Fundamentals of Boiler Design
Fundamentals of Boiler Design
BOILER DESIGN
NAREN SUKAIH
Fireman extinguish remaining fires at the vast petrochemical complex in the port city of Skikda, January 20, 2004,
following a huge explosion on Monday evening. Rescue workers searched through rubble for missing workers at
Algeria's largest refinery and export port on Tuesday after a blast at a nearby liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant killed at
least 23
The elements a boiler designer has to deal with are using other
terminology such things as
drums,
headers and tubing
which make up the pressure parts system and
enclose the furnace in which combustion takes place;
burners and related fuel and ash handling equipment;
and fans to supply combustion air and exhaust waste gases.
Various types of instruments and controls - link these elements together
in a physical and an operational sense.
Method of Operation
Heat Transfer
Feed water quality
Structural design
Testing results
Fuel burning equipment
Calculations
Specific boiler types
Boiler Output
The output or capacity of a boiler is often expressed in
tons of steam per hour or
in the power output of a turbine a generator in those cases where a
single boiler provides the entire steam supply for an electric
generating unit.
Neither term is a true measure of the thermal energy supplied by the
boiler.
Actual boiler output in terms of heat energy depends on several factors
other than quantity of steam.
Those include temperature of feedwater entering the economizer,
steam pressure and steam temperature at the superheater outlet,
and
the quantity, temperature and pressure of steam entering and
leaving the reheater.
Similarly, because boiler output is affected
by turbine and generator efficiencies,
generator output in kilowatts or megawatts is not entirely a true measure of
the energy output of the boiler alone.
Boiler Functions
In addition to its primary function of generating
steam under pressure, the modern boiler may be
required to perform some or all of the following
functions;
1. Provide steam of exceptionally high purity by removing
impurities from the saturated steam.
2. Superheat the steam generated in the boiler to the
desired temperature and
maintains this temperature constant over a specified
range of load.
3. In power plants operating on the re-heat cycle, resuperheat the steam which is returned to boiler
Boiler Efficiency
One of the best ways to comprehend the
significance of boiler efficiency is by means of the
Sankey diagram
which is generally associated with the evaluation of
thermo dynamic cycles.
Boiler Efficiency
shows the distribution of
heat energy in a coal
fired re-heat boiler for a
central station.
It can be seen that the
primary source of heat
is the fuel (A) and that
preheated
air
also
contributes to the total
heat in the furnace.
The amount of heat in
the
preheated
air
corresponds to that
extracted
from
the
exhaust gases by the
air preheater.
Boiler Efficiency
For central station boilers of the reheat type,
losses account for about ten per cent of the total heat
supplied in the fuel,
thereby realizing boiler efficiencies of 90 per cent or
higher.
Boiler Efficiency
Sankey diagrams for various types of boilers
WATERWALLS WATERWALLS
Practically all, modern power boilers are equipped
with waterwalls.
In large central station boilers,
waterwalls completely cover the interior surfaces of the
furnace,
thus providing practically complete elimination of
exposed refractory surface.
WATERWALLS
Waterwalls usually consist of
substantially vertical tubes arranged tangent or
approximately so and are connected at top and bottom to headers.
Design Considerations
Fuels
Coal is to a large extent the base fuel in power
generating stations
although natural gas and oil are used where costs are
favorable.
In contrast to gas, coal contains ash which consists of a
number of objectionable chemical elements and
compounds.
Oil, generally contains only small amounts of ash. The
objection able constituents of the ash, however, may
have a far reaching effect on the design.
Design Considerations
Fuels
Ash is of concern since
at the high temperatures resulting from the burning of fuel in
the furnace, fractions of the ash become partially fused and
sticky.
Depending on the quantity and fusion temperature, the
partially fused ash may adhere to surfaces contacted by the
ash-containing combustion gases,
causing objectionable buildup of slag on or bridging between
tubes.
Chemicals in the ash may attack materials such as alloys
used in superheaters and reheaters.
In addition to the deposits in the high temperature sections of the
unit,
the air heater which is, the coolest part may he subject to
corrosion and plugging of gas passages due primarily to sulfur
compounds in the fuel acting in combination with moisture
present in the flue gas.
