Power Plant Familiarization V - II

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1. STEAM GENERATION
1.1 BOILING STEAM GENERATION
Boiling & consequent steam generation is a quite familiar process. In brief , as we began to
heat water, it goes on absorbing heat at constant pressure and is evident by rise in the temp. A stage
reaches when water begins to boil and there is no rise in temp., at this stage steam is formed, which
continues to be so at the same temp. unless and until pressure changes. The first stage of heat has ;due
to the latent heat. Thus, thermodynamically speaking, boiling may be considered a special case of
adding heat to the working substance in a constant-pressure, constant temp. process.
As the pressure rises ,latent heat decreases and a stage is reached at (221.06 bar ), when the
latent heat become zero, this pressure began termed as critical pressure. (for detail see part 1 ,chapter
6).
Further , once the steam is formed & does not have any traces of water i.e. is dry & saturated ,
we keep the pressure constant while heat is being added, the temperature of steam will begin to rise, the
heat expended being known as superheat.
As the working pressure rises, the specific weight of the water goes on decreasing while that of
steam goes on rising till at critical pressure it becomes equal both for steam and water as shown in fig.
No. 1.1.
Because of specific weight, differential between water & steam at a given pressure, there exists
a different head, which ever a pretty long range of pressure provides a good means for circulation
during steam generation. Depending upon working pressure i.e. below critical , the steam generators
are designated as subcritical or super-critical.
Whereas, for a greater part of the range in subcritical pressure it is possible to have natural
circulation during evaporation, but above supercritical pressure circulation is forced one. In the higher
subcritical pressure range also due to the reason of economy, forced or assisted circulation may be
employed.
1.2 TYPES OF BOILING
It is essential to have a temp. gradient between the products of combustion & the fluid in order
to have heat transfer from the later. The temp. gradient for a given flux apart from the fluid flow &
conductivity of metal will depend upon external & internal deposits on the tubes. The change from
liquid to vapor take place both at the solid liquid interface , as at the inside tube surface of a water tube
boiler & at the liquid vapor interface, as with the water surrounding the steam bubbles. There are two
distinct viz. " nucleate" & " film type of boiling, based upon the modes of formation & release of
steam bubbles. The details of the two types are given in the following sub-sections.
1.2.1
the initial stages of heating involves 'sub cooled ' water heating. i.e. below the saturation temp.
when the flux is great enough with a given amount of mass flow, the water in contact with the tube
begins to evaporate, but as the temp. of bulk of water has not reached saturation temp. , the bubble
collapse & give latent heat to surrounding water. This is the 'sub cooled nuclear' phase. Further, when
the bulk of the liquid reaches saturation temp. the bubbles will not collapse & 'nucleate boiling' will
start. nucleate boiling is characterized by the formation and release of steam bubbles at the interface
with the water still wetting the surface. This is a dual phenomenon where both the flow of the fluid
through the tube & the flow of bubbles through the fluid effect the heat transfer. The other points with
respect to nucleate boiling are as under :-
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1
a) Except for the once-through type boiler designs for sub-critical pressure must stay within
nucleate boiling conditions.
b) The incremental increases in temperature gradients produce uniform increase in
Conductance. i.e. kcal / cm2 ,if the boiling is kept within the nucleate zone.
c) The required fluid velocities in the tubes in order to retain the conditions of nucleate boiling are
:
- for vertical tubes …………0.3 to 3 mps
- for horizontal / inclined tube ………..1.5 to 3 mps
1.2.2. Beyond nucleate boiling region (i.e. higher heat fluxes ) the bubbles collapse to from a film of
superheated steam over part or all the heating surfaces. This condition is known as 'film boiling'.
This conditions also tends to arise when the proportion of steam in the fluid increases to a point

where complete film of steam is formed at solid, liquid interface resulting in decreased heat transfer
rates. therefore, certain minimum flow velocities as discussed are essential. The point, beyond which
film boiling begins is known as 'departure from nucleate boiling-(DNB)'.some of the important points
associated with the phenomenon are :-
a) the metal temp. till the occurrence of (D.N.B.) is slightly higher above the water temp., when
water start boiling , the metal temp. is slightly above the saturation temp., but at D.N.B. the
difference between the two temperature is much higher.
b) For higher heat flux, the D.N.B. point is reached at lower steam quality & peak metal
temperature is higher.
c) Break down of mode of boiling heat transfer i.e. D.N.B. leads to ' burn -out' of the tube by gross
overheating.
1.3 CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

1.3.1 GENERAL
Modern boilers may be with or without the drum. The boilers working below the sub-critical
pressure are generally provided with drums, or a small separating vessel (high pressure nearing critical
) in its place irrespective of the type of the type of circulation employed. The drum-acts as reservoir for
water & saturated steam and also provides means and arrangements for separation and purification of
steam. The term circulation generally with drum type of boilers applies to the movement of fluid from
the drum to the combustion zone and back to the drum. The feed water to the drum in any case reaches
the drum from the boiler feed pump via the economizer, the drum - less boilers work above critical
pressures & there is straight transformation to steam without passing through the boiling stage
involving latent heat of evaporation. Some designs in this type of boilers provide a small mixing or
separating vessel which deals with the water drops particularly during starting.
It is essential to provide an adequate flow of water and /or of water steam mixture for an
efficient transfer of heat from furnace to the working fluid and to prevent 'burn outs'. This is
irrespective of the mode of circulation being used.
1.3.2 TYPES OF BOILER CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

The boiler circulation systems have been designated in different ways by the various
manufacturers. Of course they are similar as for as basic principles are concerned and differ in minor
details and nomenclature. The various classification in vogue are given below.
1.3.2.1 SOME DESIGNERS HAVE THE FOLLOWING CLASSIFICATIONS FOR TYPES OF

CIRCULATIONS
a) Natural circulation:- In this type, no external pumping device is used for the movement of the
fluid. The difference in densities in contents of fluids in downcomers from the drum and risers in the
furnace is used to effect the movement of fluids. This type of circulation is employed in most of the
utility boilers and in fact in India excepting one unit at Trombay power station all boilers work on
natural circulation. The details of this system appear in the subsequent part of this chapter Fig. 1.2.
b) Positive circulation :- In this type , use of pumps is made for movement of fluid through the
combustion zone or complete heat transfer circuits. This type of circulation is further divided into.
i) Assisted circulation:- The term is generally used in case of boilers having drums and working
below critical pressures. Circulating water pumps are used in between the bottom headers of
downcomers and risers to overcome frictional losses and the consequent movement of water and water
steam mixture. The 500 MW units of NTPC will use this system Fig.1.3

ii) Forced circulation:- This term is generally used for movement of fluid in boilers working
above critical pressures. These boilers are of 'Once-through' type. The pump forces movement of fluid
through all the heating zones viz. Economizers , tubes in combustion zones and superheaters. A small
separating or mixing vessel may be provided for removal of moisture from steam and pumping back to
the circuit. Some designers tend to use this term even for 'Assisted circulation' described above.Fig.1.4
and 1.5.

1.3.2.2 THE C.E. (U.S.A.) & ALSO B.H.E.L. (INDIA) WHO HAVE TECHNICAL
COLLABORATION FOR MANUFACTURE OF BOILER IN INDIA, CLASSIFY
CIRCULATION SYSTEM AS UNDER :
a) Natural circulation ; as described earlier.

b) Controlled circulation ; This system is akin to "ASSISTED CIRCULATION" system as
described above and is generally adopted beyond 180 kg/cm2.
c) Combined Circulation ; The system is similar to "Forced circulation" system described earlier.
It is applicable beyond the critical pressure where phase transformation is absent. The C.E. design in
this range provide arrangements for recalculation of water through the furnace tubes at low loads. This
protects tubes and simplifies the start up procedures. A typical operating pressure for such a system is
260 Kg/cm2.
1.4 NATURAL CIRCULATION
1.4.1 A steam generation may be basically classified according to the method employed to
establish flow through its evaporator, since for all types flows through the economizer upto the drum
are established by feed pump. Natural circulation is the movement of the circulating fluid in
conformance with the available differential head and in a boiler, this is due to the difference in densities
of the contents of down comers and upriser. The circulation in this case is said to be taking place on
Thermo-syphon' principles. As the pressure rises the difference is densities between water & steam
(Fig.1.1) and consequently the driving force reduces. Thus the head available will not be able to
overcome the frictional resistance required for the flow. Therefore, the natural circulation is limited to
boilers with drum operating around 175 Kg/cm2.
In any given natural circulation system, the movement of the steam and water will increase with
increased heat input to a maximum value or so called end point, after which further increase in heat
absorption will result in a decrease in flow. The general form of the curve is shown in Fig. 1.6. In the
process of circulation, following two opposing forces are present:-
(I) The increase in flow results from the increase in the difference of the densities of the respective
fluids in down comers and risers caused by the increase in heat absorption.
(II) However, at the same time, the friction and impact losses in the system increase, mainly due to
increase in specific volume in the riser circuits. Therefore, when the losses increase as compared to
gain due to pressure differential the flow rate will begin to drop.
1.4.2 In natural circulation boilers the objective is to design the circuits in the region of rising part
of the curve. In this region, the boiler tends to be self-compensating for the usual heat absorption
variations such as:
(i) Sudden over loads

(ii) Soot and other deposits on heating surface.
(iii)Non uniform fuel bed or burner conditions.
(iv) Inability to forecast actual conditions over the operating life time.
Typical flow curves for steam output with increasing circulating flow are shown in Fig.1.7 for a
186 bar natural circulation boiler working in the rising region of operative curves.
Self compensation may take place due to the reason given below:

