Iswor Bajracharya, PhD

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Pulchowk Engineering Campus

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 Introduction
Objective

To understand the application of the
thermodynamics in various energy conversion
equipments and systems .

To understand the working principle of various
energy conversion system .

To know the various mechanical components of
energy conversion system.
Class
Sunday - 11: 45-13:00
Tuesday- 11:45- 13:00

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 Syllabus

Chapter 1 Boilers
1.1 Introduction and applications
1.2 Classifications and comparison among various types
of boilers
1.3 Requirements of an ideal boiler
1.4 Boiler mountings and accessories: water level
indicator, feed check valve, Blow off cock, steam
separator, safety valves, Feed pump, air pre-heater, super
heater and economizer
1.5 Water conditioning
1.5.1 Water problems and Benefits of water conditioning
1.5.2 Constituents and Characteristics of water
1.5.3 Types and causes of scale and deposits
1.5.4 Scale deposit prevention methods

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Chapter 2 Air Compressors
2.1 Introduction and classifications of air compressors
2.2 Primary components of a reciprocating compressor
2.3 Processes of a reciprocating compression on P-v diagram,
clearance volume, swept volume, total volume, and effective
swept volume and work done, effect of clearance volume on
performance of compressor
2.4 Volumetric, adiabatic and isothermal efficiencies
2.5 Multi stage compression and its advantages, inter-cooling,
work done of multi stage compression with and without
clearance volume on representation of processes on P-v and T-s
diagrams
2.6 Other types of air compressors: Centrifugal type, axial type,
Roots blower, Rotary type, screw type
2.7 Comparison among various type of air compressor

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Chapter Refrigeration
3 3.1 Definition and applications of refrigeration
3.2 Simple and modified vapor compression refrigeration cycles
3.2.1 Ideal and actual vapor compression refrigeration cycles
3.2.2 Representation of corresponding processes on P-h and T-s
3.2.3 Work done and coefficient of performance
3.3 Vapor absorption refrigeration system
3.3.1 Basic vapor absorption refrigeration system, practical
vapor absorption refrigeration system and Electrolux vapor
absorption refrigeration system
3.3.2 Comparison between vapor compression and vapor
absorption type refrigeration systems
3.4 Refrigerants
3.4.1 Introduction
3.4.2 Classifications of refrigerants
3.4.3 Desirable properties of an ideal refrigerant
3.4.4 Properties and uses of commonly used refrigerants

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Chapter Air Conditioning
4 4.1 Definition and scope of air-conditioning
4.2 Psychometrics and properties of air
4.3 Psychometric chart
4.4 Various processes on psychometric chart and their analysis:
sensible heating , sensible cooling, cooling with dehumidification,
cooling with humidification, heating with dehumidification,
heating with humidification, adiabatic mixing of two streams of
moist air
4.5 Air-conditioning systems: DX system, all air system, all water
system, air-water system, merits and demerits of each system
4.6 Components of air-conditioning systems: Ducts, Fans, Grills,
Registers, Diffusers, Balancing dampers, Air filters, Air handling
units, Fan coil units, Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers

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 Chapter 1: Boilers
1.1 Introduction and Applications

A boiler, also known as steam generator, is a pressure
vessel which is used for the production of steam at
desired temperature and pressure by supplying heat
from the combustion of fuel.

Steam is generated at constant pressure inside the
boiler.

The heat required for the generation of steam is
provided either by the combustion of fuel like coal, oil
gas and agro by-product or using electrical or nuclear
energy.
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The steam circulates out of the boiler for use in
various processes.
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
U.S.A.) defines boiler as “a combination of apparatus
for producing, furnishing or recovering heat together
with the apparatus for transferring the heat so made
available to water which could be heated and
vaporized to steam form “.
Two important points in this definition:

Generation, recover and transfer of heat

Transfer of heat to water to convert it into steam
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 Application of Boiler
Steam is used for various application such as for power
generation in thermal power plant, process heating in
industries, water heating, heating the residential and
industrial buildings etc. Accordingly, boilers are used in:

Thermal power plants

Various industries such as paper & pulp, textile,
sugar, chemical

HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning)
application

Heating water

Steam engines
Introduction & Boiler Classification
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The boilers used in power generation are generally
large in size and are of individual design depending
upon the power capacity of the plant and the type of
fuel to be used. They generate steam at high
pressure.

