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Typeofboilers

ENERGYEQUIPMENT
Typeofboilers
This section describes the various types of Boilers: Fire tube boiler, Water tube boiler, Packaged
boiler, Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler, Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler, Pressurized
Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler, Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler, Stoker Fired Boiler,
PulverizedFuelBoiler,WasteHeatBoilerandThermicFluidHeater.
FireTubeBoiler
In fire tube boiler, hot gases pass through the
tubes and boiler feed water in the shell side is
converted into steam. Fire tube boilers are
generally used for relatively small steam
capacitiesandlowtomediumsteampressures.
Asaguideline,firetubeboilersarecompetitive
for steam rates up to 12,000 kg/hour and
pressures up to 18 kg/cm2. Fire tube boilers
areavailableforoperationwithoil,gasorsolid
fuels. For economic reasons, most fire tube
boilers
are
nowadays
of
packaged
construction (i.e. manufacturers shop erected)
forallfuels.
WaterTubeBoiler
In water tube boiler, boiler feed water flows through the
tubes and enters the boiler drum. The circulated water is
heated by the combustion gases and converted into steam
atthevapourspaceinthedrum.Theseboilersareselected
when the steam demand as well as steam pressure
requirementsarehighasinthecaseofprocesscumpower
boiler/powerboilers.
Most modern water boiler tube designs are within the
capacity range 4,500 120,000 kg/hour of steam, at very
high pressures. Many water tube boilers nowadays are of
packagedconstructionifoiland/orgasaretobeusedas
fuel. Solid fuel fired water tube designs are available but
packageddesignsarelesscommon.
Thefeaturesofwatertubeboilersare:
Forced,inducedandbalanceddraftprovisionshelpto
improvecombustionefficiency.
Lesstoleranceforwaterqualitycallsforwatertreatment
Fig:SimpleDiagramofWaterTube plant.
Boiler
Higherthermalefficiencylevelsarepossible
Reference:
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
PackagedBoiler
images/ahd/jpg/A4boiler.jpg
The packaged boiler is so called because it comes as a
completepackage.Oncedeliveredtosite,itrequiresonlythesteam,waterpipework,fuelsupply
andelectricalconnectionstobemadeforittobecomeoperational.Packageboilersaregenerallyof
shell type with fire tube design so as to achieve high heat transfer rates by both radiation and
convection.
Thefeaturesofpackageboilersare:
Smallcombustionspaceandhighheatreleaserateresultinginfasterevaporation.
Largenumberofsmalldiametertubesleadingtogoodconvectiveheattransfer.
Forcedorinduceddraftsystemsresultingingoodcombustionefficiency.
Numberofpassesresultinginbetteroverallheattransfer.
Higherthermalefficiencylevelscomparedwithotherboilers.

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These boilers are classified based on the

