Boiler Efficiency, Fuel

Economy and Energy

conservation

Lecture # 13 & 14
Mujahid Mehdi Abro Indus University Karachi

Efficiency :
Efficiency is the measure of "usefulness" of an operation,
process or machine.
Efficiency can be expressed as
= Wo / Wi (1)
where
= efficiency
Wo = work or power output
Wi = work or power input

Efficiency can be expressed as a percentage or as a per-unit

decimal fraction of 1.

Boiler Efficiency :
Boiler Efficiency related to the boilers
energy output to the boilers energy
input can be expressed as:
Boiler efficiency (%)
= heat exported by the fluid (water,
steam ..) / heat provided by the fuel x 100

Boiler Efficiency
..
Input Energy:
Fuel oil
Natural Gas
Propane

Output Energy:
Process Steam

FACTORS WHICH EFFECT

BOILER EFFICIENCY
1.Loss due to the heat carried away
by hot flue gases.
2.Incomplete combustion.
3.Excess air.
4.Radiation loss.
5.Blow- down and leakages.

Boiler Energy Balance

Energy Savings

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Boiler type
Scaling
Economizer
Boiler blowdown
Steam piping
Steam Leaks
Flue Gas Analysis
Computer Automation

Boiler type:
The cost to operate a boiler is 4 times the initial
installation cost.

Scaling

Scaling ..

Economizer

Example 500 hp Boiler

20,000,000 BTU
5% recovered with
economizer
1,000,000 BTUs
Water returned to boiler

Boiler Blowdown
To removed the dissolved solids that
have concentrated in the boiler due to
evaporation.

Too Much Blowdown

Increased fuel costs
Increased water costs
Increased chemical costs
Blow down
capacity

is

5-10%

of

boiler

Steam Piping
New vs. Old
systems
Direct runs
Check for leaks
Check valves

Steam Leaks

Flue Gas Analysis

Tables available by fuel

source
Net stack temperature
Excess % Air
Excess % O2
Excess % CO2

Computer
Automation
Monitoring Capabilities
Include:

Operating parameters, faults

Stack temperature
Combustion air temperature
Combustion fan RPM
Combustion air pressure
Efficiency
Steam pressure and flow
Water temperature
Fuel flow
Water level
Faults and fault history

Regular Visits/Audits
Internal/Company
Chemical Company
Feed water
Boiler wastewater

Water Softener
Company
External Company
Extension, Boiler
Supplier

Conservation of
Energy
Energy can be defined as the
capacity for doing work. It may
exist in a variety of forms and may
be transformed from one type of
energy to another. However, these
energy
transformations
are
constrained by a fundamental
principle, the Conservation of
Energy principle. One way to
state this principle is "Energy can
neither be created nor destroyed".
Another approach is to say that the
total energy of an isolated system
remains constant even as energy
changes from one form to another.