Steam Boiler | Working principle and

Types of Boiler

Definition of Boiler
Steam boiler or simply a boiler is basically
a closed vessel into which water is heated
until the water is converted into steam at
required pressure. This is most basic
definition of boiler.

1
Working Principle of Boiler
The basic working principle of boiler is very simple
and easy to understand. The boiler is essentially a
closed vessel inside which water is stored. Fuel
(generally hydrocarbon and coal) is bunt in a furnace
and hot gasses are produced. These hot gasses come in
contact with water vessel where the heat of these hot
gases transfer to the water and consequently steam is
produced in the boiler. Then this steam is piped to the
turbine of thermal power plant. There are many
different types of boiler utilized for different purposes
like running a production unit, sanitizing some area,
sterilizing equipment, to warm up the surroundings
etc. 2
3
Boiler properties:

(i) Safety. The boiler should be safe under

operating conditions.
(ii) Accessibility. The various parts of the boiler
should be accessible for repair and maintenance.
(iii) Capacity. Should be capable of supplying
steam according to the requirements.

4
 (iv) Efficiency. Should be able to absorb a
maximum amount of heat produced due to burning
of fuel in the furnace.

(v) It should be simple in construction .

(vi) Its initial cost and maintenance cost should be

low.

(vii) The boiler should have no joints exposed to

flames.

(viii) Should be capable of quick starting and

loading.
5
 CLASSIFICATION OF BOILERS
According to what flows in the TUBE
1. Water tube.
2. Fire tube.
There are mainly two types of boiler water tube boiler
and fire tube boiler. In fire tube boiler, there are numbers
of tubes through which hot gases are passed and water
surrounds these tubes. Water tube boiler is reverse of the
fire tube boiler. In water tube boiler the water is heated
inside tubes and hot gasses surround these tubes. These
are the main two types of boiler but each of the types can
be sub divided into many which we will discuss later. 6
Water Tube Boiler
A water tube boiler is such kind of boiler where
the water is heated inside tubes and the hot
gasses surround them.

This is the basic definition of water tube boiler.

Actually this boiler is just opposite of fire tube
boiler where hot gasses are passed through tubes
which are surrounded by water.

7
Water tube boilers, vertical striate tubes

8
Types of Water Tube Boiler
There are many types of water tube boilers, such as
Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler.
Bent Tube Boiler.
Cyclone Fired Boiler.
Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler again can be sub -
divided into two different types, Longitudinal Drum
Water Tube Boiler.
Cross Drum Water Tube Boiler.
Bent Tube Boiler also can be sub divided into four
different types, Two Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
Low Head Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
Four Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
9
Two Drum Bent Tube Boiler
10
Three Drum Bent
Tube Boiler.

11
Four Drum Bent Tube Boiler. 12
Advantages of Water Tube Boiler
There are many advantages of water tube boiler due to
which these types of boiler are essentially used in large
thermal power plant. Larger heating surface can be
achieved by using more numbers of water tubes.
Due to convectional flow, movement of water is much
faster than that of fire tube boiler, hence rate of heat
transfer is high which results into higher efficiency.
Very high pressure in order of 140 kg/cm2 can be
obtained smoothly.
Disadvantages of Water Tube Boiler
The main disadvantage of water tube boiler is that it is
not compact in construction.
Its cost is not cheap.
Size is a difficulty for transportation and construction. 13
Working Principle of Longitudinal Drum Water Tube
Boiler, horizontal or Inclined or inclined Tubes

14
Working Principle of Cross Drum Boiler
The working principle of cross drum boiler is
same as longitudinal drum boiler . The feed
water is fed to the cross drum through feed water
inlet.
Then this water comes down through the down-
comer pipe and enters into inclined water tube
placed in hot chamber.
Here, the water becomes hot and steam is
produced in the water which comes into steam
chamber.
Here in the steam drum steam is separated from
water in natural way. 15
Cross Drum Water Tube Boiler
Construction of Cross Drum Water Tube
Boiler
Cross Drum Boiler is essentially a variant of the
Longitudinal Drum Boiler. In Cross Drum
Boiler the steam drum is placed at cross ways to
the heat source as shown in the figure. Here, the
down-comer is fitted on the bottom of the drum
and riser is fitted on the top of the drum via a
horizontal tube as shown in the figure. 5o to 15 o
inclined water tubes are connected with down-
comer and riser tubes in same manner of
Babcock-Wilcox boiler. 16
17
Water tube boilers are classified as

1. Horizontal straight tube boilers

(a) Longitudinal drum (b) Cross-
drum.
2. Bent tube boilers
(a) Two pass (b) Three pass
3. Cyclone fired boilers
18
Fire Tube Boiler
As it indicated from the name, the fire tube boiler
consists of numbers of tubes through which hot gasses
are passed. These hot gas tubes are immersed into water,
in a closed vessel. Actually in fire tube boiler one closed
vessel or shell contains water, through which hot tubes
are passed. These fire tubes or hot gas tubes heated up
the water and convert the water into steam and the steam
remains in same vessel. As the water and steam both are
in same vessel a fire tube boiler cannot produce steam at
very high pressure. Generally it can produce maximum
17.5 kg/cm2 and with a capacity of 9 Metric Ton of
steam per hour.
19
Normally horizontal return fire tube boiler is
used in thermal power plant of low capacity. It
consists of a horizontal drum into which there
are numbers of horizontal tubes. These tubes are
submerged in water. The fuel (normally coal)
burnt below these horizontal drum and the
combustible gasses move to the rear from where
they enter into fire tubes and travel towards the
front into the smoke box. During this travel of
gasses in tubes, they transfer their heat into the
water and steam bubbles come up. As steam is
produced, the pressure of the boiler developed,
20
in that closed vessel.
Fire tube Boilers

