Boilers

---- Asit Mondal

Boiler means a pressure vessel in which steam is

generated for use external to itself by application of heat

which is wholly or partly under pressure when steam is
shut off but does not include a pressure vessel,(i) with capacity less than 25 litres (such capacity being
measured from the feed check valve to the main steam
stop valve);
(ii) With less than one kilogram per centimeter square
design gauge pressure and working gauge pressure
or
(iii) In which water is heated below one hundred degrees
centigrade

Steam Pipe

Fire Tube Boiler

CFBC Boiler

Flow diagram

Steam & Water Flow, Thermal power Station

Different Parts Of a Power plant Boiler

Economiser
There are a set of coils made from steel tubes

located in the tail end of a boiler.

The hot gases leaving the boiler furnace heat the
water in the coils. From the economiser the water is
fed to the drum.
Boiler drum
The drum itself a large cylindrical vessel that
functions as the storage and feeding point for water
and collection point for water & steam mixture. This
is the largest and most important part in the boiler.

Boiler Drum

Water walls
Boiling takes place in the water walls which are filled tubes that
form the walls of the furnace. Water walls get the water from the
down comers which are large pipes connected to the drum. As
the water heats up in the furnace a part of the water in the water
wall tubes becomes steam .this water-steam mixture has a lower
density than the water in the down comers. This density
difference creates a circulation of water from the drum, through
the down comers, water walls and back to drum.
Super heater
Steam from the drum passes to the super heater coils placed in
the flue gas path. The steam temperature increases from the
saturation temperature till the maximum required for operation.
Superheated steam than finally goes to the turbine.
Re heater
Steam from the exhaust of the first stage ( HP) of turbine goes
back to the boiler for re heating and is returned to the second
stage (IP). Re heater coils in the flue gas path does the re heating
of the returned steam. The re heater steam is at a much lower
pressure than the super heated steam but the final reheater
temperature is the same as the super heater temperature

Bottom Header & Water Walls

Economiser & LTSH Coils

Requisite mountings fittings (Regulation-281 of IBR)

1)Two safety valves, one of which may be a high steam and low water type

safety valves. In no case should be bore of the seat of the valves less than
19 mm.
2) A steam pressure gauge
)
3) Two means of indicating water level directly fitted to the shell or drum at

appropriate position.
)
4) A steam stop valve
)
5) A feed check valve
)
6) One feed apparatus, when the heating surface exceeds 200 square feet
[18.5m2], two independent such feed apparatus are to be fitted.
)
7) A blow down cock or valve at the lowest position of the boiler.
)
8) A fusible plug at the proper place of the internal furnace type boiler.
)
9) A manhole at proper place and a number of mud holes and sight holes
those are necessary for cleaning and inspection of the boiler.
)
11) Additional safety valve at the end of an integral super heater.
) ***Additional fittings for Automatic Boilers as per Reg.28

Types of Maintenance

Breakdown maintenance
Repair or replacement after force shut down .It should be done

proper system of manufacturer or supplier and authorised

regulatory for pressure parts. Maintenance procedure to be
lay down and followed strictly for all equipments. All required
spares, tools, equipments to be kept in Boiler house.
Preventive maintenance
Routine or regular maintenance like cleaning, checking oil

level, cooling water supply to different equipments, checking &

rectification of minor external leakages etc. Checking of
different interlock and safety systems weekly or monthly as
required. Regular checking of water treatment procedure,
analysis of boiler water and steam.

Different NDT
Ultrasonic thickness gauging to assess the thinning of

tubes/headers.
Ultrasonic flaw detection to detect internal flaw or
discontinuities of components and welds.
Liquid penetration testing/Dye penetration testing to
detect cracks other defects which are open to the surface
of the component.
Radiographic test used for to detect internal discontinuities
and find out defect in welding. It can detect cracks, lack of
fusion, slag & porosity in welding and it is a permanent
visual record.
Magnetic Particle Inspection is used for detecting surface
and near surface flaws in ferromagnetic materials.

