41

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF SEPARATING AND

THROTTLING CALORIMETER TO DETERMINE
QUALITY OF STEAM ON THERMAX DIESEL
FIRED WATER TUBE BOILER
Abstract
In present study the Separating & Throttling Calorimeter set up is developed on Thermax diesel fired water tube Boiler (Three pass Reverse
Flue coil type steam generator) in Thermal Power Laboratory and experimentation is carried out to determine the quality of steam (The
percentage by weight of steam in a mixture of steam and water) passing through the steam main. The limitation of our experimentation is
the wet steam. The calorimeter results are not applicable to dry and superheated steam. The analytical analysis is also carried out using
steam table. The effect of parameters like steam temperature, steam pressure, water outlet temperature of economizer, Fuel pressure,
exhaust gas temperature, water and fuel flow rate on quality of steam is a recorded.
Keywords : Steam, Dryness Fraction, Boiler Efficiency, Separating and Throttling Calorimeter
1. Introduction
Steam is the major source for power generation in steam engines
or steam turbine. Steam is produced from water by combustion
of fuel in a boiler and employed for heating the building in cold
weather, in the textile industries for sizing and bleaching, sugar
industries, chemical industries etc. The primary requirements of
steam generators or boilers are (i) Water must be contained
safely. (ii)The steam must be safely delivered in desired
condition as regards its pressure, temperature, quality and
required rate. The presence of moisture in steam causes a loss of
heat from the feed water temperature to the steam temperature.
The boiler consists of a membrane coil fitted in a shell which in
turn is enclosed by an air jacket. The coil forms the combustion
chamber (furnace). Burning fuel generates heat which produces
steam. High pressure pumps supply water and fuel to the boiler
and air is supplied by a blower fan. Steam is generated within a
few minutes after firing the unit[1].
*R.G.Bodkhe, Y. Y. Nandurkar, S. S. Akant, S. L. Bankar
*r_bodkhe@rediffmail.com
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur (India)
2. Construction of test set up
The boiler is bolted on a bottom chassis. Blower, control panel
and other panels are also bolted on the chassis. The structure is
supported from above by a top chassis. On both sides are hinged
doors. Ladder is in the front, adjacent to the control panel. The
utility valves are on the rear side. At the center of the boiler is the
coil made of boiler quality carbon steel tubes. The coil is
enclosed by a pair of concentric shells. This pair of shells forms
an air jacket around the coil[1].
2.1 Separating calorimeter
The separating calorimeter is a vessel used initially to separate
some of the moisture from the steam, to ensure superheat
conditions after throttling. The steam is made to change direction
suddenly; the moisture droplets, being heavier than the vapor,
drop out of suspension and are collected at the bottom of the
vessel.
It consists of two concentric chambers, the inner chamber and
the outer chamber, which communicates with each other through
an opening at the top. As the steam discharges through the metal
basket, which has a large number of holes, the water particles due
to their heavier momentum get separated from the steam and
collect in the chamber. The comparatively dry steam in the inner
chamber moves up and then down going through the annular
space between the two chambers and enters the Throttling
Calorimeter [3].
2.2 Throttling calorimeter
The throttling calorimeter is a vessel with a needle valve fitted on
the inlet side. The steam is throttled through the needle valve and
exhausted to the condenser. Suppose M kg of wet steam with a
dryness fraction of x (state A) enters the separating calorimeter.
The vapor part will have a mass of xM kg and the liquid part will
have a mass of (1-x)M kg. In the separating calorimeter part of
the liquid, say M1 kg will be separated from the wet steam.
Hence the dryness fraction of the wet steam will increase to x1
(state B) which will pass through the throttling process valve.
After the throttling process the steam in the throttling
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS)
IJREAS, Vol. 02, Issue 01, Jan 2014 ISSN : 2249-9210
42
calorimeter will be in superheated state (state C).It consist a
narrow throat (Orifice). Steam Pressure and temperature are
measured by pressure gauge and thermometer. The steam after
throttling process passes through the heat exchanger and
condensate is collected. Steam Generator is also provided to
supply the saturated steam (Max) at 5 kg/cm pressure[3].
Fig. 1 - Schematic diagram for the separating and
throttling Calorimeter
Fig. 2 - T-S diagram of the separating and throttling calorimeter
From the steady flow energy equation; Q W = hC - hB
Since throttling takes place over a very small distance, the heat
transfer is negligible, i.e., Q = 0. Then the steady flow energy
equation for the throttling process becomes, hC = hB
Hence, enthalpy after throttling = enthalpy before throttling
