Methods of Firing Steam Boiler

For obtaining maximum fuel combustion efficiency it is required to proper and complete
combustion of fuel inside the boiler furnace. For that, proper and sufficient supply of air and
proper mixing of air with fuel are primary requirements. Adequate supply of fuel particles for
proper burning of particles also to be maintained.The combustion should produce designated
temperature of the steam boiler and maintains it consistently. In addition to these, the method
of firing steam boiler is such that, the system may be easily handled and also, operation and
maintenance should be minimum. There are mainly two methods of firing steam boiler with
coal as fuel. One is solid fuel firing other is pulverized fuel firing. Let us discuss one by one.
There are mainly two types of solid fuel firing system
1. Hand firing
2. Mechanical stroke firing
Smaller size boiler can be operated by hand firing system. This system was commonly
used to drive coal engine locomotive in past. Here, coal chips are put into the furnace
frequently by shovels.

Mechanical Stoker Firing

When fuel i.e. coal is put into the steam boiler furnace by means of mechanical
stoker, the firing of boiler method is referred as mechanical stoker firing. There
are mainly two types of mechanical stoker firing systems.
Under Feed Mechanical Stoker Firing
Here, combustion takes place on the grate. The primary air is fed below the
grate. The primary air is fed below the grate. The secondary air is allowed at the
top. when the coal is burnt, it is pushed down by fresh coal. The fresh coal is
pushed on the grate by means of rams as shown .

The ignition occurs downwards against the primary air flow. The volatile matter
filters through the bed and is completely burnt. The combustion rate is high. The
light ash contents and combustion gases fly away to the atmosphere along with
primary air. Heavier ash content comes down over the grate and ultimately falls
into ash pit.
Travel Grate Stoker Solid Coal Firing
Here, the coal is burnt on a chain grate which continuously travel forwards slowly
combustion takes place during the journey of coal from first end to last end of
the furnace. At the end of the combustion heavier ash content falls into ash pit
by gravitational force as the grate chain moves like conveyor belt. The lighter
ash particles and combustion gases fly away with primary air.
Pulvarized Fuel Firing
For getting most calorific value of coal, the coal is pulvarized in fine powder and
then mixed with sufficient air. The mixture of coal powder and air is fired in the
steam boiler furnace to achieve most efficient combustion process.This is most
modern and efficient method of boiler firing. Due to pulverization, the surface
area of coal becomes much larger, and in this method air required for
combustion is much less. As the quantity of required air and fuel both are less,
loss of heat in this method of boiler firing is much less, hence temperature can
easily be reached to the designated level. As the combustion is most efficient
pulverized coal firing increases the overall efficiency of steam boiler. As handling
of lighter coal dust is much easier than handling of heavier coal chips, it is quite
easy to control the output of the boiler by controlling supply of fuel to the
furnace. Hence fluctuation of system load can smoothly be met. In addition these
advantages, pulverized coal firing system has may disadvantages. Such as
1. The initial cost of installing this plant is very high.
2. Not only initial cost, running cost of this plant is quite high as separate
pulverization plant to installed and run additionally.
3. High temperature causes high thermal loss through flue gas.
4. This type of method of boiler firing has always a risk of explosion.
5. This is also difficult and expensive to filter fine ash particles from fine gas.
Moreover, the quantity of ash particles in the flue gas is more in pulverized
system.

Pulvarization Process
Process of pulvarization is discussed here in brief.
1. First the coal is crushed by preliminary crasher. The coal is crushed to 2.5
cm. or less.
2. Then this crushed coal is passed through magnetic separator to separate
any iron content in the coal. Iron must be removed, otherwise during

pulverizing iron particles will cause spark which results unwanted fire
hazard.
3. After that, crushed coal is dried properly before pulverization. The
moisture content must be less than 2% after drying operation.
4. Then the coal is crushed again in fine particles in ball mill. This process is
referred as pulverization.
5. This pulverized coal is then puffed with air and put into furnace as fluid.

Feed Water and Steam Circuit of Boiler

There are different components present in feed water and steam circuit of
boiler and we should know some essential components of these circuit and these
are Economizer, boiler drums, water tubes, and super heater.

