Evaluating Boiler

Efficiencies

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Basic Boiler Operation
 Combustion is the combining of fuel and air in a burning process to produce heat
energy.

 The resulting hot combustion gas contacts heat transfer surfaces prior to leaving
the boiler and discharging to the atmosphere through a chimney (stack). The gas
leaving the boiler is called flue gas.

 The heat transferred from the combustion flame and hot gas heats the feedwater
and converts it to steam or hot water. The steam or hot water are carriers of heat
used according to the facility's requirements.

 Blow down is not a useful form of energy, but it is necessary to achieve long
term satisfactory boiler performance.

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 Basic Boiler Operation
 Mass Balances

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Combustion Process
 Combustion is the rapid chemical combination of carbon and hydrogen in the
fuel with oxygen from the combustion air. Fuel burns as a gas even though it
may be fed to the boiler as a liquid or solid.
 A successful combustion process requires time, temperature and
turbulence which are sometimes referred to as the '3 Ts'.
 Turbulence refers to the intimate mixing of the fuel and air at the discharge of
the burner in the case of gas and oil fired boilers.
 Temperature relates to the temperature within the combustion chamber
(furnace) while
 Time refers to the period of time required for the combustion process to be
completed within the furnace.
 Good mixing of fuel and air plus turbulence in the burning zone accelerates the
combustion process. This results in a higher furnace temperature and less time
required to complete the combustion process. 4
 Conversion of Water to Steam evolves in three stages
Heating the water from cold condition to boiling point or
saturation temperature – sensible heat addition.

Water boils at saturation temperature to produce steam -Latent

heat addition.

Heating steam from saturation temperature to higher temperature

called Superheating to increase the power plant output and
efficiency.

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 Boilers are generally subdivided into four classic types,
1. Residential boilers produce low - pressure steam or hot water
primarily for heating application in private heating.
2. Commercial boilers produce steam or hot water primarily for
heating application in commercial use, with incidental use in
process operation.
3. Industrial boilers steam or hot water primarily for process
application with incidental use as heating.
4. Utility boilers produce steam primarily for the production of
electricity.

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 Evaluating Boiler Efficiencies
 The most basic efficiency norm which everybody agrees is the “input/output”
ratio:

 Where
Eout is the energy needed to convert feed water entering the
boiler at a specific pressure and temperature to steam
leaving the boiler at a specific pressure and temperature.
Ein is the input energy into the boiler. The heat input is
based on the high heat (gross calorific) value of fuel for
efficiency
There are two methods of assessing boiler efficiency;
1. Input – output or direct method
2. Heat loss or indirect method

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Direct Method for Calculating Boiler Efficiency
 Direct method compares the energy gain of the working fluid (water and steam)
to the energy content of the fuel. This is also known as ‘input-output method’
due to the fact that it needs only the useful output (steam) and the heat input (i.e.
fuel) for evaluating the efficiency.
 The efficiency is than estimated using equation below:

 In case of boilers with intermittent blowdown, blowdown should be avoided

during the trial period.
 In case of boilers with continuous blowdown, the heat loss due to blowdown
should be calculated and added to the heat in steam.

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 Boiler Efficiency by Direct Method:
Calculation and Example
Type of boiler: Coal fired Boiler
Heat output data
 Quantity of steam generated (output) : 8 TPH
 Steam pressure / temperature : 10 kg/cm2(g)/ 180 0C
 Enthalpy of steam(dry & Saturated) at 10 kg/cm2(g) pressure : 665 kCal/kg
 Feed water temperature : 850 C
 Enthalpy of feed water : 85 kCal/kg
Heat input data
 Quantity of coal consumed (Input) : 1.6 TPH
 GCV of coal : 4000 kCal/kg

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 Merits and Demerits of Direct Method
Merits

 Plant people can evaluate quickly the efficiency of boilers

 Requires few parameters for computation

 Needs few instruments for monitoring

Demerits

 Does not give clues to the operator as to why efficiency of system is lower

 Does not calculate various losses accountable for various efficiency levels

 Evaporation ratio and efficiency may mislead, if the steam is highly wet
due to water carryover

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 Indirect Method or Heat Loss Method for Calculating Boiler
Efficiency
 Here the efficiency is estimated by summing the losses and comparing with the
heat input.
 The major heat losses from boiler are due to:
 High temperature flue gas leaving the stack
 Moisture in fuel and combustion air
 Combustion of hydrogen (leaves boiler stack as water vapor)
 Heat in un-burnt combustibles in refuse
 Radiation from the boiler surfaces
 Unaccounted for un-measured losses
 Sum up the losses and calculate the efficiency using equation:
 Efficiency (% E) = 100 – Σ Losses

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 Measurements Required for Performance Assessment
Testing
 The following parameters need to be measured, as applicable for the
computation of boiler efficiency and performance.

