Boiler

Module:3
Prepared by: Dr. Ramola Sinha

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 Simple steam power

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 Boiler
• Boiler is an apparatus to produce steam. Thermal
energy released by combustion of fuel is used to
make steam at the desired temperature and pressure
• The steam produced is used for:
(i) Producing mechanical work by expanding it in
steam engine or steam turbine.
(ii) Heating the residential and industrial buildings
(iii) Performing certain processes in the sugar mills,
chemical and textile industries.

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 Important features of boiler
• 1. Produce maximum quantity of steam with minimum fuel
consumption.
2. Economical to install and require minimum attention during
operation.
3. Capable of quick start.
4. Light in weight and occupy small space.
5. Accessible for inspection and joints should be few.
6. Mud and other deposit should not collect on the heating plates.
7. Water and flue gases circuits should be designed to allow a
maximum fluid velocity without incurring heavy frictional losses.
8. Comply with safety regulations as laid down in the boiler act.

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 Selection of boiler
- Power required and working pressure.
- Rate at which steam is to be generated.
- Type of fuel to be used.
- Fuel and water available.

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 Classifications of Boiler
• Relative position of hot gas and water: Fire tube &
water tube boiler
• Method of firing: Internal & External
• Pressure of steam: Low and high pressure boiler

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 Relative position of hot gas and water

Fire tube boiler Water tube boiler

•The hot gases passes •The water passes through
through the tubes that are the tubes and the hot gases
surrounded by water. produced by combustion of
•e.g. simple vertical boiler, fuel, flow outside.
cochran boiler , lancashire •E.g.- babcock and wilcox,
boiler, cornish boiler, lamont , benson
locomotive boiler, scotch
boiler.

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 Fire tube & water tube boiler

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 Method of firing

Internal fired boiler External Fired boiler

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 Method of firing

Internal fired boiler External Fired boiler

•The furnace is provided inside the •The furnace is provided outside/
boiler shell and is completely under the boiler.
surrounded by water cooled surfaces. •It has an advantage that its furnace is
This method of firing is used in: simple to construct and can easily be
•Lancashire Boilers enlarged, as and when required.
•Locomotive Boilers and •This method of firing is used in
Babcock and Wilcox Boiler.
•Scotch Boilers

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 Pressure of steam

High pressure boiler Low pressure boiler

•Boilers producing steam Boilers producing steam
80 bar and above are Lower than 80 bar are
called High pressure called Low pressure boilers.
boilers. E.g. E.g.
• Babcock and Wilcox
Boiler •Cochran Boilers
• Lamont Boilers •Cornish Boiler
• Velox Boilers and •Lancashire Boiler
• Benson Boilers etc. •Locomotive Boiler

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 Fire tube boiler
Cochran Boiler

• Simple vertical boiler

• Suitable for small plants require small
quantity of steam.
• Size = 1 m Dia. x 2 m high (evaporation
20kg/hr.)
• Size = 3 m Dia. x 6 m high (evaporation
3000kg/hr.)
• Heating surface= 10 to 25 times of grate
area
• Steam pressure= upto 20 bar
• Efficiency = 70 to 75%

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Fire tube boiler: Lancashire Boiler
•Suitable for small plants require small quantity of steam.
•Size = 1 m Dia. x 2 m high (evaporation 20kg/hr.)
•Size = 3 m Dia. x 6 m high (evaporation 3000kg/hr.)
•Heating surface= 10 to 25 times of grate area
•Steam pressure= upto 20 bar
•Efficiency = 70 to 75%

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 Fire tube:Locomotive boiler

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 Locomotive boiler
• Internally fired, horizontal, multi-tubular, natural circulation,
artificial draft fire tube type portable boiler.
• capable of meeting sudden and fluctuating demand of steam,
which may be imposed due to variation in power and speed.
• Uses in railways, road rollers etc.
• Also used in agricultural fields, saw mill plants and
stationary power services where semi- portability is desired.
• Dimensions and specifications:
• Length and diameter of barrel : 5.203m and 2.095m
• Size and number of super heater tubes : 14 cm and 38
• Size and number of fire tubes : 5.72 cm and 116
• Working pressure and capacity: 14 bar and 9000 kg/hr.
• Heating surface and grate area : 271m2 and 4.2 m2

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 Water tube: BABCOCK & WILCOX
BOILERS

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 BABCOCK & WILCOX
BOILERS:Important features
• Capability to cope with high peak loads which are generally needed in
thermal power stations.
• Inspection of the boiler can be carried even when the boiler is in operation.
• Replacement of defective tubes can be made easily.
• Evaporative capacity ranges from 20000 to 40000 kg/hr
• Operative pressure ranges from 11.5 to 17.5 bar.
• Steam formed from such boilers are primarily used to run steam turbines
and generate electric power.

