2 S2 O5 ]. Due to the presence of sodium hypochlorite the
water is chlorinated. To remove excess chlorine SMBS is used. If excess chlorine is not removed
then the semi-permeable membrane may get damaged. It is also mixed with anti-scaling reagent
(AS), which reacts with those chemicals which form scale inside the channel.
(6) Then the water is passed through micro-cartridge filter (MCF) which removes the other
suspended particles & the precipitate formed by the reaction of anti-scaling reagent with the
scaling chemicals.
(7) In the this stage of boiler feed water treatment the water is fed to RO unit by H/P pump,
where after successive filtration by 1 st & 2nd stage RO it is fed to degasser unit.
(8) After degasification the water is passed through D/M plant MB (mixed bed) resin & stored
into D/M water storage tank.

Deaerator;

Deaerator is a contact type open heater in which dissolved oxygen in the feed water is removed
as much as possible by mechanical means. Gases move from higher partial pressure to lower
partial pressure. Partial pressure of oxygen in air is high (as air contains almost 21% oxygen by
volume) than the partial pressure of dissolved oxygen in feed water. Hence, by simple
mechanical means it is not possible to eliminate the dissolved oxygen from water.

Hence, in deaerator the feed water is heated by LP or VB steam (pressure: 2.5 – 3.5kg/cm2 ,
temperature: 1400°C). Due to heating the partial pressure of dissolved oxygen in feed water
increases and solubility decreases to considerable amount. Then by mechanical means dissolved
oxygen is released in air. Hence Deaerator is another very important part of boiler feed water
treatment plant.
The mechanical means is same as that of in degasser. But instead of air, LP steam is blown from
bottom to top and feed water is poured from top to bottom.
Deaerator also serves as header, to provide a net positive suction head (NPSH) to the boiler feed
pumps (BFP) and here by protects the BFPs from any damage due to vapor lock and cavitations.

Coagulation:
Coagulation removes dirt and other particles suspended in water. Alum and other chemicals are
added to water to form tiny sticky particles called "floc" which attract the dirt particles. The
combined weight of the dirt and the alum (floc) become heavy enough to sink to the bottom
during sedimentation.

Economiser:
What is economiser?
“A Device, which increases the temperature of feed water using waste heat of
flue gases leaving the boiler through chimney.
Economiser:
•construction
•working
•advantages
•disadvantages
Construction of economisers
Consists of a large numbers of vertical cast irons (steel water pipes) .One end of vertical
pipe connected with horizontal pipe A & another end with B.
Working of economisers
 The feed water enters into economiser through the bottom pipe A.
 Then, it comes into top pipe B through the vertical pipes.
 After that, it comes into boiler for further working.
 The hot flue gases coming from boiler pass over the vertical tubes of economiser.
OBSERVE :
 The heat transfer takes place from flue gases to cold water rising in vertical tubes
of economiser.
 The heated feed water is supplided to the boiler from STOP VALVE.
Effects of working
 The soot of flue gases which gets deposited on the vertical pipes REDUCES
EFFICIENCY of the economiser.
 TO PREVENT SOOT DEPOSIT ,the scrapers S move up & down by chain and
gears to keep the external surface of the pipe clean(for better HEAT TRANSFER)
  A BLOW OFF COCK VALVE is provided at back end of vertical pipes to
remove sediments deposited in the bottom boxes .
 A SAFETY VALVE provided at the end of the pipe A for the safety of the pipes.
Advantages
 Higher feed water temperature tend to reduce boiler thermal stresses, so life boiler
increased. of Economisers utilized waste heat from flue so fuel consumption of
boiler reduces.
 Increased evaporate capacity gases, of boiler.
Disadvantages
Economisers placed at passage of the flow of flue gases , so pressure drop take
place of flue gases (loss of draught)

Air-preheater:
An Essential Element of Fuel Fired Steam Power Plants
What is air preheater?
A device,which increases the temperature of air before it supply to the
furnace using heat from flue gases passing through chimney.
Types of air preheater
 Recuperative type air preheater
 Regenerative type air preheater
Recuperative turbulent type air preheater
•Construction
•Working
•Advantages
•Disadvantages
Construction
installed between economisers and the chimney .
 An air preheater is consists of large numbers tubes which arranged in the path flue gases
shell.
 Inlet air is at lower end.
 Baffles are provided inside air pre heater.
 The soot hopper is provided at the bottom.
Working
 A hot flue gas enters into tubes from the top of the shell and leaves from to the chimney.
 The inlet air at R.tmp. Is admitted into the shell with the help of the fan. The air passes
upward around the tubes in the opposite direction to the flow of the hot gases.
 Baffles increases the total path length of air and thus increase heat transfer .
 The heated air leaves at the upper end of the tube bank absorbing heat from the hot flue
gases.
 The soot hopper provided at the bottom is used to collect soot during cleaning operation
of the tubes
Advantages of air preheating
 Preheated air increases combustion rate and then increases steam generations rate of
boiler.
  Due to higher temperature of air, furnance temperature increases, so low grade coal can
be burnt efficiently .
 Air heated by heat of exhaust gases. It reduces fuel consumptions . Therfore thermal
efficiency of boiler increased.
Disadvantages of air preheating
 There are formations of clinkers , on the grate due to higher combustion temperature.
 Natural draught is not possible with air pre heater because of temperature of flue gases is
reduced , also pressure drop take place in the flow of the flue gases. therfore forced
draught is required.

