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Abstract
This paper presents the findings of the “Performance Evaluation Of An Oil Fired Boiler- A Case Study In Dairy
Industry " The study was aimed at assessing the operational performance of the oil fired boiler (Revomax Plus)
by evaluating the thermal efficiency and suggest energy conservation measures for improving the same. The
analysis was carried and the calculations resulted into boiler efficiency of 84.76 %, oil consumption of 24
liters/hour and excess air as 58.14 %. The feasibility of replacement of oil fired boiler with coal fired boiler is
explored. The comparative evaluation of oil fired boiler and coal fired boiler based on the assumed cost of oil
and coal has revealed the approximate saving of Rs. 2800 per day by replacing the oil fired boiler with the coal
fired boiler. The payback period for the investment on coal fired boiler will be about four years.
Keywords: Boiler, Performance Evaluation, Efficiency Calculation
1. Introduction
Energy is essential to life and its conservation has become an absolute necessity. The growth and demand for
energy is increasing at a very fast rate, specially in the industrial sector, the transport sector and the house hold
sector, thereby putting a great deal of pressure on the available resources. The need of the hour has now become
conservation and preservation. Conservation and efficient use of energy in industry has for a long time been a
priority of the Government of India. People on their part should become aware of the seriousness and do their
best to conserve and preserve this energy. The industrial sector uses about 50% of the total commercial energy
available in India. Of the commercial sources of energy, coal, lignite, and oil and natural gas are mainly used.
The Indian energy sector is highly energy intensive and efficiency is well below that of other industrialized
countries. There is a growing need to bring about improvement in the efficiency of energy use in the industrial
sector. More efficient energy use can increase productivity and economic competitiveness as well as lower
greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output. There is considerable scope for improving energy efficiency in
industries dealing with iron and steel, chemicals, cement, pulp and paper, fertilizers, textiles, dairy etc. If such
industries can promote energy conservation, it could lead to substantial reduction in their costs of production.
1.1 Methodology of Energy Conservation in Boiler
Waste heat recovery systems, cogeneration, and the utilization of alternative sources of energy are important for
the conservation of energy. Industrial sector is the major consumers of the energy and it has been observed that
till now the purview of energy conservation has been neglected by most of the industries because they think that
material and labour are the major cost components.
Boilers are used in various industrial units to convey heat for different process applications. Though boilers can
be categorized into different types and have different efficiency levels, the motive of the industry should be to
generate the required quantity and quality of steam at minimum cost. An optimum level of excess air level
should be maintained. The method of return steam condensate to the boiler helps reduce fuel consumption; along
with this method various other methods could be applied to minimize the loss of energy.
1.2 Energy Saving Potential in Boiler
Methods to improve the efficiency of boiler focus mainly on minimizing the loss of useful heat to the
surrounding from the hot flue gas and walls of the boiler. This can be accomplished by incorporation of
Performance Evaluation of an Oil Fired Boiler – A Case Study In Dairy Industry 351
necessary design and close monitoring and operation leading to Reduction in quantity of excess air, Reduction in
temperature of flue gases, Reducing in surface temperature of external walls of boilers, Carrying out the energy
auditing in order to evaluate the performance of boiler in terms of its efficiency and Recovery of steam from
steam usage points. In the present case attention is focused on the aspects namely, carrying out the energy
auditing in order to evaluate the performance of boiler in terms of its efficiency, Recovery of steam from steam
usage points and Minimizing the losses associated with boiler.
Parameters to be monitored for the calculation of boiler efficiency by direct method are:
1. Quantity of steam generated per hour (Q) in Kg/hr.
2. Quantity of fuel used per hour (q) in Kg/hr.
3. The working pressure (in Kg / cm2) and superheat temperature if any
4. The temperature of feed water (°C)
5. Type of fuel and gross calorific value of the fuel (GCV in Kcal/kg of fuel)
Where,
hg -Enthalpy of saturated steam in kcal/kg of steam
hf - Enthalpy of feed water in kcal/kg of water
2.1.2 The Indirect Method: Where the Efficiency is the Difference Between the Losses and the
Energy Input
The principle losses that occur in a boiler are
Where,
The actual radiation and convection losses are difficult to assess because of particular emissivity of various
surfaces, its inclination, air flow pattern etc. In a relatively small boiler of our case, radiation losses are
generally taken approximately depending upon the temperature of the boiler surface.