The heat absorption rates may be somewhat higher than the predicted once because of
miscalculation of friction loss, localized hot spots, or other unforeseen circumstances. These reduce the
average density of the circuit and thus the flow to the circuit may be more than that calculated such as
assisted or controlled self compensation is not available.
One of the characteristics of natural circulation is its tendency to provide the highest flow in the
tubes with the greatest heat absorption.
Heat transfer rates between the inside surface of steam generating tube and the boiling water in
it are extremely high, and the tube inner wall is normally only a few degrees above the saturation
temperature corresponding to the operating pressure.
Tube overheating and failures are almost invariably due to internal deposits that insulate the
tube from the cooling effects of the water flowing in the tube. Those failures are mostly in high heat
flux zones.
1.5 CIRCULATION RATIO

1.5.1 It is essential to maintain a certain amount of flow of water to the steam generating
circuits in commensurate with the amount of steam generated from them, in order to prevent `Burn-
outs' and `On-load Corrosion'. The ratio by weight of the water fed to the steam-generating circuits to
the steam actually generated (Kg water : Kg steam ) is called `Circulation Ratio'. Taking circuit shown
in Fig. 1.8 as an example for a unit period of time 5 kg water is admitted to risers (which will get
converted into mixture of water and steam during its passage through the furnace) and 1 kg of steam is
taken out of the drum, the value of circulation ratio will be five. The remaining 4 Kg of water will be
recirculated in the system. To compensate for 1 Kg. Of steam taken out, 1 Kg. Of water will have to be
added to the drum, which will enter the risers alongwith the water under recirculation.
1.5.2 Circulation ratio to be adopted for a particular design will be influenced by the operating
pressure and the available head. The values of these parameters will decide the circulation head
available to produce the driving force available. The curves in graph of Fig. 1.8 show:
(i) Typical design values of circulation ratio as a function of operating pressure.
(ii) With given circulation ratio and uniform heat absorption over height `h' the maximum available
circulation head for overcoming flow resistance.

1.5.3 The circulation ratio for various types of boilers are:-
(i) Utility Boilers …. 6 to 9

(ii) Industrial Boiler….8 to 30
Higher circulation provides higher thermal inertia and faster response essential for industrial
boilers.
1.6 DESIGN CRITERIA OF A CIRCULATION SYSTEM.

1.6.1 The primary requisite of a circulation system design is to ensure prevention against burn-out
and on-load corrosion. In order to prevent burn-out it is essential to maintain nucleate boiling
conditions, i.e., the flow commensurate with the heat flux. The prevention of on-load corrosion in
addition to requirement of a certain minimum flow also needs a stricter control on boiler water quality.
The natural circulation within the boiler is a quite complex phenomenon and most of the deductions
have been based upto experience and experimental date rather than the theoretical computations. The
broad principles of natural boiler circulation are:-
a) Nucleate boiling conditions shall be maintained for all operating conditions ( This is applicable
to assisted circulation also).
b) An acceptable percentage of steam by volume (%SBV) or corresponding percentage of steam
by weight (%SBW) shall be maintained. This is shown by curves of Fig. 1.9. The inverse of
SBW is the circulation ratio which is discussed before. The limit SBV or SBW is a function of
many variables such as pressure, heat flux and mass flow. For each pressure and heat flux,
there is a maximum permissible quality which is dependent on mass velocity.
c) Minimum velocity of water entering the heated portion of tubes A circulation rate of 1 to 5 fps
(0.3 to 1.5 mps) is recommended.

d) Separation of steam and water in Drum to give steam free water to down comers.
e) Segregation of circuits having different absorption rates.
1.7 FORCED CIRCULATION

1.7.1 This is also termed as `Positive Circulation'. In this system circulation pumps are employed to
force movement of water through different circuits.
1.7.2 Under certain conditions, forced circulation can be usefully employed for steam generation,
particularly when the pressure are very high. This is due to the reason that circulation head caused by
density differential is too low to cause effective circulation. Generally positive circulation is resorted
above 2650 psi ( 182.7 bars), but certain boilers at lower pressure 1800 PSI (124.1 bares) are also
designed on this system to take advantage of the small thin tubes and higher velocities made possible
by pumping. The boiler at lower pressures will have the conventional drum. The circulation in such a
case may be classified as `Assisted Circulation' or as per the criteria adopted by C.E/BHEL it may be
termed controlled Circulation. The forced circulation also makes it possible to have most optimum
utilization of available space.

1.7.3 In the forced circulation system, we have following types of boilers:
a) Once-Through Type…. Water from the feed supply is pumped to inlet ends of the heat
absorbing circuits. Evaporation or change of stage gradually takes along the length of the circuit and
when the evaporation is complete, further progress through the heated circuits results in superheating
the vapor. No steam and water drum is required in this system and is generally applicable above
supercritical pressures. Fig. No.1.4 shows the scheme of forced circulation boilers at supercritical
pressures.
b) A modification of once through type boiler is that, evaporation is up to partial dryness
(9o%) and the water is removed in a separator and the dry steam passed further through the circuit for
superheating. The system is used at sub-critical pressures in the higher pressure zone as shown in Fig.
No. 1.5
c) Even near on beyond the critical pressures it has been found advantageous to recirculate the
water through the furnace tube at low loads. This protects the furnace tubes and simplifies the start-up
procedure. A typical operating pressure for such a system is 260 Kg/cm2. This system is called
`Combined Circulation System' and has been adopted in C.E. Boiler designs.
1.8 ASSISTED CIRCULATION, `RECIRCULATING' FORCED CIRCULATION.
In this type provision of steam-water drum is made as in the case of natural circulation boilers and
circulating pumps for circulation in various circuits like the forced circulation boilers. This
corresponds to `Controlled Circulation System' as per the CE/BHEL classification. In this system of
circulation, there is net thermal loss for the boiler unit because of the separate circulating pump. See
Fig. 1.10
The flow to individual tubes is controlled by orifice plates to compensate for different positions
along the feed headers and different heat absorption.
Though it is possible to adopt natural circulation for boilers working up to the range of 170 to 180
Kg/cm2 but some designers feel it necessary to have assisted circulation even in this or lower ranges.
The advantages are:
(i) It is possible to have tubes of smaller diameter for driving up the steam water mixture by
making the pumps to do a little more work.
(ii) The provisions of orifices helps to have a more uniform temperature giving another slight
saving in tube wall thickness over and above that already obtained by using smaller tubes.
(iii)There is overall reduction in furnace size:
1.9 STEAM SEPARATION & PURITY

1.9.1
Steam separation and purity involve the complete elimination of water and detraining the salts
from steam before it leaves the drums. It will be seen from the discussions which follow that for steam
generation below critical pressures, drum is an important functionary. The feed input, separation of
steam, boiler water treatment and below down etc. are all carried through the drum. The priming carry
(carry over the water in gulps) and foaming (carry over the water due to formation of foams) problems
are also dealt within the drum. The process is carried out in following three distinct stages:
Steam separation …. This is the process of removing bulk masses of water from steam.
This may be carried out buy gravity, centrifugal force or by change of direction. It is termed as Primary
Separation. The steam may still contaminants which must be removed on reduced in amount before the

steam is sufficiently pure for use in HP turbines. This step is called `Secondary Separation' or `Steam
Scrubbing' All these steps are usually accomplished in the boiler drum.
Steam Washing…. This action takes place after primary separation and is the process of
rinsing the steam with relatively clean feed water or steam condensate resulting from cooling with feed
water. Its purpose is mainly to obtain contact with low silica content water, wash out impurities and
condense vaporous silica. Boilers used in India for power generation do not have this system. In order
to limit silica carry over care is taken that silica content of drum water always remain within specified
limit.
Blow Down…. The salts from the above process will fall into the drum and thus in its water salt
concentration will increase. The removal of a part of drum water preferably that which contains high
concentration of salts is known as blow down.
1.9.1.2 THE STEAM CONTAMINATION MAY ALSO ARISE BECAUSE OF CARRY

OVER DUE TO PRIMING & FOAMING PHENOMENON DESCRIBED BELOW:
Priming….This is the carry over of water in pulps to the steam during higher water level
periods i.e. when the separators (drum internals) get in-effective. There will be entertainment of water
in steam due to this. Foaming is primarily the result of the chemical conditions of the boiler water
caused by concentration of oil, soap, organic matter, suspended particles or other foreign matter.
Excess foaming may result in foam over i.e. carry over of the foam with the steam.
1.9.2 Factors affecting steam separation….. Both the design features and operating factors, affect
the separation of steam from steam water mixture reaching the drum through the risers. These factors
influence the separation as discussed below:
1.9.2.1 DESIGN FACTORS
Operating Pressure…. Due to increase in sp. wt of steam with increased pressure and
greater decrease in sp. wt. of water, the net available head for causing flow of the steam water mixture
in the riser decreases as the pressure increases as shown in Fig. 1.8. This also affects the natural
tendency of steam and water to separate, as the limiting velocity of a water particle conveyed din
steam and force to gravity both vary directly with the differential in the specific weights of the water
and the steam, which will affect steam flow per unit of flow area, the steam velocity and the force of
gravity as shown in Fig. 1.11.
Rate of steam generation and water circulation…. For a low rate of steam generation
(velocity of steam leaving water-upto 1 mps), the steam bubbles have enough time to separate from the
mixture by gravity without being drawn into the down comers and without carrying entrained water
drops into the steam outlet. At higher rate of generation, not only this advantage is denied, but also the
dense upward traffic of steam bubbles causes swelling of level and false level rise is indicated.
Arrangement of Down Comers and Risers… The effect of the location of the riser
circuits in relation to the water level is shown in Fig. 1.12 (a & b). Neither of the arrangement is
capable of producing desired results if only gravity separation is to be depended upon.
Size of the drum… The lower rate of steam generation per unit area is required if
separation is to be carried effectively . Further to permit separation of moisture droplets, a certain
minimum distance between the swelled water level and the steam outlet is required, which has to be
increased alongwith rise in pressure, at 300 psia (20.68 bars) this distance is approximately 24' (61cm).
Thus, it will appear that size of the drum has marked affect on steam separation.

