INDEX

Exp. Number Name Page

To study the working and construction details of a

1
fire tube boiler. 3

2 Study of water tube boiler table top model 12

3 Boiler drums and Drum internals 25

4 Superheaters, Reheater and De-superheater 31

5 Regenerative feed heating system 38

6 Turbine and cooling water system 43

7 Turbine vacuum system 48

8 Shell and tube type indirect condenser 56

9 Boiler efficiency and heat balance 60

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 EXPERIMENT 1
AIM
To study the working and construction details of a fire tube boiler.

APPARATUS
Model of different types of boilers.

THEORY

FIRE TYPE BOILER

In the fire tube boiler, the fuel gases pass through the tube and water surround them.

Types
1. Cochran boiler
2. Lancashire boiler
3. Locomotive boiler

COCHRAN BOILER
Cochran Boiler is a vertical drum axis, natural circulation, natural draft, low pressure, multi-
tubular, solid fuel fired, fire tube boiler with internally fired furnace. It is the modified form of
simple vertical boiler. In this boiler, the fire tubes are placed horizontally. The efficiency of this
boiler is much better than the simple vertical boiler. The essential consist of
1. Boiler shell with hemispherical crown.
2. Furnace, firebox and grate.
3. Combustion chamber and flue pipes.
4. Smoke box and chimney
5. Connections for boilers mountings and accessories.

CONSTRUCTION
1. Shell: It has a vertical axis cylindrical drum with hemispherical dome type shell at the top.
2. Grate: It is the platform on which the solid fuel is burnt.

3. Combustion Chamber: The burning of fuel takes place in the combustion chamber.
4. Fire Tubes: Cochran boiler has multi tubular fire tubes. The hot flue gases from the combustion
chamber travels to the smoke box through these fire tubes. The fire tubes help in the exchange
of heat from the hot flue gases to the water.

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 Fig.1.1: Cochran boiler
5. Fire Hole: It is the hole provided to fire the fuel inside the furnace.
6. Furnace: It lies at the bottom of the boiler. Furnace is the place where all is burnt. Without
furnace the working of this boiler is not possible.
7. Chimney: The chimney is attached to the smoke box. It transfers smoke to the environment.
The size of chimney is small as compared with another boiler.
8. Fire Brick Lining: The fire brick lining is present in the combustion chamber and helps in the
combustion of the fuel.
9. Manhole: A manhole is provided for the cleaning and inspecting of the boiler from inside.
10. Flue Pipe: It is a small Passage connecting the fire box and combustion chamber. The hot
gases enter into combustion chamber through the flue pipe.
Boiler mountings and accessories attached to this boiler are:
1. Pressure Gauge: It measures the pressure of steam inside the boiler.

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2. Safety Valve: It blows off the extra steam when the steam pressure inside the boiler reaches
above safety level.
3. Water level Indicator: The position of the water level in the Cochran boiler is indicated by
the water level indicator.
4. Stop Valve: Stop valve is used to transfer steam to the desired location when it is required.
Otherwise, it stops the steam in the boiler.
5. Blow off Cock: It is used to blow off the settle down impurities, mud and sediments present in
the boiler water.

WORKING
1. In Cochran boiler first the fuel is inserted into the fire box and placed on the grate. The fuel is
ignited through the fire hole provided at the right bottom of the boiler.
2. The fuel is burnt in the fire box and due to the burning of the fuel, smoke and hot flue gases
emerges out. The hot flue gases enter into the combustion chamber through flue pipes.
3. From the combustion chamber hot gases enters into the fire tubes. The fire tubes are
surrounded by water. The hot flue gases inside the tubes exchange the heat from the hot gases
to the water.
Due to the exchange of heat, the temperature of the water start increasing and it gets converted
into steam. The steam produced rises upward and collected at top of the boiler in the
hemispherical dome. An anti-priming pipe is installed at top of the boiler which separates the
water from the steam and makes it dry steam. This dry steam is then transfer to the turbines
through the steam stop valve.
4. The hot flue gases and smoke after exchanging heat moves to the smoke box. From the smoke
box the burnt gases and smoke is discharge to the atmosphere through the chimney.
5. Burnt fuel is transferred to the ash pit. Blow off cock is preset at left bottom of the boiler and
is used to blow of the impurities, mud and sediment from the boiler water.
6. A fusible plug is also provided at top of the combustion chamber. When the temperature of
the combustion chamber crosses the permissible level, the fusible plug melts and the water
through the combustion chamber enter into the furnace of the boiler and stop the fire. In this
way a big fire accident can be prevented to take place and also protects the boiler from damage.
7. Various boiler mounting and accessories are attached to the boiler for its efficient working.

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LOCOMOTIVE BOILER
Locomotive boiler is a horizontal drum axis, multi-tubular, natural circulation, artificial draft,
forced circulation, mobile, medium pressure, solid fuel fired fire tube boiler with internally fired
furnace. It is used in railway locomotive engines and in marine. It is a mobile boiler and has high
steam generation rate.

Fig.1.2: Locomotive Boiler

A Locomotive Boiler has several components. First of all, its shell or barrel. Generally, boiler shell
diameter is about 8.5m and length is about near 4m. A Steam Dome presents at the top section
of boiler. It contains the regulator for regulating the steam produced through the steam pipe
when boiler is operational.
Firing point or hole present at the rear end of the boiler. We already know that this boiler use
solid fuel in furnace. Solid fuel is inserted and ignited into the furnace by using this hole. After
that a fire box is present inside the boiler shell where the fuel is burned and generates heat.
There is a platform called Grate where solid fuel like coal is kept and burnt.
It is fire tube boiler and we already know how many fire tubes are present inside this boiler with
its types. The fire tubes in which, the hot flue gases passes. When hot flue gases passes it
exchange the heat with surrounding water.

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 There is a smoke box and it is the only way where smoke is passing through the air. When solid
fuel burned inside the furnace it also creates some smoke. These smokes need to exhaust in the
environment by the chimney.
There is a fire brick arch placed inclined over the grate. It is responsible for preventing the entry
of the ash, burnt fuel and dust particles into the fire tubes during operation. Brick arch also
provides a way to the hot flue gases to travel a definite path before it entering in the boiler fire
tubes. There is a pipe called Steam Pipe. By this pipe generated steam passes through. There are
two steam pipes in Locomotive Boiler. First one is the main steam passing pipe. It located
between the super heater and dome. Second steam pipe is connecting the super heater exit end
to the steam engine.
A blast pipe is provided above the steam engine. By this pipe the exhaust steam passes. It has an
important role during boiler operation. Generally, a blast pipe is used to create the artificial draft
that pushes the smoke out through the chimney. It also creates suction pressure for the hot flue
gases. This suction pressure allows the hot flue gases to passes forward and it passes through the
boiler fire tubes.
This boiler has a Super-Heater and it superheats the steam to the desired temperature. Steam
use to super-heated before it entering into the cylinder of the steam engine, because wet steam
create is harmful for engine. There is a super heater element pipes by which the steam travels
and become superheated.

CONSTRUCTION
1. Fire hole: It is a hole provided at the rear end of the boiler. The solid fuel is inserted and ignited
into the furnace through this hole.
2. Fire box: It is a box in which the burning of the fuel takes place.
3. Grate: Grate is a platform on which the solid fuel is kept and burnt.
4. Fire brick arch: It is a brick arch placed inclined over the grate. It prevents the entry of the ash,
dust and burnt fuel particles into the fire tubes. It provides a way to the hot flue gases to travel
a definite path before entering into the fire tubes of the boiler.
5. Boiler tubes: They are the fire tubes through which the hot flue gases passes and exchange
the heat with surrounding water.
6. Smoke box: According to its name, it is a box in which the smoke of the burnt fuel after passing
through the fire tubes gets collected. From there it is exhausted in the environment by the
chimney.
7. Blast pipe: It is pipe provided above the steam engine. The exhaust steam passes through this
blast pipe. It is used to create the artificial draft that pushes the smoke out through the chimney
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and creates suction for the hot flue gases. The suction created allows the hot flue gases to move
forward through the fire tubes.
8. Steam pipe: It is a pipe through which the steam passes. We have two steam pipes; one is main
steam pipe present in between the superheater header and dome. And second one is that which
connects the superheater exit end to the steam engine.
9. Superheater: It superheats the steam to the desired temperature before entering into the
cylinder of the steam engine.
10. Super heater element Pipes: These are the pipes of superheater through which the steam
travels and gets superheated.
11. Dome: It is Present at the top and contains the regulator for regulating the steam produced
through the steam pipe.
12. Regulator valve: It is a valve that regulates the steam through main steam pipe for
Superheating.
13. Safety valve: It is used to maintain the safe working steam pressure in locomotive boiler. It
blows off steam when the pressure of the steam increases above safety level and prevents
blasting of the boiler.
14. Superheater header: It is the head of the superheater which accepts the steam form the
steam pipe.
15. Chimney: It is used to throw out the exhaust smoke and gases to the environment. The length
of the chimney is very small in this boiler.