The boilers used for process heating are usually
small in size and generate steam at lower pressure.
They are simpler in design and are repeatedly
constructed to the same design.

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 Working Principle of Boiler
The boiler is essentially a heat exchanger inside which
water is stored. Fuel is bunt in a furnace and hot
gasses are produced. These hot gasses come in
contact with water vessel inside the boiler and heat is
transferred to the water and consequently steam is
produced in the boiler.

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 Figure 1. Boiler (Source:www.directindustry.com)

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 Figure 2. Boiler (Source: www.techtransfer.com)
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 Boiler Details
Shell : It is the main container of boiler usually of
cylindrical shape which contains water and steam.
Furnace: A furnace in a boiler is a chamber where fuel is
combusted. Furnace has a grate to burn coal or a burner
to atomize and burn liquid fuel.
Water Flow Path: It is the path followed by the water in
the water tube boiler during the process of absorption of
heat from hot gases and conversion into steam.
Gas Flow Path: It is the path followed by hot gases to
transfer heat to water for steam generation. Boiler
efficiency depends upon the gas flow path.
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Mountings: Valves are gauges which are necessary for
the control, safe and efficient operation of boiler are
known as mountings. Water level indicators, safety valve,
blow-off cock and fusible plug etc. are boiler mountings.
Accessories: Devices which are mounted on boiler for
improving the performance of boiler is known as
accessories. Economizer, air pre-heater and super heater
are used to improve the efficiency of boiler.

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 Feed Water = Make up +
Condensate Return

Figure 3. Schematic Diagram of Boiler System (Source: www.ispatguru.com)

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 Figure: Different Accessories of Boiler

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 1.2 Classification and Comparison among
Various Types of Boiler
There are different types of boilers. Based upon the design
and construction, boilers can be classified as follows:
1) According to the geometric orientation of boiler
2) According to the relative position of water and hot
gases
3) According to the location of furnace
4) According to the method of water circulation
5) According to working pressure
6) According to the mobility of boiler
7) According to number of tubes in boiler
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 According to Geometric Orientation of Boiler
a) Horizontal Boiler : The axis of boiler is horizontal.
Example : Lancashire boiler , Locomotive boiler
b) Vertical Boiler : The axis of boiler is vertical. Example:
Cochran boiler
c) Inclined Boiler: The axis is of boiler is inclined.

Figure: Lancashire boiler Figure: Locomotive boiler Figure: Cochran boiler

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 According to relative position of water and hot gases
a) Fire Tube Boiler: The hot gases of combustion passes
through the tubes and water surrounds them.
Example: Lancashire, Locomotive, Cochran
b) Water Tube Boiler: Water passes through the tubes
and hot gases of combustion surround them.
Example: Babcock-Wilcox boiler, Stirling boiler, La-
Mont Boiler, Benson boiler

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Fig: Fire-tube boiler (www.globalspec.com) Fig: Fire-tube boiler (www.hurstboiler.com)

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 Figure: Babcock-Wilcox boiler Figure: Stirling boiler (Source: Wikipedia)

Figure: Water-tube boiler

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 According to the Location of Furnace
a) Externally Fired Boilers: Furnace is placed outside the
shell . Generally water tube boilers come under this
category.
Example: Babcock-Wilcox boiler, Stirling boiler
a) Internally Fired Boiler: Furnace is placed inside the
boiler shell. Generally fire tube boilers come under this
category.
Example : Lancashire, Locomotive, Cochran boiler

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 According to the Method of Water Circulation
a) Natural Circulation Boiler: Water and steam flow takes
place due to the density difference caused by the
temperature variation. Example: Lancashire, Babcock-
Wilcox boiler
b) Forced Circulation Boiler : The flow of steam and
water is due to the application of external force like
pump. Example : La-Mont Boiler, Benson boiler, Velox
boiler

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 According to Working Pressure
a) High Pressure Boiler: The working pressure of this
boiler is higher than 25 bar. Example: Babcock-Wilcox
boiler
b) Medium Pressure Boiler: The working pressure of
this boiler is in the range of 10 to 25 bar. Example:
Lancashire , Locomotive boiler
c) Low Pressure Boiler: The working pressure is in the
range of 3.5 to 10 bar. Example: Cochran and Cornish
boiler