Ultrasonic Testing

Detection of crack by MPI

Some causes of tube

failure
Outage of thermal power plants is primarily

due to tube failures. Heat transfer zones of

the boiler are basically tubes. Economiser,
water walls, super heater, re heater are
manufactured from tubes of different sizes
and specifications according to the service
condition of the zone. Total length of tubes of
a 250 MW power plant boiler is about 200 km
and about 380 km in a 500 MW.

Some of the primary causes that can cause a tube failure in a high
pressure boiler:
Short term overheating failure.
Long term overheating failure (called also as creep failures).
Dissimilar metal weld failure.
Thermal fatigue due to temperature fluctuation.
Corrosion fatigue failures.
Hydrogen damage in water wall internal surface.
Fly ash erosion.
Soot blower erosion.
Coal particle erosion.
Low temperature flue gas corrosion.
Damage during maintenance cleaning.

Conventional boiler materials

Description

Material Specification

Drum

SA 299

Water wall / Economiser tubes

SA 210 Gr C /SA 210 Gr A1

Super heater & Reheater tubes

SA 213 T11,T22, T91 ,TP347 H

Main Steam piping

SA 335 P22. P91

Feed Piping

SA 106 Gr B, Gr C

Chemical composition (%) of steel for boiler tubes

Due to over heating allowable stress of the tube

decreases and the tube fails by the inside pressure
of steam/water.
Tubes may over heated due to Partial or full
chocking of tubes resulting in flow starvation.
Internal deposit due to poor water chemistry.
Flame impingement due to faulty or improper
aligned burner.
Attention to be given for proper cleaning & removal
of materials after repair works inside drum or other
parts.

Calculation of Working Pressure (Tube)

W.P (kg/cm2) = 2f (T-C)/ (D-T+C)
T = Min. thickness of the tube in mm
C = 0.75mm for
W.P up to 70 kg/cm2

= 0, above 70 kg/cm2
f = Permissible stress for the material at the
working metal temperature in kg/cm2

Metal temperature of different

areas
Economiser tubes :

Maximum water
temperature plus 11 Degree C
Furnace/water wall tubes : The saturation
temperature ,corresponding to the working
pressure plus 28 Degree C
Convection Super heater: Maximum steam
temperature plus 39 Degree C
Radiant Super heater : Maximum steam
temperature plus 50 Degree C

Repair procedure
Damaged parts of tubes normally cut out and replaced

by new parts. Identification of tubes for proper

dimensions, grades and welding procedure to be done
as per manufacturers drawing & instruction and the
report of the regulating authority.
Different material sizes and specification are used in
combination for an optimal design at economic cost;
the welding process to be adopted does vary widely.
Preheating, stress relieving is important factors
included in the welding process during manufacturing,
erection and repair to ensure quality.

Boiler safety & Regulatory obligation

Act & Regulations : The Boilers Act 1923 ( Amended in 2007) & Indian Boiler

Regulation 1950 ( Last regulation amended in 2014)

No owner of a Boiler shall use it unless it has been registered and have a valid

steaming certificate in accordance with the provision of the Act.

Boilers are to be offered for inspection annually after proper cleaning. For boilers

used exclusively for electric power generation, inspection may be offered after 24
months with some conditions
No person shall be allowed by the owner or person in charge to go inside boiler
unless it is effectively disconnected from any steam or hot water communication
with any other boiler.
Boiler which are operating at a temperature of 400C and above and boiler parts
operating in the creep range of the boiler shall be non destructively tested, as per
testing list of IBR, after they are in operation for 100,000 hours( or completes 25
years) for assessment of the remnant life of the parts.
The owner of a Boiler ( or two or more within a radius of 50 meters ) heating surface

exceeding 1000sq meters, shall not use the same unless the boiler or boilers are
placed in direct charge of a competent person possess a certificate of proficiency as
a Boiler operation Engineer under the B.O.E rules,2011.

Utility Boiler Explosion,2000

Thank you