Economizer

Economizer is a heat exchanger which takes heat from the flue gas, and
increases the temperature of feed water coming from feed water common
header to about the saturation temperature corresponding to the boiler
pressure.

Throwing away the flue gases of high temperature into the atmosphere
involves a great deal of energy losses. By utilizing these gases in heating
feed water, higher efficiency and better economy can be achieved, and
hence the heat exchanger is called Economizer.

Structurally economizer is a collection of bent hollow tubular elements

through which feed water passes. Outside of the tubes are heated by
Exhaust flue gases. More no. of water tubes more will be the heat
exchange surface. No. of tubes and tube cross section are pre-designed as
per required boiler parameters.

In the T-S curve above, the shadow portion illustrates the zone of
economiser. The heat absorbed by feed water is denoted by Q eco.

Another essential component of Feed Water and Steam

Circuit is Boiler Drum.

Boiler Drums
Two types of boiler drums used in all types of boilers are steam drum and
mud drum. Both the drums have specific functions.
Steam Drum
The functions of steam drum in feed water steam circuit are:
1. To store water and steam sufficiently to meet varying load demands.
2. To provide a head and thereby aiding the natural circulation of water
through water tubes.
3. To separate vapour or steam from water- steam mixture, discharged by
the risers.
4. To aid in chemical treatments to remove dissolved O2 and to maintain
required pH.
Separating steam from two-phase mixtures in the steam drum:

Steam must be separated from the mixture before it leaves the drum,
because:
1. Any moisture carried with steam contains dissolved salts. In the
super heater, water evaporates and the salt remain deposited on
the inside surface of the tubes to form a scale. This scale reduces
the life of the super-heaters.
2. Some of the impurities in the moisture (like vaporized silica) may
cause turbine blade deposits.

One of the important functions of steam-drum is to separate steam from

steam water mixture. At low pressure (below 20 bar; 1 bar = 1.0197
kg/cm2) simple gravity separation is used. In the method of gravity
separation the water particles disengaged from steam due to higher
density.

As the pressure inside the boiler drum increases the density of steam
increases, as steam is very compressible. Hence difference between the
densities of steam and water decreases. Hence gravity separation
becomes in efficient.

Hence in the steam drum of the high pressure boilers, there are some
mechanical arrangements (known as drum internals or anti-priming
arrangements) for separating steams from water.

Following picture illustrates different Anti-priming arrangements used in

thermal power plants :

Baffles are separators which separate the hot steam-water mixture from
dry steam and provide a guided path for the dry steam.

In the cyclone separator steam water two-phase mixture is allowed to

move in a helical path and due to centrifugal forces the water particles
separate out from the two-phase mixture. The small vanes inside the
cyclone separator collect the deposited water particles.

In the scrubber the two phase mixture is allowed to move in a zigzag

path and it provides the ultimate stage of drying the steam.

After scrubber steam is allowed to move to super-heated through a

perforated screen.

Mud Drum
Mud drum is another header which is situated at the bottom of the boiler and
usually helps in natural circulation of water through the steam tubes. Mud drum
usually contains water at saturation temperature, and also the precipitated salts
and impurities known as slurries. It is periodically washed to remove the slurry by
opening the discharge valve.

Water Tubes
These are also essential for Feed Water and Steam Circuit of Boiler Water tubes
are bent or straight hollow tubes through which steam water mixture circulates.
There are two types of water tubes, viz. down-comer and riser. This downcomer,
riser assembly is also known as Evaporator (or boiler proper). In the
evaporator actual state change from water to steam occurs. In the T-S diagram
beside, the zone of evaporator is illustrated. Q eva is the heat absorbed by
evaporator. It is mainly the latent heat of vaporization of water.

Down-comers Water Tubes

As the name suggests down-comers are the water tubes through which water
comes down from steam drum to mud drum (see fig.). No vapour bubble should
flow along with saturated water from the drum to the down comers. This will
reduce the density difference and the pressure head for natural circulation.
Risers Water Tubes
Risers are the water tubes through which steam water two-phase mixture at
saturation temperature goes up from mud drum to steam drum. Risers are
usually close to furnaces, while the down-comers are away from the furnaces.