1.9.2.2 OPERATING FACTORS
Boiler water analysis…. The increase in boiler water concentration will lead to
higher contamination of steam. Also if the water has higher concent4ation of dissolved solids,
increased foaming will take place, which will make ineffective the drum internals which have been
fitted for effective steam separation and reduce available space where separation is by gravity only.
Type of steam load…. With rapid increase in boiler load, steam pressure will
reduce causing thereby increase in steam volume through out. The resulting `Swell' will increase the
level which effects separation adversely and results in water carry over. Thus to prevent carry over
larger drum will be required or proper control over boiler load.
Water level carried… The rapid fluctuation in water level are not desirable as
these affect the separation adversely and on increased level moisture carry over will result because of
the reduced available space in the drum in case of steam separation by gravity and the ineffectiveness
of drum internals by flooding. The modern boilers are ,therefore, equipped with proper and effective
water level regulation system.
1.10 METHODS OF STEAM SEPARATION
By gravity separation…. The preceding discussion clearly reveals that gravity separation can be only
employed in case of boilers having low generation rates, constant loads and low operating pressures. In
case otherwise size of the drum has to be increased which will not be economical. Therefore, other
methods for effective primary separation are employed.
By use of Baffles… These are the simplest type of primary separation devices and are in the form of
obstacles in the direct path of steam to outlet. At lower rate of generation single V type baffle may be
suitable, but for higher rates other designs such as compartment baffle be used. Diagrammatically
baffles are shown in Figure 1.13 ( a & b)
By use of Multiple drums and baffle combination…. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 1.14. The
steam outlet is in dry drum where provision of baffles is also made.
By centrifugal action…. In all the modern high pressure and high capacity boilers separation of steam
is obtained buy employing cyclones which work on centrifugal action. The three basic effects which a
good separation system shall promote are:
(i) Centrifugal action to produce separation forces many time greater than those produced by
gravity.
(ii) Alter direction of steam water mixture so that the upward velocity vector is zero.
(iii)Provision of drainable wetted surface into which fine spray can coalesce.
An arrangement of steam drum internals for effecting steam separation incorporating the three
requirements mentioned above the shown in Fig. 1.15. This is used in natural circulation type boilers
of CE/BHEL designs. The steam water mixture from the furnace passes through the centrifugal
separators where a spin by the spinner blades is imparted to it. This forces the water to the outer edge

of the centrifugal separator where it is separated from the steam. The water flows downward through
the annuals space in the cylinder and this is free from steam bubbles. The partially deride steam passes
at a low velocity through corrugated plates (secondary separators) where additional mixture is removed
by wetting action on the plates. A similar process occurs in the final screen dryers.
1.11 BLOW DOWN
The removal of a portion of water containing impurities from the Boiler Drum is termed as blow
down. This is resorted in order to remove the impurities is which increase in the drum after the
separation and purification of steam. The blow down water is first passed through a flash tank, where
the flash steam is admitted to the deaerator and then water is led through a heat exchanger, where it
gives its heat to D. M. water. These steps help to recover heat from a part of blow down water, which
finally goes to waste channel. The blow down may be continuous and or periodic. Continuous blow
down tapings are from the drum and periodic blow down is from low point drains fitted to lower
headers of water walls. Periodic blow down is resorted to when concentrations increase and are not
cleared by continuous blow down, and also to remove those impurities which reach the lower headers
and get accumulated there. The amount of continuous blow down may be determined as given
(Ref.Fig.1.17)
Let T tonnes of steam taken out per hr.

P tonnes of steam blow down per hr.
Then water to be admitted = T+P tonnes/hr.
(This ignores a slight wastage of water which may be taking place due to leaks etc.)
Solids allowed in steam per tonne = Ks. mg.
Solids going down in blow down =Kp. mg.
Solids coming along with water = Kf. mg.
Kf assumed to be equal for make up water and boiler water in the circuit.
T x Ks + P x Kp = (T + P)Kf.
P = T (Kf - Ks) (P x Kf is neglected as quantity is quite small)

___________
Kp
% blow down = (Kf - Ks) x 100 based upon steam out-put.

----------
Kp

2. BOILERS PLANT DESCRIPTION DEVELOPMENT ETC.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
During the last thirty years there has been a phenomenal growth in the size of the generating plant.
The increase in size has been necessitated due to many economical & technical factors such as the
demand for increased power, desire to have it at low cost despite the steady increase in cost of materials
& labour, and general deterioration in fuel quality. The last factor is of grate importance to India where
large reserves of low grade coals can be utilized for power generation.
The present technological advancements have placed practically no restrictions on unit size
provided the grid has the capacity to bear it during tripping etc. In India the units of 500 MW sizes are
being operated at present.
The increase in size has led to increase in over all dimensions. These mammoth Boilers may be as
high as a 12 to 15 story building. Fig. No. 2.1 compares the sizes of a 200 MW and 500 MW unit with
Kutub Minar.
The increase in boiler size also helps in reduction of vol. And area per KW capacity. This helps to
utilize the power station to their utmost advantage. Typical figures are given below:
Capacity Rel Vol.

30MW 1.0
120MW 0.61
200 MW 0.58
350 MW 0.47
A 30 MW, Boiler will require around 6.5 m3 of furnace space.
2.2 STEAM PRESSURE

2.2.1
The economic gains due to increased pressure are not great, but still high pressures are required
as it is necessary to reduce the specific volume of steam to the lowest possible level on units having
large steaming rates.
2.2.2
To obtain the maximum technical benefit from high pressure if would be necessary to operate
near the supercritical regime. The choice of pressure is guided by the load factor, fuel costs and type of
circulation used. Natural circulation boilers have been proved for operation at superheater outlet
pressure up to 2500 p.s.i. or 177 Kg/cm2 and few units have been tested at even higher pressure.
Taking into account economic considerations 2000 psi or 140 Kg/cm2 pressure at super-heater exit may
be considered adequate. The higher pressure ranges may be adopted for assisted circulation or once -
through type boilers.

2.3 STEAM TEMPERATURE
2.3.1
The maximum efficiency between two limits of the working fluid as give by the cCarnot cycle
is represented by the following equation :
T1 - T2
Efficiency = ------------
T1
T1 & T2 are max. & min. absolute temperatures. As T2 is limited by ambient conditions so T1
must be as high as possible.
Thus from the efficiency point of view the largest gain can be obtained by the use of higher
temperatures, but against this must be set the increasing cost of pressure part materials as temperature is
increased.
2.3.2
The relative gains due to increase in pressure and due to temperature can be studied with the
help of T -S diagram. The area between water and saturated steam lines go on reducing as the pressure
rises and so the incremental work done, but gain to superheating steam is significant.
2.3.3
When operating at steam temps, between 538 oC and 593 oC serious consideration must also be
given to be possibilities of gas-side corrosion. In India unfortunately no data on this aspect by taking
into consideration characteristics of our coals, has been built up. However 200/210 Mw units with 540
o
C temperatures as super-heater and reheater exists are now in operation. The investigations carried out
by Central Electricity. Generating Board (United Kingdom) with respect to boilers using local coals
show an operating steam temperature range of 538 oC to 593 oC without serious risk of gas side
corrosion.
The increase in operating temps. will involve the use of high cost an static material. The
C.E.G.B (U.K) taking into consideration the load factor of the system has established 566 oC as the
most economical steam temperature for coal fired units. If the load factor goes below 20%, temp. can
be reduced. The corresponding steam temp. limit for the oil fired boiler is 538oC
2.4 BASIC BOILER TYPES

See previous chapter on 'steam generation, separation and purification.
2.5 IMPACT OF FUEL

The fuel or combination of fuels influence the design of modern high pressure & temperature
boilers considerably. The cost of the fuel and the effect of constituents on corrosion also influence the
choice of steam cycle. The main component which are likely to be effected and required consideration
during design stage are :-
2.5.1
The furnace size……The choice of fuel will considerably influences the size of the furnace. The
coal burning steam generators, because of the ash produced, have larger furnaces. The approximate
comparison is as given below :-

FUEL WIDTH DEPTH HEIGHT
Gas W D H
Oil 1.06 W 1.05 D 1.2 H
Coal 1.12 W 1.10 D 1.5 H
2.5.2 FUEL BURNING & PREPARATION EQUIPMENT:
2.5.2.1
The medium and high volatile coals can be fired through horizontal circular burners in the front
or and rear wall or through corners. These fuels are normally direct fired through medium speed ball or
roller mills. Low volatile coals require the application of the U-flame and direct firing of these fuels is
favored in using medium speed ball mills or tube mills.
2.5.2.2
For coal preparation equipment is wide and varied. This may comprise apart from the
equipment in storage yards; the crushers, conveyors, raw coal bunkers, pulverizes and classifiers etc.
For fuel oils the burning equipment consists of burners of various types. The main problem is
to atomize the oil which may be done by raising pressure or in combination with steam or in
combination with air.
For fuel oil the preparation equipment will consist of pumps, storage tanks, pressure regulator,
and heating arrangement right from the unloading stage to final burning into the furnace.
2.5.3
Heat surface Area & Placement …. Low calorific value coals will require low furnace plan area
heat release. The fuel properties also influence the spacing of the superheater and reheater banks to
prevent serious fouling of the heating surfaces and the velocity of flues to minimize erosion. Particular
care is taken to reduce speeds wherever local dust concentration can occur, ash content is high and it is
of abrasive nature.
Apart from the shape and dimensions of the furnace the fuel specifications also influence the
arrangement of economizers and air heaters.
2.5.4 Choice of pollution control equipment including ash precipitators also depends upon the fuel
specifications.
2.6 EFFECT OF STEAM CYCLE

The increase in unit size along with corresponding increase in pressure and superheat and reheat
steam temperatures has brought considerable changes in boiler design. The distribution of heat within
the boiler varies as tem. And pressure are increase. With the increase in superheat temp. the
proportional heat required in heating the water and bringing it up to saturation temperature
progressively decrease and the effect is more marked with the reheat cycle. The furnace must be able
to complete the combustion of the fuel and reduce the flue temp. entering convection surfaces to a level
at which fouling and corrosion can be controlled. With modern boilers this may not be possible and
radiant superheaters surfaces may have to be added or increase.

