PLANT UTILITY (DKK 2483)

CHAPTER 2
BOILER AND THERMIC
FLUID HEATER

H.D. SETIABUDI
TOPIC & TOPIC OUTCOMES
Topic
 Introduction
 Types of Boiler
 Thermic Fluid Heater
 Assessment of Boilers

Topic Outcomes
 Explain the basic concept of boiler
 Describe the primary component of boilers
 Identify various types of boilers that are available in industry
 Compare between Fire Tube Boiler & Water Tube Boiler
 Explain application of Thermic Fluid Heater
INTRODUCTION
What is boiler ???

Vessel that heats water to

become hot water or steam

 Industrial manufacturers used boilers to produce steam

 Steam is used to operate steam turbines, distillation systems, and reaction systems,
vulcanizing, firefighting and to provide cooling or heating to process equipment.

 Boilers use a combination of radiant, conductive and convective heat transfer methods
to change water to steam
BASIC OPERATION OF BOILERS

 A simple boiler consists of a heat source, water

containing drum, water inlet and steam outlet.

 As heat is added to the drum, the temperature

increases until the water boils.

 As steam rises, it is captured in a line and sent on for

further processing.

 Factors that affect boiler operation are density

differences for internal circulation, pressure,
temperature, and water level.
 Fire Tube Boiler
TYPE OF BOILERS

Fire Tube Boiler Water Tube Boiler

Packaged Boiler

Water Tube Boiler

Packaged Boiler
Stoker Fired Boiler
Fluidized Bed
Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler Combustion Boiler

Stoker Fired Boiler

Waste Heat Boiler

Thermic Fluid Boiler

Thermic Fluid Heater

Waste Heat Boiler

TYPE OF BOILERS
Fire Tube Boiler
• Relatively small steam capacities (12,000 kg/hour)
• Low to medium steam pressures (18 kg/cm2)
• Operates with oil, gas or solid fuels

Water Tube Boiler

• Used for high steam demand and pressure requirements
• Capacity range of 4,500 – 120,000 kg/hour
• Lower tolerance for water quality and needs water treatment
plant

Packaged Boiler
• Comes in complete package
• High heat transfer, faster evaporation, good convective heat
transfer, good combustion efficiency, high thermal efficiency
• Classified based on number of passes
TYPE OF BOILERS
Fluidized Bed Combustion Boiler
• Particles (e.g. sand) are suspended in high velocity air stream:
bubbling fluidized bed
• Capacity range 0,5 T/hr to 100 T/hr
• Fuels: coal, washery rejects, rice husk, bagasse and agricultural
wastes
• Benefits: compactness, fuel flexibility, higher combustion efficiency,
reduced SOx & NOx

Stoke Fired Boilers

a) Spreader stokers
• Coal is first burnt in suspension then in coal bed
• Flexibility to meet load fluctuations
• Favored in many industrial applications
b) Chain-grate or traveling-grate stoker
• Coal is burnt on moving steel grate
• Coal gate controls coal feeding rate
• Uniform coal size for complete combustion
TYPE OF BOILERS
Waste Heat Boiler
• Used when waste heat available at medium/high temp
• Auxiliary fuel burners used if steam demand is more than the
waste heat can generate
• Used in heat recovery from exhaust gases from gas turbines and
diesel engines

Thermic Fluid Boiler

• Wide application for indirect process heating
• Thermic fluid (petroleum-based) is heat transfer medium
• Benefits:
• Closed cycle = minimal losses
• Non-pressurized system operation at 250 °C
• Automatic controls = operational flexibility
• Good thermal efficiencies
TYPE OF BOILERS

Fire Tube Boiler

Water Tube Boiler

Thermic Fluid Heater

FIRE TUBE BOILERS (FTB)
 A more complicated boiler is the fire tube boiler, which resembles a modified shell and tube
heat exchanger.

 Factors that affect boiler operation are density differences for internal circulation, pressure,
temperature, and water level.

 Composed of a shell and a series of tubes designed

to transfer heat from the fire tubes and into boiler
feed water.

 Combustion gases exit through a chamber similar to

an exchanger head and pass safely out of boiler.

 The water level in the boiler shell is maintained

above the tubes to protect them from overheating.
FIRE TUBE BOILERS (FTB)

The term tube boiler consists of :

 Boiler Shell With Feed Inlet and Outlet Connections

 Fire Tubes
 Combustion Tube
 Burner
 Feed Water Inlet
 Steam Outlet
 And Tube Sheets
WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)
 The most common type of large boiler is a water tube
boiler.