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 According to Mobility of Boiler
a) Stationary Boiler: Such boilers cannot be moved easily
from one place to another place and are used mostly
for power generation, industrial process heating.
Example: Lancashire, Babcock-Wilcox boiler
b) Mobile Boiler: These boilers are portable and can be
moved easily from one place to another place. Example:
Locomotive boiler

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 According to Number of Tubes in Boiler
a) Single Tube Boiler : This boiler has only one fire or
water tube for circulation of hot gases or water.
Example: Cornish boiler
b) Multi Tube Boiler: This boiler has two or more fire or
water tubes for circulation of hot gases or water.
Example: Locomotive, Cochran, Lancashire

Introduction & Boiler Classification

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 According to Type of Fuels Used
a) Solid Fuel Fired Boiler: This boiler uses solid fuel like
coal. Example: Babcock-Wilcox boiler
b) Liquid Fuel Fired Boiler: This boiler uses liquid fuel
like furnace oil, diesel . Example: Volex boiler
c) Gas Fired Boiler: This boiler uses gases fuel like
natural gas

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 Cochran Boiler

Figure: Cochran Boiler Parts

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 Cochran Boiler
Introduction:
Cochran boiler is a fire tube, internally fired, vertical , multi-
tube boiler, commonly used for small capacity steam
generation.
Physical Shape and Construction

It has cylindrical shell with hemispherical crown. The
furnace is also hemispherical in shape.

This boiler has dimensions from 1 m in diameter and 2 m
height to 3 m diameter and 6m height.

The grate is placed at the bottom of furnace and ash-pit is
located below the grate.

The gases passing through the fire tubes transfer heat to
water by convection

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 Cochran Boiler
Steam Generation:
The boiler can generate steam from 20kg/hr to 3000 kg/hr and
steam pressure up to 20 bar.31
Efficiency:

The efficiency of this boiler is 70 to 75 %.
Fuel Used:

This boiler uses coal or oil as the fuel .

If oil is used no grate is provided. Oil burners are fitted instead.
Man-Hole:

A man-hole is provided at the crown of shell for cleaning.
Chimney:

A chimney is provided at the side of boiler. This provides the
natural draught

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 Cochran Boiler
Features of Cochran Boiler
1. It is very compact and requires minimum floor area for
its installation.
2. Any type of fuel can be used in this boiler.
3. It is suitable for small capacity requirements.
4. Its thermal efficiency is 70% with coal firing and 75%
with oil firing.
5. The ratio of grate area to heating surface area varies
from 10:1 to 25:1.

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 Cochran Boiler
Mountings
Pressure Gauge:
This indicates the pressure of steam inside the boiler.
Water Level Indicator:
This indicates the water level in the boiler. Water level should not
fall below a particular level.
Safety Valve:
Its function is to prevent the excessive pressure built-up above
the design pressure. The excessive pressure above the design
pressure is released by opening safety valve.
Fusible Plug:
It prevents the burning of tubes when the water level falls below
the pre-determined level by melting this plug and allowing the
water to fall on the grate and fire is extinguished.
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 Cochran Boiler
Blow-off Cock/Blow Down Valve:

The water supplied to the boiler always contains impurities like
mud, sand, and salt. Upon heating , these materials get deposited
at the bottom of boiler. If they are not removed, they get
accumulated at the bottom of boiler and reduce the heat transfer
rate. This will eventually reduces the efficiency of boiler. These
are removed by opening the blow-down valve.

When this valve is opened during the running of boiler, the high
pressure steam forces out the water and deposited material out
of the boiler.

The blow-down valve is opened after every 5 to 6 hours of
working for few minutes.

This keeps the boiler clean.

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 Cochran Boiler
Steam Stop Valve:
It regulates the flow of steam supply.
Feed Check valve:
The high pressure feed water is supplied to the boiler through this
valve. This is a one way non-return valve. It the feed water
pressure is less than the boiler steam pressure , this valve remains
closed and prevents the back flow of steam.

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 Cochran Boiler
Advantages

Required minimum area on the floor

Low construction cost.

Easy to move from one place to an other

Because of self-contained furnace. Brick work setting is not
necessary.