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 Evaluating Heat Losses from Boiler
 The procedure for calculating boiler efficiency by indirect method is illustrated
below.
Dry Flue Gas Loss (L1)
 Heat is lost in the "dry" products of combustion, which carry only sensible heat
since no change of state was involved.
 These products are carbon-dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), oxygen
(O2), nitrogen (N2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).
 Concentrations of SO2 and CO are normally in the parts-per-million (ppm)
range so, from the viewpoint of heat loss, they can be ignored. Calculate the
dry flue gas loss (L1) using the following formula:

 where,
L1 = % Heat loss due to dry flue gas
m = Mass of dry flue gas in kg/kg of fuel
Cp = Specific heat of flue gas
Tf = Flue gas temperature
Ta = Ambient temperature
 Total mass of flue gas (m)/kg of fuel = mass of actual air supplied/kg of fuel +
1 kg of fuel
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What can be done to reduce Dry Flue Gas Loss (L1)?

 The following can be concluded from the dry flue gas equations:

1. Reducing the quantity of dry gas (m) or the excess air levels reduces the dry flue
gas loss (L1). Good burners and precise combustion controls are necessary for
good results. Excessive emission of CO, unburned hydrocarbons, and unsafe
boiler operation are factors that limit the extent to which excess air can be
reduced. For best operating scenarios, ideally O2 levels in flue gas should be
maintained close to 2% and not to exceed 4%.

2. The temperature differential of flue gas temperature (Tf) and combustion air
temperature (Ta) should be lowered, or in other words reduce Tf and increase Ta.
This is done by preheating the combustion air with a preheater which will raise
the Ta, while installing an economizer to recover heat from the flue gases will
lower the Tf. Any one or both of these parameters can be varied to reduce the L1.

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Heat loss due to evaporation of water formed due to H2 in fuel (%)
 The combustion of hydrogen causes a heat loss because the
product of combustion is water.
 This water is converted to steam and this carries away heat in the
form of its latent heat.

• Where
H2 = kg of hydrogen present in fuel on 1 kg basis
Cp = Specific heat of superheated steam
Tf = Flue gas temperature
Ta = Ambient temperature
584 = Latent heat corresponding to partial pressure of water vapour
What can be done to reduce L2?
 Unfortunately, not much can be done to reduce this loss as most
of the heat lost is in the heat of vaporization. Measures that
reduce the flue gas temperature (Tg) have only a small effect.
 Only condensing heat exchanger will reduce this loss appreciably.
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Heat loss due to moisture present in fuel
 Moisture entering the boiler with the fuel leaves as a superheated vapor.
 This moisture loss is made up of the sensible heat to bring the moisture
to boiling point, the latent heat of evaporation of the moisture, and the
superheat required to bring this steam to the temperature of the exhaust
gas.
 This loss can be calculated with the following formula

 Where
M = kg of moisture in fuel in 1 kg basis
Cp = Specific heat of superheated steam
Tf = Flue gas temperature
Ta = Ambient temperature

584= Latent heat corresponding to partial pressure of water vapour

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Heat loss due to moisture present in air
 Vapour in the form of humidity in the incoming air, is superheated as it passes
through the boiler. Since this heat passes up the stack, it must be included as a
boiler loss.
 To relate this loss to the mass of coal burned, the moisture content of the
combustion air and the amount of air supplied per unit mass of coal burned
must be known.
 The mass of vapor that air contains can be obtained from psychrometric
charts and typical values are included below:

where
AAS =Actual mass of air supplied per kg of fuel
Humidity factor =kg of water/kg of dry air
Cp =Specific heat of superheated steam
Tf =Flue gas temperature
Ta =Ambient temperature 19
Heat loss due to incomplete combustion:
 Products formed by incomplete combustion could be mixed with
oxygen and burned again with a further release of energy.
 Such products include CO, H2, and various hydrocarbons and are
generally found in the flue gas of the boilers.
 Carbonmonoxide is the only gas whose concentration can be
determined conveniently in a boiler plant test.

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Heat loss due to radiation and convection:
 The other heat losses from a boiler consist of the loss of heat by
radiation and convection from the boiler casting into the surrounding
boiler house.
 Normally surface loss and other unaccounted losses is assumed based
on the type and size of the boiler as given below
 For industrial fire tube / packaged boiler = 1.5 to 2.5%
 For industrial water tube boiler = 2 to 3%
 For power station boiler = 0.4 to 1%
 However it can be calculated if the surface area of boiler and its
surface temperature are known as given below :

 where
 L6 = Radiation loss in W/m2
 Vm = Wind velocity in m/s
 Ts = Surface temperature (K)
 Ta = Ambient temperature (K) 21
Heat loss due to unburned carbon in fly ash and bottom ash:
 Small amounts of carbon will be left in the ash and this constitutes a
loss of potential heat in the fuel.

 To assess these heat losses, samples of ash must be analyzed for

carbon content.

 The quantity of ash produced per unit of fuel must also be known

 Heat loss due to unburnt in fly ash (%).

 Heat loss due to unburnt in bottom ash (%)

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Heat Balance:
 Having established the magnitude of all the losses mentioned above, a
simple heat balance would give the efficiency of the boiler.

 The efficiency is the difference between the energy input to the boiler
and the heat losses calculated.
Boiler Heat Balance:

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Example: Boiler Efficiency Calculation
 The following are the data collected for a boiler using coal as the fuel. Find
out the boiler efficiency by indirect method.

