Automation of Power Plant

Submitted by:
Eng. Eng. Eng. Eng.

Ibrahim Abd El Moneim Awad Ahmed Mesbah Youssef Mohamed El Araby Mostafa Said Aly

Submitted to: Prof. Dr. Medhat Serour

INTRODUCTION TO BOILERS

A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for combustion heat to be transferred into water until it becomes heated water or a gas (steam). Water is a useful and cheap medium for transferring heat to a process.

The use of water as a heat transfer medium has many advantages :

Water is relatively cheap. It can be easily controlled. The gas in invisible. Odorless. Extremely high purity.

(1) Radiation :

Heat is transferred from one body to another by means of:-

which is the transfer of heat from a hot body to a cold body through a conveying medium without physical contact.

(2)Convection :
The transfer of heat by a conveying medium, such as air or water.

(3)Conduction :
Transfer of heat by actual physical contact, molecule to molecule.

The heating surface is any part of the boiler metal that has hot gases of combustion on one side and water on the other.

The amount of heating surface a boiler has is expressed in square feet. The larger the amount of heating surface a boiler has the more efficient it becomes.

Boiler Types:

There are virtually infinite numbers of boiler designs but generally they fit into one of two categories:

(1) Fire tube or as an easy way to remember "fire in tube" boilers contain long steel tubes through which the hot gasses from a furnace pass and around which the water to be changed to steam circulates

In a fire tube boiler the heat (gasses) from the combustion of the fuel passes through tubes and is transferred to the water which is in a large cylindrical storage area. Common types of fire tube boilers are scotch marine, firebox

(2) Water tube or "water in tube" boilers in which the conditions are reversed with the water passing through the tubes and the furnace for the hot gasses is made up of the water tubes.

HRT or horizontal return tube.

have a lower initial cost. more fuel efficient easier to operate limited generally to capacities

D Type

O Type A Type

The more common types of water tube boilers are "D" type, "A" type, "O" type, bent tube, and cast-iron sectional. All fire tube boilers and most water tube boilers are packaged boilers in that they can be transported by truck, rail or barge. Large water tube boilers used in industries with large steam demands and in utilities must be completely assembled and constructed in the field and called field erected boilers.

Vertical tubeless boilers are used for small loads but really do not fit into either category as they do not have tubes.

Field Erected Boiler With Superheated By B&HES at Thomaston

STEAM BOILER SYSTEMS:

The feed water system provides water to the boiler and regulates it automatically to meet the demand for steam. Valves provide access for maintenance and repair. The steam system collects and controls the steam produced in the boiler. Steam is directed through piping to the point of use. Throughout the system steam pressure is regulated using valves and checked with steam pressure gauges. The steam and feed water systems share some components.

STEAM BOILER SYSTEMS:

The fuel system includes all equipment used to provide fuel to generate the necessary heat. The equipment required in the fuel system depends on the type of fuel used in the system. All fuels are combustible and dangerous if necessary safety standards are not followed. Fuels commonly used are nuclear fusion, electricity, the wastes of certain processes and fossil fuels.

The draft system

regulates the flow of air to and from the burner. For fuel to burn efficiently the right amount of oxygen must be provided. Air must also be provided to direct the flow of air through the furnace to direct the gases of combustion out of the furnace to the breaching. A forced draft system uses a fan to force (or push) air through the furnace. An induced draft system uses a fan to draw (or pull) air through the furnace. A combination or balanced draft system uses forced and induced draft fans. Gases of combustion enter the stack from the breaching and are released to the atmosphere.

COMBUSTION
Combustion may be defined as the rapid chemical combination of oxygen with the combustible elements of a fuel. The boiler combustion furnace in which the fuel burns provides a chamber in which the combustion reaction can be isolated and confined so that it can be controlled. In a scotch marine boiler it is referred to as a Morrison tube or in other boilers the firebox area.

The convection surfaces are the areas to which the heat travels that is not transferred in the combustion furnace. Here additional heat is removed. The burner is the principal device for the firing of oil and/or gas. Burners are normally located in the vertical walls of the furnace. Burners along with the furnaces in which they are installed, are designed to burn the fuel properly.

The convection surfaces are the areas to which the heat travels that is not transferred in the combustion furnace. Here additional heat is removed. The burner is the principal device for the firing of oil and/or gas. Burners are normally located in the vertical walls of the furnace. Burners along with the furnaces in which they are installed, are designed to burn the fuel properly.

feedwater
The water supplied to the boiler that is converted into steam is called feed water.
(1) Condensate. or condensed steam returned from the processes. (2) Makeup water (usually city water) which must come from outside the boiler room and plant processes. For higher boiler efficiencies the feed water can be heated, usually by economizers.

The two sources of feed water are:-

COMBUSTION & CONTROLS

Combustion is the rapid chemical combination of oxygen (O 2) with the combustible elements of a fuel that results in the release of heat. Air is the source of oxygen for boilers. Fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal, biomass and electricity are primary types of boiler fuel. The primary elements in the fuel, significant to combustion, are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S); these are called hydrocarbons.