2.7 FURNACES
2.7.1
Furnace is the primary part of boiler where the chemical energy available in the fuel is
converted to thermal energy by combustion. Furnace is designed for efficient and complete
combustion. Major factors that assist for efficient combustion are time of residence (fuel) inside the
furnace, temperature inside the furnace and turbulence which causes rapid mixing between fuel and air.
In modern boilers water cooled furnaces are used which has the following advantages :
(i) In furnace not only combustion but also heat transfer is taking place simultaneously.
(ii) The maintenance work involved in repairing the fire bricks (which is otherwise necessary) is
practically eliminated.
(iii)Due to heat transfer in the furnace, temperature of the flue gas leaving the furnace is reduced to
the acceptable level of the superheating surfaces.
(iv) Higher heat loading in the furnace is possible as heat is being simultaneously removed by heat
transfer, and hence economy in surfacing.
For the reasons explained in 8.6 the furnace rating of coal fired boilers are low. It will be seen
from Fig. No. 2.3 that inspite of the large increase in boiler sizes, furnace rating have not increased.
This is equally true , both for the heat release and the heat absorption rates which have remained
reasonably constant at 15,000 tu /Cu. Ft/hr. (558263KJ/m/hr) and 35,000 to 40,000 Btu/ Sq.ft. / hr.
(397081 - 453806 Kjm2/hr) respectively.
2.7.2
Front wall opposed and corner firing are the various systems used in furnace designs. The
firing system will effect the shape and dimensions of the furnace. The horizontal circular turbulent
burners for coal or other fuels can be designed upto 170 x 10 6 kj / hr. capacity. Opposed firing is very
suitable for burning low volatile coals. In case of coal burners the furnace depth should be 8m and
11m for front wall and opposed firing. Corner firing requires extra fan power to maintain the high
primary and secondary air velocities which are necessary to maintain the flame vortex. Furnace depth
may be increased or multi furnace design may be adopted for large boilers.
Note : All ratings are estimated on all projected radiant heating surface (P.R.H.S.) Inside the Furnace
upto the top of the furnace arch.[a1]
Fig. 2.3
The adequate distance between wing burners & side walls should also be decided. The number
of burners & widths can be increased in proportion to the heat input. Furnace heating surface can be
increased either by increased height or by the use of division walls.
A limiting factor with coal firing is the need to ensure that the residence time of fuel particles is
sufficient to ensure complete combustion and transfer of heat and as per the present experience it
should be 2 seconds, though only a fraction of a second is required for combustion of pulverized coal
particles. The improvements in burner, air distribution & pulverizes are aimed towards reduction in
furnace residence time of fuel particle.
2.7.3

The other important feature of the furnace construction is to reduce the air infiltration. This is
to ensure sufficient air through the burners for efficient combustion, prevention of heat losses and
proper steam temperature control. The tangent skin type of casing and membrane wall methods of
construction for furnace are in use. The later two methods are now being used widely.
2.7.3.1
In the tangent tube construction generally a tube of smaller dia. is placed in between two larger
tubes which touch each other. The wall is backed by fire bricks or moldable refractory Typical
construction is shown in Fig. No. 2.4.
2.7.3.2
The skin type of casing is shown in fig No.2.5 and has been mostly used on 120 to 500 MW
boilers. The casing plate is carried by mild steel channels welded to tubes which are stiffened by
beams attached to the channels by some form o spigot or clip to allow for differential expansion
between them.
2.7.3.3
A recent development in gas tight casings is the membrane was shown if Fig. No. 2.6 . The
tightness is accomplished by either welding tubes together by means of flats or bars. This actually
eliminates the casing and many of its accompanying problems. Insulation is directly applied to tubes
and metal lagging is attached to give the outer surface durability and good appearance. The use of the
membrane wall method of construction facilitates and construction of large surface panels (20m - 2.5m)
in the shops and transported to site as such. Thus lot of assembly and welding work can be avoided.
The method can be used in large boilers as well, (500, 660 MW). The two factors which have delayed
the introduction of this form of construction have been fear of excessive stresses, particularly during
starting and the high cost of plant needed for manufacture.
2.7.4 ASH HOPPER SEAL OR THROUGH SEAL

On the older type boiler downward expansion of the boiler is absorbed by large metal bellows
type joints, between the boiler base and ash hopper. On modern boilers, a simple, very effective water
seal is employed, fig. 2.7 shows the layout of such a seal.
Downward expansion of the furnace walls is absorbed by the ash hopper water seal. The seal
also prevents air ingress into the combustion chamber which is normally maintained at a controlled
suction by the induced draught fans.
i) Ash hopper staggered throats: Ashing has often proved a difficult and costly operation. This is
often due to the radiant heat from the furnace fusing the coarse ash in the hopper into large, extremely
hard masses.
The introduction of the staggered throat did much to alleviate this problem. In the staggered
throat design, the configuration of the ash slopes reduces the penetration of the radiant heat to the ash
hopper.
ii) Ash quench sprays : (Fig 2.7) These sprays in a considerable number are arranged around the
top of the ash hopper. Supplied from a ring main, produce a finely divided spray of cooling water
across the mouth of the furnace throat.

2.7.5 TYPE OF FURNACE :
The furnaces are classified according to the mode of bottom ash collection in the following
three ways:
Dry bottom furnace
Oil fired furnace
Slag type or wet bottom type.
i) Dry bottom furnace: Selected for coal of non-slagging type i.e. fusion temperature
of the ash produced by combustion will be more than the temperature encountered in the furnace.
Normally a maximum of 20% total ash may be collected as slag from bottom of furnace. The rest of the
ash is carried away along with flue gas. If slagging type coal is used in dry bottom furnace slag will
fuse and deposit in the heat transfer surfaces of furnace, superheater and reheater where removal may
pose problem.
Hopper at the bottom is formed by slopping the front and rear water walls, thus the amount of
brick work is reduced and hence maintenance. By this arrangement loss of efficiency due to
evaporation of water from hopper is also effectively reduced. Most of the Indian coals contain high
amount of silica in the ash and hence ash fusion temperatures are high. Hence dry bottom types are
best suited for Indian coals. In addition, loss of efficiency due to sensible heat in the molten ash of wet
bottom furnace for high ash content coals.
ii) Slag type: Furnace of this type normally has two furnace parts. Primary furnace is
used for very high rate of combustion from where the molten slag passes to ash hopper and the flue
gases into the secondary furnace which is very similar to dry type furnace. Provision is made to chill
the molten slag and crush to granular form for easy disposal be used. To obtain high temperature inside
the primary furnace which will facilitate the easy flow of ash, very small but highly rated design is
needed for primary furnace. High temp. refractory material is used inside the primary furnace and
hence maintenance is needed.
iii) Oil fired boiler furnace: Oil fired furnace is generally closed at the bottom as there
is no need to remove slag as in the case of PF fired boiler. Bottom will have small amount of slope to
prevent film boiling in the bottom tubes.
If the boiler has to be designed for both PF as well as oil, the furnace has to be designed for coal
as otherwise higher heat loading with PF will cause slagging and high furnace exit gas temperature.
2.8 SUPERHEATER
2.8.1
Superheaters(SH) are meant for raising the steam temperature above the saturation temperature.
Present trend is to limit the superheated and reheated steam temperature around 540 oC. The
introduction of advanced steam cycle in modern boilers has placed in greater burden on superheaters
and reheaters. The percentage of heat to superheater and reheater for the 165 bar boiler is approx.
50%.
2.8.2 Classification of Superheater.