Super-Heaters
Super heater is another important part of Feed Water and Steam Circuit of Boiler

Super-Heater is an important element of the feed water-steam circuit. It is

basically a heat exchanger in which heat is transferred to the aturated
steam to increase its temperature. In high pressure boilers more than 40%
of the total heat is absorbed by the super heaters. The T-S diagram beside

illustrates the heat absorbed by the super heater and is denoted by Q sh.

In super-heater the rate of heat absorption is more. Hence, in the modern

water tube boilers there are more. Hence, in the modern water tube
boilers there are more super heating surfaces.

Super-heater tubes are exposed to the highest steam pressure and

temperature on the inside and the maximum gas temperature on the
outside. They are made of costliest alloys.

Functions of Super-Heater

An increase in inlet steam temperature gives a steady improvement in

cycle efficiency. Hence, the function of super-heater is to raise the overall
efficiency. In addition, it reduces the moisture content in the later stages
of the turbine and thus increases the turbine internal efficiency.

However, the increase in temperature is limited by the properties of the

construction materials of boilers and turbines. Usually the optimum
temperature of steam is maintained 450oC at the turbine inlet.

Boiler Feed Water Treatment Demineralization Reverse Osmosis Plant Deaerator

Previous
Next
All natural sources of water contain impurities as well as dissolved gasses. The
amount of these impurities depends on type of water source and location.Why it
is necessary to treat the raw water? Raw water coming from different
sources contains dissolved salts and un-dissolved or suspended impurities. It is
necessary to remove harmful salts dissolved into the water before feeding it to
the boiler. Because1. The deposition of dissolved salts and suspended impurities will form a
scale on the inside wall of different heat-exchangers and thus there will
create excessive pressure and thermal stress (due to uneven heat
exchange across the wall of heat-exchanger) inside the heat-exchangers,
which may lead to the explosion and serious hazards for boilers.

2. The harmful dissolved salts may react with various parts of boiler through
which it flows, thereby corrode the surfaces.
3. Corrosion damage may occur to turbine blades.
Hence, boiler feed water treatment is very much required to remove such
dissolved and suspended impurities from water before feeding it to boiler.

Arrangements for Boiler Feed Water Treatment

For continuous supply of feed water to boiler, after removing impurities, there
are two types of plant generally incorporated. These are:
1. Demineralization plant (D M plant)
2. Reverse Osmosis plant (R O plant)
Demineralization plant employs a chemical method to separate out the
dissolved salt in raw water. But reverse osmosis plant employs a simple
physical method to separate the dissolved salts. Before feeding the raw water to
these plants sand filtration is done by different filters. Along with these plants
there are two deaerators, which remove dissolved oxygen in the feed water, as
traces of oxygen may react with boiler tubes and thereby corrode those.

Complete arrangements and inside equipment of these plants are described below.

Demineralization Plant
The function of demineralization plant is to remove dissolved salt by ion
exchange method (chemical method) and there by producing pure feed water for

boiler.
The salts which make the water hard are generally-chloride, carbonates, bicarbonates, silicates & phosphates of sodium, potassium, iron, calcium and
magnesium. In D M plant there are three types of resin used for boiler feed
water treatment process 1. Cation exchange resin
2. Anion exchange resin
3. Mixed Bed resin
1. Resins are chemical substances (usually polymers of high molecular
weight) used to react with salts & eliminates them by chemical
process.
2. As the name suggests, the cation exchange resin, exchanges the
cation & anion exchange resin, exchanges anions with the salts
dissolved in hard-water.
Cation Exchange Resin
NaCl + RSO3H = RSO3 - Na + + HCl Thus H2SO4, H2CO3 are also produced. We have
removed Na + but the water has become acidic.
Anion Exchange Resin
HCl + R4NOH = R4NCl + H2O This way we have eliminated Cl - and thus acidity of
the water. Similar reaction for H2SO4 also.

