Caribbean Maritime Institute

School of Academic Studies Industrial Boiler Operation

Unit 2 Steam Boilers Eng. Earl S. Green, Ph.D.

Properties of Steam (T-h dia)

Entropy
For a closed thermodynamic system, a quantitative measure of the amount of thermal energy not available to do work. A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system

Enthalphy
Enthalpy is a measure of the total energy of a thermodynamic system. It includes the internal energy, which is the energy required to create a system, and the amount of energy required to make room for it by displacing its environment and establishing its volume and pressure (SI Joule). The total enthalpy, H, of a system cannot be measured directly. Thus, change in enthalpy, H, is a more useful quantity than its absolute value.

Enthalphy(H)
H is the sum of the E of the system + the product of the P the gas in the system and its V
int

After a series of rearrangements, and if pressure if kept constant, we can arrive at the following equation:
where H is the Hfinal minus Hinitial and q is heat

Properties & Uses of Superheated Steam (The Mollier H-S Chart)

An enthalpyentropy chart, also known as the HS chart or Mollier diagram, plots the total heat against entropy, describing the enthalpy of a thermodynamic system. A typical chart covers a pressure range of 0.01 1000 bar, and temperatures up to 800 C. It shows enthalpy H in terms of internal energy U , pressure P, and volume V using the relationship:

H = U + PV

Properties of Steam, contd. Design of an Industrial Boiler

- can cope with much higher pressures than
pressure cookers

- welded from thick steel plates(up to 35 mm

thick, making P of > 30 bar more possible

- stable, robust design absolutely essential (if a

boiler of this type were to collapse, explosive forces comparable to the explosive power of a ton of gelignite would be released)

Sectional drawing of a three pass shell boiler

1. Waste gas connection to chimney

3. 1st Flame tube

1
4. Burner

2
5 4

2. Smoke tube pass (2nd pass)

5. Smoke tube pass (3rd pass)

Universal Steam Boiler

Process control system

System control

Water treatment module

Water service module

Condensate service module

Properties of Steam, contd. Design of an Industrial Boiler

- Thermal output of up to 38 MW is possible
from a single boiler (corresponds ~ to the power of 500 average VW Golf cars) economically

- Up to five boilers can be combined - A boiler filled with water and ready for

function, can weigh as much as 165 tons (the ~ weight of 120 VW Golfs)

Properties of Steam, contd. Design of an Industrial Boiler

At full capacity a boiler of this size converts 3 000 litres of fuel oil or a corresponding amount of natural gas to thermal or process heat every hour. This would be sufficient to heat more than 2 000 houses.

Properties of Steam, contd.

The heart of a boiler system is hot water or steam, operated with a certain kind of fuel. The boiler heats up or evaporates the water inside it, which is then transported for end use via pipes. In the case of hot water, the transported E is aided by pumps. In the case of steam, the transport is based on inherent pressure.

Properties of Steam, contd.

The cooled water or the condensed steam returns to the boiler where it can be heated again. Loss of water must be compensated by treated fresh water to avoid corrosion. Flue gases created by combustion are discharged into the atmosphere through a chimney. Particularly efficient systems additionally use the residual heat in the flue gases.

Properties of Steam, contd. Steam Tables

It is the compilation of experimental results of the thermodynamic properties (viz specific volume, internal energy, sensible heat, latent heat, saturation temperature etc.) of 1 kg of steam in a tabular column, on a T or P basis. These tables are useful for steam engineering calculations, as vapours do not obey gas laws. The pressures in the steam tables are in bar (absolute). In case of gauge pressures, they must be converted in to absolute pressure by adding atmospheric pressure to them. All the values given in the steam tables are assumed to be above 0C. If the initial temperature of water is other than 0C, the enthalpy of steam will be calculated from the steam tables by deducting the amount of heat contained initially by the water.

Properties of Steam, contd. Steam Tables

Properties of Steam, contd. (Dryness Fraction)

A measure of quality of wet steam. It is the ratio of the mass of dry steam (mg) to the mass of total wet steam (mg + mf), where mf is the mass of water vapor.

X= mg/(mg + mf)

Properties of Steam, contd. (Flash Steam)

Flash steam is a name given to the steam formed from hot condensate when the pressure is reduced. Flash steam is no different from normal steam, it is just a convenient name used to explain how the steam is formed. Normal or live steam is produced at a boiler, steam generator, or waste heat recovery generator whereas flash steam occurs when high pressure / high temperature condensate is exposed to a large pressure drop such as when exiting a steam trap.

Properties of Steam, contd. (Flash Steam)

High temperature condensate contains high energy that cannot remain in liquid form at a lower pressure because there is more energy than that required to achieve Saturated water at the lower pressure. The result is that some of the excess energy causes a % of the condensate to Flash.

Properties & Uses of Superheated Steam The Rankine Cycle

Properties & Uses of Superheated Steam The Rankine Cycle

The Rankine cycle is the fundamental operating cycle of all power plants where an operating fluid is continuously evaporated and condensed. The selection of operating fluid depends mainly on the available temperature range. The RC is used to predict the performance of steam engines. The RC is an idealised thermodynamic cycle of a heat engine that converts heat into mechanical work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water as the working fluid.

The four processes in the Rankine cycle

Ts diagram of a typical Rankine cycle operating between pressures of 0.06bar and 50bar

The four processes in the Rankine cycle

Process 1-2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure. As the fluid is a liquid at this stage the pump requires little input energy.

Process 2-3: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is heated at constant pressure by an external heat source to become a dry saturated vapour. The input energy required can be easily calculated using Mollier dia or h-s chart or enthalpy - entropy chart also known as steam tables.
Process 3-4: The dry saturated vapor expands through a turbine, generating power. This decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapour, and some condensation may occur. The output in this process can be easily calculated using the Enthalpy entropy chart or the steam tables. Process 4-1: The wet vapour then enters a condenser where it is condensed at a constant pressure to become a saturated liquid.

The four processes in the Rankine cycle

In an ideal Rankine cycle the pump and turbine would be isentropic, i.e., the pump and turbine would generate no entropy and hence maximize the net work output. Processes 1-2 and 3-4 would be represented by vertical lines on the T-S diagram and more closely resemble that of the Carnot cycle. The Rankine cycle shown here prevents the vapour ending up in the superheat region after the expansion in the turbine, which reduces the energy removed by the condensers.

Properties & Uses of Superheated Steam (The Carnot Cycle)

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Properties & Uses of Superheated Steam (Superheated Steam Tables)

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What is ?
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Questions?

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