i) SH(Reheater also can be classified into convection and radiation type according to heat transfer
process.
The superheaters and reheaters placed above the furnace which can view the flame is called
radiant type. The other surfaces are called as convection types. This is most practical way of
classification.
ii) Superheater may be classified also according to the shape of the tube banks and the position of
the heaters, such as pendant SH, paten SH, horizontal SH, celling SH, wall SH etc.
iii) They may be classified according to their stages of superheating they perform, like primary SH,
Secondary SH, Final SH etc.
2.8.3 Arrangements
Generally heating surfaces can be arranged either in line or staggered. Staggered arrangement
requires less surface for same duty but draft losses will be more and on load cleaning of surfaces will
not be as effective as in-line arrangement. So, selection of nay one of them depends on the fuel fouling
characteristics, operating cost of draft loss, cost of tube materials etc.
The surfaces can be designed to place in such a way that the flow direction of flue gas and
steam is parallel or opposite. Counter flow arrangement has the advantage of minimum surface but the
metal temperature as the leaving selection is high compared to parallel flow. Hence the counter flow is
used in most of the cases except in final section where the metal temperature limitation calls for parallel
flow.
The superheaters are placed in the flue gas path to transfer heat by radiation and convection in
some proportion such that the outlet steam temperature can be maintained fairly constant at all loads.
Fig. 2.8 shows how steam temperature changes with load for radiant SH, convection SH and
combination of both. It is evident from the fig. That combination of radiant and convection type helps
to keep the superheated steam temperature nearly constant during variation of load. Any number of
stages of superheater can be designed but the present trend is to limit to 3 stages so that the cost on
headers, connecting pipings desuperheater can be kept minimum.
In a typical arrangement shown in Fig. 2.9 the saturated steam from drum enter the low
temperature superheaters (LTSH) via ceiling superheaters. After LTSH the steam enters platen
superheater through inter stage desuperheater and finally through a convection superheater.
2.9 REHEATERS
Reheaters (RH) are provided to raise the temperature of the steam from which part of energy
has already been extracted by HP turbine.
The arrangement and construction of a reheater is similar to that of a superheater and in modern
boilers the reheat sections are mixed with superheat section (see fig. 2.9)
Like super heater in reheater also, any number of stages can be designed. Normally most of the
reheater surfaces are placed in hotter zone so that the surface requirement is kept minimum to reduce
the pressure drop in steam to keep the cycle efficiency maximum.
2.10 DE SUPERHEATER

Though superheaters are designed in such a way that heat absorbed by radiant and convection
superheaters always try to maintain the steam temperature constant during variation of load, in practice
the necessary control is achieved by using a de-superheater.
All modern boiler have contact type de-superheaters (Fig.2.10) by which feed water are sprayed
directly into the steam for required cooling. Amount of feed water to be sprayed is controlled by
automatic control system which is designed to maintain a set final steam temperature. Provision of
manual control is also there for emergency or other wise.
2.11 DRAFT SYSTEM
2.11.1
The combustion process in a furnace can take place only when it receives a steady flow of air
and has the combustion gases continuously removed.
The steam generator draft system includes air and flue gas flow.
2.11.2
When only a chimney (stack) is used to create the draft necessary for steady flow of air and flue
gas, the system is called `natural draft'.
2.11.3
For large boilers the draft created by stack is too little to ensure steady flow. For example, a
30m stack with gas at 250 oC will develop a draft of approximately 10.12 mm of water column (WC)
where as gas flow resistance of 100-120 mm of WC may be encountered. Thus it becomes essential to
provide fans for developing the draft and then the draft system is called 'mechanical draft'.
2.11.4
All modern large utility boilers are fired under 'balanced draft' condition i.e. where draft is zero.
This condition is created by the combination of 'forced draft' and 'induced draft'.
Forced draft represents flow of air or products of combustion at a pressure above atmosphere. The air
for combustion is carried under forced draft conditions and the fan used for this purpose is called
Forced Draft(FD) fan.
Induced draft represents the system where air or products of combustion are caused to flow to or
through a unit by maintaining them at a progressively increasing sub-atmospheric pressure. (This,
when, attained with a chimney is called natural draft). This is achieved with the help of stack and fans.
These fans are called Induced Draft(ID) fans.
2.11.5
Fig.2.11 shows the principle parts of balanced draft system. The draft steadily drops from FD
fan outlet to ID fan inlet.
Though theoretically balanced draft means keeping furnace pressure equal to atmospheric
pressure. In practice the furnace is kept slightly below atmospheric pressure(-2.. to -5mm of W.C.). It
ensures that there is no egress of air or hot gas and ash into boiler house.
2.11.6 Draft System Flow Resistance
The flow pressure pattern in the draft system may be presented as :
DF+DS = DA + DG = DV

Where,
DF = Total fan - effective pressure
DS = Net stack effect (Chimney is vertical passage)
DA= Draft pressure loss on air side
DG= Draft pressure loss on gas side
DV= Gas exit velocity pressure
In this equation DA is the sum of friction losses in air ducts, bends, air heater, secondary air
pressure at fuel burner etc.
And, DG is the sum of friction losses in gas ducts, bends, economizer, air heater, super heaters
and reheaters, chimney etc.
2.12 ECONOMISERS
2.12.1
The economizer absorbs heat from the flue gas and adds it mainly as sensible heat to the feed
water. The temperature of feed water is kept just below the saturation in case of non-steaming
economizers. The work in the evaporative section of the plant is reduced by its heat contribution as
well as lowering the temperature of the flue gases prior to their entry into the air heaters.
Some of the boilers are equipped with steaming economizers. The evaporation in these
economizers is limited to 20% of feed water at full load and of course less as the load decreases,
because of the practical difficulties in treating a high percentage of water to a condition suitable for
steaming economizers, they cannot be used good advantage in boiler units where high feed make-up is
required.
2.12.2 Location, arrangement and design criteria
Earlier the economizers were introduced mainly to recover the heat available in flue gas that
leaves the boiler and provision of this additional heating surface increased the efficiency of steam
generation, saving in fuel consumption, thus the name 'Economizer' developed. In the modern boilers
used for power generation feed water heaters were used to increase the efficiency of the unit and feed
water temperature and hence the relative size of economizer is less than earlier units. This is a good
proposition for pulverized fuel fired boilers.
Using of economizer or air heater or both is decided by the total economy that will result
flexibility in operation, maintenance and selection of firing system and other related equipment.
Modern medium and high capacity boilers used both economizer and air heater. In low capacity boilers
air heater alone may be selected.
It is usual to locate economizer ahead of air heaters and following primary super-heater or
reheater in the gas stream. Hence it will generally be contained in the same casing as the primary super
heater or reheater . See Fig.2.12 for location and arrangement of economizer. Counter flow
arrangement is normally selected so that heating surface requirement is kept minimum for the same
temperature drop in the flue gas. Economizers coils are designed for horizontal placement which
facilitate draining of the coils and favours the arrangement in the second pass of boiler. Water flow is
from bottom to top so the steam if any formed during the heat transfer can move along with water and
prevent the lock up steam which will cause over heating and failure of economizer tube.

The economizer design usually has to fit in with restrictions imposed by other aspects of boiler
design. The most important items which have to be borne in mind include the following:
(a) It must reduce the gas temperature to a level which is satisfactory for the air heaters.
(b) Its surface area must be minimized and its overall dimensions must be as compact as possible.
It must fit in with the design of the preceding section of the boiler, usually the reheater.
(c) Provision must be made for on-load cleaning equipment to ensure that gas-side draught loss is
kept to a minimum.
(d) Water flow must be uniformly distributed between tubes, and resistance to flow must be as low
as possible. A low flow through given tube or element could cause local steam formation which
could result in tube failure.
(e) Economizer supports must be arranged to cater for expansions and tubes must be adequately
supported to prevent sagging.
(f) A water recirculating connection may be provided from the boiler drum to give adequate
circulation during periods when feed flow is absent; this prevents economizer tubes from
'boiling out' and over heating, such as during pressure raising. On once-through boilers this
connection of course, is not necessary since a feed flow has to be maintained during pressure
raising periods.
2.12.3 Economizer types
On modern high pressure plant only two main types of economizers are installed.. These are
the plain tube type and the welded fin tube type.
Plain tube economizers are composed of several banks of tubes either in line or in staggered
formation. The staggered formation induces more gas side turbulence than the in line and so results in
a higher rate transfer. However, it has the disadvantage of giving a higher draught loss. In line
arrangement may need about 10 to 15% more surface but effectively cleanable with the help of on load
steam soot blowers. Hence selection of in-line or staggered arrangement depends on the nature of fuel
(fouling) and transverse distance between tube and compactness of the assembly required.
Welded fin type economizers have the tube heat exchange surface area extended by the addition of
welded fins. With earlier design of extended surface economizers, finned cast shrouds were shrunk on
to a mild steel tube. This type was costly and was prone to fouling. It was claimed however, to often
food resistance to gas side corrosion and erosion. With the high feed water temperatures utilized on
modern plant, gas -side corrosion is unlikely to occur and consequently the air-steel welded fin tube
designs have been developed; these are cheaper, lighter and more accurately constructed an so less
prone to fouling.
2.13 PRESSURE PART MATERIALS

2.13.1
The selection of materials for fossil fuel fired boilers has mainly been confined to the so called
'conventional' steel, e.g. carbon manganese, the low alloys 1% Cr. 1/2% Mo. 2 1/4%Cr. 1% Mo; . 1/2%
Mo. 1/4% V, and the austenitics, ASTM, Tp321, 347 and 316( Table 1). This also shows a much
stronger austenitic material which has recently been developed. This is Esshete 1250 which has been
used in recent boilers, mainly for high temperature superheater tubes and reheater tubes, and to some
extent for high temperature headers and superheater integral piping. This has also been used for the
supercritical boiler 600 oC main steam piping in some boilers.
2.13.2

