Chapter-4

BOILER

Chapter Four

Boilers

Lecture by:Esubalew Melese (sgt.)

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4.1 Introduction
• Steam is extensively used for various applications such as power production,
industrial processes, work interaction, heating etc.
• With the increasing use of steam in different engineering systems the steam
generation technology has also undergone various developments starting from
100 B.C. when Hero of Alexandria invented a combined reaction turbine and
boiler.
• Boiler, also called steam generator is the engineering device which
generates steam at constant pressure. It is a closed vessel, generally made
of steel in which vaporization of water takes place.
• Heat required for vaporization may be provided by the combustion of fuel in
furnace, electricity, nuclear reactor, hot exhaust gases, solar radiations etc.

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• Earlier boilers were closed vessels made from sheets of wrought iron which were
lapped, riveted and formed into shapes of simple sphere type or complex
sections such as the one shown in Fig. 3.1. It is the ‘Wagon boiler’ of Watt
developed in 1788.
• Boiler technology got revolutionized during second world war, when the need
arose for the boilers to supply steam to field installations.
• Field requirements were critical as the boiler installation and commissioning
should take place in minimum time. Therefore the ‘Package boilers’ which were
complete with all auxiliaries as one unit came up and gradually transformed
into modern boiler having lot of accessories and mountings.
• Thus in a boiler other than heat supplying unit, shell and tubes, a number of
other devices are used for its control, safe and efficient operation.

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Fig. 3.1 Wagon boiler of Watt, (1788)

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4.2. Classification of Boilers

• Boilers are of many types. Depending upon their features they can be
classified as given under:
(a) Based upon the orientation/axis of the shell: According to the axis of shell
boiler can be classified as vertical boiler and horizontal boiler.
(i) Vertical boiler has its shell vertical.
(ii) Horizontal boiler has its shell horizontal.
(iii) Inclined boiler has its shell inclined.
(b) Based upon utility of boiler: Boilers can be classified as
(i) Stationery boiler, such boilers are stationery and are extensively used in power
plants, industrial processes, heating etc.
(ii) Portable boiler, such boilers are portable and are of small size. These can be of
the following types,
• Locomotive boiler, which are exclusively used in locomotives.
• Marine boiler, which are used for marine applications.
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(c) Based on type of firing employed: According to the nature of heat addition
process boilers can be classified as,
(i) Externally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done externally i.e.
furnace is outside the boiler unit. Such as Lanchashire boiler, Locomotive
boiler etc.
(ii) Internally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done internally i.e.
furnace is within the boiler unit. Such as Cochran boiler, Bobcock Wilcox
boiler etc.
(d) Based upon the tube content: Based on the fluid inside the tubes, boilers can
be,
(i) Fire tube boilers, such boilers have the hot gases inside the tube and water is
outside surrounding them. Examples for these boilers are, Cornish boiler,
Cochran boiler, Lancashire boiler, Locomotive boiler etc.
(ii) Water tube boilers, such boilers have water flowing inside the tubes and hot
gases surround them. Examples for such boilers are Babcock-Wilcox boiler,
Stirling boiler, La-Mont boiler, Benson boiler etc.

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(e) Based on type of fuel used: According to the type of fuel used the boilers can
be,
(i) Solid fuel fired boilers, such as coal fired boilers etc.
(ii) Liquid fuel fired boilers, such as oil fired boilers etc.
(iii) Gas fired boilers, such as natural gas fired boilers etc.
(f) Based on circulation: According to the flow of water and steam within the
boiler circuit the boilers may be of following types,
(i) Natural circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused
by the density difference which is due to the temperature variation.
(ii) Forced circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused by
a pump i.e. externally assisted circulation.

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(g) Based on extent of firing: According to the extent of firing the boilers may be,
(i) Fired boilers, in which heat is provided by fuel firing.
(ii) Unfired boilers, in which heat is provided by some other source except fuel firing
such as hot flue gases etc.
(iii) Supplementary fired boilers, in which a portion of heat is provided by fuel firing
and remaining by some other source.

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4.3 Requirements of a Good Boiler

• Different requirements of a good boiler are given below. In general boiler is
supposed to generate large quantity of steam at desired pressure and
temperature quickly and efficiently.
(a) It should be capable of generating steam at desired rate at desired pressure and
temperature with minimum fuel consumption and cost.
(b) It should have sufficient steam and water storage capacity to meet fluctuation in
demand and to prevent fluctuation in steam pressure or water level.
(c) Boiler should have a constant and thorough circulation of water.
(d) It should be equipped with all necessary mountings.
(e) Boiler should have capability to get started quickly from cold.

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(f) Its construction should be simple and have good workmanship for the ease of
inspection and repairs i.e. easily accessible parts.

(g) Boiler should have its heating surface nearly at right angle to the current of hot
gases for good heat transfer.

(h) There should be minimum frictional power loss during flow of hot gases and
water/steam i.e. pressure drop throughout the system should be minimum.