All kind of fuel can be used

Disadvantages

Less steam rising capacity due to design limitation

Cleaning and inspection is quite difficult due to design

Limited capacity.

Limited pressure range

High head room is required due to vertical design
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 Lancashire Boiler

Figure: Lancashire Boiler

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 Lancashire Boiler
Introduction:
It is a stationary fire tube, internally fired, horizontal boiler. It is
widely used boiler because of its good steaming capacity and its
ability to burn inferior quality coal.
Physical Shape & Construction:

Shell: This boiler has cylindrical shell and the size of shell varies
from 3 m to 3 m in diameter and 6 to 10 m in height.

The cylindrical shell is connected to the end plates supported
by gusset plates.

Fire Tube: Two large fire tubes having diameter 80 cm to 100
cm run throughout the length of boiler.

Bottom and Side Flue: The boiler is mounted on the brickwork
setting and forms the bottom and side flue .

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 Lancashire Boiler
Grate: The grate is provided at the front end of the main flue
tubes.
Efficiency and Pressure:
Working pressure in these boilers are in the range of 7 bar to 20
bar and efficiency of the boiler is about 65%–70%.
Fuel Used:
Coal is used as the fuel.

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 Lancashire Boiler
Working of Lancashire Boiler

In Lancashire Boiler first coal is fed on the grate where
combustion of coal takes place.

The Flue gases pass through the internal flue tubes and then
pass downwards. The flue gases travels through the bottom flue
to the front of the boiler.

Then they are split up into two steams and flow through the
side flues to the rear end of the boiler and are finally discharged
through the chimney into the atmosphere. The heat of flue
gases is transferred to the water to generate steam.

About 85% of actual heat transferred is transferred through
surface of fire tubes while 15% is transferred through bottom
and side flues.

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 Lancashire Boiler
Features of Lancashire Boiler
1. The heating surface area per unit volume of the
boiler is considerably high.
2. Maintenance is easy.
3. It is suitable where large reserve of hot water is
needed.
4. Load fluctuation can be easily met by this boiler due
to large reserve capacity.
5. Super-heater and economizer can be easily
incorporated in this boiler.

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 Locomotive Boiler
Introduction:

It is a mobile fire tube, internally fired, horizontal, multi-tube
boiler. This boiler is used in steam powered locomotive train.

It produces steam at very high rate. So, this boiler has large
heating surface area and large grate area to burn coal at a rapid
rate.

The large heating surface area is provided by providing large
number of fire tubes.

Artificial draught is provided by means of steam jet.
Construction:

It consists of cylindrical shell of 1.5 m in diameter and 4 m in
length.

The shell is connected to a rectangular fir box at one end and
smoke box at the other end.
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 Locomotive Boiler
Working of Locomotive Boiler

The ash-pit is located below the fire box .

Coal is burnt in the furnace and the hot gases so produced from
the combustion of coal is passed through the fire tubes.

Heat is transferred from the fire tubes to the water.

Hot gases from the fire tube reach the smoke box and are
discharge to the atmosphere through a short chimney with the
help of steam jet.

The pressure gauge and water level indicators are located in
the driver’s cabin .

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 Locomotive Boiler

Feature of Locomotive Boiler

1. Large rate of steam generation per unit area of
boiler.
2. It is free from brick work, special foundation and
chimney. This reduces the cost of installation.
3. It is very compact.
4. It is portable.

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 Babcock-Wilcox Boiler
Introduction:
It is a externally fired water tube boiler. This boiler is suitable for
meeting demand of increased pressure and large evaporation
capacity or large sized boiler units.
Construction:

The boiler shell known as water and steam drum is horizontal.

The boiler shell is connected to the longer downward tube
known as down take header from where water flows down to the
water tubes and uptake header from where water flows back to
the shell from the water tubes.

The water tubes are connected to the top and down headers
and are kept inclined at an angle of 15 ˚ to the horizontal.

Furnace is located below the uptake header.

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 Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

Working of Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

Coal is burnt at the furnace below the uptake header.

Two firebrick baffles are arranged in such a manner
that the hot gases from the grate are compelled to move
in the upward and downward direction.

First the hot gases rise upward and then go down and
then rise up again and finally discharges to the
atmosphere through the chimney.