A stronger material for use in boiler drums is Ducal W30 (Table 2). The advantage of this
material is the high proof stress/UTS ratio and this has enabled to reduce the thickness of drum for 500
MW (CEGB) boilers from , typically, 5 3/4" thick to about 4 1/2" due to an increase in acceptable stress
from 9 tons/in2 to 11.7 tones/in2.
2.13.3
The material used in the manufacture of furnace wall tubes for coal fired boilers is ordinary
carbon steel but in the 500 MW oil fires unit of CEGB the major proportion of the furnace is
constructed from the 1% Cr. .5% Mo alloy. Designs submitted for 660 MW units also include this
material for the whole of the furnace. The anticipated maximum heat flux in these boilers in
approximately 175,000 BTU/ft2 (451395 Kcal/m2 hr) and therefore the use of this material is necessary
from stress temperature considerations only.
Table - 1 Chemical Composition Austenitic Tube Steels
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Tp 321 Tp 347 Tp 316 Esshete 1250
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carbon .04.90 .04.90 .04.90 .06.15
Silicon .20.80 .20.80 .25.75 .30.75
Manganese .50-2.0 .50-2.0 1.6.20 5.50-7.0
Sulphur .030 Max .030 Max .030 Max .040 Max
Phosphorus .040 Max .040 Max .040 Max .040 Max
Nickel 9.0-13.0 11.0-13.0 12.0-14-0 9.0-11.0
Chromium 17.0-20.0 17.0-19.0 16.0-17.5 0.8-1.20
Molybdenum - - 2.0-2.75 0.8-1.20
Niobium 10 x C min - 75-1.25
1.10 Max
Titanium 4 x C min - - -
0.6 Max - - -
Boron - - .006 .009
Vanadium - - - .15-40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2.
Ducol W.30
Chemical composition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 'A' Grade 'B'
Min. Max. % Min Max
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carbon 0.11 0.17 0.09 0.15

Silicon 0.30 0.30
Manganese 1.00 1.50 0.90 1.30

Chromium 0.40 0.70 0.40 0.70
Molybdenum 0.20 0.28 0.20 0.28
Vanadium 0.04 0.12 0.04 0.12
Sulphur 0.20 0.05 0.05
Phosphorus 0.04 0.05 0.05
Nickel 0.70 0.79 1.00
Copper 0.20 0.20
Nobium 0.10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tensile strength ( 3" to 6" thick) 36.44 ton f/in2
Yield stress ( 3" to 6" thick) 25 ton f/in2
0.2% proof stress ( 3" to 6" thick) at 360 oC 19.5 ton f/in2
Ducol W.30 A has been used for a large number of boiler drums including all the 500 MW units and
the Drax 660 MW boilers. The grade B variant has a higher Nickel content for improved impact.
2.14 SUPPORTS
Modern high capacity boilers are top supported units. The hanger rods are designed for the
direct tensile stress resulting from the weight of the unit and the bending tensile stress from the pressure
part expansion that deflects the hanger rods horizontally from the vertical or cold load position. A
common support elevation is normally used and the effect of temperature load distribution among
them. In the walls of a top-supported unit, the tubes are carrying the lower sections and the load stress
in the tubes must be added to the pressure stress to determine the total stress in these members, all the
loads such as that of water, ash etc. shall be taken into account. The wind loads an earthquake effects
are also to be considered. Fig. No.2.13 shows a typically top-supported boiler (500 MW)
2.15 SOOT BLOWERS

2.15.1
Because of the nature of the deposits resulting from the combustion of coal, and to a relatively
smaller extent from oil, means have to be provided to prevent an accumulation of deposits from
choking the boiler gas passes and to maintain the boiler heating surfaces in a suitably clean condition
for effective heat transfer whilst on-load.
The most commonly used method of on-load cleaning is soot blowing, although other methods,
such as shot cleaning on economizers and tubular air heaters have been used to a more limit extent on
order boiler.
Steam has mainly been used as the soot blowing medium, but recently the used low-pressure air
as a soot blowing medium has been introduced as this offers a number of advantages.
2.15.2 Type of Soot Blowers
a) Long Retractable Blowers
These soot blowers are normally employed for cleaning the superheater, reheater zones of the
boiler.

The complete assembly of the soot blower is enclosed in the supporting case. The main parts
enclosed are power packs, travelling carriage assembly, valve head and it controlling linkage. (Fig.
2.14)
The lance is attached to a travelling carriage which runs on tracks inside the blower housing.
The lance gets its rotary and traverse movement from the independent gear boxes and drive chains.
Control of movement is by stop and reverse limit switches fixed on extreme ends.
Flow of medium through the retractable is controlled by a valve head mounted at the rear of the
blower. An adjustable bar on the travelling carriage strikes a "v" shaped lever to cause the flow of
blowing medium.
Blowing pressures for each blower can be adjusted by positioning the screw attached to the
valve head.
b) Half Retractable Soot Blower
The operation is same as long retractable but the lance will be extended for half boiler width. A
support bearing will be provided to support the lance. This type of blower is not suitable for the regions
where the gas temperature is more than 55 oC.
c) Wall Deslagger
The wall deslagger (Fig.2.15) consists of a stationary body and a gear-box for travel and another
for rotation of the swivel tube. The swivel tube is supported by sleeve type bearings at each end of the
body casting. The horizontal guide rods are used to assure proper alignment of the traveling gear-box.
Unlike the retractable the wall blower nozzles do not follow the helical path. Since the purpose
of the wall blower is to get the water walls on which it is mounted, cleaned, the swivel tube along with
the nozzle first moves forward and when the nozzle cleans the water wall, the traverse movement stops
and the swivel tube starts rotating.
The valve for controlling the steam flow is identical to that of long retract. This valve is opened
when the swivel tube is fully extended the traverse movement is fast (~1.2m/sec.) and the rotation is
very slow (n = 0.6 rpm). This gives maximum time for the cleaning effort.
The material of the nozzle and the nozzle head are made of heat resisting stainless steel
containing 25% Cr. And 12% Ni.
The operation of the wall blower is controlled by 3 limit switches which from part of the control
box, integral with the soot blower.
This type of blower is employed to clean the furnace walls. The travel is only 30 cms. The
swivel tube will go into the wall for 4 cms. And the nozzle attached to the swivel tube cleans the
surface .
2.15.3 Soot blower Piping System
The soot-blowing can be with steam or compressed air; both are equally efficient. Normally
for all the boilers supplied by us we use superheated steam. The steam taping is taken from any of the
intermediate superheater header. The enthalpy of superheated steam is selected such that after the
steam pressure is reduced to the blowing pressure, the steam will have enough superheat and also will

be below 427 oC. This limitation is to avoid the use of alloy steel piping. About 50 oC superheat is
preferred to prevent the water particle being blown through the nozzle which may lead to tube cutting
and consequent tube failures. The steam taken from the intermediate header is reduced through a
pressure reducing valve to approximately 25 to 30 atmosphere and his steam is directly fed to the soot
blowers. A separate line from the pressure reducing station is taken to the air heater so that the air
heater soot blowers can be used along with the soot-blowers in other areas normally the soot-blowers
are operated one by one. Hence the piping is sized for the maximum flow required for any of the soot
blowers. The lay out of the piping is carried out in such a way that the piping is self-drained and finally
ending up with the electrically operated drain valve. This drain valve will have a permanent orifice in
the disc so that a continuous drain can be maintained. This will keep line in the warmed up condition
and will prevent condensate formation.
Modern soot blower installations are remotely operated and sequentially controlled from a
separate panel in the unit control room. The operation is usually carried out with conventional switch
gear, but can be by 'solid state' (electronic). Provision is made in the sequence control to skip any
individual soot blower or any group of soot blower in the boiler where it is found that less cleaning is
required or if one of the soot blowers is out for maintenance.
3.AIR HEATERS
3.1
The air heater is now an essential boiler auxiliary, because hot air is necessary for rapid and
efficient combustion in the furnace and also for drying coal in the milling plant. This is rather different
from its original purpose, which was to recover 'waste' heat from the flue gas to increase boiler
efficiency. In any of the present generation of large boilers, two sets of air heaters are provided one for
the normal duty of pre-heating air for combustion and the other for providing higher temperature air to
the mills for drying out wet coal.
So, there are two main types of air heater in use; the static recuperative plate or tube-type and
the rotary regenerative type, with its two variants (the Ljungstrom and the Rothemuhle types).
In the recuperative type, the flue gas is on one side of the tube or plate and the air is on the other
side.
In the regenerative type the gas flows through a closely packed matrix or heat transfer elements
giving up heat to the air heater elements and so raising the temperature of the matrix. Air is then
passed through and recovers the heat. Either the matrix or the hoods may be rotated to achieve this heat
transfer as a continuous process.
3.2 RECUPERATIVE AIR HEATERS
3.2.1 Tubular Air heater

This usually consist of large number of steel tubes of 40 to 65 mm dia. either welded or
expanded into the tube plates at the end. Either gas or air may be allowed to flow through the tube.
Gas through the tube normally requires higher size tube and vertical flow to reduce fouling. Single or
more passes on the gas side and multipass cross flow on the air side usually fits in with the overall plant
design. The portion of airheater at low temperature zone is designed normally with a shorter tube
length so as to facilitate maintenance of surfaces due to corrosion and fouling. In some cases instead of
using boiler flue gases, separate external firing is used particularly during starting.
3.2.2 Plate Type Airheater

These comprise of parallels plates which provide alternate passage for gas and air. This type is
simple and compact compared to that of tubular type. The narrow passes between plates make the
cleaning tedious but with shot cleaning method it is improved. But replacement is a major task.
3.2.3 Steam Air Preheater

This does not utilize the heat from boiler flue gas and hence does not improve boiler efficiency.
Normally this is used only during starting when flue gas entering the regular air heater is low and hence
further heat extraction is not possible and low temperature corrosion prevails. Several designs are there
with oval or round tubes carrying the steam to be condensed. Condenser for this should be provided
with air removal system so that any air entering with steam will not lock and prevent the operation of
air heater. Air outlet temperature can be controlled easily.
3.3 REGENERATIVE AIR HEATERS
3.3.1 Howden (Ljungstrom) Type
Here a matrix is rotated at 1- 1.5 rev/min. and travels alternately through the gas and air passes.
The axis of rotation may be either horizontal or vertical, but on recent installations the vertical spindle
type has predominated. There are good reasons for this; it provides for a direct lift when removing the
element packs which are fitted into the rotor spider. A vertical spindle arrangement also lends itself
readily to water-washing. (Fig.3.1)
The plates which form the element packs may be varied in spacing and thickness, and the cold
and elements are either enameled or made or corten or a similar alloy, to give the maximum resistance
to corrosion. The notched and undulated configuration of the element is shown in configuration is
designed to give the maximum turbulence and heat transfer as well as giving the individual plates a
'self-spacing characteristic.
In this type of air heater the small running clearances which are necessary, result in some
leakage of air to the gas side. Special seals have to be provided to reduce this leakage to a minimum;
The seals have to be accurately adjusted to give the maximum sealing effect at full operating
temperatures; thermal distortion of the rotor has also to be taken into account, since under operating
conditions the gas inlet metal temperature can be up to 220 oC above the outlet.
3.3.2 Davidson (Ruthmuhle) Type