(i) Tubes should be designed so as to have minimum soot deposition and good strength
against wear. Boiler should have a mud drum to receive all impurities.

(j) Boiler should have strength to withstand excessive thermal stresses.

(k) Boiler should occupy less floor area and space.

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• Boilers may be selected for a particular applications considering above general

requirements and constraints, if any. For deciding the boiler for any application, generally
following criterion are made;

(i) Steam pressure requirement

(ii) Steam temperature requirement

(iii) Steam generation rate

(iv) Initial cost and constraints

(v) Running and maintenance costs

(vi) Availability of fuel and water

(vii) Inspection and maintenance requirements.

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4.4 Boiler Construction Details

• Fire tube boilers are those boilers in which hot gases (combustion products) flow
inside the tubes and water surrounds them. Water extracts heat for its phase
transformation from the hot gases flowing inside the tubes, thus heat is indirectly
transferred from hot gas to water through a metal interface.
• Water tube boilers are those boilers in which water flows inside the tubes and hot
gases surround them. This type of boilers came up as a solution to the problem of
explosion faced in fire tube boilers when the pressure and steam generation
capacity were increased. In such boilers the shell behaved as heated pressure
vessel subjected to internal pressure which set up tensile stresses (hoop stress) in
walls.
• Mathematically, this stress can be given as,

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• Hoop stress =

• where P is internal working pressure, D is diameter of shell and t is

thickness of shell wall.
• Above expression shows that if ‘P’ (pressure) increases then either ‘D’
(diameter) should be decreased or ‘t’ (thickness) be increased to keep stress
within acceptable limits. While increasing thickness the mass of boiler and
cost of manufacturing both increase therefore the reduction of ‘D’
(diameter) is an attractive option. This became the basis for water tube
boilers in which small diameter of tube facilitated quite high pressure
steam generation.

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Fig. 3.2 Fire tube boiler

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Fig. 3.3 Water tube boiler

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3.5 Boiler Draught and height of Chimney

• Draught refers to the pressure difference created for the flow of gases inside the
boiler. Boiler unit has a requirement of the expulsion of combustion products and
supply of fresh air inside furnace for continuous combustion. The obnoxious gases
formed during combustion should be discharged at such an height as will render the
gases unobjectionable.
• A chimney or stack is generally used for carrying these combustion products from
inside of boiler to outside, i.e. draught is created by use of chimney. Draught may be
created naturally or artificially by using some external device. Draught can be
classified as below:
• Natural draught:- In this the pressure difference is created naturally without
using any positive displacement device.
• Artificial draught:- It is created using some external assistance causing forced
displacement of gases. It can be created either by using mechanical devices or steam.
Artificial draught can be of induced type, forced type or combination of two types.

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• the vertical duct called chimney creates natural draught so estimation of

height of chimney is very important. Figure 3.4 shows the schematic of
chimney in a boiler unit.
• During no working of boiler the pressure inside boiler is atmospheric
pressure. Pressure at outlet of chimney will be less than atmospheric
pressure due to altitude difference.
• During boiler operation the chimney shall be filled with hot gases and the
pressure at bottom of chimney (Pb) shall be summation of ‘pressure at
chimney outlet’, (P0) and ‘pressure due to hot gas column of height H’.
Pb = P0 + rg. g .H
• However, the pressure at grate level remains unchanged. Pressure
difference between the grate level pressure and bottom of chimney causes
flow of gases. This pressure difference is also called static draught.

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Fig. 3.4 Schematic of chimney

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• Let us consider the combustion of fuel in furnace. Combustion products are
released as a result of this combustion process. Fuel may be considered to be
comprising of hydrocarbons.
• Fuel + Air Combustion products + Heating value
• Let us assume various properties as,
• Ta = Atmospheric temperature, K
• Tg = Average temperature of hot gases inside chimney, K
• T0 = Absolute zero temperature, 273.15K
• ra = Density of air at absolute temperature, 1.293 kg/m3
• rg = Density of hot gases inside chimney, kg/m3
• ∆P = Pressure difference, draught in Pa
• ∆P’ = Pressure difference, draught in kgf/m2
• hg = Equivalent height of hot gas column to produce draught, p in ‘metres’.
• hw = Equivalent height of water column in ‘mm’ to produce draught, p
• m = Mass of air supplied per kg of fuel
• C = Hot gas velocity in chimney, m/s
• Mg = Discharge rate through chimney, kg/s
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• Total mass of combustion products (hot gases) for one kg of fuel = (m + 1), kg
• Using the assumption regarding combustion products,
• Volume of hot gases at temperature, Tg
= Volume of air supplied at temperature, Tg

• Pressure of hot gases in chimney at grate level

= Density of hot gases x height of chimney x gravitational
acceleration
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• Pressure due to cool air (outside) column of height H at grate

level

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• Natural Draught produced = Difference of pressures due to

cool air column and hot gas column of height ‘H’.