hC = hf1 + x1 hfg1
If the pressure of the steam before throttling, the pressure and
temperature of the steam after throttling, are known the value of
x1 can be calculated using steam tables.
Using the average values, obtain the specific enthalpy of steam at
(state C) hence calculate the dryness fraction of incoming steam.
Also calculate the specific enthalpy of incoming steam.
3. Principle of working
Chemical energy in the fuel is released in the form of heat
during combustion. The products of combustion, the flue gases,
transfer this heat to the coil carrying water by radiation and
convection. Residual heat in the flue gases is absorbed in the
economizer, where feed water is heated to expel dissolved gases.
Air is supplied for the combustion by the blower which imparts
velocity and pressure to the air by its centrifugal action of its
rotating blades. For maximum efficiency correct amount of air
has to be supplied. More air than necessary results in wastage of
heat because of a larger quantity of hot gases escaping from the
chimney.
Lesser air results in incomplete combustion and soot formation.
Soot gets deposited on heat transfer surfaces. To use minimum
possible excess air requires vigorous mixing of air and fuel, so
that air is available to each fuel particle. Before the fuel can burn,
it has to evaporate into gaseous form. To achieve this, it is
atomized into a fine mist by passing it through swirler in the
nozzle under pressure. Atomization produces very large surface
area from which fuel can evaporate. Fuel cannot be properly
atomized if it is too viscous. Light Diesel Oil (LDO) has a low
viscosity so that it can be easily atomized, except in very cold
wheather. Furnace oil (FO) or low sulfur heavy stocks (LSHS)
are too viscous at room temperature and have to be heated to
reduce their viscosity[1].
In the operation of the boiler it is of primary importance to have
water in the proper condition.
lMake sure that the boiler feed water is soft. If the water is
not soft, regenerate the water softener.
lTo ensure that the water behaves as a proper cooling
medium.
It is essential to see that
lThe water continuously wets the heating surface.
lThe water does not corrode the heating surfaces.
lThe water does not erode the heating surfaces.
lThe water has necessary chemicals within it such that a
protective oxide layer is formed on the surfaces.
4. Experimental procedure
The trials were conducted on Thermax diesel fired water tube
Boiler (Three pass Reverse Flue coil type steam generator)
coupled with Separating & Throttling Calorimeter set up to
evaluate the performance of system. The performances
parameters were compared with Separating & Throttling
Calorimeter and without Separating & Throttling Calorimeter
for same boiler output conditions. Known quantity of steam is
circulated into the Separating & Throttling Calorimeter. and is
controlled with valve manually . The dry steam comes out at very
high temperature and pressure. It is pulsating in nature. The
experimental Separating & Throttling Calorimeter set up is
shown in figure (2). Several components of this set up have been
designed and fabricated.
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS)
IJREAS, Vol. 02, Issue 01, Jan 2014 ISSN : 2249-9210
43
A cylinder is designed and fabricated to collect the high
temperature & pressure steam. Gate valve is used to control the
flow of steam. Valves are used to control the inlet and outlet
steam supply from the boiler and water from main tank. Digital
Temperature Indicator is used to measure the temperature of
steam. A Bourdon's pressure gauge is used to measure the
pressure and it is mounted on control panel. Digital control panel
is provided to acquire data such as blower down, steam
temperature, steam pressure, water level, fill-off-fire and
control. Temperature gauges are provided at the intake, exhaust
manifold and other test points along the boiler route.
Rota meter is used to measure the steam flow rate in litre per hour
(LPH)
The following procedure adopted for the experimentation on
separating and throttling calorimeter.
1. Start the boiler and supply steam to the separating and
throttling calorimeter unit.
2. Start the cooling water flow through the condenser.
3. Open steam valve and allow the steam to flow through the
calorimeters to warm through the steam.
4. Open the throttle valve and adjust to give a pressure at
exhaust of about 5cm Hg measured on the manometer.
5. Drain the separating calorimeter.
6. Start the test and take readings at 2-3 minutes intervals.
7. When a reasonable quantity of condensate is collected
measure the quantity of separated water and the quantity of
condensate.
5. Performance parameters of boiler
5.1 Evaporative capacity
The evaporative capacity of a boiler may be expressed in terms
of:
(i) Kg of steam/h (ii) Kg of steam/h/m2 of heating surface
(iii) Kg of steam /Kg of fuel fired.
5.2 Equivalent evaporation
It is defined as the amount of water evaporated from water at
1000 C to dry and saturated steam at 1000 C. It is denoted by
symbol me
m =
e
m (h h )
a f