number of passes the number of times the
hot combustion gases pass through the boiler.
The combustion chamber is taken, as the first
pass after which there may be one, two or
three sets of firetubes. The most common
boilerofthisclassisathreepassunitwithtwo
sets of firetubes and with the exhaust gases
exitingthroughtherearoftheboiler.
FluidizedBedCombustion(FBC)Boiler
Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) has emerged
as a viable alternative and has significant
advantages over conventional firing system
and offers multiple benefits compact boiler
design, fuel flexibility, higher combustion
efficiency and reduced emission of noxious
pollutants such as SOx and NOx. The fuels
burnt in these boilers include coal, washery
rejects, rice husk, bagasse & other agricultural wastes. The fluidized bed boilers have a wide
capacityrange0.5T/hrtoover100T/hr.
When an evenly distributed air or gas is passed upward through a finely divided bed of solid
particlessuchassandsupportedonafinemesh,theparticlesareundisturbedatlowvelocity.Asair
velocityisgraduallyincreased,astageisreachedwhentheindividualparticlesaresuspendedinthe
airstreamthebediscalledfluidized.
With further increase in air velocity, there is bubble formation, vigorous turbulence, rapid mixing
and formation of dense defined bed surface. The bed of solid particles exhibits the properties of a
boilingliquidandassumestheappearanceofafluidbubblingfluidizedbed.
If sand particles in a fluidized state is heated to the ignition temperatures of coal, and coal is
injectedcontinuouslyintothebed,thecoalwillburnrapidlyandbedattainsauniformtemperature.
Thefluidizedbedcombustion(FBC)takesplaceatabout840OCto950OC.Sincethistemperature
ismuchbelowtheashfusiontemperature,meltingofashandassociatedproblemsareavoided.
The lower combustion temperature is achieved because of high coefficient of heat transfer due to
rapidmixinginthefluidizedbedandeffectiveextractionofheatfromthebedthroughinbedheat
transfer tubes and walls of the bed. The gas velocity is maintained between minimum fluidisation
velocity and particle entrainment velocity. This ensures stable operation of the bed and avoids
particleentrainmentinthegasstream.
AtmosphericFluidizedBedCombustion(AFBC)Boiler
Most operational boiler of this type is of the Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion. (AFBC). This
involves little more than adding a fluidized bed combustor to a conventional shell boiler. Such
systemshavesimilarlybeinginstalledinconjunctionwithconventionalwatertubeboiler.
Coal is crushed to a size of 1 10 mm depending on the rank of coal, type of fuel fed to the
combustionchamber.Theatmosphericair,whichactsasboththefluidizationandcombustionair,is
deliveredatapressure,afterbeingpreheatedbytheexhaustfuelgases.Theinbedtubescarrying
water generally act as the evaporator. The gaseous products of combustion pass over the super
heater sections of the boiler flow past the economizer, the dust collectors and the air preheater
beforebeingexhaustedtoatmosphere.
PressurizedFluidizedBedCombustion(PFBC)Boiler
InPressurizedFluidizedBedCombustion(PFBC)type,acompressorsuppliestheForcedDraft(FD)
airandthecombustorisapressurevessel.Theheatreleaserateinthebedisproportionaltothe
bedpressureandhenceadeepbedisusedtoextractlargeamountofheat.Thiswillimprovethe
combustionefficiencyandsulphurdioxideabsorptioninthebed.Thesteamisgeneratedinthetwo
tubebundles,oneinthebedandoneaboveit.Hotfluegasesdriveapowergeneratinggasturbine.
ThePFBCsystemcanbeusedforcogeneration(steamandelectricity)orcombinedcyclepower
generation. The combined cycle operation (gas turbine & steam turbine) improves the overall
conversionefficiencyby5to8%.
AtmosphericCirculatingFluidizedBedCombustionBoilers(CFBC)
Inacirculatingsystemthebedparametersaresomaintainedastopromotesolidselutriationfrom
the bed. They are lifted in a relatively dilute phase in a solids riser, and a downcomer with a
cycloneprovidesareturnpathforthesolids.Therearenosteamgenerationtubesimmersedinthe
bed. Generation and super heating of steam takes place in the convection section, water walls, at
theexitoftheriser.
CFBC boilers are generally more economical than AFBC boilers for industrial application requiring
morethan75100T/hrofsteam.Forlargeunits,thetallerfurnacecharacteristicsofCFBCboilers
offers better space utilization, greater fuel particle and sorbent residence time for efficient
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combustion and SO2 capture, and easier application of