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 Once through boiler
• Once-through boilers are able to produce steam at higher pressures and temperatures than
drum boilers. In thermal power plants, raising steam conditions
• Steam pressure: Up to 31 Mpa Steam temperature: Up to 600/610°C,
• Main steam flow rate: Up to 3,210ton/h
• Output: Up to 1,070MW
• The once through boiler works on the principle of critical point of water.
• In Rankine cycle, as the pressure increases the saturation temperature equivalent to that
pressure also increases.
• At the pressure of 22.06 MPa and 373.946 οC, the water gets directly converted in to
steam.
• Thus, as we go on increasing the pressure, the amount of latent heat required reduces and
at critical point, there is no latent heat required as the water directly evaporates into
steam.
• The once through boilers work on the pressure above the critical point pressure of water
and thus are also called as “supercritical boilers”.

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 High pressure:La Mont boiler

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 La Mont boiler
• This is high pressure water tube boiler using forced
circulation method it was first introduced by La Mount
in 1925.

• The boiler can generate steam up to a pressure of 150

bar and the generation rate of steam ranges from
30000 to 45000 Kg per hour.

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 Benson Boiler
• Benson Boilers are high pressure, drumless, water tube
kind of boiler that make use of forced circulation.
• This kind of boiler has a unique characteristic of the
absence of the steam separating drum.
• the other characteristics of this boiler are that, at the
critical pressure, the steam and water coexist at the same
density, and latent heat is zero.

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 Bension Boiler
• In this boiler, as the water is
compressed to supercritical pressure,
When the water enters the boiler, it
suddenly converts to steam because it
enters the boiler at just above the
critical pressure.
• The critical pressure is the pressure at
which the liquid and gas phase are at
equibrilium.
• At supercritical pressure, the bubbles
do not form because the density of
water and steam becomes the same.
• As the water is compressed to
supercritical pressure the latent heat
of water reduces to zero.

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 Working of Benson boiler

• Benson Boilers are high

pressure, drumless, water tube
kind of boiler that make use of
forced circulation.
• This kind of boiler has a unique
characteristic of the absence of
the steam separating drum.
• the other characteristics of
this boiler are that, at the
critical pressure, the steam and
water coexist at the same
density, and latent heat is zero.
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 Boiler Mountings and Accessories
• Boiler mountings: Boiler mountings are the fittings, which are mounted on
the boiler for its proper and safe functioning. Some important boiler
mountings are as follows:

1. Water Level indicator-water level

2. Pressure gauge-pressure indicator
3. Safety valves-pressure release
4. Stop valve-stop supply of steam
5. Blow off cock-remove deposits
From boiler
6. Feed check valve-feed pump valve
7. Fusible plug-melt at high temperature

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 4

3
2

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 Boiler Accessories for efficient
operation:
Boiler accessories
•Feed pump
•Super heater
• Economizer
• Air preheater

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• 1. Water Level indicator
1. It indicates the water level
inside the boiler to an
observer.
2. It is a safety device, upon
which the correct working of
the boiler depends.
3. It may be seen in front of the
boiler, and are generally two
in number.
4. It consists of steam cock,
water cock and drain cock .

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• 2. Pressure gauge
1. It is used to measure the pressure of the steam inside the steam boiler.
2. It is fixed in front of the steam boiler.
3. It consists of an elliptical elastic tube bent into an arc of a circle which is
called Bourden’s tube.
4. One end of the tube is fixed and connected to the steam space in the boiler
and the other end is connected to a sector through a link.

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• 3. Safety valves
1. It is used to preventing explosions due to excessive internal pressure of
steam.
2. It’s function is to blow off the steam when the pressure of steam inside
the boiler exceeds the working pressure.
3. There are four types of safety valves:
a. Lever safety valve b. Dead weight safety valve c. High steam and low
water safety valve d. Spring loaded safety valve

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Dead weight safety valve:
•It consists of a gun metal valve rests on a gun metal seat.
•2. It is fixed to the top of a steam pipe which is bolted to the mountings block
and riveted to the top of the shell. 3.
• Both the valve and the pipe are covered by a case which contains weights. 4.
• The weights keep the valve on its seat under normal working pressure. 5.
•When the pressure of steam exceeds the normal pressure, the valve as well as
the case are lifted up from its seat.
•6. This enables the steam to escape through the discharge pipe. Fig.: Dead
weight safety valve

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 Spring loaded safety valve
1. It is used for locomotive and marine boilers.
2. The spring is made of round or square steel rod in helical form and placed
in compression.
3. It consists of a cast iron body connected to the top of a boiler.
4. It has two separate valves of the same size having their seatings in the upper
ends of two hollow valve chests.
5. These valve chests are united by a bridge and a base and is bolted to a
mounting block on the top of a boiler over the fire box

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 • Lever safety valve
1. It serves the purpose of maintaining constant safe pressure inside the
steam boiler.
2. It consists of a valve body with a flange fixed to the steam boiler, a
bronze valve seat screwed to the body and a bronze valve placed upon
it.
3. The thrust on the valve is transmitted by the strut.
4. When the pressure of steam exceeds the safe limit, the upward thrust
of steam raises the valve from its seat and allows the steam to escape
till the pressure falls back to its normal value.