2257.
5.3 Factor of evaporation
It is defined as the ratio of heat received by 1 Kg of water under
working conditions to that received by 1 Kg of water evaporated
from and at 1000 C. It is denoted by
Fe =
(h h )
f
2257
5.4 Boiler efficiency
It is the ratio of heat actually utilized in generation of steam to the
heat supplied by the fuel in the same period. It is denoted by
symbol
=
m ( h h )
a f
C.V.
Where ma Mass of water actually evaporated into steam per Kg
of fuel at the working pressure
h Enthalpy of steam
hf - Enthalpy of feed water temperature in KJ/Kg
C.V. calorific value of the fuel in KJ/Kg.
5.5 Dryness fraction of steam
Dryness Fraction = Mass of dry steam
Mass of mixture

Therefore, X =
M M
M
2 1
2 1
x
+

Where,M1 is the Quantity of Separated water. (in Kg)
M2 is the mass of condensate. (in Kg)
P1 is the steam pressure before throttling in bar
P2 is the Steam pressure after throttling in bar
T1 is the steam temperature before throttling in 0C
T2 is the steam temperature after throttling in 0C
Pa is atmospheric pressure in bar measured using aneroid
barometer.
Alternate Method
It is related with wet steam. It is defined as the ratio of the mass of
actual dry steam to the mass of steam containing it. It is usually
expressed by the symbol X

Let X
1
= Dryness fraction of steam considering
Separating calorimeter
X
2
= Dryness fraction of steam entering the
Throttling calorimeter
Now, the actual dryness fraction of steam in the steam main,
X = X
1
* X
2


w s
s
1
M M
M
x
+
=

Where: M
S
= mass of dry steam (Kg)
M
w
= mass of water separated out (Kg)
Thus if in 1 Kg of wet steam 0.9 Kg is the dry steam and 0.1 Kg
water particles then X = 0.9
No steam can be completely dry and saturated, so long as it is in
contact with the water from which it is being formed [1] .
()
sat sup p 2 g 1 fg 2 1 f
t t C h h x h - + = +
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS)
IJREAS, Vol. 02, Issue 01, Jan 2014 ISSN : 2249-9210
44
6. Specifications and Observations
Table 1 - Specifications of Test Set up
MAKE REVOMAX
Type Three Pass Reverse Flue
Coil type Steam Generator
Steam output at 100
0
C 200 kg/hr LDO
Heat output 451.44 MJ/Hr
Steam pressure and
temperature
10.5 bar , 185
0
C
Efficiency @88%
Fuel Consumption 12 kg/hr, C.V.= 42.7 MJ/kg
Boiler heating surface area 3.5 m
Economizer heating surface
area
0.9 m
Electric Supply 415 volt, 50 Hz , 3 phase
Blower motor (3000 rpm) 735 W , 1 H.P.
Water Pump (100 rpm) 550 W, 0.75 H.P
Total connected load 1.9 KW
Softener (Maxi. W orking
Pressure)
3.5 Kg/cm
2


The following observations recorded during experimentations.
Table 2 - Observations from Boiler control panel
Sr.
No.
Steam
Pressure
P
1
in bars
Steam
Temperatur
e in
0
C
Exhaust gas
Temperature
0
C
Fuel
Pressure
in Kg/cm
2

1. 1.5 105 150 2.1
2. 2.5 115 165 2.3
3. 3.6 120 180 2.5
4. 4.3 137 195 3.0
5 5.2 150 258 3.3
6. 6.5 160 310 3.5
7. 8.0 180 336 3.6
Table 3 - Observations from separating and throttling
calorimeter Test set up
P
1 in
bar

P
2
in
bar

T
1
in
0
C

T
2 in

0
C

M
1
(kg)

M
2
(kg)

