Boiler Feedwater

By James McDonald, PE, CWT Originally Published: CSTN January 2005

The boiler feedwater calculation is:

Feedwater = Steam 1 - % BD 100

It is helpful to understand how this equation is derived. The mass balance around a boiler as illustrated in Figure 1 is: Feedwater = Steam + Blowdown

Steam

Feedwater

Boiler

Blowdown
Figure 1: Boiler System Mass Balance

Calculations

414

Cycles of concentration (or cycles) is a comparison of dissolved solids level of the blowdown with the feedwater. This can be expressed as:

Cycles =

BD concentration FW concentration

where FW stands for feedwater and BD stands for blowdown. Just like in a cooling tower system, cycles of concentration can also be expressed as:

Cycles =
Now, if we solve for BD, we get:

FW lb/hr BD lb/hr

BD =

FW Cycles

Plugging this into the mass balance equation previously shown gives:

FW = Steam +

FW Cycles

Solving for FW yields the following series of equations:

FW -

FW Cycles

= Steam

FW 1 -

1 Cycles

= Steam

FW =

Steam 1 Cycles

1-

)
415

Calculations

This last equation is a very good equation to have, because by simply knowing the steaming rate and cycles, one can calculate feedwater. Usually, this last equation is taken a step further to include percent blowdown instead of just cycles. Percent blowdown is defined as:

% BD =
Rearranging this equation reveals:

100 Cycles

1 Cycles

% BD 100

Plugging this into the feedwater equation just derived gives us the familiar feedwater equation:

FW =

Steam 1 - % BD 100

Now, with the two equations highlighted in blue, the feedwater flowrate can be determined if the steam rate is known and either the cycles or percent blowdown are known.

Calculations

416