Mixed Bed Resins

These mixed bed resins are used in Demineralization plant of boiler feed water
treatment, to remove the ions (especially Na + and SO3 2- ) which may further
present in the water after foregoing process of purification.
Degasser
The function of degasser tower is to remove carbonate ions by forming carbondi-oxide. In degasser tower stream of water is poured from top & air is blown
from bottom to top. In the pressure of air the carbonic acid (H 2CO3) present in the
water dissociates into H2O and CO2. H2CO3 = H2O + CO2 This CO2 is free to mix
with air. Benefits of using degasser are:
1. It removes the carbonic acid and other gases mixed with water by simple
physical method & thereby reduce the chances of corrosion.
2. It saves the resins which are very costly chemicals and thereby improves
the economy of boiler feed water treatment process.
The H2CO3 free water is now collected in degasser sump and then pumped to
anion exchange resin inlet.

Reverse Osmosis Plant (RO Plant)

Like demineralization plant there is another stage of water treatment which is
known as reverse osmosis plant. RO plant uses the process known as reverse
osmosis to produce salt-free water. The theoretical aspect is described below:-

Osmosis is a process in which only the solvent molecules pass through a semipermeable membrane from higher solvent density to lower solvent density (i.e.
from solution of lower density to the solution of higher density). Osmotic
pressure:- It is the minimum pressure that should be applied on the higher

density solution so that no osmosis takes place through the semi-permeable

membrane is called the osmotic pressure (). = iCRT Where, C is concentration
of solution, R is universal gas constant, T is temperature in Kelvin scale, i is vant
Hoffs factor, different for different solutions. i = 1 for infinitely dilute solution.
Hence osmotic Pressure is a function of temperature.

Reverse Osmosis
On the higher density solution (lower density solvent) if a pressure (P), greater
than osmotic pressure () is applied then the solvent molecules pass through the
semi-permeable membrane from higher density solution to lower density
solution. This phenomenon is called reverse osmosis. This one important stage
for boiler feed water treatment process.

Reverse Osmosis Plant

In RO plant using reverse osmosis phenomenon salt-free water is taken out from
raw water after the sand filtration. Purity of the salt-free water depends on
effectiveness of the permeable membrane.

The layout of a typical Reverse Osmosis Plant is given below

Steam
air pre-heater require some steam which will reduce the efficiency of the power plant. The
procedure is described below:
1. Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) is injected to raw water to kill the algae or
bacteria present in the raw water. Otherwise they may cause harm to the
multi grade-filter (MGF).
2. The multi-grade filter is the primitive type of filter where sand, stonechips, stones are used in stacks to remove the large size suspended
particles from the raw water.
3. The net filter again removes medium-size suspended particles, where the
raw water passes through the net minute vents.
4. Then by ultra-filtration very small suspended particles are removed. After
long usage of ultra-filtration unit, it requires back-wash, and then it is
back-washed with water & three chemicals, viz. HCL, NaOH and NaOCl
(Sodium Hypochlorite). HCl Removes iron by dissolving it. It also removes
the basic salts those are rejected on UFU. NaOH It helps to remove
acidic salt. NaOCl To kill algae and bacteria inside the UFU.
5. After ultra-filtration the water is stored into RO feed tank & then pumped
with RO feed pump of Reverse Osmosis Plant. In the channel the water is
mixed with HCL (for pH controlling, as the water coming from RO plant or
RO permeate water should have pH around 6.0) and SMBS (sodium meta
bi-sulphate) [Na2S2O5]. Due to the presence of sodium hypochlorite the
water is chlorinated. To remove excess chlorine SMBS is used. If excess
chlorine is not removed then the semi-permeable membrane may get
damaged. It is also mixed with anti-scaling reagent (AS), which reacts with
those chemicals which form scale inside the channel.

6. Then the water is passed through micro-cartridge filter (MCF) which

removes the other suspended particles & the precipitate formed by the
reaction of anti-scaling reagent with the scaling chemicals.
7. In the this stage of boiler feed water treatment the water is fed to RO unit
by H/P pump, where after successive filtration by 1 st and 2nd stage RO it is
fed to degasser unit.
8. After degasification the water is passed through D/M plant MB (mixed bed)
resin & stored into D/M water storage tank.