WORKING
1. In locomotive boiler, first the solid fuel (coal) is inserted on the grate and is ignited from the
fire hole. The burning of the fuel starts and it creates hot flue gases.
A fire brick arch is provided that makes the flow of hot flue gases to a definite path before
entering into the long tubes (fire tubes). It also prevents the entry of burnt solid fuel particles
into the fire tubes.
2. The hot flue gases passes through the long fire tubes and heats the water surrounding them.
Due to the heating the water gets converted into saturated steam and gets collected at the top.
3. The saturated steam from the dome enters into the main steam pipe through the regulator
valve. The steam travels in the main steam pipe and reaches to the superheater header. Form
header, the steam enters into super heater element pipes. Here it is superheated and then the
superheated steam enters into the steam pipe of the smoke box.

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4. The steam form the superheater goes to the cylinder containing piston. The superheated
steam made the piston moves within the cylinder. The piston is connected to the wheels of the
steam engine and the wheels start rotating.
5. The exhaust steam from the cylinder enters into the blast pipe. The burnt gases and smoke
after passing through the fire tubes enters into the smoke box. The exhaust steam coming out
from the blast pipe pushes the smoke out of the boiler through the chimney. Here the smoke
cannot escape out form the boiler by its own, so artificial draft is created by exhaust steam
coming out from the steam engine. This artificial draft created pushes the smoke out of the
smoke box and creates suction for the hot flue gases.

LANCASHIRE BOILER

Fig.1.3: Lancashire Boiler

Lancashire boiler is a horizontal drum axis, natural circulation, natural draft, two-tubular, low
pressure, stationary, fire tube boiler with furnace located internally. Its main purpose is to create
steam and then this steam is used to drive steam turbines for the power generation. It has high
thermal efficiency and the it about 80 to 90 percent. It is mostly used in locomotive engines and
marines etc.

CONSTRUCTION
1. Safety valve: It is used to blow off the steam when the pressure of the steam inside the boiler
exceeds the working pressure.
2. Water level indicator: It indicates the level of water in the boiler. It is placed in front of the
boiler. Two water level indicators are used in the boiler.

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3. Pressure gauge: The function of the pressure gauge is to indicate the pressure of the steam
inside the boiler.
4. Steam stop valve: Its function is to stop and allows the flow of steam from the boiler to the
steam pipe.
5. Feed check valve: It stops and allows the flow of water inside the boiler.
6. Blow off cock: Its function is to remove the sediments or mud periodically that is collected at
the bottom of the boiler.
7. Man hole: it is a hole provided on the boiler so that a man can easily enters inside the boiler
for the cleaning and repairing purpose.
8. Fusible plug: it is used to extinguish the fire inside the boiler when the water level inside the
boiler falls to an unsafe level and prevent explosion. It also prevents the damage that may happen
due to the explosion.
9. Grate: it is a platform which is used to burn the solid fuel.
10. Fire door: it is used to ignite the fuel present inside or outside the boiler.
11. Ash pit: it is used to collect the ash of the fuel after the fuel is burnt.
Generally, this boiler consists a large drum. Its diameter can be up to 4-6m and length can be up
to 9-10m. Normally this drum consists of two fire tube and its diameter is up to 40 percent of the
diameter of the shell. For this boiler the water drum is placed over the bricks works. Where three
spaces are Create between the drum and the bricks wall. First one is at bottom and second one
is in sides. When boiler is operational, then the flue gases pass through the fire tubes and side
and bottom space.
The great thing for this boiler is that, water level inside the drum is always above the side
channels of flue gases. For this reason, more heat can transfer to the water. But water drum is
not completely filled with water. Boiler water drum usually half filled with water form bottom
section of drum and the upper half space is for generated steam. Generally, the Furnace of this
boiler is located at one end of fire tubes which is inside the boiler.
Then low brick is present at the grates and it makes an obstacle to unburned fuel and ash to flow
in fire tubes during operation. Lancashire Boiler also consist other necessary mountings and
accessories. Those are economizer, safety valve, super heater, water gauge, pressure gauge and
some others parts. All are for the better performance of this boiler.

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WORKING
1. Lancashire boiler consists of a horizontal cylindrical shell filled with water surrounding two
large fire tubes.
2. The cylindrical shell is placed over a brick work which creates several channels for the flow of
hot flue gases.
3. Solid fuel is provided by the fire door which then burnt over grate at the front end of each fire
tube.
4. A small arc shape brick work is provided at the end of the grate to deflect the flue gases upward
and prevent the entry of burning coal and ashes into the interior part of the fire tubes.
5. The fire tubes are slightly conical at rear end to increase the velocity of hot flue gases. When
hot flue gases are allowed to pass through the downward channel at the front end of the fire
tubes. Now these gases pass through the side channel towards the rear end of the fire tube and
finally escape out through the chimney.
6. There are dampers at each side channel to regulate the air flow.
7. Feed check valve is used to feed the water uniformly to boiler shell.
8. Once the boiler is at quickly, water converts into steam by absorbing the heat from the flue
gases. This steam is stored at the upper portion of the boiler where anti priming pipe separates
the water from steam. Thus, the steam stop valve receives the dry steam for various purposes.
9. A man hole is provided at the top and bottom of the shell to allow a man to enter into the
boiler and clean it.
10. A blow off valve is provided to remove the mud that has settled down. It is also used to clean
the boiler.

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 EXPERIMENT 2
AIM
To study the working and construction of water tube boilers.

APPARATUS
Models of different types of boilers.

THEORY

WATER TUBE BOILERS

The tubes contain water and combustion of fuel flow outside the tubes.

BABCOCK AND WILCOX BOILER

It is a horizontal, externally fired, water tube, natural circulation type of stationary boiler

CONSTRUCTION
1. It consists of a welded steel high pressure drum mounted at the top. From each end of drum
connections are made with the uptake header and a down take header. The headers are joined
to each other by a large number of tubes which are kept inclined at an angle of 15 degrees to the
horizontal. The water tubes are straight, solid drawn steel tubes about 10cm in diameter and are
expanded into the bored holes of the headers. Due to serpentine (sinusoidal)form of headers,
the tubes are staggered and this exposes the complete heating surface to flue gases.

2. The furnace is arranged below the uptake header. The unit has a grate for the fuel burning,
provided with a chain gate stoker. The coal is fed to the chain gate stoker through the fire door.
The chain speed is so adjusted that by the time coal reaches the other end of the grate, its
combustion has been complete. The residual ash falls into the ashpit.

3. Baffles are provided across the water tubes to act as reflectors to the flue gases.

4. At the bottom of the rear header is the mud box. The foreign matter held in suspension in
water gets collected in it and can be blown off from time to time. The access to the interior of
the boiler is provided by the doors. This is necessary to clean the tubes and remove the soot. The
draught is regulated by a damper which provided in the black chamber.

5. For getting the superheated steam the unit is fitted with superheated tubes which are arranged
in the combustion chamber above the water tubes.
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 Vents are also provided for mountings and accessories such as safety valves. Pressure
gauge, water level indicator, fusible plug and feed check valve etc. The entire assembly of
water tube is hung along with the drum from the steel girder frame by steel rods called
slings in a room made of masonry bricks lined with fire bricks.

WORKING
The boiler drum shell is filled with water through feed valve and a constant water level is
maintained up to about 2/3 part in the shell. The water from the drum flows through inclined
tubes via down take header and then goes back into the shell in the form of water and steam via
uptake header. Obviously, the circulation of water is maintained by convective currents. The
hottest water in steam rises from the tubes to the uptake header and then through riser enters
the boiler drum. The steam vapors escape through water to the upper half of the drum. The cold-
water flows to the drum to the rear header and that completes the water circuit.

The hot combustion gases produced by burning fuel on the grate rise upwards up to the water
drum and then downwards. They again move upwards downwards between the baffles.

Baffle plates make the hot gases move in such a way that a longer contact time is maintained
between the hot gases and inclined water tubes. During their travel, the gases give their heat to
water and steam is formed. Finally, the hot gases escape to the chimney through the smoke
chamber.

The steam collected in the water drum is next led to the superheater tubes via anti-priming pipe.
Since the super heater tubes are exposed to hot gases, the steam passing through them gets
superheated. Then steam is raised from the cold boiler, the superheater should be flooded filled
with water) to avoid its burning. The superheated steam is finally taken out through the stop
valve and supplied to the engine when needed.

CAPACITY AND UTILTIY

Evaporative capacity ranges from 20,000 to 40,000 kg/hr and operating pressures from 11.5 to
17.5 bar are common. The steam from such boilers is primarily used to run steam turbines and
generate electric power.

MERITS
i) The unit the capacity to quickly cope with high peak loads which are generally needed at thermal
power stations.
ii) The inspection of the boiler can be carried out even when the boiler is in operation.
iii) Draught loss is minimum.
iv) The replacement of defective tubes can be made readily.
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v) Further since the boiler unit (except furnace) is suspended any expansion or contraction of the boiler
has no harmful effects on the masonry work enclosing the furnace and the boiled.