3. Data Collection
The various parameters that serve as the prerequisites for carrying out performance evaluation of a boiler are
listed as follows
1. Steam temperature
2. Steam pressure
3. Flue gas temperature
4. Fuel water temperature
5. Fuel consumption
6. Steam flow rate
7. % Contents of gases present in flue gas (Flue gas analysis)
8. % contents of constituent elements in fuel (Ultimate analysis of fuel)
9. Air required burning the required quantity of fuel. (Stoichiometric /theoretical and Actual)
Operating Time of Pump per hour = operating time of burner / hour + 10(No. of times burner got ON per
Hour) ------- (5)
Operating Time of Pump per hour = operating time of burner / hour + 10(No. of times burner got ON per hour
= [1999+ 10(50)] sec.
= 2499 sec. = 41.65 min = 0.6942 hr.
Total Operating time of pump = 0.6942 hr.
Water consumption/hr = Total operating time of pump/hr x Actual Pumping capacity of pump
= 0.6942x938.4 = 651.44 lit. /hour
Steam flow rate = Water consumption = 651.44 Kg/hr.
C 12
O2 32
H2 2
S 32
N2 28
CO2 44
SO2 64
H2O 18
C + O2 Æ CO2
H2 + ½ O2 Æ H2O
S + O2 Æ SO2
Constituents of fuel
C + O2 Æ CO2
12 + 32 Æ 44
12 kg of carbon requires 32 kg of oxygen to form 44 kg of carbon dioxide therefore 1 kg of carbon requires
32/12 kg. i.e. 2.67 kg of oxygen.
(84) C + (84 x 2.67) O2 Æ 308.28 CO2
2H2+ O2 Æ 2H2
4 + 32 Æ 36
4 kg of hydrogen requires 32 kg of oxygen to form 36 kg of water, therefore 1 kg of hydrogen requires 32/4 kg i.e.
8 kg of oxygen
(12) H2 + (12 x 8) O2 Æ (12 x 9) H2O
S + O2 Æ SO 2
32 + 32 Æ 64
32 kg of sulphur requires 32 kg of oxygen to form 64 kg of sulphur dioxide, therefore 1 kg of sulphur requires
32/32 kg i.e. 1 kg of oxygen
The final constitution of flue gas with 58.14 % excess air for every 100 kg fuel.
CO2 = 308.28Kg
H2O = 108.00 Kg
SO2 = 3 Kg
O2 = 186.21 Kg
N2 = 1072.24+623.4 = 1695.64
7. Conclusions
The salient concluding remarks based on the study are as follows:
i) The efficiency of the oil fired boiler is 84.76% which is closer to the standard range of efficiency
(i.e. 88 ± 2 %).
ii) Oil consumption for present steam production of 651.44 Kg/hr. is 24 lit/hr.
iii) The excess air is 58.14 % which is quite higher than the sufficient limits.
References
1. Murphy W., McCkay G, 1995, Energy Management Butterworth Heinemann.
2. Dr. C.P. Kothandarman, P.R. Khajuria, C. Arora, S. Domkundwar, 2000, A Course In Thermodynamics &
Heat Engines , Dhanpat Rai & Co.
3. Chattopadhyay P, 1997, Boiler Operation Engineering, Tata McGraw Hill Publication.
4. Ballney P.L, 1991, Thermal Engineering
5. Khurmi R. S., 1995 , Steam Table, S. Chand & Co. Ltd.
6. Reference manual for Revomax RXD - 850.
Performance Evaluation of an Oil Fired Boiler – A Case Study In Dairy Industry 357
7. National productivity council (Bureau of Energy Efficiency), Energy Efficiency in Thermal Utilities- for
preparation of National Certification Examination for Energy Managers & Energy Auditors.
8. Reference material from Central Fuel research Institute(CFRI) (Nagpur Unit).