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4. Steam Stop Valve
1. It is the largest valve on the steam
boiler.
2. It is, usually, fitted to the highest part
of the shell by means of a large flange.
3. The body of the steam stop valve is
made of cast iron or cast steel.
4. The valve, valve seat and the nut
through which the valve spindle works
are made of brass or gun metal.
5. The principal functions of a steam
stop valve are: a). To control the flow of
steam from the boiler to the main steam
pipe.

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• 5. Blow off Cock
1. The blow off cock is fitted to the
bottom of a boiler drum and
consists of a conical plug fitted to
the body or casing.
2. The casing is packed, with asbestos
packing, in grooves round the top
and bottom of the plug.
3. The shank of plug passes through a
gland and stuffing box in the cover.
4. The plug is held by a yoke and two
stud bolts.
5. The principal functions of a blow
off cock are: a). To empty the
boiler whenever required. b). To
discharge the mud, scale or
sediments which are accumulated
at the bottom of the boiler.

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6. Feed Check Valve
1. It is a non-return valve, fitted to a
screwed spindle to regulate the lift.
2. Its function is to regulate the supply
of water, which is pumped into the
boiler, by the feed pump.
3. This valve must have its spindle
lifted before the pump is started.
4. It is fitted to the shell slightly below
the normal water level of the boiler.
5. Except the spindle, every part of the
valve is made of brass and the spindle
is made of muntz metal.

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7. Fusible Plug
1. It is fitted to the crown plate of
the furnace or the fire box.
2. Its object is to put off the fire in
the furnace when the level of water
in the boiler falls to an unsafe limit.
3. It avoid the explosion which may
take place due to overheating of the
furnace plate.
4. It consists of three hollow gun
metal plug. Second plug is screwed
to the first plug and third plug is
separated from first plug by a ring
of fusible metal.

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 • Boiler Accessories These are the devices which are
used as integral parts of a boiler and help in running
efficiently. Though there are many types of
accessories, yet the following are important from the
subject point of view:
1. Feed pump
2. Super heater
3. Economiser
4. Air pre heater

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 Position of accessories in boilers

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1.Feed Pump
1. Water in a boiler is continuously converted
into steam, so a feed pump is need to deliver
water to the boiler.
2. The pressure of steam inside a boiler is
high, so the pressure of feed water has to be
increased proportionately before it is made to
enter the boiler. Generally, the pressure of
feed water is 20% more than that in the
boiler.
3. The common type of pump used is a
duplex feed pump as shown in figure.
4. This pump has two sets of suction and
delivery valves for forward and backward
stroke. The two pumps work alternately so as
to ensure continuous supply of feed water.

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2. Super heater
1. A superheater is an important device of a steam generating unit.
2. Its purpose is to increase the temperature of saturated steam without raising
its pressure.
3. It is generally an integral part of a boiler, and is placed in the path of hot flue
gases from the furnace. 4. The heat, given up by these flue gases

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3. Economizer
1. An economizer is a device used to heat feed water by utilizing the heat in
the exhaust flue gases before leaving through the chimney. As the name
indicates, the economizer improves the economy of the steam boiler.
3. Following are the advantages of using an economiser:
a. There is about 15 to 20% of fuel saving.
b. It increases the steam raising capacity of a boiler because it shortens the
time required to convert water into steam.
c. It prevents formation of scale in boiler water tubes, because the scale
formed in the economizer tubes, can be cleaned easily.
d. Since the feed water entering the boiler is hot, therefore strains due to
unequal expansion are minimized.

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 Economizer

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4. Air Preheater
1. An air preheater is used to recover heat from the exhaust flue gases.
2. It is installed between the economizer and the chimney.
3. The air required for the purpose of combustion is drawn through the air
preheater where its temperature is raised.
4. It is then passed through ducts to the furnace.
5. The air is passed through the tubes of the heater internally while the hot flue
gases are passed over the outside of the tubes.
6. Following are the advantages obtained by using an air preheater:
•The preheated air gives higher furnace temperature which results in more heat
transfer to the water and thus increases the evaporative capacity per kg of fuel.
•There is an increase of about 2% in the boiler efficiency for each 35-40 C rise
in temperature of air.
c. It results in better combustion with less soot, smoke and ash.
d. It enables a low grade fuel to be burnt with less excess air.

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 Air-pre heater

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 Position of economizer, air preheater andsuperheater

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