Fig.2.1: Babcock and Wilcox boiler

LOEFFLER BOILER
It is a high-pressure boiler which of water tube type and employs forced circulations.

i) The feedwater from the hot well is made to pass through the economizer section with the help
of a feed pump. While passing through the economizer, the feed water gains some heat from the
exhaust gases. Thereafter the feedwater is fed into the boiler drum which is housed at any
convenient point outside the furnace setting.

ii) There is a group of nozzles which receive a part of superheated steam generated in the boiler.
The nozzles pass this steam to the evaporating drum where it mixes with feed water and
generates steam. The rate of flow of feed water and superheated steam is so maintained that
after the mixing, the water evaporates into steam which has a high dryness fraction.

iii) The steam from the evaporating drum is drawn by steam circulating pump and it is passed to
the superheater. The system has 2 superheaters: one is horizontal convection superheater
located in the path of exhaust flue gases and the other is radiant superheater which is arranged
above the furnace and receives intense heat by radiation.
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iv) About 1/3rd of the superheater steam is supplied to the steam turbine for expansion work
and the remaining 2/3rd passes back to the evaporator through a set of nozzles. The steam gives
its superheat to the water contained in the drum resulting into additional generation of saturated
steam.

v) A blower draws in cold air from the surroundings and makes it flow through the air pre heater
which is arranged in the path of exhaust flue gases. The heated air aids in economic combustion.

It is to be noted that the Loeffler Boiler evaporates water solely through the means of
superheated steam. The furnace heat is supplied only to the economizer and superheater.
Apparently, steam is being used both as heat carrying and heat absorbing medium. Since the
evaporating tubes carry only superheated steam, the poor-quality feed water has no detrimental
effect of scale formation. For this reason, these are best suited for marine transport power
generation. Further, these boilers are compact in design and have been built up for steaming
capacity of 1 lakh kg/hr and operating pressures up to 150 bar.

Fig.2.2: Loeffler Boiler

BENSON BOILER
It is a supercritical type water tube type boiler which employs forced circulation. Apparently in
such a boiler the entire process of heating, steam formation and superheating is done in a single
continuous tube. The water goes in at one end and superheated steam leaves at the other end,
and due to this aspect, this type of boiler is known as mono-tube once-through forced circulation
boiler.

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The essential components of Benson boiler are:
1) Economizer section
2) Radiant heating section where most of the heat is transmitted and water gets heated almost
to the critical temperature.
3) Superheating section where superheating is done to the prescribed temperature level.

The feed water is supplied by the feed pump at 225 bar pressure (higher than critical
pressure) to the economizer and next to the radiant evaporator. This evaporator receives
immense heat from the furnace and converts most of the water to steam. The
evaporation of the remaining water occurs in the convective evaporator tubes by
absorbing the heat from the exhaust flue gases. The high pressure and almost dry
saturated steam finally pass through the convective type of superheater where
superheating is done to the prescribed temperature level.

Benson Boilers have been built and commissioned to generate steam up to 500 bar pressure,
650-degree Celsius temperature with generation rates as 1.56 lakh kg/hr. A Benson boiler
presents the following advantages:

1) At critical pressure, steam and water coexist at the same density and no bubble formation
occurs. As such, this critical pressure boiler is free from pulsations in water circulation, and no
impairment in heat transmission from flue gases to water.
2) Since the generation of steam is carried out in the evaporating tubes, the cost of drums is
eliminated.
3) Circulating pumps and down comers are dispensed.
4) The boiler is self-contained unit; its parts can be easily carried and readily assembled site.
5) The unit comparatively light in weight with high rate of steam generation
6) The unit is compact and occupies less space.
7) The boiler can be put into service in 10-15 minutes depending upon its size and pressure
required.

Its disadvantages are as follows:

1) The evaporation process leaves small deposits of salts in tube and that requires frequent
washing and cleaning of tubes. To obviate the problem, the requirement is of pure feed water.
As such, the preparation of feed water becomes more important when compared to a
conventional boiler.

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2) The tubes are likely to get overheated when the water supply is insufficient.
3) The construction material for the boiler and the steam turbine must be able to withstand
very high pressure and temperature.
4) The conversion zone has to be located in the region where the flue gases have a low
temperature. This is to avoid the deposition of solids and oxidation of surfaces.
5) Small storage capacity requires close coordination between steam output, feed water and
fuel input to maintain temperature at constant level.

Fig.2.3. Benson Boiler

PURPOSES OF THE BOILER STEAM DRUM

In a modern boiler, the steam drum can serve several purposes:
1. It provides a place for the storage of steam, so that load increases can be accomplished
quickly and smoothly.
2. It provides a place in which to install equipment that will separate water out of the steam,
before the steam goes to superheaters, turbines, etc.
3. It provides a place in which equipment can be installed that will remove impurities from the
steam, thus preventing these impurities from depositing on other surfaces, such as turbine
blades.
4. It provides a place from which heavy concentrations of impurities in the water can be
removed, via the blowdown line.

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5. It provides a place for the distribution of feedwater into the water circuits of the boiler.
6. It provides a place for the introduction of water treatment chemicals into the boiler.

The term "drum internals" is generally taken to mean all the devices installed within the
boiler steam drum. This includes various types of steam separators, chemical feed lines,
boiler feedwater lines, and continuous blowoff lines.

SEPARATION OF STEAM AND WATER

At low pressures, the lower density steam has a strong natural tendency to rise to, and disengage
from, the water surface in the steam drum. The separation of the water and steam in low
pressure systems can be accomplished without the aid of mechanical separators.

As the pressure rises, mechanical equipment becomes necessary. The dry pipe shown in Fig. 4
changes the direction of flow of the steam and water mixture, and causes most of the water to
drop back into the drum, allowing the relatively dry steam to leave the drum. The dry pipe is an
early form of separator that is still found on some low-pressure boilers.

Fig. 2.4: Steam separation in boiler drum without baffles

In a modern boiler drum, the separation of steam from the mixture delivered by the riser portions
of the circuit usually takes place in three steps. The primary and secondary separation removes
nearly all the water from the mixture, so that in effect, no steam is circulated back through the
circuit, see Fig. 5. The third separation, or steam scrubbing, removes or reduces the number of
contaminants in the steam that leaves the drum.

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 Fig. 2.5: Simple circuit primary Steam separation

PRIMARY SEPARATORS
At higher pressures, the steam becomes denser and its tendency to separate from water is not
as strong. Thus, steam will be carried through the steam drum and back into the downcomers
unless means are taken to prevent such action.

The cyclone steam separator was developed to remove the steam from the mixture of steam and
water in the steam drum, and to provide the downcomers with steam-free water. These
mechanical separators are installed in single or double rows in the steam drums as indicated in
Fig. 2.6.

Fig. 2.6: Cyclone Separator and Steam Scrubber

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All of the steam and circulating water from the risers is collected behind a manifold baffle and
then discharged into the cyclones. The water in the mixture will have a mass of between two (2)
and twenty-five (25) times the mass of steam in the mixture. The circulation ratio depends on
the boiler design and the firing rate of the boiler.

The steam and water mixture swirls into the cyclones at high velocity, producing what is called a
centrifugal force that is many times greater than the gravity separating force. This centrifugal
action forces the water toward the periphery of the cyclones. The less dense steam flows up the
central portion of the cyclones, and passes through a small corrugated scrubber at the top of the
cyclone cylinder. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.7.

Fig. 2.7: Cyclone Steam Separator

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The steam leaves the top of the cyclone at a velocity low enough to prevent entrainment of water
by the steam. This ensures that the steam quality is not affected by large variations in the water
to steam ratio. Directional vanes at the bottom of the cyclone guide the water into the separator
drum, utilizing the velocity energy in the water to overcome the head of water outside the
cyclone. This prevents flooding of the cyclones, even when the water level in the steam drum is
close to the top of the cyclone. It also permits a reasonably wide variation in the drum water
level, without affecting circulation or steam quality.

The cyclone steam separator has no moving parts, and simply transforms a small portion of the
circulating force into the centrifugal force required to separate the steam and water.

Fig.2.8: Drum Internals

DRYERS
The dryers or steam scrubbers are located at the top of the drum and are the last stage of
moisture and contaminant removal before the steam leaves the boiler drum. The dryer or
scrubber is generally a wire mesh or screen that will pick up any droplets of water and allow them
to drop back to the water in the drum. Figures 8 and 9 show the screen or mesh dryer. Figs. 4 and
9 show corrugated metal plate dryers with the drain pots or pipes to return the removed water
to the water below. A more complicated type scrubber is shown in Fig. 2.8 where perforated
trays, stainless wire mesh, and wash water are used for the removal of silica from the steam.

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INTERNAL FEED PIPE
An internal feedwater pipe is used on most boilers. Fig. 2.9 shows an internal feedwater pipe
entering the boiler through the drum head, and another figure shows a feedwater pipe that
extends nearly the entire length of the steam drum. The internal feedwater pipe is arranged so
that it reduces the risk of thermal shock and excessive turbulence by controlling the point at
which the feedwater mixes with the water in the drum. On smaller boilers, this may be
accomplished by a short feed pipe which discharges against a baffle. Larger boilers use a
feedwater pipe which runs nearly the full length of the steam drum and is perforated over its
entire length.

Fig. 2.9: Internal Feed Pipe

CONTINUOUS BLOWDOWN PIPE

The continuous blowdown, or blowoff, is located several centimeters below the normal water
level in the steam drum. This is where the water having the greatest concentration of dissolved
solids is found. Fig. 10 shows the location of the continuous blowdown pipe. As the name implies,
it continuously removes a controlled amount of concentrated water from the drum. The amount
of blowdown is controlled by a special regulating or metering valve, equipped with an indicator
that shows how much the valve is opened. The amount the valve is opened depends on the
results of periodic boiler water tests.