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 Efficiency for an oil fired boiler
 The following are the data collected for a boiler using furnace oil as the
fuel. Find out the boiler efficiency by indirect method.

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Boiler Draught:
 The rate of steam generation in a boiler depends upon the rate at which the
fuel is burnt.
 The rate of fuel burning depends upon the supply of oxygen/ fresh air.
 Fresh air enters the fuel bed only when the gases of combustion are
exhausted from the combustion chamber of the boiler.
 This is possible only if a difference of pressure is maintained above and
below the fire grate.
 This difference of static pressure known as draught(draft).
 The main objectives of producing draught in a boiler are:
1. To provide adequate supply of air for the combustion of the
fuel.
2. To exhaust the products of combustion from the combustion
chamber.
3. To discharge the gases to the atmosphere through the chamber.

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Classification of Draught:
 Boiler draught can be effected by any one of the methods indicated
below

draught

Mechanical Natural Steam-jet

draught draught draught

Induced Forced fan

fan draught draught

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Natural ( chimney) Draught:
 Since atmospheric air ( outside the chimney) is heaver than the hot gases
( inside the chimney), the outside air flows through the furnace into the
chimney pushing the hot flue gases out of the chimney.
 Natural draught varies with
1. Climatic conditions,
2. Temperature of furnace gases,
3. Height of chimney.
Mechanical Draught:
 Is a draught produced by means of a fan and blower.
 In the induced fan draught, the fan is placed in the path of the flue gas
before they enter the chimney which draws the flue gases from the
furnace and forces them up through the chimney.
 In the forced fan draught, the fan is placed before the grate and air is
forced into the grate through the ash pit.

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Height of chimney:
 Natural draught is produced by means of a chimney. Since the amount of
draught depends upon the height of the chimney, its height should be such
that it can produce sufficient draught.

Where:

V0= volume of outside air at STP,

T0 = 298 K
P0=1atm = 1.01325x105 N/m2.

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 Volume of outside air at Ta[K]:

 Density of outside air at T1 [K]:

 Pressure due to a column of height H of the outside cool air is obtained

from

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 From Avogadro's law, flue gases at STP occupy the same volume as air
at STP.
 Therefore, Volume of flue gases at 298 K is:

 volume of flue gases at Tg[K]:

 Density of flue gases at T2[K]:

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 Pressure due to the column of height H of the hot gases at the base of
the chimney is:

 The draught, which is given as the pressure difference between a

column of cold air outside the chimney and a similar column of hot
gases in the chimney, is, therefore

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 In actual practice, draught pressure is expressed in mm of water height.

 1 m a  1 
h  353  H     mm H 2 O
T 
 a m a  Tg 
Note:
 the above equation gives the theoretical value of the draught which is
known as static draught. The actual value of the draught is less than the
theoretical value b/s of the effect of friction offered by the passage of
boiler/chimney to the flue gases.
 The draught may also be expressed in terms of the column of hot gases.
If H’ is the column of hot gases in meter which would produce the
draught pressure ∆P, then:
353  m a  1H
'
P   2  H 
'
kg / m 2
m a  Tg

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 Substituting this equation in the above equation
353  m a  1H '  1
 m a  1 
 353  H  
m a  Tg   a  Tg 
 Ta m

 m  a  Tg 
H  H 
'
 1
 m
 a  1Ta 

 Neglecting friction, the velocity of flue gases through, the chimney

under draught H’ is:

C 2 gH ' [m / s]

 m  a  Tg 
C 2 gH    1 [m / sec]
 m
 a  1Ta 

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Example
 A boiler is equipped with a chimney of 25 m height. The flue gases, which pass
through the chimney, are at a temperature of 3000C whereas the atmospheric
temperature is 200C. If the airflow through the combustion chamber is 20 kg/kg
fuel burnt, determine:
a. The theoretical draught produced in mm H2O and the height of hot gases
column, and
b. The velocity of flue gases passing through the chimney, if 25% of the
theoretical draught is lost due to friction in the grate and chimney passages.
Solution
a. Theoretical draught produced in mm H2O.
 1 m a  1 
h  353  H     mm H 2 O
T  a  Tg 
 a m
 1
h  353  25   
20  1   13.95 mm H O


2
 293 20 573 
The theoretical draught produced in height of the hot gases column:

 m  a  Tg   20  573 
H'  H   1  25    1  21.56m
 m
 a  1Ta   20  1  293 
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b. Velocity of flue gases passing through the chimney. since 25% of the
theoretical draught is lost by friction, the net draught available is.
H’ = 0.75* 21.56= 16.17 m
C 2 gH ' [m / s]
C 2  9.81  16.17  17.8m / s

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 EXAMPLE
• Calculate the mass of flue gases flowing through the chimney when the
draught produced is equal to 1.9 cm of water. Temperature of flue
gases is 2900C and ambient temperature is 200C. The flue gases formed
per kg of fuel burnt are 23 kg. neglected the losses and take the
diameter of the chimney is 1.8m.

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