Deaerator

Deaerator is a contact type open heater in which dissolved oxygen in the feed
water is removed as much as possible by mechanical means. Gases move from
higher partial pressure to lower partial pressure. Partial pressure of oxygen in air
is high (as air contains almost 21% oxygen by volume) than the partial pressure
of dissolved oxygen in feed water. Hence, by simple mechanical means it is not
possible to eliminate the dissolved oxygen from water.

Hence, in deaerator the feed water is heated by LP or VB steam (pressure: 2.5 3.5kg/cm2,
temperature: 1400C). Due to heating the partial pressure of dissolved oxygen in feed water
increases and solubility decreases to considerable amount. Then by mechanical means
dissolved oxygen is released in air. Hence Deaerator is another very important part of boiler
feed water treatment plant. The mechanical means is same as that of in degasser. But instead
of air, LP steam is blown from bottom to top and feed water is poured from top to bottom.
Deaerator also serves as header, to provide a net positive suction head (NPSH) to the boiler
feed pumps (BFP) and here by protects the BFPs from any damage due to vapor lock and
cavitations.
Fuel
Bituminous Coal

STOICHIOMETRIC AIR mass / unit mass of fuel

11.18

Anttiasite Coal
Coke
Liquite
Peat
Residual Fuel Oil
Distillate Fuel Oil(Gas Oil)
Natural Gas(Methane Base)

10.7
9.8
7.5
5.7
13.85
14.48
17.3

Combustion of Coal
For sufficient air,

We have already said that mass wise there is 23.2 % O 2 presents in air. Hence
the amount of air required to provide 2.67 gm of O2 is

As per ideal combustion theory, after combustion of one gm carbon(C), product

of combustion contains only 3.67 gm of CO2 and (11.5 - 2.67 =) 8.83 gm of N2
Coal Combustion for Insufficient Air

By weight, the requirement of air for providing this much O 2 is

After combustion of one gm carbon(C), product of combustion contains only 2.33

gm of CO and (5.75 - 1.33 =) 4.42 gm of N 2. From equation (1) and (2) it is clear
that due to insufficient air combustion, the heat lose during 1 gm of coal
combustion is (33.94 - 10.12) = 23.82 kj

Combustion of Sulfur

So, air required for 1 gm sulfur combustion, is

So, combustion product, after completing 1 gm of sulfur combustion, contains 2

gm of SO2 and (4.31 - 1 = ) 3.31 gm of N2

Combustion of Hydrogen

From combustion theory of C, S and H2 it is found that 2.67 gm oxygen is required for 1 gm
carbon combustion, which implies 2.67 C gm oxygen is required for C gm carbon, 1 gm
oxygen is required for 1 gm sulfur combustion, which implies S gm oxygen is required for S
gm sulfur and 8 gm oxygen is required for 1 gm hydrogen combustion, which implies 8H gm
oxygen is required for H gm hydrogen.
Hence 1 gm of coal (fuel) which contains C gm carbon, S gm sulfur and H gm hydrogen,
requires (2.67 C + S + 8 H) gm of oxygen for efficient combustion. Some amount of oxygen
may be contained in the fuel itself in form of different compounds and it takes part in
combustion also. If O is the original weight of the oxygen presents in 1 gm of fuel, net
requirement of oxygen for sufficient coal combustion is (2.67 C + S + 8 H - O) gm.For that
the amount of air required is

This above mentioned analysis is called coal analysis for combustion. Before efficient
combustion can take place, several basic requirements must be fulfilled, most important of
them are,
1. The combustion must be done with sufficient oxygen.
2. There must be sufficient turbulence to promote throughout mixing of combustible and
oxygen.