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 Fig. 2.10: Continuous Blowdown Pipe

CHEMICAL FEED PIPE

Chemicals which are used for the control of scale, corrosion, and sludge within the boiler are fed
into the drum by means of an internal pipe as shown in Fig. 2.11. The perforated chemical feed
pipe extends into the drum and is positioned to ensure rapid mixing of the chemicals with the
entering feedwater.

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Fig. 2.11: Drum internals, including Internal chemical feed pipe

24 | P a g e
 EXPERIMENT 3
Aim
Boiler drum and drum internals.

Boiler Drum

1. The drum is a pressure vessel it provides the necessary space for the separation of
water.
2. It also provides water storage for preventing the starvation of tubes.

Specifications

Length: 15700mm

Weight: 123tonnes

Internal diameter: 1676mm

External diameter: 1942mm

Thickness: 133mm

Material: Carbon Steel

Turbo separators: 50

Description

1. Drum is made up of two halves of carbon Steel plates having thickness 133 mm.

2. The top half and bottom half plates are heated in a plate heating furnace at a very high
temperature.

3. The semi-cylinder with hemispherical dished end is fusion welded to form the boiler
drum.

4. The drum is of fusion welded design with hemispherical dished ends.

5. It has down corner stubs, riser tube stubs, super-heated outlet tube stubs.

6. It is located at the height of 53 m from the ground level.

7. Modern High-capacity Boilers consists of 18 main columns and 12 auxiliary columns.

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 8. The drum is provided with manholes, which is used for the maintenance of the drum.

9. It is suspended from the sealing girders with U rods.

Fig. 3.1: Gravity Separation

Fig. 3.2: Filter Separation

WATER AND STEAM CIRCUIT

1. The drum forms part of the boiler circulation system.

2. Feed water is supplied to the drum from the economizer through feed nozzles.

26 | P a g e
 3. Downcomers: Water from the drum goes to waterfalls through 6 downcomers.

4. Bottom Ring Header From the downcomer water goes to all four sides of the water walls
through the bottom ring header.

5. Front Water Wall: These connections made up of water tubes from the front portion of
the bottom ring header to front top header.

6. Water Platens: To increase the heating surface area without increasing the volume of
boiler furnace.

7. Left Side Water Wall: Connections from bottom ring header to left top header.

8. Rear Water Wall: About 60% of real water tube from a goose neck and are connected to
the real top most header. Helps in maintaining a better distribution of flue gases stream
in the transition zone.

9. Extended Water Wall: About 10% of tubes are connected to the extended water wall inlet
header located below the goose neck.

10. Right Side Water Wall: The right-side water wall connections from the right portion of
the button ring header to the right top header.

11. Water Wall Assembly: The complete water valve assembly from the bottom ring header
to the top header are shown.

12. Riser Tubes

Riser tube connections from boiler top header to drum.
These are 6x23 rose of riser tube connections on the drum.
Steam and water mixture is admitted to the drum through these riser tubes.

13. Drum Internal

Separation of water from the steam takes place in the drum.
The saturated steam is lead to the superheater through superheater connecting tube
provided at the top of the drum.

DRUM INTERNALS
Function:
1. Separation of water from steam water mixture.
2. Mixing and distributing the feed water.
3. Internal treatment of boiler water by adding chemicals.
4. Facilitating blowdown for reduction of boiler water concentration i.e, total dissolved
solids.
27 | P a g e
 Fig. 3.3: Internal of Boiler Drum

Various Parts

1. Feed Pipe:

It feeds water to the drum. Water leaving the economy is supplied to the drum
through nozzles.
These nozzles are connected to an internal feed distributing header.
These are six level of riser tube connection welded to the drum
No. of riser tube 6x23 rows
Diameter of riser tubes 127mm

2. Separating Chamber:

From the riser tubes team and water mixture flows into the drum through a
narrow annulus.
This is a welded construction formed by baffles.

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 Baffle Plate- This surface direct the flow of substance either to prevent or to
improve its flow. It directs steam and water mixture entering the drum to the
turboseparator.

Fig. 3.4: Arrangement for Water levels

3. Turboseperator:
From the lower end of the separating chamber the steam and water mixtures, if
forced upward in the turbo separator.
Separation takes place in three stages in drum the separation first is take place in
turbo separators, second stage takes place in corrugated sheets connected to the
top of the turbo separator. The third stage takes place in the screen dryers.
These are arranged in two rows extended along the length of drum. To facilitate
easy bolted connections are used

4. Screen Dryers:
Third and final stage of steam separation takes place in it.
It removes residual moisture from the steam leaving turboseparator.
It consists of wire mesh of different gauges.
49 screen type dryers are arranged along the entire length of the drum. The steam
coming out from the dryer is totally moisture free saturated steam.
Principle- The steam passing between the stripes marking one or more shop
changes of direction and throwing the heavier water particle coming in contact
with the stripes.
The velocity of the steam through the dryer must not be too high. It also facilitates
the drainage of the separated water particles back into the drum water. The dryer
boxes have more coating surface.
The die stream coming out from the drum is takes from super heating through a
single row of steam tube located at the top of the drum. These outlet tubes are
called superheater connecting tubes.

29 | P a g e
 5. Antivortex Spider:
Vortex inhibiter is actually in the form of cruciform.
It is located at the inlet of the downcomer.
It prevents the vertex formation at the inlet of the downcomer.

Safety Valves
1. To relieve the excess pressure over and above the permissible working pressure in the
boiler drum.
2. It also provides the final protection in the event when interlocks and normal control fails
to prevent over pressure built-up.
3. Drum safety valve- Three number of spring type safety valves are fitted on the top of the
drum. One at the right end and the two on the left end of the drum. Number of safety
valves depend on units designed and steam flow capacity.

Fig. 3.5: Simple Rankine Cycle

Air Vents
1. Two numbers of air vents are provided on the drum to evacuate air from the drum during
start up and drainage of the boiler.
2. One air went is mounted on the left side and other on the right side of the drum.

Economizer
Its useful extracts the waste heat of chimney gases to preheat the water before it is fed into the
boiler. This is done by the hot free gases existing the last superheater or we heater at a
temperature wearing from 370oC- 540oC. The throwing away of such high temperature gases
involved a great deal of energy losses. By this higher efficiency and better economy were
economizer

30 | P a g e
 EXPERIMENT 4
AIM
Superheaters, Reheaters and. Desuperheaters

SUPERHEATER
Superheaters are one of the most important accessories of boiler that improve the thermal
efficiency. The superheater is a heat exchanger that overheats or superheats the saturated
steam. By superheating saturated steam, the temperature of the steam is increased beyond the
temperature of the saturated steam, and thus the efficiency of the energy production process
can be raised. The benefits of using superheated steam are zero moisture content in the cast
stages of the turbines, no condensation in steam pipes and thus increase the turbine internal
efficiency. The superheater normally consists of the tubes conducting steam, which are heated
by flue gases passing outside the tube. The tubes are usually connected in parallel using heaters,
with steam entering from one header and exiting in another header.

There can be several superheater units in the same boiler as well as reheaters, which is a
superheater for heating external stem (steam already used in a process outside the boiler).

Superheaters can be classified as:

1. Primary superheater: 1st superheater where steam is heated up to some temperature.
2. Secondary superheater: It is the second stage to further increase the temperature.

Superheaters are commonly classified as:

Convection based
Radiation based
Combined superheater

CONVECTION BASED SUPERHEATERS

Convection superheaters are the most common superheater in steam boilers. These convection
superheaters are termed as primary superheater where saturated steam from the drum is
entered and heat is absorbed by the convection method. Convection based superheaters are
used with relatively low steam temperature and the steam from the flue gases is mainly
transformed by convection. They are placed after the furnace protected from the corrosive
radiation of the flames.

31 | P a g e
 Fig. 4.1: Superheater (Radiant and Convective)

This type of superheater can also be protected from radiation by a couple of rows of evaporation
tubes. Convection superheaters are located in the convective zone of furnace, usually ahead of
economizer.

Parameters that increase the convection

RADIATION SUPERHEATERS
From the convention SH steam goes to the radiant superheater which is placed in the radiant
zone of the furnace. Radiation SH is installed at the top of the furnace, where the heat is absorbed
by radiation. Radiation based superheaters are used to gain higher steam temperatures and the
heat is mainly transferred by radiation.

32 | P a g e
COMBINED SUPERHEATERS
Steam leaving the radiant superheater goes to the desuperheater where highly pure water is
directly sprayed on the steam in such a quantity that the temperature of the steam after the last
stage of superheating in the pendant superheater does not exceed the rated value. The pendant
SH is a combined superheater in the sense that it receives heat partly by convention and partly
by radiation. The radiation and combined superheater together are often termed secondary
superheaters.

CLASSIFICATION OF SUPERHEATERS ON THE BASIS OF MECHANICAL SUPPORT

Pendant superheater
Inverted superheater
Horizontal superheater

Pendant superheater: It is supported from above. It is firm structural support. But the
limitation of pendant SH is that because it is hanging from surface, so steam is condensed and
collected in the bottom this slow down the steam rate.

Inverted superheater: It is supported from below. In this proper drainage of the condensed
steam but the structural rigidity is lack.

Horizontal superheater: There are usually supported in the vertical gas ducts. They have a
good structural rigidity and proper drainage steam. But they do not view then flame directly so
they are mainly from the convective type. This convention superheaters located in the flue gas
channel, where the flue gas starts flowing downwards.