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 Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

Features of Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

1. The evaporative capacity of this boiler is high
compared with other boiler.
2. The defective tubes can be replaced easily.
3. The entire boiler rests over an iron structure,
independent of brick work, so that the boiler may
expand or contract freely.
4. Draught loss is minimum compared with other
boilers.

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 Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

Figure: Babcock-Wilcox Boiler

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 Stirling Boiler

This is a externally fired water tube boiler in which bent

tubes are connected to three or four drums together.

For deflecting the hot gases the baffles are provided.

Steam drums and mud drum are used. Feed water enters
the first steam drum and passes through tubes to mud
drum and subsequently gets raised through tubes into
other steam drum. Thus the water is circulated so as to
pick maximum heat from hot gases.

The impurities and mud particles are from the water are
collected in the mud drum.

Steam generated is collected in upper portion of steam
drums from where it can be extracted out.
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 Stirling Boiler

Hot gases coming from furnace area travel across the

boiler and go out of exit passage after transferring heat
contained by them.

Such boilers are capable of generating steam up to
maximum pressure of 60 bar and steam generation rate
up to 50,000 kg/hr.

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 Stirling Boiler

Figure: Stirling Boiler

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 Industrial Boiler

Boilers are used in many industries such as paper,

chemical, sugar, pharmaceutical industries for process
heating.

Due to surging prices of oil, most of the industrial
boilers are designed to use agro byproduct, wood,
pulverized coal, municipal solid waste and refinery gas.

Commonly used industrial boilers are
Fluidized Bed Boilers (FBB),
 Waste Heat Recovery,
 Fire Tube Boilers.

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 Fluidized Bed Boiler (FBB)
Introduction:
FBB is a recent development and large number of boilers that
uses coal are coming up with this arrangement. In this boiler,
solid fuel or coal particles up to 12 mm size are suspended
with the help of pressurized air from the bottom.
Working Principle:
Here a bed of inert, refractory sand type material is blown up
by passing the air through it from bottom of bed. Then the
sand starts suspending in the air which behaves like a fluid.
Auxiliary fuel is burnt initially above or within the bed. When
suitable temperature level is attained then coal is fed on it to
burn. The burning of auxiliary fuel is stopped at the moment
when burning of coal becomes self sustainable.

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 Fluidized Bed Boiler (FBB)

Figure: Fluidized Bed Boiler

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 Fluidized Bed Boiler (FBB)
Features of FBB Boiler
1. Solid, liquid or gaseous any type of fuel can be used.
2. Higher efficiency (75% ) can be achieved even with
inferior fuel.
3. The area required is less .
4. SO2 can be captured at the bed by using lime stone as
the bed material. Thus the emission of SO2 in exhaust is
controlled.
5. As bed temperature lies 850 to 950 ° C, ash does not get
heated to the formation of clinker.
6. The operation is as simple as oil-fired boiler.
7. Load response is comparable to that of an oil-fired boiler.
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 Waste Heat Recovery Boiler

It is a simple water tube boiler which uses the waste

heat such as gas turbine exhaust, incinerator or other was
heat from industries as the source of heat instead of
furnace.

The water flowing through the water tubes get the heat
from the waste hot gases flowing over the tubes . Water
gets transformed into steam within tubes and stored in
drum from where it is drawn for superheating or for use.

When the temperature of waste heat exceeds 300 ° C ,
recovering the waste heat will be economical.

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 Fire Tube Boiler

Fire tube boilers are those boilers in which hot gases

(combustion products) flow inside the tubes and
water surrounds them.

Water extracts heat for its phase transformation from
the hot gases flowing inside the tubes, thus heat is
indirectly transferred from hot gas to water through a
metal interface.

Fire tube boilers are used for applications having small
steam requirement.

They are also cheaper than water tube boilers.

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 Fire Tube Boiler
Operation of Fire Tube Boiler
Operation of fire tube boiler is as simple.

The fuel is burnt inside a furnace and the hot gases produced
in the furnace then passes through the fire tubes.

The fire tubes are surrounded in water inside the shell of the
boiler.

As the hot gases are passed through these tubes, the heat
energy of the gasses is transferred to the water surrounding
them.

As a result steam is generated in the water and naturally
comes up and is stored in the same vessel of fire tube boiler.
This steam is then taken out from the steam outlet for utilizing
for required purpose.