P
a
in
bar

Manomet
er
reading
in cm of
Hg

1.5

1.2

101

90

10

7

0.98

5

2.5

2.0

105

95

10

7

0.98

5

3.6

3.1

112

100

10

7

0.98

5

4.3

3.5

125

112

10

7

0.98

5

5.2

4.5

135

120

10

7

0.97

5

6.5

5.2

148

132

10

7

0.97

5

8.0

6.5

169

140

10

7

0.98

5

Fig. 2.-Typical T-S diagram for steam
7. Result & Discussions
If the steam whose dryness fraction is to be determined is very
wet then throttling to atmospheric pressure is not sufficient to
ensure superheated steam at exit. In this case it is necessary to
dry the steam partially, before throttling. This is done by passing
the part of steam from the steam main through separating
calorimeter as shown in figure. The steam is made to change
direction suddenly, and the water, being denser than the dry
steam is separated out is measured at the separator, the steam
remaining, which now has dryness fraction, is passed through
the throttling calorimeter.
With the combined separating and throttling calorimeter it is
necessary to condense the steam after throttling and measure the
amount of condensate (Ms).
It was observed that with increasing the boiler steam pressure
there is increase in steam temperature and when the part of the
steam enters into the separating calorimeter steam pressure
before throttling is higher than steam pressure after throttling. It
is also observed that steam pressure decreases after throttling.
Corresponds to the steam pressure after throttling, from steam
table it was noted that steam temperature measured is greater
than the saturation temperature. Therefore the steam becomes
superheated steam. From the measured values the various
parameters like dryness fraction of steam, enthalpy of
superheated steam, equivalent evaporation and factor of
evaporation and boiler efficiency calculated.
8. Conclusion
Performance analysis on separating & throttling calorimeter was
carried out. The following parameters were measured: Steam
Temperature, Steam Pressure, Exhaust Gas Temperature, Fuel
Pressure, and Water Temperature after Economizer at various
conditions. Dryness fraction of steam was calculated. The
following conclusions were drawn under various parameters
like boiler steam temperature; boiler steam pressure; steam
pressure before throttling; Steam pressure after throttling; steam
temperature after throttling; steam flow rate measured. Water
particles from wet steam can fully separated, thus resulting in
precise value. The actual Dryness fraction of steam calculated.
Boiler efficiency improved by 10 %.
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS)
IJREAS, Vol. 02, Issue 01, Jan 2014 ISSN : 2249-9210
45
References
[1] Instruction Manual for Thermax Boiler, Thermax Limited, Pune.
[2] S. M. Elonka, A. L. Kohan, Standard Boiler Operators ( New Delhi, India:
McGraw Hill, 2009)
[3] Rajput R. K. Thermal Engineering, Laxmi Publications (P) Ltd. New
Delhi (India).
[4] Khurmi R. S., Gupta J.K., Thermal Engineering (Mechanical
Technology), S. Chand & Company Limited New Delhi (India).
[5] Khurmi R. S., Gupta J.K., Steam Table with Mollier Diagram, S. Chand &
Company Limited, New Delhi (India).
[6] Indian Boiler regulation act [www.indianboiler.co.in/ibr.htm]
[7] Water and Steam in the Power Cycle, American Society of Mechanical
Engineers , New York, NY 10017
[8] Bureau of Energy Efficiency[www.beeindia.in/]
Appendix
Fig. 3 - Line Diagram of Test set up
Fig. 4 - View of Thermax (Revomax) Boiler Test Set up
Fig. 5 - View of Separating & Throttling Calorimeter Set up
Author's Bibliography
Prof. Rajesh G. Bodkhe presently working
as a assistant professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, YCCE, Nagpur.
His area of interest in the field of Thermal
Engineering. He has attended several
workshops under national mission (Govt. of
India) through ICT , conducted by I.I.T.
Bombay at YCCE Nagpur. He has 12 years
teaching experience.
Prof. Yogesh Y. Nandurkar presently
working as a assistant professor in the
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
YCCE, Nagpur. His area of interest in the
field of Thermal Engineering.
Prof. Sunil S. Akant presently working as a
associate professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, YCCE, Nagpur.
His area of interest in the field of Thermal
Engineering. He has attended several
workshops under national mission (Govt. of
India) through ICT , conducted by I.I.T.
Bombay at YCCE Nagpur. He has 25 years
teaching experience.
Prof. Sanjeev L. Bankar presently working
as a associate professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, YCCE, Nagpur.
His area of interest in the field of Thermal
Engineering. He has attended several
workshops under national mission (Govt. of
India) through ICT , conducted by I.I.T.
Bombay at YCCE Nagpur. He has 25 years
teaching experience.
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS)
IJREAS, Vol. 02, Issue 01, Jan 2014 ISSN : 2249-9210