staged combustion techniques for NOx control than
AFBCsteamgenerators.
StokerFiredBoilers
Stokers are classified according to the method of
feeding fuel to the furnace and by the type of grate.
Themainclassificationsarespreaderstokerandchain
gateortravelinggatestoker.
Spreader
Stokers
Spreader
stokers
utilize
a
combination
of
suspension
burning and
grate
burning.
The coal is
continually
fed into the
furnace
above
a
burning bed
of coal. The coal fines are burned in suspension the larger particles fall to the grate, where they
are burned in a thin, fastburning coal bed. This method of firing provides good flexibility to meet
loadfluctuations,sinceignitionisalmostinstantaneouswhenfiringrateisincreased.Duetothis,the
spreaderstokerisfavoredoverothertypesofstokersinmanyindustrialapplications.
ChaingrateorTravelinggrateStoker
Coalisfedontooneendofamovingsteelgrate.Asgratemovesalongthelengthofthefurnace,
thecoalburnsbeforedroppingoffattheendasash.Somedegreeofskillisrequired,particularly
when setting up the grate, air dampers and baffles, to
ensurecleancombustionleavingtheminimumofunburnt
carbonintheash.
The coalfeed hopper runs along the entire coalfeed end of the furnace. A coal gate is used to
controltherateatwhichcoalisfedintothefurnacebycontrollingthethicknessofthefuelbed.Coal
mustbeuniforminsizeaslargelumpswillnotburnoutcompletelybythetimetheyreachtheend
ofthegrate.
PulverizedFuelBoiler
Most coalfired power station boilers use pulverized coal, and many of the larger industrial water
tube boilers also use this pulverized fuel. This technology is well developed, and there are
thousandsofunitsaroundtheworld,accountingforwellover90%ofcoalfiredcapacity.
The coal is ground (pulverized) to a fine powder, so that less than 2% is +300 micro meter (m)
and7075%isbelow75microns,forabituminouscoal.Itshouldbenotedthattoofineapowderis
wastefulofgrindingmillpower.Ontheotherhand,toocoarseapowderdoesnotburncompletelyin
thecombustionchamberandresultsinhigherunburntlosses.
Thepulverizedcoalisblownwithpartofthecombustionairintotheboilerplantthroughaseriesof
burner nozzles. Secondary and tertiary air may also be added. Combustion takes place at
temperatures from 13001700C, depending largely on coal grade. Particle residence time in the
boileristypically2to5seconds,andtheparticlesmustbesmallenoughforcompletecombustionto
havetakenplaceduringthistime.
Thissystemhasmanyadvantagessuchasabilitytofirevaryingqualityofcoal,quickresponsesto
changesinload,useofhighpreheatairtemperaturesetc.
Oneofthemostpopularsystemsforfiringpulverizedcoalisthetangentialfiringusingfourburners
cornertocornertocreateafireballatthecenterofthefurnace.
WasteHeatBoiler
Whereverthewasteheatisavailableatmediumorhightemperatures,awasteheatboilercanbe
installedeconomically.Whereverthesteamdemandismorethanthesteamgeneratedduringwaste
heat,auxiliaryfuelburnersarealsoused.Ifthereisnodirectuseofsteam,thesteammaybelet
down in a steam turbinegenerator set and power produced from it. It is widely used in the heat
recoveryfromexhaustgasesfromgasturbinesanddieselengines.
ThermicFluidHeater
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In recent times,
thermic
fluid
heaters
have
found
wide
application for
indirect process
heating.
Employing
petroleum

based fluids as
the
heat
transfer
medium, these
heaters provide
constantly
maintainable
temperatures for
the
user
equipment. The
combustion
system
comprises of a
fixed grate with
mechanical draft
arrangements.
The modern oil
fired
thermic
fluid
heater
consists of a
doublecoil,three
passconstruction
and fitted with
modulated
pressure
jet
system.
The
thermic
fluid,
whichactsasaheatcarrier,isheatedupintheheaterandcirculatedthroughtheuserequipment.
There it transfers heat for the process through a heat exchanger and the fluid is then returned to
the heater. The flow of thermic fluid at the user end is controlled by a pneumatically operated
control valve, based on the operating temperature. The
heater operates on low or high fire depending on the
returnoiltemperature,whichvarieswiththesystemload
Theadvantagesoftheseheatersare:
Closedcycleoperationwithminimumlossesascompared
tosteamboilers.
NonPressurizedsystemoperationevenfortemperatures
around2500casagainst40kg/cm2steampressure
requirementinasimilarsteamsystem.
Automaticcontrolsettings,whichofferoperational
flexibility.
Goodthermalefficienciesaslossesduetoblowdown,
condensatedrainandflashsteamdonotexistina
thermicfluidheatersystem.
The overall economics of the thermic fluid heater will depend upon the specific application and
reference basis. Coal fired thermic fluid heaters with a thermal efficiency range of 5565% may
compare favorably with most boilers. Incorporation of heat recovery devices in the flue gas path
enhancesthethermalefficiencylevelsfurther.
Totop

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