• Or draught in kgf/m2,

• Height of hot gas column equivalent to draught produced,

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• As the 1 mm of water column exerts a pressure of 1 kgf/m2 so the

draught in terms of water column can be given by,

• Thus natural draught can be mathematically given by ∆p, ∆p’, hg and

h w.
• Actually in boilers this draught requirement is different from that
theoretically estimated due to the draught losses. The magnitude of
these losses varies from boiler to boiler due to different arrangements
within them.

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• Artificial draught may be produced either by mechanical means such as fans,
blowers etc. or by using steam jet for producing draught. Thus artificial
draught can be classified as,
(i) Mechanical draught
(ii) Steam jet draught.
• Artificial draught systems do not require tall chimney/stack, but small stack
is always required for discharge of flue gases to certain height in atmosphere
for minimizing pollution.
• Mechanical draught produced using fans, blowers etc. could be of forced type,
induced type or the combination of the two.
• For volume of fluid handled being V (m3/s) at pressure of p, the power
required shall be,

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• In case of induced draught fan, as hot flue gases are to be handled,
so,
• total mass handled by fan for mf kg of fuel burnt per unit time = mf
+ m.mf

• density of hot flue gases

• Therefore, volume handled by fan

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• In case of forced draught the fan handles air at atmospheric

temperature so,
• total mass of air handled = mf.m, kg/s

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• Comparing the two power requirements,

• As Tg > Ta so the power requirement in induced draught is

more than that of forced draught.

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4.6 Performance of Boiler
Equivalent Evaporation
• Equivalent evaporation actually indicates the amount of heat added in the
boiler for steam generation. Equivalent evaporation refers to the quantity of dry
saturated steam generated per unit time from feed water at 1000C to steam at
1000C at the saturation pressure corresponding to 1000C. Sometimes it is also
called equivalent evaporation from and at 1000C. Thus, mathematically it could
be given as,

• Heat supplied for generating steam at 1000C from water at 1000C at respective
saturation pressure is 538.9 or 539 kcal/kg.

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• For a boiler generating steam at ‘m’ kg/hr at some pressure ‘p’ and temperature
‘T’, the heat supplied for steam generation = m x (h – hw), where h is enthalpy of
final steam generated and hw is enthalpy of feed water. Enthalpy of final steam
shall be;
h =hf + hfg = hg, for final steam being dry saturated steam hf ,
hfg and hg are used for their usual meanings.
h = hf + x hfg, for wet steam as final steam.
h = hg + Cp, sup. steam.(Tsup – Tsat), for superheated final steam.

• Equivalent evaporation is thus a parameter which could be used for comparing

the capacities of different boilers

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Boiler Efficiency
• Boiler efficiency quantifies, how effectively the heat is being used in boiler.
Thus it could be given by the ratio of heat actually used for steam generation
and total heat available due to combustion of fuel in boiler.

• here mf is the mass of fuel burnt per hour, C.V. is calorific value of fuel used
(kcal/kg), m is mass of steam generated per hour and enthalpies h and hw are
that of final steam and feed water, kcal/kg. Generally high heating value of fuel
is used as calorific value of fuel.

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Heat Losses
• Heat lost due to incomplete combustion: Combustion is said to be
complete when the carbon and hydrogen present in fuel get burnt into
carbon dioxide and water vapour respectively.
• If the carbon burns into carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide
then combustion is said to be incomplete.
• Heat loss due to incomplete combustion = Heat released when carbon
burns into CO2 – Heat released when carbon burns into CO.
• Heat loss to dry flue gases: A large portion of heat getting lost goes
along with flue gases. Flue gases leaving boiler comprises of dry flue
gases and steam. Heat loss with dry flue gases can be given by,
• Qdry flue = mdfg x Cpg (Tg – Ta)

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• Heat loss to steam in flue gases: Steam is produced due to burning of hydrogen
present in fuel into water vapour. Heat lost with steam in flue gases shall be

• Heat lost in unburnt fuel: Some portion of heat may get lost in unburnt fuel,
which could be given by the product of mass of unburnt fuel per kg of fuel and its
calorific value, as

• Heat loss due to moisture in fuel: Moisture present in fuel shall also cause the
loss of heat. This moisture shall get evaporated and superheated as fuel is burnt.
For evaporation and superheating of moisture latent and sensible heat requirement
shall be met from heat available in boiler due to burning of fuel. Mathematically,
for unit mass of fuel burnt, it can be given as,

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• Heat loss due to convection, radiation and other unaccountable

losses: In a boiler heat also gets lost due to convection, radiation from the
boiler’s surface exposed to atmosphere.
• The heat loss may also be there due to unconsumed hydrogen and
hydrocarbon etc. Exact quantification of these losses is not possible,
• Qunaccounted = (mf x CV) –(Qsteam +Qincomplete +Qdry flue +Qsteam in flue + Qunburnt +
Qmoisture)
• Heat balance sheet can be drawn after the above different components are
quantified. It gives
• a quick account of heat released and its distribution for unit mass of fuel
burnt or unit time.

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