The basic principle of operation is the same as for the Liungstrom type except that the elements
are stationary and the air hoods rotate within the gas pass at approximately 1 rev/min. The axis of
rotation may be vertical or horizontal, but again and for similar reasons, the vertical spindle is
preferred. The drive is normally through an electric motor operating a pinion which meshes with a rack
on the outer rim of the hood assembly (Fig.3.2).
The element configuration is on the same principle as the Ljustrom type, but the plate
clearances are somewhat greater (about 3mm). Corten elements are again used in the cold-end packs.
3.4 ADVANTAGES OF REGENERATIVE AIR HEATERS:

Regenerative air heaters have the following advantages over recuperative ones (tubular) :

(i) Compact and hence save space and structure cost. Since this type of air heater can be
effectively cleaned when in service the elements can be closely packed, hence they are compact.
(ii) This is the type that can be economically used for high capacity boiler. As the boiler size
increases heat transfer area required in air-heater also increases and if the pressure drop on air
and gas side is to be kept constant to limit the fan capacities and operation cost the recuperative
air heater size assumes even greater proportions than boiler.
(iii)From the above two reasons, it is clear that initial cost as well as the operating cost can be kept
minimum with regeneration air heaters for higher size boilers.
(iv) Less weight of metal permit economic usage of alloy steel like carton steel elements in the low
temperature section thus corrosion problem is combated to a great extent.
(v) Normally the cold end element packs are separate and handy and because of the nature of this
arrangement (possible only with regenerative type) the replacement cost and down time is very
low.
(vi) Minimum metal temperature at the cold end of a regenerative heater is slightly higher than is a
recuperative design operating under the same condition. This is because regeneration type
works very close to the counter flow, while that of recuperative is on cross flow where metal
reaches the air inlet temperature.
(vii) Holes in the elements due to corrosion etc. will not materially affect the performance of the
heater.
(viii) Deposit on the heat transfer surface does not reduce the heat transfer Deposit will reduce heat
transfer in the case of recuperative exchanges due to their poor heat conduction.
(ix) Ducting arrangements are neat, streamlined, simple and less costly.
(x) Pressure drop across the elements can be kept nearly constant throughout the operating period
with on load cleaning arrangement.. Off-load cleaning also helps.
(xi) Hot primary air for coal drying in mill is possible with single air heater of tri-sector design.
This also helps to make use of a cold primary air fan.
3.5 DISADVANTAGES OF REGENERATIVE AIR HEATERS :

Disadvantages of regenerative heaters include such points as :
(a) Moving parts increase the possibility of outages. Even so, the amount of maintenance due to
this will almost certainly be less than that required on an equivalent recuperative design.
(b) Leakage of air into gas, and gas and dust into air, because of entertainment by rotary action.
Leakage of air into gas because of the impossibility of perfect sealing.
(c) A relatively thin deposit on the plates can reduce the flow area quite appreciably, so increasing
the pressure drop to keep the elements clean, both soot blowing and water washing facilities
must be provided, because soot blowers alone are not able top keep the air heater elements
absolutely clean..
3.6 FOULING, PLUGGING AND CORROSION.

Deposits in air heaters are initiated by condensation of acid or moisture from flue gas on metal
surface operating at temperature below dew point. Other things remaining same, degree of fouling
depends on air heater heating element metal surface.. Minimum metal temperature occurs at the cold
end, where, as a result, most fouling and corrosion occur.
As coal contains less Sulphur, corrosion is not normally as much a problem as fouling and
hence lower exit gas temperature to a level of 120 oC is permissible. But in the case of oil firing, the
corrosion and plugging due to corrosive products of combustion are very common. The gas outlet
temperature and/or air inlet temperature has to be raised to restrict the corrosion to the permissible

level. Operating the oil fire boiler at very low excess air reduces the acid formation and hence
corrosion.
During starting and at low loads the flue gas exit temperature falls to a low value the twill lead
to corrosion.
3.7 FIRE RISKS:

All types of air heaters present a potential fir hazard, particularly if a low load is carried for
considerable periods when firing on oil. A fine deposit, similar to lamp black in appearance,
accumulates on the air heater surfaces when temperature are low; subsequent increase in temperature
may result ignition of this inflammable deposit. Some types of oily only deposit will ignite at
temperature as low as 150 oC. The resulting fire can prove disastrous if not detected and controlled at a
very early stage. On load soot blowing or shot cleaning must be used to prevent the build-up of such
deposits, and alarm are normally fitted to give early warning of fires in their very early stages.
In rotary air heater fixed sprays are installed permanently inside the air heater casings and
coupled to fire mains so that instant action my be taken if there is a fire. To prevent flues, ducts and
hoppers from collapsing under the excessive accumulated weight of water suitable quick-release drain
valves are fitted at suitable points for using during fire-fighting operations.
3.8 CLEANING OF AIR HEATERS
3.8.1 On-load cleaning :
(a) Recuperative Type
Proven practical method is by shot cleaning.
(b) Regenerative Type
Fixed or moving type soot blowers with multinozzle thoroughly cleans the air heater.
3.8.2 Off -load Cleaning :
(a) Recuperative Type
If not provided with on-load cleaning, this has to be cleaned at intervals during shutdown by
hand or mechanical method. Large quantity of cold or warm water can also be used for this
purpose. Small quantity of water will actually do harm by making deposit compact and hard.
(b) Regenerative Type:
Normally on-load cleaning devices keep them clean and if it is needed to clean during shut-
sown quantities of water may be used. If deposits is severe, sometimes soda-ash solution may
assist in dissolving it. Water requirement for cleaning is less when compared to static type.

4. MILLING PLANT
4.1
The development and perfection of pulverized fuel firing for commercial use is one of the
milestones after which the steam generating capacity for boilers could be increased as desired. The
factor influencing the type of firing to be adopted on a boiler is basically the evaporation capacity and
not the steam condition. I.e. temperature and pressure. There are instances of stoker fired units
operating at 70 Kg/cm2 pressure and comparable temperature. Generally, for travelling grate stoker the
maximum out put is around 120 tonnes/hour. This is basically limited by grate area. For spreader
stoker, the limit is around 200 tonnes/hour. So only after the development of pulverized fuel firing,
larger size steam generator could be built and used. Any coal available in the world is being burnt in
the pulverized form in suspension in the present in the present day steam generators. Proper choice of
furnace design, furnace volume, burners etc. along with the type of pulverizer can be done to meet any
quality of coal or even grit, waste and by-product fuel. The basic advantage of pulverized coal fire is a
higher thermal efficiency, lower labour cost and larger flexibility in operation. Pulverized fuel firing is
now being used for over fifty years. Initially, it was developed of firing cement kilns. The cement
industry's experience in handling and crushing rocks, grinding cement clinker and their experience in
handling large quantity of solid material for which they have devised technique for transportation and
conveyance were available for development of pulverized coal firing.
4.2 PULVERIZED COAL SYSTEMS :-
For steam, generation, there are basically two systems of pulverization normally in use : (I) Bin
System or indirect firing system and (ii) Direct Firing System.
4.2.1 Bin System
In this system, at a location apart from the furnace, the coal is dried and pulverized and
classified continuously in the pulverizer. Then the finished product is pneumatically conveyed to a
collector where coal is separated and discharged by gravity into the storage bins or headers. From the
storage the pulverized coal is conveyed by pneumatic transport through pipelines to bins or location
where it is used . See Fig. 4.1
The basic advantage of the bin system is that the pulverization is not tied with the minute to
minute unit operation and the whole system can stand short outage of pulverizer system.
Disadvantage in intrinsic dust nuisance of the installation, incidence of the fire and higher cost
of pulverization. Under certain condition, serious explosion from coal gas emanating from the fuel in
bin may occur. More over, pulverized fuel is hygroscopic in nature. It picks up any moisture in the
storage bin after sometime. Initial investment and operating costs are higher. Preference has shifted to
the direct firing system due to greater advantage of the latter in simplicity, cost of operation and initial
investment.
4.2.2 Direct Firing System:

a) Hot Primary System :
In this system (Fig. 4.2) maintenance is greatly reduced. The fan is located before the
pulverizer and handles complete primary air required for drying and transporting the coal.
Disadvantages are that the fan is required to handle high temperature air resulting in high fan power. In
addition of this special material are required to handle high temperature air.

