Boiler Fundamentals

Energy Relationships, Efficiency &

Boiler Design

2009, General Electric Company. All rights reserved.

GE Proprietary

Boiler Efficiency and Energy

Relationships
Boiler efficiency
Fuel types and energy values
Plant cost factors
Operational factors impacting efficiency

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Why Is an Understanding of
Efficiency and Energy
Relationships
Important?
Fuel is by far the largest component of boiler plant operation cost

It is important to understand your customer & prospects fuel

costs and system efficiency, and the $ impact of efficiency
changes (positive or negative)

There are often opportunities for energy savings in low-pressure

boiler systems
Many low pressure systems are not optimized
The CCR BankBook is an excellent tool to identify and explore
savings opportunities

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Calculating Boiler Efficiency

Fuel-to-steam efficiency calculation
(BTUs in Steam Produced**)
% Efficiency =
_______________________ X 100
(BTUs in Fuel Burned**)
** Steam production and fuel usage must be over same time period
Stack gas temperature
% Efficiency =
(BTUs in Fuel)

(BTUs in Fuel) - (BTUs lost up stack)

________________________________
X 100

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Typical Fuel-to Steam

Efficiencies
Modern package watertube and firetube
boilers 75 - 85% fuel-to-steam efficiency
Post 1973 designs (first oil embargo)
Maximum gas-fired efficiency = 84%
Oil-fired typically 2-3% higher than gas due
to lower excess air requirement

Older package boilers (pre-73) - 60 - 80%

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Typical Fuel-to Steam

Efficiencies
Stack gas economizers increase
efficiency
Rules-of-thumb: 1% increase per 40F
reduction in stack gas temperature or per 10F
rise in feedwater temperature
Typical is 80 - 100F reduction which equates to
a 2 - 2.5% efficiency increase

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Fundamental Energy
Relationships

Heating Surface Area-to-Steam Capacity

4 - 6 ft2 = 1 BHP = 34.5 pph steam

- Modern package watertube & firetube boilers
8 - 10 ft2 = 1 BHP = 34.5 pph steam
- Older boilers
- Field-erected watertubes

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Other Fuel Types

Average: 1080 BTU required per lb. of steam
between 15 & 300 psig
Heat Values of Other Fuel Sources:

Sawdust (15% moisture)

Wood Bark (50% moisture)
Paper
Trash (variable)

8500 BTU/lb
3500 BTU/lb
7600 BTU/lb
4000 - 8500 BTU/lb

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Fuel-to-Steam Relationships
A boiler plant produces 500 million lbs of
steam per year. Fuel is natural gas at
$6.00/MCF.
1. What is the annual fuel cost?
2. What does it cost to make 1 million pounds of
steam?

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Fuel-to-Steam Relationships
1.

500,000,000 lbs steam/yr

-------------------------------- = 714,286
MCF/yr
700 lbs steam / MCF
2.
714,286 MCF X $6.00 / MCF = $4.29
million/yr
3.

Fuel cost to produce 1 million lbs of steam

$4,290,000/yr / 500 million lbs steam /yr
= $8,580 per million lbs. steam
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Boiler Water Treatment Costs

in Perspective
What does it cost to treat this system?
Range of boiler WT costs for low-pressure,
zeolite-softened systems
$50 - $400 per million lbs. of steam

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Boiler Water Treatment Costs

in Perspective
Key variables in BWT costs:

Cycles of concentration
Size of plant team production
FW Quality
- Make-up alkalinity & % MU
Pressure deaerator or FW tank?
Program type
- Separates, all-in-ones, powders, liquids, etc.

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Typical Boiler Plant Cost Factors

Fuel 75%
Labor 9.5%

Water 0.8%
Sewer 1.2%

Equip.
Depreciatio
Electricity
n
2.5%
9.5%

Water Treatment Chemicals 1.5%

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Boiler Water Treatment Costs

in Perspective
Using our example:

Fuel costs = $ 4.29 million

Boiler plant costs = $4.29 MM/0.75 = $5.72
MM/yr
BWT costs = 500 MM steam x $100/MM =
$50,000/yr
% BWT costs vs. plant costs = 0.87%

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Boiler Water Treatment Costs

in Perspective

Preserving design efficiency & maintenance

and repair cost avoidance easily outweigh
BWT costs

Cost of efficiency loss - $4.29 MM/yr fuel

cost
- 1% efficiency loss = $42,900 added fuel cost
- 5% efficiency loss - $214,500 added fuel costs