Fig. 4.2: a) Pendant b) Inverted c) Horizontal Superheaters

33 | P a g e
REHEATERS
A reheater is basically a superheater that superheats stem existing in the high-pressure stage of
a turbine. The reheated steam is then sent to low pressure stage of the turbine. By reheating
steam between high pressure and low-pressure turbine it is possible to increase the electrical
efficiency of the power plant beyond 40%. Reheater design is very much similar to superheater
design because both operate at high temperature condition but their exit temperature is little bit
less than superheater and steam pressures are 20-25% less than superheater. The reheater is
usually located above the primary or convective superheater in the convective zone of utility
boilers. It consists of a number of vertical coils of horizontal tubes connected between two
headers. Similar to the economizer and convective SH steam comes from the high pressure
turbine and after being reheated it goes to the i.e. turbine for further expansion.

DESUPERHEATERS
The simplest type of desuperheater is an unlagged section of pipe where heat can be radiated to
the environment. However apart from the obvious risk of injury to personnel from such a hot
item of plant and the expensive energy wastage. This approach does not adjust to compensate
for changes in the environmental conditions, steam temperature or steam flow rate. Control by
attemperation means that the steam temperature is reduced by removing energy from the
steam. In a tubular type a portion of steam taken out through tubes from a point between the
primary and secondary superheaters by automatic value directed to a shell and tube heat
exchanger where boiled water from the drum may be circulated. The steam gives some of its
energy to that water and re mixed with the primary steam before entering secondary
superheater.

WATER SPRAY DESUPERHEATER

In water spray desuperheater superheated
steam is passed through a section of pipe fitted
with one or more spray nozzles. These inject a
file spray of water into the superheated steam
which causes the water to be converted into
steam reducing the quantity of superheat. The
working water may be introduced into the
superheated steam in a number of ways;
consequently, there are a number of different
types of water spray desuperheater.

34 | P a g e
WATER SPRAY DESUPERHEATERS ARE AFFECTED BY THE FOLLOWING FACTORS
PARTICLE SIZE: The smaller the water particle size the greater the ratio of surface area to
main and higher the rates of heat transfer. The water is broken into small particles using
either a mechanical device or steam atomizing nozzles.
TURBULENCE: As the flow within the pipeline becomes more turbulent the individual
entrained water particles residue longer in the desuperheater allowing for greater heat
transfer.
THERMAL SLEEVE: Careful control of the spray is required to ensure that the water does
not fall out of suspension as this can result in thermal stresses being generated in the
pipeline and cracking may occur.
COOLING WATER FLOWRATE: The rate at which cooling water can be added to the
superheated steam.

WATER SPRAY TYPE DESUPERHEATERS

SINGLE SPRAY RADIAL INJECTION SPRAY DESUPERHEATERS: The simplest
method of injecting cooling water is to introduce a nozzle through the pipe wall. The cooling
water particles are sprayed across the flow of the superheated steam.

ADVANTAGES
Simple in peration
Cost effective
Minimum steam pressure drop

DISADVANTAGES
Low turndown ratio
Longer absorption length than the steam atomizing type
Limited pipe size

APPLICATIONS
For constant cooling water requirements (steam lead, steam temp)

AXIAL INJECTION SPRAY SUPERHEATERS

This is a simple in line spray desuperheater but the point of injection is moved to the axis of the
pipeline. The cooling water is injected into the steam flow via one or more atomizing nozzles.
Axial injection of the cooling water improves the mixing of the water and the superheated steam
by two methods:

35 | P a g e
1. As the water is injected along the center of the pipeline it will be more evenly distributed
throughout the superheated steam.
2. The cooling water delivering pipe ice. injected in the pipeline acts as an obstruction, creating
additional turbulence at the point of water injection due to vertex shredding.

ADVANTAGES
Simple in operation
No moving parts
Cost effective across the entire range of sizes
Minimum steam pressure drop

DISADVANTAGES
Desuperheated steam temperature can only be reduced to 10° C above saturation
temperature.
Longer absorption length than the steam atomizing type but less than the radial type
desuperheaters.

APPLICATIONS
Constant steam lead, constant steam temperatures, constant coolant temperature
The water used for spray must be of high purity so that no deposits are added on the superheater
tubes, pipes. and turbine blades. The spray type desuperheater has been quite satisfactory in its
service. Steam is heated to some extent in primary superheater cooled from that high
temperature to some extent in a desuperheater by spray water and again steam is heated in the
secondary superheater.

36 | P a g e
Desuperheater is placed between primary and secondary superheaters. If the desuperheater is
located after the last stage superheater, the steam temperature exceeds the maximum desired
temperature before desuperheating which is harmful.

37 | P a g e
 EXPERIMENT 5
Aim
To study regenerative feed heating system.

Theory
Regeneration
There is a way to overcome this problem by raising the temperature-of the working fluid (water)
before it enters into the boiler and this process is called regeneration in steam power plants.
Conventional way of doing regeneration in a power plant is by extracting the steam from the
turbine after partial expansion or partial work done. This steam is used to heat the feed water
and the device in which it happens is called a feed water heater or a regenerator. Regeneration
improves the cycle efficiency by increasing the initial feed water temperature before the water,
water enters the boiler and also helps in controlling the large the large flow rate of steam at the
turbine exhaust. Regeneration is commonly used in all power plants where efficiency is of
importance and fuel saving is the motto.

A feed water heater is basically a heat exchanger where heat is transferred to the feed water by
extracting the partially expanded steam from the turbine to heat the feed water. Heating of feed
water can be done by:

38 | P a g e
 1. Directly heating (in a tank)- Direct heating of feed water is performed in tanks or vessel
also called open feed water heaters; or
2. By indirect heating (in shell and tube type heat exchanger)- Indirect heating of steam and
water is performed on shell and tube type closed heaters

Regeneration with Open Feed Water Heaters

Open or direct feedwater heating comprises of the vessel were extracted steam and feedwater
directly mix with each other. Heated mixture leaves the tank at a temperature which is in line
with the pressure of the mIx1ng chamber. An example of the power plant operating with single
stage regenerative cycle on the T-s diagram given below.

1. In a Rankine regenerative cycle steam enters the turbine at the boiler outlet pressure at
(5).
2. After entering the turbine, the steam expands isentropically in the turbine till the point
(6) or intermediate pressure (6), where it is extracted.
3. At the state (6) some steam is taken out or extracted and directed towards the feedwater
heater while the rest of the steam continue to expand in the remaining stages of the
turbine till the end i.e., condenser at a pressure corresponding to condenser pressure at
state (7).
4. The condensate in the condenser is at the saturation temperature corresponding to the
condenser pressure at (7).
5. From condenser Condensate leaves as a saturated liquid at condenser pressure {1).
Condensate or feedwater from here enters into the open feedwater heater via pump (1),
where it comes in direct contact with the steam extracted from the turbine at (6).

39 | P a g e
 6. Mixture leaves the open feedwater heater as saturated liquid corresponding to heater
pressure at (3).
7. Second pump raises the feed water pressure equal to boiler pressure (4), in boiler change
of state from water to steam and then superheating of steam took place to match the
turbine inlet parameters.

For every 1 kg of steam coming out of the boiler, some amount of steam (y) kg expands partially
in the turbine up to (6) and extracted to heat the feed water. Remaining quantity of steam (1-y)
kg worked completely over the rest of the turbine stages to condenser pressure.

If the boiler generates m kg of steam, then it is (1-y) m steam enters the condenser. Analysis of
the heat and work interaction for single feed water heater per unit mass of steam flowing through
the boiler is given by:

where,

Regeneration helps in boosting the thermal-efficiency of the cycle and also the boiler heat input
requirement by enhancing/improving the feed water temperature entering the boiler. No. of
feed water heaters is directly having a positive impact on the Rankine cycle thermal efficiency,
but addition of every heater should do judiciously after studying the real benefit and the cost
incurred (capital expenditure required).

BASIC FEED HEATING SYSTEM:

For basic feed system we used Rankin cycle in this when all these four processes are ideal, the
cycle is an ideal cycle called Rankin cycle. For the purpose if analysis, the Rankin cycle is assumed
to be carried out in a steady flow operation, applying steady flow engineering equation (SFEE) to
each of the process on the basis of the process on the basis of unit mass of fluid, and neglecting
changes in kinetic and potential energy. The work and heat quantities can be evaluated in terms
of the properties of the fluid. Usually, the pump work is small compared to the turbine work.

40 | P a g e
Regenerative Cycle with Single Feed Water Heater
The steam at p, pressure enters the turbine at point A let a small amount of wet steam of m Kg
after partial expansion at pressure p2 be drained from turbine at point B and enters the feed
water heater. The remaining steam at pressure P3 is further expanded in turbine and leaves at
point "c" The steam is then condensed in the condenser.

Regenerative Cycle with Two Feed Water Heaters

1. The steam at pressure p1 enters the turbine at point "A" Let a small amount of steam
after partial expansion p2 be drained from the turbine at point B1 enters the feed water
heater 2.
2. The remaining steam equal t (1-m1-m2) Kg is further expanded in the turbine and leaves
it the condensate from the
condenser is pumped in to the feed water where it mixes with the steam extracted from
the turbine.