The water is fed into the boiler through the feed water inlet.
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 Fire Tube Boiler

Figure : Fire tube boiler (http://www2.spiraxsarco.com/)

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 Fire Tube Boiler

Figure : Packaged Fire tube boiler (http://www2.spiraxsarco.com/)

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 Fire Tube Boiler

Figure: Fire tube boiler (Source: Applied Thermodynamics, Singh )

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 Water Tube Boiler

Figure: Water tube boiler (Source: http://www.electrical4u.com )

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 Water Tube Boiler

Water tube boilers are those boilers in which the water

flows through the tubes and the hot gasses surround
them.

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

These boilers are used where large quantity of steam is
required.

Very high pressure can be achieved

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 Fire Tube/Water Tube Boiler
Merits and Demerits of Fire Tube Boiler Over Water
Tube Boiler
Merits:
1. This boiler has simple and rigid construction than water
tube boilers
2. It is compact in size and space occupied per kg of steam
generation is considerably less than the water tube boiler.
3. Cheaper than water tube boilers.
4. Due to large cylindrical drum, there is enough water. So the
fluctuation in steam demand can be met easily.
5. Failure in feed water supply for some time does not cause
damage to the boiler as it contains large quantity of water.
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 Fire Tube/Water Tube Boiler
Merits and Demerits of Fire Tube Boiler Over Water
Tube Boiler
Demerits
1. Due to large quantity of water, time required to reach the
required pressure is quite long compared to water tube
boiler.
2. High pressure cannot be achieved as water and steam are
kept in the same vessel.
3. The steam received from this boiler is not very dry.
4. The explosion of fire tube boiler becomes very serious
because of its large quantity of water.
5. Slow rate of steam generation renders this boiler
unsuitable for use in power plants.
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 Fire Tube/Water Tube Boiler
Merits and Demerits of Water Tube Boiler Over Fire
Tube Boiler
Merits
1. Quick steam generation due to the small ratio of water to
steam content.
2. Time required to reach the required pressure is less than in
fire tube boiler.
3. Steam can be generated at very high pressure up to 140
bar .
4. Larger heating surface can be achieved by using more
numbers of water tubes.
5. Damage due to bursting of water tube is less serious due
to small quantity of water.
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 Fire Tube/Water Tube Boiler
6. All the parts are easily accessible for cleaning and
inspection.
7. The furnace area can be altered to meet the fuel
requirement.
8. The boiler can be easily transported and erected as its
parts can be separated.

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 Fire Tube/Water Tube Boiler
Merits and Demerits of Water Tube Boiler Over Fire
Tube Boiler
Demerits
1. Water impurities is a serious problem to this boiler. A small
deposit of scale may cause the overheating and bursting of
tube. So the use of pure water is essential.
2. Maintenance cost is high.
3. Failure in feed water supply even for short period is liable
to make the boiler over-heated.

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Difference Between Fire-tube and Water –tube Boiler

Fire –tube Boiler Water-tube Boiler

1 Position of water and hot gases:
Hot gases are inside the tube and
water surrounds them.
2 Volume of water : It has large
volume of water
3 Sudden Demand Response: It can
meet the sudden increase in
demand of steam
4 Mode of Firing: Generally
internally fired .
5 Operating pressure: Limited to 25
bar .
6 Rate of Steam Generation: Lower
1 Water is inside the tube and hot
gases surround them.
2 Low volume of water
3 It cannot meet sudden demand of
steam.
4 Externally fired.
5 Can work under high pressure
more than 140 bar.
6 Higher

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7 Suitability for Large Power Plants: Not Suitable for large power plants.
suitable for large power plants
8 Construction: Simple and compact in Not compact in construction.
construction .
9 Cost of Boiler : Cheap Expensive
10 Floor Area: Requires more space Requires less floor area
11 Risk of Explosion: Low due to lower High due to higher working pressure
working pressure
12 Requirement of skill : Requires less Requires more skill and careful
skill for economic and efficient attention for efficient operation
operation
13 Water Treatment: Not so much Necessary
necessary
14 Various parts are not easily accessible Various parts are more easily
for cleaning and inspection. accessible
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 High Pressure Boiler

All the modern power plant uses high pressure boilers
(> 100 bar ) as the efficiency and capacity of the plant
can be increased as reduced quantity of steam is required
for the same power generation if high pressure steam is
used.