 A water tube boiler consists of an upper and lower drum

connected by the tubes.

 The lower drum and water tubes are filled completely with
water, whereas the upper drum is only partially full.

 This arrangement allows steam to pass through

mechanical separators in the upper drum, flow to a
superheater section, and exit the boiler.

 As heat is applied to the boiler firebox, water flows from

the upper drum through downcomers into the lower drum.

 Tubes, called risers, cause water and steam to flow into

the upper drum because of density differences.
WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

 Boiler water circulation operates under the principle of

different density. When a fluid is heated, it expands
and becomes less dense.

 Cooler water flows from the upper drum through the

downcomers to the lower drum and then rises as
some steam is generated.

 Circulation continues, and makeup water is added to

the upper drum to replace the steam generated.

 Water circulation continues in a water tube boiler

because steam bubbles in the lower drum move up
the riser tubes and cause the density of the water to
decrease.
WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

 The cooler water in the downcomer flows into the

lower drum. The riser and steam generating tubes are
physically located near the burners.

 Steam moves up the riser and steam generating

tubes and into the upper steam generating drum.

 Steam generation causes pressure to rise. When the

target pressure is achieved, the boiler is “placed on
the line”.

 Pressure is maintained by adding makeup water and

continuously applying heat.
 MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

1. Boiler Furnace
2. Tubes
3. Drums
4. Gas and Oil Burners
5. Economizer Section
6. Boiler Functions
7. Steam
MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

BOILER FURNACE

 Boiler Furnace, is designed to reduce the loss

of heat and enhance the heat energy being
applied to the boilers internal components.

 Boiler furnaces have a refractory lining,

burners, convection-type selection, radiant
section, fans, oxygen control, stack, damper
and many other components associated with
fired heaters.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

TUBES

 Boilers contain several types of tubes. Steam

generating tubes are attached to the upper and lower
drums.

 Flow goes through the firebox and back up to the upper

steam drum.

 Downcomer tubes are warm-water tubes connecting the upper and lower drums. Risers are hot
water tubes between the upper and lower drums.

 A water makeup line flows into the upper drum. Steam is removed from the upper steam
generating drum and heated to the desired temperature in superheated tubes.

 Superheated steam temperature can be increased as it reenters the furnace. Some processes
cannot handle high temperatures, so the superheated steam steam is cooled off. This process is
called desuperheating.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

DRUMS

 The drums inside a boiler furnace are

pressure cylinders connected by a complex
network of tubes.

 The drum is classified as the upper (steam)

drum and the lower (mud) drum.

 The steam drum contains a water-steam

interface. The upper drum contains the feed
water inlet distributor, a blow-down header
and water separation equipment.

 The lower drum is always liquid full.

 MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

GAS AND OIL BURNERS

 Most boilers use natural gas or automized

fuel oil burners to provide heat to the
furnace.

 Burners inject air and fuel through a

distribution system that mixes them into the
correct concentrations so combustion can
occur easily.

 Some large boilers, primarily in electrical

generating plants, burn coal.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

 The key components of the combustion

apparatus include the followings;
o Dampers which regulate air into the
burner
o Air ducts with fixed blades that create a
swirling effects as air enters the furnace;
component called spuds, that distributes
fuel gas;
o An igniter which works like a spark plug
to ignite the flammable mixture.
o Flame detection instruments shut off fuel Natural Gas Burner
gas if the flame goes out.

 Most plant boilers use forced-draft fans to

supply combustion air.
 MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)
ECONOMIZER SECTION

 The economizer section is used to increase

boiler efficiently by preheating the water as it
enters the system.

 The section is a series of headers and tubes

located between the firebox and the stack.

 Temperatures are typically lower in the

economizer section than in the rest of the
system, but the hot flue gases moving out of the
firebox and into the stack still have enough heat
to offset energy costs.

 The economizer section in a boiler is very similar to the convection section in a fired heater
system.

 Both operate under the energy-saving concept of using the hot flue gases before they are lost
out the stack.
 MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)
BOILER FUNCTIONS

When a boiler is being started up, the following process

occurs;

 The furnace, which contains cool water in drums

and tubes, starts to heat up.

 When the burners are lit, hot combustion gases

begin to flow over the generating tubes, riser tubes,
downcomer tubes and drums.

 Radiant, convective, and conductive heat transfer

begin to take place.