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Operational Factors Which

Impact Efficiency
Boiler loading & load balancing
Most efficient near design load vs. low load

Combustion efficiency
Tune burner to minimize excess air, unburned
hydrocarbons

Effective insulation of steam lines

Minimize sensible heat loss & condensation
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Operational Factors Which

Impact Efficiency
Effective heat recovery systems
Stack gas economizers
Air preheaters
Blowdown heat exchangers & flashtanks
Effective routine maintenance
Maintenance & cleaning during annual
shutdowns
Minimize fireside/waterside deposits
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Impact of Effective Boiler Water

Treatment on Efficiency
Minimize deposit & scale formation
Waterside scale formation - Effective pretreatment
& chemical treatment are critical
Minimize fireside deposition

Minimize boiler blowdown

Maximize cycles based on water quality limits
and effective water treatment

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Impact of Effective Boiler Water

Treatment on Efficiency
Maximize steam condensate return
Effective system design, trap placement & operation
Effective steam condensate treatment will minimize
corrosion failures & corrosion product return

Minimize steam leaks

Effective treatment will minimize corrosion and
steam trap failures

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Energy Loss (%)

Potential Energy Loss Versus

Waterside Scale Thickness
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1/64

1/32

3/64

1/16

Scale Thickness (Inches)

Iron & Silica

High Iron Content

"Normal" Scale
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Watertube Boilers
Risers
Superheater

Downcomers
Steam
Drum

Screen Tubes

Economizer
Water Walls

Air Heater

Mud
Drum

Boiler Design

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Typical Field-Erected
Industrial Watertube
Economizer
Typical
Parts
of
a
Boilers
Steam drum
Water Tube Boiler
Includes:

Mud Drum
Headers
Boiler Bank

Downcomers - Risers
Waterwalls
Screen tubes
Arches
Floor tubes
Roof tubes

Superheater
Air Heater
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Heat Transfer Percentage

Per Surface Area
Section
Adsorbed

% Heat Transfer
Surface Area

% Heat

Furnace Water Walls

48

Superheater

10

16

Boiler Bank

32

20

Economizer

44

11

Air Heater

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Common Package Boilers

D
O
A
Cleaver-Brooks

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Typical Components Of Package

Watertube Boiler
Standard components:
Steam drum
Mud Drum
Boiler Bank
Downcomers - Risers
Waterwalls

Optional components (+/-):

Stack gas economizer - external
Superheater - typically with turbine

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D Frame Boiler

Note - Downcomer or supply tubes are those

shielded from the flame and combustion
gases by the risers or refractory

Steam
Drum
Risers
or Generating
Tubes

Mud
Drum

Downcomers
or Supply
Tubes

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27 /
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D Frame Gas Passes

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Cleaver Brooks Package

Wt

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O Type
Boiler

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O Type

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A Frame

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33 /
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A Frame

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Bryant Flex Tube

Boilers

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Miura Compact WT Boilers

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Typical Combined Cycle

Facility

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Steam Separation Equipment

Mechanical devices that reduce moisture
entrainment in the steam
Watertube boilers:
Deflector, Baffle & Belly plates
Scrubbers or screens
Cyclone separators

Firetube boilers:
Dry pipes

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Steam Separation Equipment

Steam quality - Measure of the moisture
content (boiler water droplets) in steam
Expressed as % dry steam

99% Steam Quality typical in low pressure

boilers
1% moisture in steam leaving boiler

Entrained boiler water contains solids

More on this coming up

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Package Watertube Boiler

Typical Steam Separation Equipme
Deflector Baffle
Baffle

Compartment

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Type B Baffle

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Primary Steam Separation

Cyclones

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43 /
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Firetube Boiler Designs

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Firetube Boilers
Very common in commercial/institutional & light
industrial accounts
More forgiving than watertube in terms of:
Low-load operation
Poor feedwater quality/scale
Load swings
Unattended operation
Maintenance/repair

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Firetube
1 st
Pass

Area
1 st
Pass

3 rd
Pass

2 nd
Pass

Area
2 nd
Pass

Area
3 rd
Pass

4 th
Pass

Area
4 th Pass

Decreasing cross sectional area of each

pass maintains high flue gas velocity
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Miscellaneous Low-Pressure
Boiler Designs

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Watertube vs. Firetube Boilers

Watertube

Firetube

Efficiency

High

High

Capacity

Unlimited

800 BHP

Low

High

Cost to Re-tube

High

Low

Cogen./Turbine

Yes

No

Tolerance vs.
Scale/BFW quality

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Coil Boilers
Small, fast-start, forced circulation steam
generators from 15 - 750 BHP
Heating surface is single, spiral-wound coil
High heat flux and high thermal stress
Coil failure is common - causes include:
overheating due to scale formation, blockage, pump
failure
oxygen pitting
thermal shock or fatigue

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Clayton Steam
Generator

Pump

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Clayton Steam
Generators

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Not All Coil Boilers Are

Vertical!!!