41 | P a g e
ADVANTAGES OF REGENERATIVE FEED HEATING SYSTEM
It improves the cycle efficiency.
The metal temperature of boiler tube reduces by taking feed heaters in service and hence
increases the boiler tube life and reduces the outage due to tube leakages.
Extractions from last stages of turbine also act as moisture extractor and hence reduce
the blade damage due to water droplets impact.
Cost per unit of electrical power reduces by using with feed heaters.

DISADVANTAGES OF REGENERATIVE FEED HEATING SYSTEM

Increase cost of pipe frame work and also Increase mechanical losses with some steam
input less work is achieved.
Strength of turbine decreases due to the holes provided for extraction of steam from
different stages. The temperature of the flue gases may reach to dew point temperature
Decreases the extent of heat extraction from the economizer, Regenerative feed
heating involves the process of improving the efficiencies of turbine and to produce move
work.

42 | P a g e
 EXPERIMENT 6
Aim
To study turbine and water-cooling system.

Theory

TURBINE AND WATER-COOLING SYSTEM

A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into
useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating electrical power when
combined with a generator. A turbine is a turbomachine with at least one moving part called a
rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so
that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills
and waterwheels.

TYPES OF TURBINES
1. Water turbines
2. Steam turbines
3. Gas turbines
4. Wind turbines

Turbines used in hydro power plants

The turbines used in hydroelectric power plants are water turbines which have water as their
working fluid.
First of all, millions of liters of water is collected in the dam. More the height of dam, more the
pressure. The highly pressurized water is then made to flow via large pipe called as penstock.
The turbine is located at the end of penstock from where the pressurized water strikes the blades
of turbine at high velocity making it to rotate. This turbine is connected to a generator which
generates electricity.

The shape of turbine blades depends upon the pressure & velocity of water. Water turbines are
classified into 2 types-
1. Impulse type
2. Reaction

43 | P a g e
 Fig.6.1: Types of water turbines with Francis being most widely used

IMPULSE TYPE TURBINES

In impulse turbines, number of elliptical halves sized buckets are fitted instead of blades on the
rotor hub. When water strike the buckets at high speed, the rotor starts rotating. In short, the
kinetic energy of water gets converted into rotational mechanical energy.
Thus, electricity is generated when one end of turbine shaft is connected to generator.

Turbines used in thermal power plants

Also called as steam turbines, they are used in nuclear & thermal power plants where water is
heated to form steam & then flowed through turbines to produce electricity. Alike water
turbines, steam turbines are also classified into impulse & reaction types but the arrangement &
design is different. All the modern steam turbines are a combination of impulse & reaction type.

Steam turbines consist not only rotating blades called as rotor but also static blades called as
stator. Rotors & stators are placed alternately in order to extract most energy out of it. This
method is called as compounding.
Also, if you observe, the moving buckets in impulse turbine are designed to get pushed by the
steam. While the rotor blades in reaction turbine are aerofoiled shape, which lets itself generate
reaction & also let steam maintain its velocity.

44 | P a g e
 Fig.6.2: Blades of Impulse & Reaction turbines

GAS TURBINES
Gas turbines in other words are internal combustion engines, which are not only used in
powerplants for generating electricity but also for propelling airplanes & helicopters. Gas
turbines as a whole system has an axial compressor at the inlet.
These are sets of rotating blades which suck huge amount of air & compress it which also
increases the temperature. This air is then supplied to the combustion chamber. Fuel is added
into the combustion chamber & ignitor ignites the fuel.
Thus, large amount of exhaust gases is produced which are made to flow through turbines.

45 | P a g e
 Fig.6.3: Parts of a gas turbine, popularly called as jet engine.

The different types of gas turbines/jet engines are

Turbojet
Turbofan
Turbojet
Turbo shaft
Ramjet

The above mentioned are open cycle gas turbines where the exhaust gases are let directly into
atmosphere. The other type i.e., closed cycle gas turbines where the exhausted are reused again
for reheating are used in power plants.
Here is more detailed working of gas turbines & different types of gas turbines in detail.

WIND TURBINES
Wind turbines are a boon to mankind-
affordable, clean & sustainable! Some
windfarms are so big that they could
produce 50MW of power.
Well, coming to working of wind turbines,
the story remains same as other turbines.
The rotor has 3 blades & are designed in
such a way that when wind flows straight
through them, they start rotating. The
only problem here is wind turbines rotate
46 | P a g e
 equired frequency & that is
why we require a gearbox which increases the speed of shaft. The output shaft is then connected
to the generator.

The 3 primary types of wind turbines are -

1. Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT)
2. Savonius vertical-axis wind turbine (Savonius VAWT)
3. Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine (Darrieus VAWT)

Fig.6.5: Types of Wind Turbines

HAWTs are much older & common while VAWTs produce less power, are less efficient & hence
are not used commonly.

Adding a greater number of blades increases torque which is not the need here. Increase in
torque decreases the RPM which is undesirable and cost increases significantly. Also lowering the
number of blades to 2 leads to gyroscopic instability & periodic stresses which makes it unsafe.
Hence, 3 blades make wind turbines the most efficient in all terms.

47 | P a g e
 EXPERIMENT 7
AIM:
To study turbine vacuum system

Why is it required?
The steam turbine is a device to convert the heat in steam to mechanical power. Enthalpy drop
across the turbine decides the work output of the turbine. For increasing this enthalpy drop
across turbines we need an effective condenser vacuum system. condensing exhaust steam of
turbine, the exhaust pressure is brought down below atmospheric pressure, increasing the steam
pressure drop between inlet and exhaust of steam turbine. This further reduction in exhaust
pressure gives out more heat per unit weight of steam input to the steam turbine, for conversion
of mechanical power.

Fig. 7.1: Pressure Vs Specific Volume for Dry Saturated System

48 | P a g e
PARTS OF VACUUM SYSTEM

CONDENSER

The functions of condenser are:

To provide lowest economic heat rejection temperature for the steam. Thus, saving on steam
required per steam of electricity. To convert exhaust steam to water to reuse for thus saving on
feed water requirement. De-aeration of make-up pump water introduced in the condenser. To
form a convenient point for introducing make up water.

Steam Condenser
Steam condenser is a closed space into which steam exits the turbine and is forced to heat by
vaporization. It is a necessary component of a steam power plant because of two reasons. It
converts dead steam into live feed water. It lowers the cost of supply of cleaning and treating of
working fluid. It is far easier to pump a liquid than a steam. It increases the efficiency of the cycle
by allowing the plant to operate on the largest possible temperature difference between source
and sink.

owing through the tubes of the

condenser. After steam condenses, the saturated water continues to transfer heat to cooling
water as it falls to the condenser called hot well. This is called subcooling and a certain amount
is desirable. The difference between saturation temperature corresponding to condenser
vacuum and temperature of condensate in hot wells is called condensate depression.

49 | P a g e
Single Pass Condenser

Two-Face Surface Condenser

Thermal Processes occurring in Condenser

Condenser never receives pure steam from the turbine. A mixture of steam and non-condensable
gases (Air-steam mixture) enters the condenser. The ratio of the quantity of gas that enters the
ds on
type, capacity, load dimensions of the condenser plant.

50 | P a g e
Inside a Shell and Tube Condenser

Water Cooled Surface Condenser

The adjacent diagram depicts a typical water-cooled surface condenser as used in power stations
to condense the exhaust steam from a steam turbine driving an electric generator as well in other
applications. There are many fabrication design variations depending on the manufacturer, the
size of the steam turbine, and other site-specific conditions.

Shell
The Shell is the condenser's outermost body and contains the heat exchanger tubes. The shell is
fabricated from carbon steel plates and is stiffened as needed to provide rigidity for the shell.
When required by the selected design, intermediate plates are installed to serve as baffle plates

51 | P a g e
that provide the desired flow path of the condensing steam. The plates also provide support that
help prevent sagging of long tube lengths.

At the bottom of the shell, where the condensate collects, an outlet is installed. In some designs,
a sump (often referred to as the hotwell) is provided. Condensate is pumped from the outlet or
the hotwell for reuse as boiler feed water.

For most water-cooled surface condensers, the shell is under [partial] vacuum during normal
operation conditions.

Vacuum System
For water-cooled surface condensers, the shell's internal vacuum is most commonly supplied by
and maintained by an external steam jet ejector system. Such an ejector system uses steam as
the motive fluid to remove any non-condensable gases that may be present in the surface
condenser. The Venturi effect, which is a particular case of Bernoulli's principle, applies to the
operation of steam jet ejectors.

Motor driven mechanical vacuum pumps such as the liquid ring type, are also popular for this
service.

Tube sheets
At each end of the shell, a sheet of sufficient thickness usually made of stainless steel is provided
with holes for the tubes to be inserted and rolled. The inlet end of each tube is also bell mouthed
for streamlined entry of water. This is to avoid eddies at the inlet of each tube giving rise to
erosion, and to reduce flow friction. Some makers also recommend plastic inserts at the entry of
tubes to avoid eddies eroding the inlet end. In smaller units some manufacturers use ferrules to
seal the tube ends instead of rolling. To take care of length wise expansion of tubes some designs
have expansion joints between the shell and the tube sheet allowing the latter to move
longitudinally. In smaller units some sag is given to the tubes to take care of tube expansion with
both end water boxes fixed rigidly to the shell.