Coal Content in Proximate Analysis

Moisture = 8 %, volatile material = 20 to 25 %, fixed carbon = 40 %, ash = 30 %.
Fixed carbon's combustion temperature = 900C. Basic component of ash is Si,
Al and others. Now fusion temperature of Si is 1200C.
If the furnace temperature rises above 1100C then Si will be fused and
deposited on the tubes, as slag, causing improper heat transfer.
Now to dilute the temperature excess air and complete combustion are required.
Now, the volatile material plays important role in combustion. Less the volatile
material flame will be high which may be chance for flame impingement of S/H
coil.
For fulfilling the point some practical steps to taken. In practice it is always
necessary to supply more air to the combustion system than it is theoretically
required. Reason for that air and fuel mixing process in any combustion system,
as it is not possible to ensure complete and intimate mixing of the fuel with the
necessary oxygen at the point of injection. So some excess air is required for
proper combustion to a reasonable minimum power, stack loss and unburnt
carbon in ash.
Generally 20% excess air is allowed.

% of Excess
Air

Unburnt Carbon in C.V. Liberated in

Ash
Furnace

0%

10 %

75 %

15 %
100 %

2%
0.5 %

97 %
99.5 %

Unburnt Gas Loss

CO2, O2, N2, H2O, CO,
CH4(15 %)
CO2, O2, N2, H2, CO(1 %)
CO2, O2, N2

Third process is unsatisfactory for extra fan power and convey huge amount of
heat. The coal particles should be at least 74 microns in 200 mesh. So pulveriser
is required for
1. Better utility of coal
2. Saving of time.
There are mainly three losses occurred during coal combustion,
1. Unburnt gas loss
2. Dry flue gas loss
3. Combustible in ash loss.
Unburnt Gas Loss
Remember the unburnt gas loss is mainly the result of burning carbon to carbon
monoxide instead of carbon dioxide. It is seen that heat release in CO reaction is

one third of that in CO2 reaction. So adequate supply of oxygen or excess air will
quickly reduce this loss to zero.
Dry Flue Gas Loss
A further loss of heat is that due to dry flue gas. It is often referred to as the
stack loss. If more excess air is admitted, this loss increases.
Combustible in Ash Loss
This loss is very high when there is little or no excess air because mixing of
combustible material and oxygen is so poor. As the air quantity is increased, the
loss falls rapidly. However it does not reach to "zero" because the loss depends
upon two factors firstly on air - coal mixture and secondly on fineness of
pulverized coal grain. More fine grain of pulverized coal helps to complete
combustion more perfectly and resulting less combustible in ash loss. In practice,
though, a stage is reached where it is not worth grinding the coal any finer
because it will cost more to grind than the extra heat release. Practically the loss
does not reach to zero. generally a high volatile coal is crushed until 75 % of its
bulk passes through a 200 mesh whereas a low volatile coal is crushed until 80 %
passes through similar mesh. The loss gets less as excess air is added, reaches a
minimum and then increases as still more excess air is added. Thus there is only
one quantity of excess air which will give lower loss for the combustion of a
particular fuel. For bituminous coal 15.5 % excess air is optimum requirement for
Coal Combustion.
Fluidized Bed Combustion | Types and Advantages of Fluidized Bed Combustion
Previous
Fluidization is a method of mixing fuel and air in a specific proportion, for
obtaining combustion. A fluidized bed may be defined as the bed of solid
particles behaving as a fluid. It operates on the principal that when an evenly
distributed air is passed upward through a finely divided bed of solid particles at
low velocity, the particles remain undisturbed, but if the velocity of air flow is
steadily increased, a stage is reached when the individual particles are
suspended in the air stream. If the air velocity is further increased, the bed
becomes highly turbulent and rapid mixing of particles occur which appear like
formation of bubbles in a boiling liquid and the process of combustion as a result
is known as fluidized bed combustion .The velocity of air, causing fluidization
depends on a number of parameter, like :1. Size of fuel particles.
2. Density of air fuel mixture.
Hence, these parameters are given due consideration, while manipulating with
air flow velocity for desired rate of combustion. In fluidized bed combustion,
rapid mixing ensures uniformity of temperature. The main advantage of
fluidized bed combustion system is that municipal waste, sewage plant
sludge, biomass, agricultural waste and other high moisture fuels can be used for
heat generation. A fluidized furnace has an enclosed space with a base having
openings to admit air. Crushed coal, ash and crushed dolomite or limestone is

mixed in the bed furnace and high velocity combustion air is then passed
through the bed, entering from the furnace bottom.