 Hot gases flow out of the firebox, into the

economizer section and out of stack.
 MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)

 Water temperature increases at programmed rate.

Pressure begins to increase.

 Steam may be initially vented to the atmosphere.

 As the temperature of the water inside the generating

and riser tubes increases, the density of the water
decreases and initial circulation is established.

 Bubbles begin to form and rise in the water, increasing

circulation and pressure.

 The circulation rate can easily reach 2 million pounds

per hour. 65,000 Ib/hr of steam is being produced.

 Each time the water passes through the tubes, it picks

up more energy.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF WATER TUBE BOILERS (WTB)
STEAM

 As long as steam and water are in contact with each other, the steam is saturated.

 This saturated condition means that for every temperature of water, a corresponding
pressure of steams exists.

 The pressure on the water sets the temperature as long as the steam and water are in
contact.

 Basic boiler designs removes the steam from the upper steam water drum and heats it
up at essentially the same pressure. This process is referred to as superheating.

 Some plant can’t tolerate high temperatures. The process of cooling the superheated
steam is referred to desuperheating.

 During the desuperheating process, part of the superheated steam is returned to the
steam drum.

 The cooler liquid in the steam drum removes heat from the superheated stream and
allows it to be used in specific plant processes.
 COMPARISON BETWEEN FTB & WTB
Particular FTB
Position of water and hot Hot gases inside the tubes
gases and water outside the tubes
Mode of firing Generally internally fired
Operating Pressure Operating pressure limited to
16 bar
Rate of Steam Production Lower
Suitability Not suitable for large power
plants
Risk of Bursting Involve lesser risk on
explosion due to lower
pressure
WTB
Water inside the tubes and
hot gases outside the tubes
Externally fired
Can work under as high
pressure as 100 bar
Higher
Suitable for large power
plants
Involve more risk on
bursting due to high
pressure
 THERMIC FLUID HEATER
Heat transfer through
 Wide application for indirect process heating heat exchanged

 Thermic fluid (petroleum-based) is heat

transfer medium User equipment

 The modern oil fired thermic fluid heater Circulated to

consists of a double coil, three pass user equipment
construction and fitted a with modulated
pressure jet system.
 The thermic fluid, which acts as a heat carrier, Control
panel
is heated up in the heater and circulated
through the user equipment. Fluid
Insulated
 There it transfers heat for the process through outer wall returned to
a heat exchanger and the fluid is then heater
Blower Exhaust
returned to the heater.
motor
 The flow of thermic fluid at the user end is unit
Fuel oil
controlled by a pneumatically operated control filter
valve, based on the operating temperature.
 The heater operates on low or high fire Thermic fluid
depending on the return oil temperature, heated in the heater
which varies with the system load.
THERMIC FLUID HEATER

Advantages:

 Closed cycle operation with minimum losses as compared to steam boilers

 Non-Pressurized system operation even for temperatures around 250 0C

 Automatic control settings, which offer operational flexibility

 Good thermal efficiencies

ASSESSMENT OF BOILERS

1. Boiler 2. Boiler Blow 3. Boiler Feed

Performance Down Water Treatment

Intermittent Deposit
Heat Balance
Blow Down Control

Boiler Continuous Internal Water

Efficiency Blow Down Treatment

External
Water
Treatment
BOILER PERFORMANCE

 Causes of poor boiler performance

 Poor combustion

 Heat transfer surface fouling

 Poor operation and maintenance

 Deteriorating fuel and water quality

 Heat balance help us to identify avoided and unavoided heat losses

 Boiler efficiency help us to find out the deviation of boiler efficiency from the best
efficiency
HEAT BALANCE

 The combustion process in boiler can be

described in the form of an energy flow
diagram.

 This diagram shows graphically how energy

is transformed from fuel into useful energy,
heat and losses

 Balancing total energy

entering a boiler against the
energy that leaves the boiler
in different forms
HEAT BALANCE
Energy losses can be divided in unavoidable and avoidable losses. To improve the efficiency,
the following losses can be avoided/reduced:

 Stack gas losses:

• Excess air (reduce to the necessary minimum which depends from burner technology,
operation and maintenance).

• Stack gas temperature (reduce by optimizing maintenance (cleaning), load; better

burner and boiler technology).

 Losses by unburnt fuel in stack and ash (optimize operation and maintenance; better

technology of burner).