Tubes
Generally, the tubes are made of stainless steel, copper alloys such as brass or bronze, cupro
nickel or titanium depending on several selection criteria. The use of copper bearing alloys such
as brass or cupro nickel is rare in new plants, due to environmental concerns of toxic copper
alloys. Also depending on the steam cycle water treatment for the boiler, it may be desirable to
avoid tube materials containing copper. Titanium condenser tubes are usually the best technical
choice; however, the use of titanium condenser tubes has been virtually eliminated by the sharp
increases in the costs for this material.
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The tube lengths range to about 85 ft (26 m) for modern power plants, depending on the size of
the condenser. The size chosen is based on transportability from
ease of erection at the installation site. The outer diameter of condenser tubes typically ranges
from 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inch, based on condenser cooling water friction considerations and overall
condenser size.

Water boxes
The tube sheet at each end with tube ends rolled, for each end of the condenser is closed by a
fabricated box cover known as a water box, with flanged connection to the tube sheet or
condenser shell. The water box is usually provided with manholes on hinged covers to allow
inspection and cleaning.

These water boxes on the inlet side will also have flanged connections for cooling water inlet
butterfly valves, small vent pipe with hand valve for air venting at higher level, and hand operated
drain valve at bottom to drain the water box for maintenance.

Similarly, on the outlet water box the cooling water connection will have large flanges, butterfly
valves, vent connection also at higher level and drain connections at lower level. Similarly,
thermometer pockets are located at inlet and outlet pipes for local measurements of cooling
water temperature.

In smaller units, some manufacturers make the condenser shell as well as water boxes of cast
iron.

CW System

CW pumps supply cooling

water to condensers

CW maintains vacuum in
condensers

CW flows through
condensers tubes

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STEAM EJECTORS

Air and water vapor are removed from the main steam condenser, enters the first stage ejector
and are compressed to the inter stage pressure by means of the high-pressure motive steam. The
load and motive steam are discharged to the inter condenser and a portion of the water vapor
and motive steams are condensed by condensate from the main condenser. Non-condensable
and associated water vapor are removed from the inter condenser by the 2nd stage ejector.

Multistage condensing ejector systems can be designed to operate at any condenser pressure
and designs are not limited by the available cooling water temperature to the inter condenser
(condensate cooled systems are common), These systems have no moving parts, are the most
reliable, require the least maintenance of all venting systems, and are the least expensive in initial
cost. Once equipment is built for a given motive steam pressure that pressure must be
maintained or the ejector will become unstable and lose vacuum.
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VACUUM PUMPS

The liquid-ring vacuum pump is a specific form of rotary positive-displacement pump utilizing
liquid as the principal element in gas compression. The working parts of the liquid ring vacuum
pump consists of a multi-bladed impeller mounted eccentrically in a round casing which is partly
filled with liquid. As the impeller rotates, the liquid is thrown by centrifugal force to form a liquid
ring which is concentric with the periphery of the casing.

TWO STAGE VACUUM PUMP AND LIQUID RING

To produce vacuum in a two-stage liquid ring vacuum pump, a multi-blade impeller on a shaft is
positioned eccentrically in a cylindrical housing that is partially filled with sealing liquid.
As the shaft turns, a liquid ring is created by the centrifugal force generated by the rotating
impeller. This force holds the liquid ring against the inner wall of the pumping chamber. Since
the impeller is located eccentric to the pumping chamber, the depth of the entry of the blades
into the liquid ring decreases and increases as the impeller rotates. This creates increasing cell
volume on the inlet port side, creating vacuum.
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 EXPERIMENT 8
Aim
To study the Shell and Tube Type Indirect Condenser.

APPARATUS
Models of different types of condenser.

Theory
A shell and tube heat condenser is a class of condenser designs. It is the most common type of
condenser in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for higher pressure
applications. As its name implies, this type of condenser consists of a shell (a large pressure
vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows
over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is
called a tube bundle, and may be composed of several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally finned,
etc.

Working
Two fluids, of different starting temperatures, flow through the heat exchanger. One
flows through the tubes (the tube side) and the other flows outside the tubes but inside
the shell (the shell side). Heat is transferred from one fluid to the other through the tube
walls, either from tube side to shell side or vice versa. The fluids can be either liquids or
gases on either the shell or the tube side. In order to transfer heat efficiently, a large heat
transfer area should be used, leading to the use of many tubes. In this way, waste heat
can be put to use. This is an efficient way to conserve energy.

Heat exchangers with only one phase (liquid or gas) on each side can be called one-phase
or single-phase heat exchangers. Two-phase heat exchangers can be used to heat a liquid
to boil it into a gas (vapor), sometimes called boilers, or cool a vapor to condense it into
a liquid (called condensers), with the phase change usually occurring on the shell side.
Boilers in steam engine locomotives are typically large, usually cylindrically-shaped shell-
and-tube heat exchangers. In large power plants with steam-driven turbines, shell-and-
tube surface condensers are used to condense the exhaust steam exiting the turbine into
condensate water which is recycled back to be turned into steam in the steam generator.

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Shell and tube heat exchanger design:
There can be many variations on the shell and tube design. Typically, the ends of each tube are
connected to plenums (sometimes called water boxes) through holes in tube sheets. The tubes
may be straight or bent in the shape of a U, called U-tubes.

1. STRAIGHT-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

ONE PASS TUBE SIDE

2. U-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

In nuclear power plants called pressurized water reactors, large heat exchangers called steam
generators are two phase, shell-and tube heat exchangers which typically have U-tubes. They are
used to boil water recycled from a surface condenser into steam to drive a turbine to produce
power. Most shell-and-tube heat exchangers are either 1, 2, or 4 pass designs on the tube side.
This refers to the number of times the fluid in the tubes passes through the fluid in the shell. In a
single pass heat exchanger, the fluid goes in one end of each tube and out the other.

Surface condensers in power plants are often 1-pass straight-tube heat exchangers (see surface
condenser for diagram). Two and four pass designs are common because the fluid can enter and
exit on the same side. This makes construction much simpler.

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ii) TWO PASS TUBE SIDE

There are often baffles directing flow through the shell side so the fluid does not take a shortcut
through the shell side leaving ineffective low flow volumes. These are generally attached to the
tube bundle rather than the shell in order that the bundle is still removable for maintenance.
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Counter current heat exchangers are most efficient because they allow the highest log mean
temperature difference between the hot and cold streams. Many companies however do not use
two pass heat exchangers with a u-tube because they can break easily in addition to being more
expensive to build. Often multiple heat exchangers can be used to simulate the counter current
flow of a single large exchanger.

Selection of tube material

To be able to transfer heat well, the tube material should have good thermal conductivity.
Because heat is transferred from a hot to a cold side through the tubes, there is a temperature
difference through the width of the tubes. Because of the tendency of the tube material to
thermally expand differently at various temperatures, thermal stresses occur during operation.
This is in addition to any stress from high pressures from the fluids themselves. The tube material
also should be compatible with both the shell and tube side fluids for long periods under the
operating conditions (temperatures, pressures, pH, etc.) to minimize deterioration such as
corrosion. All of these requirements call for careful selection of strong, thermally-conductive,
corrosion-resistant, high quality tube materials, typically metals, Including aluminum, copper
alloy, stainless steel, carbon steel, non-ferrous copper alloy, Inconel, nickel, Hastelloy and
titanium. Fluor polymers such as Perfluoro alkoxy alkane (PFA) and Fluorinated ethylene
propylene (FEP) are also used to produce the tubing material due to their high resistance to
extreme temperatures. Poor choice of tube material could result in a leak through a tube
between the shell and tube sides causing fluid cross contamination and possibly loss of pressure.

Applications and uses

a) The simple design of a shell and tube heat exchanger makes it an ideal cooling solution for a
wide variety of applications.
b) One of the most common applications is the cooling of hydraulic fluid and oil in engines,
transmissions and hydraulic power packs.
c) With the right choice of materials, they can also be used to cool or heat other mediums, such
as swimming pool water or charge air.
d) One of the big advantages of using a shell and tube heat exchanger is that they are often easy
to service, particularly with models where a floating tube bundle (where the tube plates are not
welded to the outer shell) is available.

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 EXPERIMENT 9
ENERGY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF BOILERS

Introduction
Performance of the boiler, like efficiency and evaporation ratio reduces with time, due to poor
combustion, heat transfer fouling and poor operation and maintenance. Deterioration of fuel
quality and water quality also leads to poor performance of boiler. Efficiency testing helps us to
find out how far the boiler efficiency drifts away from the best efficiency. Any observed abnormal
deviations could therefore be investigated to pinpoint the problem area for necessary corrective
action. Hence it is necessary to find out the current level of efficiency for performance evaluation,
which is a pre requisite for energy conservation action in industry.

Purpose of the Performance Test

To find out the efficiency of the boiler
To find out the Evaporation ratio
The purpose of the performance test is to determine actual performance and efficiency of the
boiler and compare it with design values or norms. It is an indicator for tracking day-to-day and
season-to-season variations in boiler efficiency and energy efficiency improvements.

Performance Terms and Definitions

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Scope
The procedure describes routine test for both oil fired and solid fuel fired boilers using coal, agro
residues etc. Only those observations and measurements need to be made which can be readily
applied and is necessary to attain the purpose of the test.

