Air Pre-heater

Rajneesh Vachaspati
Need of Draft System

Combustion Air Boiler Flue Gases

• Air needed for combustion

• Flue are needed to be evacuated
• Losses due to flow need to be overcome
More Details of Pulverized Fuel fired SG
Arrangement of Boiler Auxiliaries
How to select a fan
 Air or Gas flow -Kg/hr
 Density (function of temperature and pressure)
 System, resistance (losses)
Major Fans in Boiler Draft System
 PA Fans
 FD Fans
 ID Fans
Primary and Secondary air System
in the Boiler
Induced Draft Fans
 Move the combustion flue gas through the boiler, air heater, and precipitator or
the baghouse, scrubber, and chimney to the atmosphere
 typically consume approximately 2% of the gross electrical output.
 ID fans have the largest design margins of any major equipment in a fossil-
fueled power plant. typically 15% on flow, 30% on head, and 15°C on
temperature.
 Large margins are intended to allow for the following
 Uncertainty in determining system requirements
 Allowance for wear
 Operating flexibility
 Allowance for pluggage and leakage
 Air infiltration
Gas to be handled by ID fan
 Theoretical air for combustion
 Excess air required at burner
 Infiltration
 Leakage air-to-gas through the air heater
Draught System Pressure Variation
 Pressure drop calculation in air & gas path and its comparison with
design value.
 Assessment of ID and FD fan power as a function of furnace pressure.
 Assessment of effective kinetic rate coefficient as a function of furnace
pressure.

Duc
FD Duct APH Duct Furnace Back ID

Duc
Duct APH ESP Chimney
pass Fan
t
Fan

t
 Balanced Draft
 The draft to be provided by the fan is determined by losses
through the following boiler components:
 Furnace
 Boiler and Super-heater
 Economizer
 Air heater
 Precipitator or Bag-house
 Ductwork
 Flue gas desulfurization system (scrubber)
 Stack
 Variation of Pressure in Boiler
Furnace Pressure At Various Points in Boiler

250 1 FD Fan Inlet

FD Fan Outlet
200 2

Airheater Inlet
150 3

Airheater Outlet
100 4

Windbox Pressure
50 5
Furnace Pressure

0 6 Furnace
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Superheater Platen
-50
7 Inlet
-100 Reheater Inlet
8

-150 9 LTSH Inlet

10 Economiser Inlet
-200
Airheater Inlet
11
-250

12 E.P. Inlet
-300
Points in Boiler 13 I.D. Fan Inlet

I.D. Fan Outlet

14
 Air Preheater
 The higher the exit flue gas temperature the higher will be the boiler heat loss /
efficiency loss. Therefore air pre heater is to recover the sensible heat from the
boiler flue gas exiting the economizer which increases the thermal efficiency of
the boiler by reducing the useful heat lost in the flue gas.
 Heating combustion air can raise boiler efficiency about 1% for every 22°C in
temperature increase of combustion air.

 It may be Bi-Sector , Tri Sector etc. At Hub GAH is a bi-sector containing

air and flue gas .The rotor is supported at both ends with a roller Bearing.
Air Heater in FG path
 Air Pre-Heater
 An air pre-heater heats the combustion air where it is economically feasible.
 Reducing the stack gas temperature and increasing the boiler efficiency.

Advantage of preheating
 Igniting the fuel.
 Improving combustion.
 Drying the pulverized coal in pulverizer.
Air Heater in Fossil Fired Plant
The rotating cylinder packed with
thousands of sq m of specially formed
sheets of heat transfer surfaces.
As it revolves, heat of FG is absorbed
through one half.

The accumulated heat is released to the

incoming air as the same surfaces pass through
other half.
The heat transfer cycle is continuous as the
surfaces are alternately exposed to the
outgoing gas and incoming air.
Tubular Air Heaters (Recuperative)

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Regenerative APH

20 February 2019 31
 Heating Elements:
Mechanical Consideration: There are many
different options when it comes to choosing a
heat exchanger element design. Each
configuration has its own unique pressure drop
and heat transfer characteristics. For example,
an element that is designed to achieve
maximum heat transfer in a limited amount of
space (depth) may also have a higher overall
pressure drop than an element design that
requires a greater depth to achieve the
equivalent heat transfer. and vice versa.
Electric Motor Cam Clutch Box Overrunning Clutch

Fluid Coupling Gear Box Air Motor

 AH Leakage
 The leakage of the high pressure air to the

low pressure flue gas due to the Differential

Pressure, increased seal clearances in hot
condition, seal erosion/ improper seal
settings.

 Direct – flow of air through gaps between

rotating and fixed structure

 Leakage ≈ gap area x (density x ∆P)1/2

Rotor Turndown – HE grows
 Entrained – volume of air in porous elements radially more than the CE, rotor
carried via rotation from air side to gas side goes outward and downward
 Leakage paths

Increased AH leakage leads to

Reduced AH efficiency
Increased fan power consumption
Higher gas velocities that affect ESP performance
Loss of fan margins leading to inefficient operation and at times
restricting unit loading
 AH Leakage

Typically air heater starts with a baseline leakage of 6

to 10% after an overhaul.

• What we measure is mainly leakage through radial

seals at hot & cold end.

• Leakage through circumferential seals is substantial

and has a major effect on heat transfer

• Leakage is expressed as a % of inlet gas flow and

not a % of fan input flow
 Air Heater Leakage - Calculation

• This leakage is assumed to occur entirely between air inlet and gas outlet

• Empirical relationship using the change in concentration of O2 or CO2 in the

flue gas CO2 _ in  CO2 _ out
AL  * 0.9 *100
CO2 _ out
O2 _ out  O2 _ in
 * 0.9 *100
21  O2 _ out
5.7  2.8
 * 0.9 *100
21  5.7
 17.1%
• Method of determination of O2 or CO2 should be the same at inlet
and outlet wet or dry (Orsat)

• O2 dry = O2 wet / (1- FG Moisture)

 Impact On Plant Performance:
• Air heater responsible for at least 10% of a units thermal efficiency.
• Excessive leakage can deteriorate net unit efficiency as well as reduce power
generation.
 GAH leakage Increases heat rate.

Its major drawback of regenerative air heater is the undesired leakage that is
inherent in its design.
Also the GAH leakage will cause more power consumption as more volume of a
air is required from FD fan.
 Radial Seals:
Radial seal leakage is the mass of inlet air that leaks through the air
heater seals into the gas outlet stream.