BOILERS

BOILERS
 STEAM BOILER

BOILERS

1 A steam generator, also known as boiler, is a closed vessel in

which the water is converted in to steam by the application
of heat at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure.
2 Boiler is a high quality steel that generates steam at high
pressure and high temperature by utilizing the waste heat
from the flue gas to convert the feed water into steam.
3 When the fuel is burnt in the boiler furnace, the chemical
energy of the fuel is converted into heat energy which is
used to convert the water into steam.
4 Water free from impurities such as dissolved salts, gases
and non soluble solids should be supplied to boilers. This is
done by suitable water treatment.
 APPLICATIONS

BOILERS
1 The steam is used to drive prime movers like steam engine or
steam turbine which drives an electric generator to produce
electricity.
2 The steam may be supplied at low pressures for the process
industries like cotton mills, sugar factories.
3 Steam is also used for heating residential and industrial
buildings in winter.
4 The steam produced in the boiler is used for producing hot
water, which can be used for heating at much lower pres-
sures.
5 Steam is useful for running steam turbines in ships and
steam engines in railway locomotives. It is a common prac-
tice to use high pressure boilers for generation in power
plants to increase the overall plant efficiency and to reduce
the of electricity production.
 SELECTION OF A STEAM BOILER

BOILERS

The following factors are to be considered for selecting the size

and type of a steam boiler.
1 The power required and the working pressure.
2 The rate at which the steam is to be generated.
3 Availability of fuel, water and transport.
4 The geographical position of the powerhouse.
5 The type of fuel to be used.
 CLASSIFICATIONS OF BOILERS

BOILERS

1 According to the method of heating:

Fire tube boiler
Water tube boiler
2 According to firing method:
Internally fired boilers.
Externally fired boilers.
3 According to the axis of the shell:
Vertical boilers.
Horizontal boilers.
4 According to the method of circulation of water and steam

Natural circulation boilers.

Forced circulation boilers.
5 According to the use:
Stationary boilers.
Mobile boilers.
 Cochran Boiler

BOILERS

0
 COCHRAN BOILER

BOILERS

1 Cochran boiler is a vertical, multi tube boiler commonly

used for small capacity steam generation. It is made in
different sizes of evaporative capacities ranging from 150 to
3000 kg per hour and working pressure up to 15 bar.
2 This boiler consists of an external cylindrical shell and a
firebox. The shell and firebox are both hemispherical; the
hemispherical crown of the boiler shell gives maximum space
and strength to withstand the pressure of steam inside the
boiler. The hemispherical crown of the firebox is also advan-
tageous for resisting intense heat. The firebox and the com-
bustion chamber is connected through a short pipe. The
flue gases from the combustion chamber flow to the smoke
box through a number of tubes.
 COCHRAN BOILER

BOILERS 1 The gases from the smoke box escape to the atmosphere
through the chimney. The combustion chamber is lined
with firebricks to withstand intense heat. A manhole near
the top of the crown on the shell is provided for cleaning.
At the bottom of the firebox, there is a grate and the coal
is fed in through the fire hole, which is kept closed by a fire
door.
2 Coal is fed into the grate through the fire hole and burnt.
Ash formed during burning is collected in the ash-pit pro-
vided just below the grate and then it is removed manually.
The hot gases from the grate pass through the combustion
chamber to the horizontal fire tubes and transfer the heat
to the water by convection. The flue gases coming out of
fire tubes pass through the smoke box and escape to the
atmosphere through the chimney. The working pressure is
6.5 bar.
 HIGH PRESSURE BOILERS

BOILERS

1 High pressure boilers are steam generating units that

generate steam of high pressure and temperature of about
85 bar and above by utilizing the waste heat of from the
flue gases. The modern high pressure boilers can generate
steam with capacities 30 to 1600 tones per hour for a
pressure up to 210 bar and a maximum steam temperature
of about 650 C. Water tube boilers are usually referred
for this application.
 Babcock and Wilcox Boiler

BOILERS
 CONSTRUCTION

BOILERS

1 It is a stationary water tube boiler as shown in figure . It

consists of a steam water drum. A short tube connects the
steam water drum with uptake header and down header as
found in Figure. The headers are provided with hand holes
in the front of the tubes and are covered with caps.
2 A mud box is provided with each down space header and
the mud collected, is removed. There is a slow moving
automatic chain on which the coal is fed from the hopper.
]The firebricks baffle wall deflects the hot gases and helps
the hot gases to leave the chimney. The dampers are used
to regulate the draught and are operated by a chain and a
pulley.
 CONSTRUCTION

BOILERS

1 Coal is fed to the grate through the fire door and is burnt.
The hot flue gases rise upward and pass across the left-side
portion of the water tubes. The baffles deflect the flue gases
and hence the flue gases travel in a zig - zag manner over
the water tubes and along the super heater. The flue gases
finally escape to the atmosphere through the chimney.
2 Water circulation: The portion of the water tubes which is
just above the furnace are heated comparatively to higher
temperature than the rest of it. Water rises into the drum
through the uptake- header. Here the steam and water are
separated in the drum. Steam, which is lighter, is being
collected in the upper part of the drum. The water from
the drum comes down through the down- header into the
water tubes.
 CONSTRUCTION

BOILERS

1 A continuous circulation of water from the drum to the wa-

ter tubes and vice versa is thus maintained. The circulation
of water is maintained by convective currents and is known
as natural circulation.
2 Superheating: Steam is taken from the steam space through
a tube to the super heater. Steam is superheated in the su-
per heater. Functions of Boiler fittings and accessories: The
boiler is fitted with necessary mountings. Pressure gauge
and water level indicator are mounted on the boiler at its
left end. Steam safety valve and stop valve are mounted
on the top of the drum. Blow-off cock is provided for the
periodical removal of mud and sediments collected in the
mud box.
 Lamont Boiler

BOILERS
 LAMONT BOILER

BOILERS 1 Lamont boiler is forced circulation, high pressure water tube

steam boiler in which the circulation is maintained by a cen-
trifugal pump which is driven by a steam turbine by using
the steam from the boiler outlet as shown in figure. The
pump circulates water equals to 8 to 10 times the mass of
steam evaporated. This prevents the tubes from being over-
heated. The principle involved is, by employing high velocity
water higher rate of heat transmission can be obtained.
2 It consists of steam separator drum, Circulating pump, Dis-
tributor header, Evaporator, Economizer, Super heater and
an air preheater. In usual design, the steam separator drum
is located outside the boiler which contains a mixture of
steam and water. Initially, drum receives feed water through
economizer from the well by means of feed pump. Then,
circulating pump draws water from drum and delivers it
to the evaporator through distributor header that contains
 LAMONT BOILER

BOILERS 1 The water is now partially evaporated in the evaporator and

a mixture of steam and water from these tubes enters the
steam separator drum. Here the vapour is separated from
the water which is in nearly saturated condition.
2 To produces superheated steam, a convective super heater
is used. The super heater is located in the path of hot
flue gases. The saturated steam, from the drum enters the
super heater and it is superheated by hot flue gases coming
from the combustion chamber by convective heat transfer.
3 The superheated steam leaves the boiler and enters into
the prime mover through steam outlet to perform work. Air
preheater is used for preheating the air required for efficient
combustion in the combustion chamber by using the waste
hot flue gases. The capacity of this boiler is about 45 to 50
tomes per hour of superheated steam at a pressure of 130
bar at 540 C.