10 Air (O2) + 1 Gas=CO 2 + 2H2O + 8N2 + Heat

The objective of good combustion is to release all of the heat in the fuel. This is accomplished by controlling the "three T's" of combustion which are :(1) temperature high enough to ignite and maintain ignition of the fuel. (2) turbulence or mixing of the fuel and oxygen. (3) time sufficient for complete combustion. Not all of the Btu's in the fuel are converted to heat and absorbed by the steam generation equipment. Usually all of the hydrogen in the fuel is burned and most boiler fuels, allowable with today's air pollution standards, contain little or no sulfur. So the main challenge in combustion efficiency is directed toward unburned carbon (in the ash or Incompletely burned gas) which forms CO instead of CO 2.

The burner is the principal device for the firing of the fuel. Burners are normally located in the vertical walls of the furnace. Burners, along with the furnaces in which they are installed, redesigned to burn the fuel properly by making the proper combination of the "threat's." Combustion controls assist the burner in regulation of fuel supply, air supply, ( fuel to air ratio), and removal of gases of combustion to achieve optimum boiler efficiency. The amount of fuel supplied to the burner must be in proportion to the steam pressure and the quantity of steam required. The combustion controls are also necessary as safety devices insuring the boiler notonly operates but operates safely.

To maintain high combustion efficiency, the air to fuel ratio must be balanced from the lowest firing rate to the highest firing rate. If there is an imbalance in the air to fuel ratio, smoking, flame failure, wasted fuel and in extreme cases an explosion could result.

Combustion controls also regulate the removal of gases of combustion by maintaining aconsistent furnace pressure throughout different firing rates. By maintaining a consistent firingrate, combustion controls improve regulation of feed water and superheat temperature. Aconsistent firing rate reduces fluctuation of the boiler water level and increases the life of the boiler drum and tubes.

The programmer is the mastermind that controls the starting sequence and firing cycle of a burner. The programmer controls the operation sequence of the blower, burner motor, ignition system, fuel valve, and all other components of then/OFF control system. The programmer also provides a suitable purge period before ignition and after burner shutdown when explosive combustibles are removed

The programmer is designed to reenergize all fuel valves within 4 seconds after loss of the flame signal. In addition, the programmer automatically restarts a new cycle each time the pressure control closes or after a power failure, but locks out and must be reset manually after any flame failure. A burner must always start in low fire and shut down in low fire which prevents wasting fuel and reduces the possibility of a flareback when excess fuel accumulates in the furnace.

The pressure control regulates the operating range of the boiler by modulating the burner on boiler steam pressure demand. The pressure control is installed using a siphon to protect the bellows from the high temperature of steam. The pressure control sends signals to the modulating motors.

Modulating motors use conventional mechanical linkage or electric valves to regulate the primary air, secondary air, and fuel supplied to the burner. The modulating pressure control is installed using a siphon to protect the bellows from the high temperature of steam.

boiler water level control

is a safety feature whichwill shut the boiler off if the water level drops to an unacceptable level. Boilershave two water level controllers as a safety feature in case one fails. The twolevel controllers are also set at different levels with the controller at the higherlevel sounding an alarm and the controller at the lower level actually shuttingdown the boiler. The boiler governing codes require the reset of the boiler to bedone manually by an operator for safety and not automatically. Boiler level controls may be a float type as pictured at right or a probe type which operatesby testing for conductivity to determine if the water level is adequate.

Control firing sequence

occurs at cold startup or when the steam pressure drops, thepressure control completes an electric circuit, which starts a timer motor cam turning in the programmer. The first contact on the timer motor cam closes and starts the burner motor thatrotates the primary air fan. The primary air fan blows air into the furnace to purge any unburnedfuel present in a gaseous condition. This process in called prepurging the furnace. Byprepurging the furnace before pilot ignition, the danger of a furnace explosion isreduced. Depending upon the size of the furnace the purge cycle takes approximately 30seconds but may take as long as 60 seconds. The programmer is still operating and when thesecond contact closes, the circuit of the ignition transformer is completed. This causes a sparkin front of the gas pilot tube. At the same time, a solenoid valve is opened in the gas pilot line,allowing gas to flow through the gas pilot tube and be ignited by the spark.

The scanner islocated on the front of the boiler and is used to sight the pilot. Sighting the pilot through thescanner will verify that the pilot is lit. This process is referred to as proving pilot. The next step is to close the contact which completes the circuit to the main fuel valve, which opens onlyafter the scanner has proved pilot. With the main fuel valve open the fuel enters the furnace andis ignited by the pilot. The scanner is then used to prove the main flame. The programmercontinues to operate for a few more seconds, securing circuits to the ignition transformer and thegas pilot. After the circuits are secured, the programmer stops. The burner is now regulated by the pressure control and the modulating pressure control. If the scanner senses a flame failure,the system is purged and secured. The programmer is then manually reset to the start cycle.