Reference Standards
British standards, BS845: 1987
The British Standard BS845: 1987 describes the methods and conditions under which a boiler
should be tested to determine its efficiency. For the testing to be done, the boiler should
be operated under steady load conditions (generally full load) for a period of one hour after
which readings would be taken during the next hour of steady operation to enable the efficiency
to be calculated.
The efficiency of a boiler is quoted as the % of useful heat available, expressed as a percentage
of the total energy potentially available by burning the fuel. This is expressed on the
basis of gross calorific value (GCV).
This deals with the complete heat balance and it have two parts:
Part One deals with standard boilers, where the indirect method is specified
Part Two deals with complex plant where there are many channels of heat flow. In this
case, both the direct and indirect methods are applicable, in whole or in part.

ASME Standard: PTC-4-1 Power Test Code for Steam Generating Units
This consists of
Part One: Direct method (also called as Input -output method)
Part Two: Indirect method (also called as Heat loss method)

IS 8753: Indian Standard for Boiler Efficiency Testing

Most standards for computation of boiler efficiency, including IS 8753 and BS845 are designed
for spot measurement of boiler efficiency. Invariably, all these standards do not include blow
down as a loss in the efficiency determination process.

Basically, Boiler efficiency can be tested by the following methods:

1) The Direct Method: Where the energy gain of the working fluid (water and steam) is
compared with the energy content of the boiler fuel.
2) The Indirect Method: Where the efficiency is the difference between the losses and the
energy input.

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The Direct Method Testing
Description
T -outpu put
(steam) and the heat input (i.e., fuel) for evaluating the efficiency. This efficiency can be
evaluated
using the formula:

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 Measurements Required for Direct Method Testing

Heat input
Both heat input and heat output must be measured. The measurement of heat input requires
knowledge of the calorific value of the fuel and its flow rate in terms of mass or volume, according
to the nature of the fuel.

For gaseous fuel: A gas meter of the approved type can be used and the measured volume should
be corrected for temperature and pressure. A sample of gas can be collected for calorific value
determination, but it is usually acceptable to use the calorific value declared by the gas suppliers.

For liquid fuel: Heavy fuel oil is very viscous, and this property varies sharply with temperature.
The meter, which is usually installed on the combustion appliance, should be regarded as a rough
indicator only and, for test purposes, a meter calibrated for the particular oil is to be used and
over a realistic range of temperature should be installed. Even better is the use of an accurately
calibrated day tank.

For solid fuel: The accurate measurement of the flow of coal or other solid fuel is very difficult.
The measurement must be based on mass, which means that bulky apparatus must be set up on
the boiler-house floor. Samples must be taken and bagged throughout the test, the bags sealed
and sent to a laboratory for analysis and calorific value determination. In some more recent boiler
houses, the problem has been alleviated by mounting the hoppers over the boilers on calibrated
load cells, but these are yet uncommon.

Heat output
There are several methods, which can be used for measuring heat output. With steam boilers, an
installed steam meter can be used to measure flow rate, but this must be corrected for
temperature and pressure. In earlier years, this approach was not favored due to the change in
accuracy of orifice or venturi meters with flow rate. It is now more viable with modern flow
meters of the variable-orifice or vortex-shedding types.

The alternative with small boilers is to measure feed water, and this can be done by previously
calibrating the feed tank and noting down the levels of water during the beginning and end of
the trial. Care should be taken not to pump water during this period. Heat addition for conversion
of feed water at inlet temperature to steam, is considered for heat output.
In case of boilers with intermittent blowdown, blowdown should be avoided during the trial
period. In case of boilers with continuous blowdown, the heat loss due to blowdown should be
calculated and added to the heat in steam.

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 Boiler Efficiency by Direct Method: Calculation and Example

Test Data and Calculation

Water consumption and coal consumption were measured in a coal-fired boiler at hourly
intervals. Weighed quantities of coal were fed to the boiler during the trial period. Simultaneously
water level difference was noted to calculate steam generation during the trial period. Blow
down was avoided during the test. The measured data is given below.

Merits and Demerits of Direct Method

Merits
1. Plant people can evaluate quickly the efficiency of boilers
2. Requires few parameters for computation
3. Needs few instruments for monitoring
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Demerits
1. Does not give clues to the operator as to why efficiency of system is lower
2.Does not calculate various losses accountable for various efficiency levels
3.Evaporation ratio and efficiency may mislead, if the steam is highly wet due to water carryover

The Indirect Method Testing

Description
The efficiency can be measured easily by measuring all the losses occurring in the boilers using
the principles to be described. The disadvantages of the direct method can be overcome by this
method, which calculates the various heat losses associated with boiler. The efficiency can be
arrived at, by subtracting the heat loss fractions from 100.An important advantage of this method
is that the errors in measurement do not make significant change in efficiency.
Thus, if boiler efficiency is 90%, an error of 1% in direct method will result in significant change
in efficiency. i.e., 90 ± 0.9 = 89.1 to 90.9. In indirect method, 1% error in measurement of losses
will result in
Efficiency = 100 (10 ± 0.1) = 90 ± 0.1 = 89.9 to 90.1.

The various heat losses occurring in the boiler are

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The following losses are applicable to liquid, gas and solid fired boiler
L1 Loss due to dry flue gas (sensible heat)
L2 Loss due to hydrogen in fuel (H2)
L3 Loss due to moisture in fuel (H2O)
L4 Loss due to moisture in air (H2O)
L5 Loss due to carbon monoxide (CO)
L6 Loss due to surface radiation, convection and other unaccounted*.
*Losses which are insignificant and are difficult to measure.
The following losses are applicable to solid fuel fired boiler in addition to above
L7 Unburnt losses in fly ash (Carbon)
L8 Unburnt losses in bottom ash (Carbon)
Boiler Efficiency by indirect method = 100 (L1 + L2 + L3 + L4 + L5 + L6 + L7 + L8)

Measurements Required for Performance Assessment Testing

The following parameters need to be measured, as applicable for the computation of boiler
efficiency
and performance.

a) Flue gas analysis

1. Percentage of CO2 or O2 in flue gas
2. Percentage of CO in flue gas
3. Temperature of flue gas

b) Flow meter measurements for

1. Fuel
2. Steam
3. Feed water
4. Condensate water
5. Combustion air

c) Temperature measurements for

1. Flue gas
2. Steam
3. Makeup water
4. Condensate return
5. Combustion air
6. Fuel

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 7. Boiler feed water

d) Pressure measurements for

1. Steam
2. Fuel
3. Combustion air, both primary and secondary
4. Draft

e) Water condition
1. Total dissolved solids (TDS)
2. pH
3. Blow down rate and quantity
The various parameters that were discussed above can be measured with the instruments that
are given in Table.

Test Conditions and Precautions for Indirect Method Testing

A) The efficiency test does not account for

Standby losses. Efficiency test is to be carried out, when the boiler is operating under a
1.steady load: Therefore, the combustion efficiency test does not reveal standby losses, which
occur between firing intervals

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2.Blow down loss: The amount of energy wasted by blow down varies over a wide range.
3. Soot blower steam: The amount of steam used by soot blowers is variable that depends on
the type of fuel.
4.Auxiliary equipment energy consumption: The combustion efficiency test does not account
for the energy usage by auxiliary equipment, such as burners, fans, and pumps.

B) Preparations and pre conditions for testing

1. Burn the specified fuel(s) at the required rate.
2. Do the tests while the boiler is under steady load. Avoid testing during warming up of
boilers from a cold condition
3. Obtain the charts /tables for the additional data.
4. Determination of general method of operation
5. Sampling and analysis of fuel and ash.
6. Ensure the accuracy of fuel and ash analysis in the laboratory.
7. Check the type of blow down and method of measurement
8. Ensure proper operation of all instruments.
9. Check for any air infiltration in the combustion zone

Heat Balance:
Having established the magnitude of all the losses mentioned above, a simple heat balance would
give the efficiency of the boiler. The efficiency is the difference between the energy input to the
boiler and the heat losses calculated.

Heat transfer mediums

There are different types of heat transfer medium e.g., steam, hot water and thermal oil. Steam
and Hot water are most common and it will be valuable to briefly examine these common heat
transfer mediums and associated properties.

Thermic Fluid
Thermic Fluid is used as a heat transfer mechanism in some industrial process and heating
applications. Thermic Fluid may be a vegetable or mineral based oil and the oil may be raised to
a high temperature without the need for any pressurization. The relatively high flow and return
temperatures may limit the potential for flue gas heat recovery unless some other system can
absorb this heat usefully. Careful design and selection are required to achieve best energy
efficiency.

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Hot water
Water is a fluid with medium density, high specific heat capacity, low viscosity and relatively low
thermal conductivity. At relatively low temperature e.g., 70°C 90°C, hot water is useful for smaller
heating installations.

Steam
When water is heated its temperature will rise. The heat added is called sensible heat and the
heat content of the water is termed its enthalpy. The usual datum point used to calculate
enthalpy is 0°C.
When the water reaches its boiling point, any further heat input will result in some proportion of
the water changing from the liquid to the vapor state, i.e., changing to steam. The heat required
of a
fixed mass of water. Where no change in temperature occurs during the change of state, the

ugh at each pressure there is

only one discrete temperature at which saturation can occur.
If further heat is applied to the saturated steam the temperature will rise and the steam will
itions will be
accompanied by a further rise in enthalpy.
Steam is useful heat transfer medium because, as a gas, it is compressible. At high pressure and
consequently density, steam can carry large quantities of heat with relatively small volume

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