High pressure boilers use pumps to maintain forced
circulation of water through the tubes of boiler. This
increases the evaporative capacity of boiler

The tendency of scale formation is reduced due to high
velocity of water through the tubes.

Some of the high pressure boilers are La Mont Boiler,
Benson Boiler, Loeffler Boiler, Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler,
Volex-Boiler. Introduction & Boiler Classification
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 La Mont Boiler
Feed water is fed from feed
pump to pass through
economizer tubes. Hot
water from economizer
goes into drum from where
hot feed water is picked up
by a circulating pump.
Pump increases pressure
and water circulates
through evaporation
section so as to get
converted into steam and
enters back to drum. Steam
available in drum enters
into super heater tubes and
after getting superheated
steam leaves the boiler. It
generates steam at 120 bar
pressure and 500 ˚C.
Figure: La Mont Boiler
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 Benson Boiler

One problem of La Mont Boiler is the formation and
attachment of bubbles on the inner surfaces of heating
tubes. These bubbles reduces the heat flow which reduces
the efficiency of the boiler.

Mark Benson in 1992 conceived the idea of generating
steam at supercritical pressure in which water flashes into
vapor without any latent heat requirement. Above critical
point the water transforms into steam without boiling .

This boiler generates steam at supercritical pressure.

The feed pump increases pressure of water to super
critical pressure and water directly transforms into steam
without boiling.

Steam generation also occurs very quickly in these boilers.
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 Benson Boiler
Major Components
1. Economizer
2. Radiant
Evaporator
3. Convective
Evaporator
4. Super-Heater

Figure : Benson Boiler

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 Benson Boiler
Advantages of Benson Boiler
1. As there is no drum, the total weight of Benson boiler is
20% less than other boiler . This reduces the cost of
boiler.
2. The erection of Benson boiler is easier as and quicker as
all the parts are welded at site.
3. The transport of Benson boiler is easy as no drums are
required and majority of the parts are carried to the
site without pre-assembly.
4. It requires comparatively smaller floor space.
5. The blow-down losses of Benson boiler is hardly 4% of
natural circulation boiler of same capacity.
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 Loeffler Boiler

The major difficulty experienced in Benson boiler is the
deposition of salt and sediment on the inner surfaces of
water tubes. The deposition reduces the heat transfer
and ultimately the efficiency of the system. This further
increases the danger of overheating the tubes as the
deposited salt has high thermal resistance.

This problem is solved in Loeffler boiler by preventing
the flow of water into the boiler tubes. Most of the
steam is generated outside the boiler tubes by using the
part of superheated steam coming from the boiler.

The feed pump supplies the water through the
economizer and delivers it into the evaporator drum.
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 Loeffler Boiler

About 65% of the steam coming out of the super heater is
passed through the evaporator drum in order to evaporate the
feed water coming from the economizer.

Then the steam circulating pump draws the saturated steam
from the evaporators drum and is passed through the radiant
super heater and then convective super heater . About 65% of
the steam coming out from the super heater is supplied to the
Evaporating drum and 35% to the HP turbine.

The steam coming out from the HP turbine is passed to the
re-heater before supplying to the LP turbine.

The amount of steam generated in the evaporator drum is
equal to the steam tapped from the super heater.

This boiler can carry higher salt concentration than any other
type of boiler and is more compact as well.
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 Loeffler Boiler

Major Components
1. Economizer
2. Evaporating Drum
3. Radiant Super-heater
4. Convective super-
heater
5. Steam Re-heater

Fig : Loeffler Boiler

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 Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler

Major Components
1. Primary Steam Circuit
(Distilled water)
2. Secondary Steam
Circuit (Normal
water)
3. Feed Preheater
4. Evaporator or Steam
Drum

Fig: Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler

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 Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler

This boiler consists of two steam circuits:
1. Primary steam circuit: Steam is generated at 95-100 bar
from the distilled water at the primary circuit. This is a
closed circuit.
2. Secondary steam circuit: Steam is generated from the
impure water and supplied to the prime mover.

Steam generated at the primary circuit is passed through the
Evaporator or Steam Generator.