 Blow down losses (treat fresh feed water, recycle condensate)

 Condensate losses (recover the largest possible amount of condensate)

 Convection and radiation losses (reduced by better insulation of the boiler).

BOILER EFFICIENCY
 Thermal efficiency of a boiler: percentage of (heat) energy input that is effectively useful in
the generated steam

Direct Method
Boiler Efficiency
Indirect Method

1. DIRECT METHOD

Q x (hg – hf) x 100

Boiler efficiency () = Heat Input x 100 =
Heat Output q x GCV

Where;
Q : Quantity of steam generated per hour, kg/hr
hg : Enthalpy of saturated steam in kcal/kg of steam
hf : Enthalpy of feed water in kcal/kg of water
q : Quantity of fuel used per hour, kg/hr.
GCV: gross calorific value of the fuel (GCV), kcal/kg of fuel
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY

Advantages

 Quick evaluation

 Few parameters for computation

 Few monitoring instruments

 Easy to compare evaporation ratios with benchmark figures

Disadvantages

 No explanation of low efficiency

 Various losses not calculated

BOILER EFFICIENCY

2. INDIRECT METHOD

Efficiency of boiler () = 100 – (i+ii+iii+iv+v+vi+vii)

Where;
i. Dry flue gas
ii. Evaporation of water formed due to H2 in fuel
iii. Evaporation of moisture in fuel
iv. Moisture present in combustion air
v. Unburnt fuel in fly ash
vi. Unburnt fuel in bottom ash
vii. Radiation and other unaccounted losses
BOILER EFFICIENCY

The data required for calculation of boiler efficiency using the indirect method are:

 Ultimate analysis of fuel (H2, O2, S, C, moisture content, ash content)

 Percentage of oxygen or CO2 in the flue gas

 Flue gas temperature in oC (Tf)

 Ambient temperature in oC (Ta) and humidity of air in kg/kg of dry air

 GCV of fuel in kcal/kg

 Percentage combustible in ash (in case of solid fuels)

 GCV of ash in kcal/kg (in case of solid fuels)

BOILER EFFICIENCY
The reference standards for Boiler Testing at Site using the indirect method are the British
Standard, BS 845:1987 and the USA Standard ASME PTC-4-1 Power Test Code Steam
Generating Units.
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY
BOILER EFFICIENCY

Advantages

 Complete mass and energy balance for each individual stream

 Makes it easier to identify options to improve boiler efficiency

Disadvantages

 Time consuming

 Requires lab facilities for analysis

BOILER BLOW DOWN
 When water is boiled and steam is generated, any dissolved solids contained in the water
remain in the boiler.
 If more solids are put in with the feed water, they will concentrate and may eventually
reach a level where their solubility in the water is exceeded and they deposit from the
solution.
 Above a certain level of concentration, these solids encourage foaming and cause
carryover of water into the steam.
 The deposits also lead to scale formation inside the boiler, resulting in localized
overheating and finally causing boiler tube failure.
 Therefore, the level of concentration of the solids can be controlled by the process of
'blowing down', where a certain volume of water is blown off and is automatically replaced
by feed water – thus maintaining the optimum level of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the
boiler water and removing those solids that have fallen out of solution and which tend to
settle on the internal surfaces of the boiler.
 Blow down is necessary to protect the surfaces of the heat exchanger in the boiler.
 However, blow down can be a significant source of heat loss, if improperly carried out.
BOILER BLOW DOWN
Calculation of the quality blow down required:

Feed water TDS x % Make up water

Blow down (%) =
Maximum Permissible TDS in Boiler water

Intermittent Blow Down

Boiler Blow Down
Continuous Blow Down
BOILER BLOW DOWN

1. INTERMITTENT BLOW DOWN

 Manual operated valve fitted to a discharge pipe at the lowest point of the boiler shell to
remove solids that have fallen out of solution and have settled upon the fire tubes and the
internal surface of the boiler shell.

 Requires large short-term increases in the amount of feed water put into the boiler.

 Substantial heat loss

2. CONTINUOUS BLOW DOWN

 Steady and constant dispatch of a small stream of concentrated boiler water, and
replacement by steady and constant inflow of feed water.

 This ensures constant TDS and steam purity at a given steam load.

 Once a blow down valve is set for a given conditions, there is no need for regular operator
intervention.
BOILER BLOW DOWN

 Heat lost can be recovered by

blowing into a flash tank and
generating flash steam. This flash
steam can be used for pre-heating
boiler feed water.