Design Considerations
Furnaces
Furnace design must take into consideration
water heating and steam generation in the wall tubes
as well as the processes of combustion.
Practically all large modern boilers are designed
with walls comprised of water cooled tubes to form
complete metal coverage of furnace enclosure
in addition,areas outside of the furnace which form
enclosures for sections of superheaters, reheaters and
often economizers are also designed in a manner similar
to the furnace using either water or steam cooled tube
surfaces.
Present practice is to use
tube arrangements and configurations
which permit practically complete elimination of
refractories in all areas that are exposed to high
temperature gases.
Design Considerations
Furnaces
Tube diameter and thickness are of concern from the
standpoints of circulation and metal temperatures.
Natural circulation boilers generally use larger diameter tubes than
controlled circulation or once through boilers.
This practice is dictated largely by the need for more liberal flow
area to provide the lower velocities necessary with the limited head
available.
The use of small diameter tubes becomes advantageous in high
pressure boilers since the lesser tube thicknesses required result in
lower outside tube metal temperatures.
Small diameter tubes are advantageously used in controlled or
forced circulation boilers where pumps provide adequate head for
circulation and maintenance of desired velocities.
Factors such as velocity of water and water steam mixtures, quality
of water and steam mixtures are of particular concern in high heat
absorption areas of high pressure boilers.
Design Considerations
Circulation
In practically all types of boilers,
the difference in density between steam and water
is utilized to provide or to assist in providing water
circulation.
Design Considerations
Metallurgy
The selection of materials for superheaters and reheaters in boilers
designed for high pressures and temperatures in excess of 538
C
requires the use of high strength alloy tubing.
In addition to matters
of strength and oxidation resistance in superheater and reheater
materials,
the use of high steam pressure requires increased tube
thicknesses in all tubes subject to steam pressure.
Furthermore, the thicker tubes
are subject to higher outside metal temperatures.
Since chemical action is accelerated at higher temperatures, the
tube metal is more subject to external corrosion.
This is of particular concern when burning fuels containing
objectionable impurities.
The designer takes account of such conditions in selecting material
and tube sizes.
Design Considerations
Controlled Steam Temperature
The desire to maintain turbine efficiency
over a wide range of load and
to avoid fluctuations in turbine metal temperatures
has resulted in a need to maintain constant steam and
reheat temperatures over the anticipated operating load
range.
In order to satisfy this requirement
it is necessary that the boiler be equipped with means for
controlling and maintaining constant steam and reheat
temperatures
over the desired range.
If uncontrolled, steam temperatures rise with in creasing
steam output.
This is characteristic of convection type superheaters which
necessarily account for the major share of the heat absorbed
by the super heater.
Design Considerations
Boiler Drum
The boiler drum serves two functions,
the first and primary one being that of separating steam from the,
mixture of water and steam discharged into it.
Secondly, the drum is used to house the equipment used for
purification of steam after being separated from the water.
Design Considerations
Heat generated in the combustion of fuel
appears as sensible and
latent heat in the products of combustion.
Roughly 50 percent of the heat so generated is absorbed by water
circulated through tubes forming the furnace wall lining.
Heat absorbed generates steam by the evaporation of part of the
circulated water.
Design Considerations
Determination of the Surface
The amount of heating surface to be provided in each of the
several elements of the boiler depends on a number of
factors.
It is of course necessary that surface be adequate to satisfy design
and operating requirements.
Also of importance are proper applications and arrangements of
surfaces to insure effective utilization. The latter is to a large degree
dictated by economic considerations.
Design Considerations
Furnace
Heat generated in the combustion of fuel
appears as sensible and
latent heat in the products of combustion.
Roughly 50 percent of the heat so generated is absorbed by water
circulated through tubes forming the furnace wall lining.
Heat absorbed generates steam by the evaporation of part of the
circulated water.
To a limited degree the furnace heat absorbing surface is
dictated by the size and dimensions required for proper combustion of the
fuel.
Design Considerations