Steam DRUM

A steam drum is a standard feature of a water-tube boiler. It is a reservoir of water/steam at the

top end of the water tubes. The drum stores the steam generated in the water tubes and acts as a
phase-separator for the steam/water mixture. The difference in densities between hot and cold
water helps in the accumulation of the "hotter"-water/and saturated-steam into the steam-drum.

HistorY
Initially the boilers were designed with 4 drums and 3 drums like the Stirling boiler. The single
drum at the bottom and three drums on the top were connected through a network of tubes which
were welded to the drums above and the single drum below. The rational demand of steam in
terms of capacity, pressure and temperature resulted in bi drums and single drum boilers.

Working
The separated steam is drawn out from the top section of the drum and distributed for process.
Further heating of the saturated steam will make superheated steam normally used to drive
a steam turbine. Saturated steam is drawn off the top of the drum and re-enters the furnace in
through a superheater. The steam and water mixture enters the steam drum through riser tubes,
drum internals consisting of demister separate the water droplets from the steam producing dry
steam. The saturated water at the bottom of the steam drum flows down through the downcomer
pipe, normally unheated, to headers and water drum. Its accessories include a safety valve,
water-level indicator and level controller. Feed-water of boiler is also fed to the steam drum
through a feed pipe extending inside the drum, along the length of the steam drum.
A steam drum is used without or in the company of a mud-drum/feed water drum which is
located at a lower level. A boiler with both steam drum and mud/water drum is called a bi-drum
boiler and a boiler with only a steam drum is called a mono-drum boiler. The bi-drum boiler
construction is normally intended for low pressure-rating boiler while the mono-drum is mostly
designed for higher pressure-rating.[1]
On steam locomotives the steam drum is also called a steam dome.

Boiler Blowdown
Blowdown of steam boilers is very often a highly neglected or abused aspect of routine boiler
room maintenance. The purpose of boiler blowdown is to control solids in the boiler water.
Blowdown protects boiler surfaces from severe scaling or corrosion problems that can result
otherwise.
There are two types of boiler blowdowns: ''continuous'' and ''manual''.
A continuous blowdown uses a calibrated valve and a blowdown tap near the boiler water
surface. As the name implies, it continuously takes water from the top of the boiler at a
predetermined rate. A continuous blowdown is an optional feature and may not be included on
your steam boiler; however, all steam boilers should include a means for manual blowdown as
standard equipment.
Manual blowdowns are accomplished through tapings at the bottom of the boiler. These
openings allow for the removal of solids that settle at the bottom of the boiler. Manual blowdown
is also used to keep water level control devices and cutoffs clean of any solids that would
interfere with their operation. All steam boilers require manual blowdown whether or not they
are supplied with continuous blowdowns.

Mud Drum
The Mud drum is a unit which is located beneath the boiler drum to collect the solid materials
which precipitate out of the boiler feedwater due to the high presssure and temperature
conditions of the boiler. The process by which suspended solids are collected in the boiler is
referred to as cycling. Cycling occurs because the boiler feedwater is sent throught the boiler
drum a number of times. This is done to produce the maximum amount of steam per unit volume
of feedwater. On each run through the boiler drum, a portion of the boiler feedwater is vaporized.
This results in an increase in the solids concentration in the boiler drum. Eventually, the solids
concentration hinders the ability to maintain steam generation efficiency. At this time, a stream
of compressed air is used to blow the solids into the mud drum beneath the boiler. The mud drum
then stores these materials for later disposal. This process of using compressed air to remove the
collected suspended solids is referred to as blowdown.

Tubes Of Boiler
Straight Tubing:

Single-Bend Tubes:

Offset Tubes:
Double Bend Tubes:

SuperHeater

A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used
in steam engines or in processes, such as steam reforming. There are three types of superheaters
namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired. A superheater can vary in size from a few tens
of feet to several hundred feet (a few metres to some hundred metres).

Primary SuperHeater:

Secondary SuperHeater

Attemperator Desuperheater:

Attemperator Desuperheaters reduce steam temperature by bringing superheated steam into

direct contact with water. The steam is cooled through the evaporation of the water.
Attemperator Desuperheaters can be mounted either horizontally or vertically and are normally
used for relatively steady load conditions where pressure losses must be minimized. These
desuperheaters are a modification of the venturi-type unit, without the venturi tail, and offer
increased turndown when mounted vertically up. While it is less costly and has negligible
pressure losses, it normally does not have the rangeability of the venturi-type unit.

Advantages

Units can be installed in either horizontal or vertical position. There are no moving parts, no
special pipe supporting required, and no thermal sleeve requirements. Water pressure need only
equal steam line pressure.

Applications
Used in shipboard service.
 Control steam temperature to dryers in paper industry.
Heating system steam conditioning.
Process steam temperature control.

Header:
The Steam Header receives steam from one or more (maximum 8) boilers, and holds it under
pressure. Downstream equipment receives the stored steam on demand. Header capacity is
determined by user configurable dimensions. Pressure difference is used as the driving force to
transfer steam from the boilers into the header, or from header to header, and from the header to
downstream equipment. The flow calculations between the boilers and the header ensure a
balanced transfer so that the header pressure does not exceed the feeding boilers.

The pressure in the header is based on the amount of contained steam, and its temperature. A
weighted average of all inlet steam temperatures is used to determine the final header
temperature. Both pressure and temperature are dynamically changing in the online system.

A user configurable PSV (Process Safety Vent) is defined, comprising a high pressure trigger
point which, when crossed, initiates opening of the vent. Extra steam is ejected to bring the
pressure below the trigger point.