 This type of blow down is common

in high pressure boilers.

 The residual blowdown which

leaves the flash vessel still contains
a good deal of heat energy can
also be recovered by introducing a
heat exchanger to heat up cold
make-up water.
BOILER BLOW DOWN

Benefits of blow down control

• Lower pretreatment costs

• Less make-up water consumption

• Reduced maintenance downtime

• Increased boiler life

• Lower consumption of treatment chemicals

BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT
 Boiler water must be sufficiently free of deposits forming solids to allow rapid and efficient
heat transfer and it must not be corrosive to the boiler metal.
 Large amounts of deposits throughout the boiler could reduce the heat transfer enough to
reduce the boiler efficiency significantly.
 Two main groups of impurities causing deposits:
1. Hard salts of calcium and magnesium
Alkaline
 calcium and magnesium bicarbonate dissolved in water
 can be removed by boiling
Non-alkaline
 calcium and magnesium sulphates, chlorides and nitrates etc., when dissolved in
water are chemically neutral
 difficult to remove
2. Silica – form hard silica scales
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT

Internal Water Treatment

Boiler Feed Water Treatment
External Water Treatment

1. INTERNAL WATER TREATMENT

 Chemicals added to boiler to prevent the formation of scale.
 Different chemicals for different water types. Example of chemicals: sodium
carbonate, sodium aluminate, sodium phosphate, sodium sulphite, etc.
 Conditions:
• Feed water is low in hardness salts
• Low pressure
• high TDS content in boiler water is tolerated
• Small water quantities is required to be treated
 Internal treatment alone not recommended
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT
2. EXTERNAL WATER TREATMENT
 Removal of suspended/dissolved solids (particularly the calcium and magnesium
ions which are major cause of scale formation) and dissolved gases (oxygen and
carbon dioxide)

 External water treatment process available:

Softening
Ion exchange
Demineralization
External Water Treatment De-aeration

Reverse osmosis
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT
1. Ion Exchange process
(i) Softening
• resin in the sodium (Na+) form exchanged hardness ions of calcium (Ca+2) and
magnesium (Mg+2) into for more soluble sodium ions.
• Reactions for calcium (Ca+2) ions:
Na2R + CaCl2 ↔ CaR + 2NaCl
• Since this process only replaces the calcium (Ca+2) and magnesium (Mg+2) with sodium
(Na+), it does not reduce the TDS, blow down quantity and alkalinity.
(ii) Demineralization
• Complete removal of salts
• Strong acid cation resin in the hydrogen form converts dissolved salts into their
corresponding acids, and strong base anion resin in the hydroxide form remove these
acids.
• Reactions for calcium (Ca+2) ions:
CaCl2 + 2RH ↔ R2Ca + 2HCl (strong acid cation resin)
HCl + R-OH ↔ 2RCl + H2O (strong base anion resin)
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT
2. De-aeration
 Water contains dissolved gasses (CO2 and O2 )
 When heated in boiler systems, CO2 and O2 are released as gases and combine with H2O
to form carbonic acid, (H2CO3).
 Carbonic acid, H2CO3 → corrodes metal, reducing the life of equipment & piping
 De-aeration → expelled dissolved gases (O2 & CO2) by preheating the feed water before it
enters the boiler
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT

(i) Mechanical De-aeration

• Economical treatment process
• Used before chemical de-aeration
• CO2 and O2 removed by heating boiler feed water
• Vacuum type de-aerator→ Reduce O2 to 0.02 mg/L
• Pressure type de-aerator → Reduce O2 to 0.005 mg/L

(ii) Chemical De-aeration

• Remove trace O2 with chemical oxygen scavenger
• Sodium sulphite → reacts with O2 to form sodium sulphate, which increases TDS in
the boiler water and hence increases the blow down requirements.
• Hydrazine → reacts with O2 to form N2 and H2O. Used in high pressure boilers & does
not increase TDS of the boiler water.
BOILER FEED WATER TREATMENT
3. Reverse Osmosis
• Solutions of differing concentrations are separated by a semi-permeable membrane.
• When a pressure is applied to the concentrated solution, water moves from more
concentrated solution to less concentrated solution.
• Suitable for water with very high TDS, such as seawater
RECOMMENDED BOILER & FEED WATER QUALITY
Test your knowledge
Test your knowledge

Ans: d, b, b, b, d, a
 END OF CHAPTER 2

Next Chapter:
Steam Distribution & Utilizations