21
Types of Fire Tube Boiler
There are different types of fire tube boiler
likewise, external furnace and internal furnace
fire tube boiler. External furnace boiler can be
again categorized into three different types-
Horizontal Return Tubular Boiler.
Short Fire Box Boiler.
Compact Boiler.
Again, internal furnace fire tube boiler has also
two main categories such as horizontal tubular
and vertical tubular fire tube boiler.
22
Advantages of Fire Tube Boiler
It is quite compact in construction.
Fluctuation of steam demand can be met easily.
It is also quite cheap.
Disadvantages of Fire Tube Boiler
As the water required for operation of the boiler
is quite large, it requires long time for rising
steam at desired pressure.
As the water and steam are in same vessel the
very high pressure of steam is not possible.
The steam received from fire tube boiler is not
very dry.
23
Comparison of fire tube and water tube
boilers
Particulars Fire-tube boilers
Position of water and hot Hot gases inside the tubes
gases and water outside the tubes
Mode of firing Generally internally fired
Operation pressure Limited to 16 bar
Rate of steam production Lower
Suitability Not suitable for large power
plants
Risk on bursting Involves lesser risk of
explosion due to lower
pressure
Floor area For a given power it
occupies more floor area
Construction Difficult
Water-tube boilers
Water inside the tubes and
hot gases outside the tubes
Externally fired
Can go up to 100 bar
Higher
Suitable for large power
plants
More risk on bursting due to
high pressure
For a given power it
occupies less floor area
Simple
24
Cont
Particulars Fire-tube boilers Water-tube boilers
Transportation Difficult Simple
Shell diameter Large for same power Small for same power
Chances of explosion Less More
Treatment of water Not so necessary More necessary
Accessibility of various parts Various parts not so easily More accessible
accessible for cleaning, repair
and inspection
Requirement of skill Require less skill for efficient Require more skill and careful
and economic working attention

25
Steam Boiler Efficiency
The percentage of total heat exported by outlet
steam in the total heat supplied by the fuel (coal)
is called steam boiler efficiency.

26
27
 Boiler terms
Shell: Consists of one or more steel plates bent
into a cylindrical form and riveted or welded
together. The shell ends are closed with end plates

Setting: The primary function of setting is to

confine heat to the boiler and form a passage for
gases. It is made of brick work and may form the
wall of the furnace and combustion chamber

28
 Grate: it is a platform in the furnace upon
which fuel is burnt

Furnace: it is the chamber formed by the

space above the grate and below the boiler
shell, in which combustion takes place.

Water space and steam space: the volume of

the shell that is occupied by the water is
termed as water space while the entire shell
volume less the water and tubes is called steam
space 29
 Mountings: The items which are used for
safety of boiler are called mountings

Accessories: The items which are used for

increasing the boiler efficiency are called
accessories

Water level: The level at which water stands

in the boiler is called water level

30
 Refractory: insulation material used for
lining combustion chamber

Foaming: Formation of steam bubbles on

the surface of boiler water due to high
surface tension of water

31
 Scale: A deposit of medium due to extreme
hardness occurring on the water heating
surfaces of boiler because of an undesirable
condition in the boiler water

Blowing off: The removal of mud and other

impurities of water from the lowest part of the
boiler. Accomplished with the help of blow off
cock or valve

Lagging: Insulation wrapped on the outside of

the boiler shell or steam piping 32
 Boiler accessories
Feed pumps: Used to deliver feed water to the
boiler. It is desirable that the quantity of water
supplied should be at least equal to that
evaporated and supplied to the engine

Two types of which are commonly used as

feed pumps are (1) reciprocating pump (2)
rotary pump

33
 Injector
Function of injector is to feed water into the
boiler

It is commonly employed for vertical and

locomotive boilers and does not find its
application in large capacity high pressure boilers

Also used where the space is not available for the

installation of feed pump

34
 Economizer
Is a device in which the waste heat of the
flue gases is utilized for heating the feed
water

Economizers are of two types

Independent type
Integral type

35
 Air Pre-heater
The function of the air pre-heater is to
increase the temperature of air before it enters
the furnace.
It is placed after the economizer.
Flue gases pass through the economizer and
then to the air preheater
Degree of preheating depends on
Type of fuel
Type of fuel burning equipment, and
Rating at which the boiler and furnace are
operated

36
 Types of air preheaters
I. Tubular type

II. Plate type

III. Storage type

37
 Super heater
The function of a super heater is to increase
the temperature of the steam above its
saturation point

The super heater is very important accessory

of a boiler and can be used both on fire tube
and water tube boilers.

38
 Advantages of super heated steam

Steam consumption of the engine or turbine

is reduced
Erosion of turbine blade is eliminated
Efficiency of the steam plant is increased
Losses due to condensation in the cylinders
and the steam pipes are reduced.

39
 Steam separator
The function of a steam separator is to remove
the entrained water particles from the steam
conveyed to the steam engine or turbine.

It is installed as close to the steam engine as

possible on the main steam pipe from the
boiler

40
 According to principle of operation the
steam separators are classified as follows

Impact or baffle type

Reverse current type

Centrifugal type
41
 High pressure and low pressure
The boilers which produce steam at pressures
of 80 bar and above are called high pressure
boilers
Examples: Babcock and Wilcox, Velox,
Lamont, Benson boilers
The boilers which produce steam at pressure
below 80 bar are called low pressure boilers
Examples: Cochran, Cornish, Lancashire
and locomotive boilers
42
43
44