With the steady increase in the velocity of air, a stage will be reached when the pressure drop
across the bed becomes equal to the weight per unit cross-section of the bed, and this
particular critical velocity is called the minimum fluidizing velocity. With further increase in
velocity of air, the bed will begin to expand and allow passage of additional air, in the form of
bubbles. When the air velocity becomes 3 to 5 times the critical velocity, the bed resembles to
that of a violently boiling liquid. A pictorial representation of fluidized bed combustion is
given in the figure below :-

The evaporator tubes of boiler are directly immersed in the fluidized bed and the tubes, being
in direct contact with the burning coal particles, produce very high heat transfer rates.
Because of this, the unit size is reduced to a great extent, and also produces combustion with
very high efficiency.

Types of Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC)

Fluidized Bed combustion can be in 2 variants, namely :1. Vertical type FBC :These are generally used in smaller plant, and has the
capacity to produce steam of up to 6 tonnes per hour only. Their vertical
shape reduces the overall dimension of the steam boiler, and is extremely
efficient in plants, where space provision is limited.
2. Horizontal type FBC : There are almost 10 times in capacity when
compared to vertical type fluidized bed combustion. They can produce as
much as 60 tonnes of steam per hour, and are placed horizontally with
respect to the boiler tubes. The high capacity of the horizontal type
Fluidized boilers coupled with their high efficiency, makes them an
extremely desirable choice for the coal fired thermal power generating
station.

Advantages and Dis-advantages of Fluidized Bed

Combustion
FBC is being used exhaustively these days in all major power stations all over the
globe, owing to numerous advantages that it offers over the other pre-dominant
methods of combustion. Few of those are :1. High thermal efficiency.
2. Easy ash removal system, to be transferred for made cement .
3. Short commissioning and erection period.

4. Fully automated and thus ensures safe operation, even at extreme

temperatures.
5. Efficient operation at temperatures down to 150 C ( i.e. well below the
ash fusion temperature).
6. Reduced coal crushing etc.(pulverised coal is not a necessity here).
7. The system can respond rapidly to changes in load demand, due to quick
establishment of thermal equilibrium between air and fuel particles in the
bed.
8. The operation of fluidized bed furnace at lower temperature helps in
reducing air pollution. The low temperature operation also reduces the
formation of nitrogen oxides. By adding either dolomite (a calciummagnesium carbonate) or lime stone (calcium carbonate) to the furnace
the discharge of sulphur oxides to the atmosphere can also be reduced if
desired.
In view of all these advantages of fluidized bed combustion above, where
fluidized bed combustion emerges as the best alternative available today, still
the major drawback of this system is that the fan power has to be maintained at
a considerably high value, since the air has to be supplied continuously at a very
high pressure for supporting the bed. This in turn increases the operating cost of
the auxiliary units of the plant. But it is more than compensated by the high
values of efficiency that FBC provides.
Steam Boiler | Working principle and Types of Boiler
Next
Boiler or more specifically steam boiler is an essential part of thermal power
plant.

Definition of Boiler
Steam boiler or simply a boiler is basically a closed vessel into which water is
heated until the water is converted into steam at required pressure. This is most
basic definition of boiler.

Working Principle of Boiler

The basic working principle of boiler is very very simple and easy to
understand. The boiler is essentially a closed vessel inside which water is stored.
Fuel (generally coal) is bunt in a furnace and hot gasses are produced. These hot
gasses come in contact with water vessel where the heat of these hot gases
transfer to the water and consequently steam is produced in the boiler. Then this
steam is piped to the turbine of thermal power plant. There are many different
types of boiler utilized for different purposes like running a production unit,
sanitizing some area, sterilizing equipment, to warm up the surroundings etc.

Steam Boiler Efficiency

The percentage of total heat exported by outlet steam in the total heat supplied
by the fuel(coal) is called steam boiler efficiency.