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Coil Boilers

Critical Treatment Considerations

Continuous, high-quality softened make-up
Less than 1 ppm Total Hardness

Consistent oxygen control - Minimum of 50

ppm sulfite residual in hotwell
Non-precipitating, non-chelant internal
treatment required

All-polymer

Condensate treatment is recommended

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Electric Boilers
2 Basic Types
1. Resistance (immersion element)
2. Electrode - High & Low Voltage

Common treatment requirements

All require high-quality, softened make-up
Avoid precipitating phosphate & chelant
All-polymer/sulfite normally recommended

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55 /
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Fulton Electric Steam

Boilers

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Electrode Boilers

In the event you someday see one ...

Greater than 2 ppm iron in BW can cause arcing
400 ppm maximum BW M-alkalinity to preserve
ceramic insulators
300 ppm max. BW chloride - stainless steel cracking
Conductivity limits - Different designs have
specific limits. Check Mfg. Recs.
Sodium sulfite levels can be used to control conductivity
Oxygen is generated - Consider volatile O2 scavenger
(DEHA) for condensate protection

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High-Voltage SubmergedElectrode Hot-Water Boiler

58 /
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Low-Voltage SubmergedElectrode Steam Boiler

Startup and Maximum Output

Partial load
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Hot Water Heating Boilers

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Aerco Vertical Hot Water

Boiler

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HW Boilers are Classified by

Operating Temperature
Low Temperature: 160 - 250F
Common for comfort heating in C&I
Typically firetube or cast-iron sectional

Medium Temperature: 250 - 350F

Common in Govt, Military installations

High Temperature: > 350F / P > 160 psig

Alternative to steam in large, distributed heating systems
Typically watertube

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Treatment of Hot Water

Boilers

Treat as closed system - Make-up should be minimal

Low-Temp. HW Boilers
Nitrite, Molybdate, Sulfite/Polymer OK

Medium & High-Temp. HW Boilers

Softened Make-up/No conductivity limit:
Molybdate/Nitrite OK up to 350F
Sulfite/Polymer > 350F
Demineralized or High-purity Make-up
Low conductivity treatment required
Volatile oxygen scavenger/amine - DEHA/morpholine

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HighTemperature
Hot Water
System
Forced
circulation with
expansion tank

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Cast-Iron Sectional
Boiler

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Treatment Recommendations
Cast Iron Sectional Boilers
Good quality softened makeup water
Hardness levels above 2 ppm may cause cracking
failure

Do not apply PO4 or Chelant products

Recommended treatment is polymer/sulfite
(CorTrol* IS102)
No morpholine-containing products for pressures
less than 25 psig.

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* Trademark of General Electric Company; may be registered in one or more countries.

Steam To Steam
Generally for Clean Steam
generation
Hospital sterilizers, Humidification
steam

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Unfired Clean Steam

Generators

Caution - Demineralized make-up strongly

recommended as there is no chemical treatment. Do
not use NaZ or chloride-containing MU with stainless
steel generators

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The Gauge Glass Indicates the

Level of Water in the Boiler

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Gauge Glass Erosion

There is only 1 Cause - High Velocity
Above water level - high velocity of
condensate formed in the piping above the
gauge glass
At the bottom of a round gauge glass - high
velocity flow when blown down.
Externally - high velocity flow due to gasket
leakage

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Gauge Glass Erosion

Recommendations
Round glasses should be borosilicate glass if not
replace
If the round glass is borosilicate then replace it
with a flat type of gauge glass
If a flat type gauge glass is eroding install a mica
shield between the glass and the water
Mica is very insoluble, impervious material that will
protect the glass and will not interfere with the optical
properties.

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Bottom Blowdown Sequence

Quic
k

Slo
w

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Bottom BD Valve Sequence

Open Valve B (Quick Opening)
Open Valve A (Slow Opening)
Close Valve A
Close Valve B

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