MARINE BOILER NOTES.

By Prof. K. Venkataraman.
CEng; FIMarE;MIE.
For BE (Marine Engineering) Cadets.
Introduction to Marine Boilers
:Boilers of varied design and working conditions are installed in both steam and
motor vessels. Themost modern steamships have boiler plant of a sophisticated n
ature, and even on motor ships the steam plant can be quite extensive, providing
useful services and enhancing the overall efficiency of thevessel.The demand fo
r steam propulsion is currently very low, being confined to specialised ships su
ch asliquid natural gas (LNG) carriers. However, a number of steamships may stil
l be found in servicehaving boiler plant resulting from many years of developmen
t. Design modifications have been madeto eliminate problem areas and to adjust t
o changing operational constraints in much the same way thatthe diesel engine ha
s progressed to its present advanced state. Water tube marine boilers have beend
ominant, as far as steam propulsion is concerned, since the period between the t
wo world wars. Eventhe generation of steam for auxiliary purposes aboard ship ha
s come into the province of the water tube boiler, a practice which grew to prom
inence with increasing demand for large quantities of auxiliarysteam and which p
ersists today in ships such as the large motor tanker. Nevertheless in the field
of auxiliary steam production many non-water tube boilers can still be found, e
specially where steamoutput and pressure are not high.Water tube boilers can be
made for steam duties as low as 1.5 ton/ h and as high as 2.5 X 10
3
ton /h. Atthe lower end of the range, the water tube boiler is found to be uneco
nomical and would only beconsidered for very special applications where very hig
h steam pressure was involved. Boilers havingduties in the upper end of the outp
ut range would be found in central power stations ashore. Steam pressure in wate
r tube boilers can vary between 7 bar and supercritical values such as 225 bar,a
lthough natural circulation would only be applicable to pressures below about 17
5 bar. Steamtemperature could range from saturation to 600~650*C, depending upon
the fuel and method of firing.With this vast range of duties it is not surprisi
ng that the shape and detail of water tube boilers shouldvary considerably. Alth
ough the marine sphere is only a particular section of the whole range, thenumbe
r of different boiler designs available is large.For merchant ships building to
classification requirements and adopting the low forcing rates thatexperience ha
s shown will enable good levels of the other factors to be obtained achieve a go
odcompromise. Even so, there are distinctions to be observed, such as between ma
in propulsion andauxiliary boilers. Auxiliary boilers, receiving possibly much l
ess use than main propulsion boilers, mayusefully employ higher forcing rates.Th
ere are two main types of boilers in Marine use:1.TANK BOILERS OR FIRE TUBE BOIL
ER OR SMOKE TUBE BOILER.2.WATER TUBE BOILER.TANK BOILERS OR FIRE TUBE BOILERS:Th
ese boilers were used in olden days with steam reciprocating engines. Now used i
n some ships for auxiliary steam requirements. These boilers have poor efficienc
y and low power/weight ratio. Names of some of the Tank boilers:1. Scotch Boiler
. 2. Clarkson Boiler. 3. Cochran Boiler 4. Spanner Boiler.WATER TUBE BOILERS:Wat
er tube boilers have to a large extent superseded the Scotch boiler for the supp
ly, of steam to mainand auxiliary machinery. Even donkey (auxiliary) boilers are
frequently found to he water tube boilersand certainly all-modern turbine plant
s use them for main steam supply.