I
t includes with thermal efficiency, combustion efficiency & fuel to steam
efficiency. Steam boiler efficiency depends upon the size of boiler used. A
typical efficiency of steam boiler is 80% to 88%. Actually there are some losses
occur like incomplete combustion, radiating loss occurs from steam boiler
surrounding wall, defective combustion gas etc. Hence, efficiency of steam boiler
gives this result.

Types of Boiler
There are mainly two types of boiler water tube boiler and fire tube boiler. In
fire tube boiler, there are numbers of tubes through which hot gases are passed
and water surrounds these tubes. Water tube boiler is reverse of the fire tube
boiler. In water tube boiler the water is heated inside tubes and hot gasses
surround these tubes. These are the main two types of boiler but each of the
types can be sub divided into many which we will discuss later.
Fire Tube Boiler
As it indicated from the name, the fire tube boiler consists of numbers of tubes
through which hot gasses are passed. These hot gas tubes are immersed into
water, in a closed vessel. Actually in fire tube boiler one closed vessel or shell
contains water, through which hot tubes are passed. These fire tubes or hot gas
tubes heated up the water and convert the water into steam and the steam
remains in same vessel. As the water and steam both are in same vessel a fire
tube boiler cannot produce steam at very high pressure. Generally it can produce
maximum 17.5 kg/cm2 and with a capacity of 9 Metric Ton of steam per hour.
Types of Fire Tube Boiler
There are different types of fire tube boiler likewise, external furnace and internal
furnace fire tube boiler. External furnace boiler can be again categorized into
three different types1. Horizontal Return Tubular Boiler.
2. Short Fire Box Boiler.
3. Compact Boiler.
Again, internal furnace fire tube boiler has also two main categories such as
horizontal tubular and vertical tubular fire tube boiler. Normally horizontal return
fire tube boiler is used in thermal power plant of low capacity. It consists of a
horizontal drum into which there are numbers of horizontal tubes. These tubes
are submerged in water. The fuel (normally coal) burnt below these horizontal
drum and the combustible gasses move to the rear from where they enter into
fire tubes and travel towards the front into the smoke box. During this travel of
gasses in tubes, they transfer their heat into the water and steam bubbles come
up. As steam is produced, the pressure of the boiler developed, in that closed
vessel.

Advantages of Fire Tube Boiler

1. It is quite compact in construction.
2. Fluctuation of steam demand can be met easily.
3. It is also quite cheap.
Disadvantages of Fire Tube Boiler
1. As the water required for operation of the boiler is quite large, it requires
long time for rising steam at desired pressure.
2. As the water and steam are in same vessel the very high pressure of
steam is not possible.
3. The steam received from fire tube boiler is not very dry.
Water Tube Boiler

A water tube boiler is such kind of boiler where the water is heated inside tubes and the hot
gasses surround them

.
This is the basic definition of water tube boiler. Actually this boiler is just opposite of fire
tube boiler where hot gasses are passed through tubes which are surrounded by water.
Types of Water Tube Boiler
There are many types of water tube boilers, such as
1. Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler.
2. Bent Tube Boiler.
3. Cyclone Fired Boiler.
Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler again can be sub - divided into two different
types,

1. Longitudinal Drum Water Tube Boiler.

2. Cross Drum Water Tube Boiler.
Bent Tube Boiler also can be sub divided into four different types,
1. Two Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
2. Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
3. Low Head Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
4. Four Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
Advantages of Water Tube Boiler
There are many advantages of water tube boiler due to which these types of
boiler are essentially used in large thermal power plant.
1. Larger heating surface can be achieved by using more numbers of water
tubes.
2. Due to convectional flow, movement of water is much faster than that of
fire tube boiler, hence rate of heat transfer is high which results into
higher efficiency.
3. Very high pressure in order of 140 kg/cm2 can be obtained smoothly.
Disadvantages of Water Tube Boiler
1. The main disadvantage of water tube boiler is that it is not compact in
construction.
2. Its cost is not cheap.
3. Size is a difficulty for transportation and construction.