This high pressure steam transfers heat to the water at
evaporator and generates steam at 55-60 bar.

The steam produced in the evaporator is further passed
through the super-heater and then supplied to the prime
mover.
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 Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler

The high pressure condensate formed in the

evaporator is circulated through a pre-heater where
high pressure is reduced. This increases the
temperature of feed water.

Natural circulation is used in the primary circuit .

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 Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler
Merits of Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler
1. As distilled water is used in the primary circuit , there is
no deposition of salt in the primary circuit and
therefore, there is rare chance of overheating or
burning the primary circuit.
2. Impure water can be used for the steam generation as
this water is used only in the secondary circuit which
can be easily cleaned or brushed.
3. The salt deposited in the evaporator drum due to
circulation of impure water can be easily cleaned by
brushing or by blowing off the water.

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 Volex Boiler

Fig: Volex Boiler (Source: Dbios)

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 Volex Boiler

Fig: Single line diagram of Volex boiler

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 Volex Boiler

This boiler is based on the principle that when the gas

velocity exceeds the sound velocity, the heat is
transferred from the gas at a much higher rate than the
rates achieved with sub-sonic flow. This fact is used in
Volex boiler to transfer large amount of heat from a
smaller surface area.

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 Volex Boiler
Working of Volex Boiler

Air is compressed to a pressure of 2.5 bar with the
help of a compressor run by a gas turbine & is supplied
to the combustion chamber at a supersonic velocity.

Fuel is supplied in the combustion chamber & burnt
there.

The supersonic velocity of the compressed air causes
the burnt gases to flow at the supersonic velocity and
are passed through the annulus of the tubes.

In this process, large amount of heat is transferred
from gases to water while passing through the annulus
to generate the steam.
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 Volex Boiler

The mixture of steam and water thus formed then

passes into a steam separator. A steam separator is so
designed that the mixtures enters with a spiral flow. The
centrifugal force produced causes the heavier water
particles to be thrown outward on the wall. This effect
separates the steam from water.

The separated steam is further passed to a super-
heater and then supplied to the prime mover.

The water removed from the separator is again passed
into the water tubes with the help of a pump.

The hot gases coming out from the top of annulus are
passed over the super-heater.
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 Volex Boiler

The gases coming out from super-heater is used to run

the gas turbine. Gas turbine runs the air-compressor.

The exhaust gases coming out from the gas turbine are
passed through the economizer to utilize the remaining
heat of the gases.
Advantages

Very high combustion rate is possible .

Very compact .

It can be started quickly.

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 1.3 Requirement of an Ideal Boiler

A boiler is supposed to generate large quantity of steam at

desired pressure and temperature quickly and efficiently.
Following are the requirements of an ideal boiler:
1. Steam generation rate: The boiler should be capable of
generating steam at desired rate at desired pressure
and temperature with minimum fuel consumption and
cost.
2. Storage capacity: It should have sufficient steam and
water storage capacity to meet fluctuation in demand.
3. Reliability and Weight: It should be absolutely reliable
and light in weight.
4. Size: It should occupy less floor and space.
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 5. Control system: It should be equipped with all
necessary mountings.
6. Quick start: It should be capable to get started
quickly from cold.
7. Accessibility: Its construction should be simple and
all the parts should be easily accessible for the ease
of inspection and repairs.
8. Heat transfer: It should have its heating surface
nearly at right angle to the current of hot gases for
good heat transfer.
9. Safety: It should confirm to safety regulations.
10. Installation: Installation should be simple.
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11. Cost: It should be low initial, installation and
maintenance cost.
12. Soot Deposition: Tubes should be so designed so as
to have minimum soot deposition and good strength
against and wear.
13. Strength: Boiler should have strength to withstand
excessive thermal stresses.
14. Power Loss: There should be minimum frictional
power loss during flow of hot gases and water/steam,
pressure drop throughout the system should be
minimum.

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 Selection of Boiler
Following factors should be considered while selecting a
boiler:
1. Working pressure and quality of steam required.
2. Steam temperature requirement
3. Steam generation rate
4. Space and floor area available
5. Initial cost of boiler
6. Running and maintenance cost
7. Availability of fuel and water
8. Accessibility for repair and maintenance
9. Inspection and maintenance requirement
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 END

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