Separate sealing air fans are required to seal the mill and journal bearings.
b) Cold Primary Air System :
As the name implies, the primary air fan handles clean cold air either from FD fan discharge or
taking suction from atmosphere.
The advantages are saving in fan power and maintenance. The number of primary fans can be
only 2 per boiler to supply all the air to the pulverizes and the capacity of each need not exceed 2/3 of
total air requirement of pulverizers. The only disadvantage is the cost increase due to additional duct
work and air heater.
The advantages of pressurized system is that the coal air mixture can be directed into the boiler
thus saving the maintenance of exhauster. Separate sealing air arrangements are required to seal the
bearings, inside the mill, feeders and various dampers.
c) Suction System:
In this system the mill operates under negative pressure. Suction being created by an exhauster
placed after the mill. The exhauster handles all the coal air mixture and forces it into the burners. The
advantage of suction system is that the plant can be maintained clean. Since the mills operate under
suction, sealing of bearings in the mill base and journal shafts is not necessary. Allowable maximum
air temperatures can be higher than pressurized system, since the temperature of medium handled by
exhauster is constant around 70-100 oC
Common motors can be employed to drive both mill and exhauster. Cold air is drawn from
atmosphere near the mill, thus eliminating cold air duct.
Cold air flow is regulated by the exhauster inlet damper which should be automatically
positioned by the combustion control system to provide primary air flow to meet pulverizing system
requirement for proper transport of pulverized coal.
The disadvantage of this system is that the high speed exhauster has to handle coal air mixture
and tends to wear more as the pulverizer size increase. Smaller size mills can be adopted with the
above system.
d) Pressurized Exhauster System:
In this system the mills operate under positive pressure. With exhauster provided at the exit of
pulverizer to boost the pulverized coal into the pressurized furnace. Since the pulverizer operates with
lesser pressure than forced draft fan pressure. The sealing of mill parts can be affected by taking cold
air line from FD fan discharge.
4.2.3 Direct Firing System with Beater Mills :
In this system (Fig. 4.3) raw coal from the bunker is fed at a regulate rate to the mills through a
feeder depending on the boiler load. Air required for drying and transporting the pulverized coal from
the mill is obtained from the FD fan. Hot air is drawn through air heaters and cold air directly from FD
fan discharge. Both are mixed before entering the milling circuit, in order to achieve a constant
temperature after classifier within safe limits. The drying and grinding takes place inside the mills.
The pulverized particle are being carried from the mill to the classifier directly mounted on the mill.
The medium is directed into the burners through various fuel pipe lines mounted at the outlet of the
classifier.

This can be used for lignite also with hot combustion gas along with hot and cold air for drying
and transporting the pulverized coal.
4.3 TYPE OF PULVERIZERS

The type of pulverizers may be classified based upon their speeds.
a) Slow speed mills : These mills, usually rotating between 15 to 25 rpm depending upon the mill
size, are called Drum mills or Tube mills or Ball mills or Ball tube mills.
b) The medium speed mills: These will normally be operating between 50 to 100 rpm. There are
varieties of designs in these types. These are called vertical shaft mills, or table type
pulverizers. The mills belonging to these categories are Bowl mills, Ball and Race Mills, Roller
mills etc.
c) High speed mills : These are directly coupled to the driving motor and run at 750 to 1000 rpm.
4.3..1 Drum/Tube Mills
Mills of this type are often called type ball mills. They operate at a speed of 17 - 20 rev/min
and formerly were designed as suction mills (in other words in conjunction with exhauster fans), but in
modern power plant they are used as pressure-type mills (Fig.4.4)
The mill drum carrying the ball charge rotates on the anti-friction bearings. Raw-coal is fed to the
drum through the inlet elbow and gets crushed to powder inside the mill drum. The ball charge and the
coal are carried to a certain height inside the drum and allowed to fall down. Due to the impact of the
balls on coal particle and due to attrition as the particles slide over each other and also over the liners,
the coal gets crushed. Hot flue gases are used for drying and transporting the pulverized coal from the
mill to the classifier. The coarser parti8cles are returned by the classifier for further grinding.
In the past this type of mills has suffered from two principle disadvantages:
(1) The Power input required per tonne of coal milled could be up to twice as great as that for the
vertical spindle medium speed mill.
(2) The reliability of the mill has been limited mainly because of failures of bearings and
gearboxes.
As a result of this high availability in a tube-ball mill installation, it is not normal to provide
standby milling capacity; this helps to reduce the over all capital cost of the plant. Power
requirements have also been reduced, but they are still much greater than those for medium-
speed mills.
The advantage and disadvantages of tube ball mills may be summarized as follows:
Advantages:
1 High output possible, up to 50 tonnes per hour.
2 No maintenance over long periods (apart from routine on-load recharging of mill balls.)
3 High availability.
4 Because of high availability no stand by capacity is required.
5 No mill rejects, no problems with 'tramp' iron.
6 Reserve of fuel within mill makes output more stable.

7 On a pressure mill installation the pressure is low and the air/fuel ratio is low; this keeps the
primary air power requirements to a minimum.
Disadvantages :
1 High power consumption.
2 Some problems with control of coal level within the mill
3 Virtually constant power consumption at all loads; low load operation is therefore not
economical.
4 With high moisture constant fuels a high primary air temperature is required because of the low
air /fuel ratio.
5 Unplanned stops leave the mill full of coal which, under unfavorable conditions, can ignite.
This coal has to be quenched and even dug out otherwise the mill cannot be restarted
4.3.2 Ball Mills :

A Babcock & Wilcox 'E' type ball mill is illustrated in Fig.4.5 Coal fed from the top, fall in the
center of the mill table and then passes through the grinding elements which consists of hollow
steel balls carried between two grinding rings. Upper ring is stationary and applies pressure to
the balls from pneumatic loading cylinders containing pressurized inert gas. The bottom ring
rotates and in turn rotates the balls and in this process coal trapped in between the grinding
elements get pulverized and moves towards the outer edge of the lower grinding ring. This
pulverized fuel is then entrained in the high velocity flow of primary air which enters the mill
through the air ports between the throat ring and the lower grinding ring. The coal/air mixture is
carried upto classifier, where the coarser particles are returned for further grinding, and the finer
ones go into P.F. pipes for distribution to burners.
The output of the mill at a particular primary air flow is measured by the pressure drop across
the mill (excluding the classifier.) Since the mill itself may be regarded as a fixed-sized orifice,
any increase in pressure drop (differential) will be the result of either an increased air flow or an
increased quantity of fuel inside the mill. These two differential pressure (Primary air flow and
mill differential) are compared in the feeder control circuit or loop and are used to control the
speed of the feeder control circuit of loop and are used to control the speed of the feeder and so
maintain a correct fuel to air ratio at all levels of air flow through the mill. Therefore the mill
out put is controlled by variation in the air flow; to match this, the fuel flow is adjusted by the
feeder speed control.
The mills of this type has the maximum out put around 40 tonnes/hour.
4.3.2 Bowl Mill

The principles of operation are similar to those of the 'E' type mill. Coal is fed from the bunkers
to the mill by means of a drag link feeder. The coal falls on to the mill grinding table and is
carried under the spring loaded, free running grinding rolls, which reduce the coal to pulverized
fuel of the required fineness. Hot primary air is fed into the mill air scroll, which feeds a shovel
port ring. These passages surround the lower part of the mill; air is fed from there into the body
of the mill via a number of angled cones which controls the direction of the air flow. The high
velocity hot air carries the finely ground coal from the outside of the mill table up to the blades
of a separator (Classifier); the classifier separates the heavier particles and returns them to the
mill table for further grinding. Fuel of the correct size passes thought he separator and the p.f.
pipes to the burners (Fig.4.6)

The mill housing is fabricated from thick mild steel plat and is provided with access doors and
with slots to allow the spring tensioning cables to pass to the outside of the mill. These slots are
provided with cable covers and seals to prevent the escape of p.f. the segments and the rollers
are made from cast Ni-hard material. The rollers are not mounted on spindles but are kept
equally spaced around the grinding table by a three-pronged roller spacer assembly; this
assembly is mounted on the grinding table but is free to rotate independently of it. (In fact,
when the grinding table is rotating at 26 rpm, the rollers will be rotating about their own axes at
about 19 rpm and they will be pushing the roller spacer assembly around at 13 rpm.
Mill control and operation is similar in many respects to the 'E' types, It differs in one major
respect. Among various designs of pulverizers of the medium speed family, the bowl mill
design has a specific characteristic feature in that, there is no metal contact between the grinding
elements. This is one of the features which contributes to lesser metal loss on the grinding
elements.
Low power consumption, quiet and vibration less operation, flexibility of operation through
wide load range, good control response for varying loads, good drying capability, easy
maintainability are some of its main advantageous features.
Capacities of various ranges are available from 1.7 t/hr to 100 t/hr.
4.3.3 Advantages & Disadvantages of Medium speed Mills
Advantages
(1) Low power consumption, (slightly less than suction type mills and considerably less than tube
balls of equivalent output)
(2) Output is little affected by fuel characteristic, such as moisture in the fuel.
(3) Primary air fan is more efficient than exhauster fan.
(4) Primary air fan requires less maintenance than exhauster fan, so giving improved availability.
(5) Total area required for new design high output mill is less than for equivalent ball mills.
(6) Comparatively quiet in operation.
Disadvantages:
(1) Provision of sealing air supply necessary.
(2) Periodic maintenance is required.
(3) Tightness requirements of casing and inspection ports.
(4) Pyrites and tramp iron must be removed during operation.
(5) Small reserves of coal within the mill make it sensitive to the coal ' hanging up', so producing
load fluctuations.
4.3.4 The high speed Mill (Hammer/Beater Mill)

In general, high speed mills employ the principle of attrition to crush the coal.. They use either
swinging hammers or beater paddles to project the coal at high speed around the inside of the
mill. In this way p.f. is produced by abrasion of the coal, either by impact with parts of the mill,
or by collision of particles of coal with each other. The nature of such an operation inevitably
leads to rapid wear on all mill components particularly on paddles hammers or beaters.

A typical example of a high speed mill is shown in Fig. 4.7. The coal fed to the mill is crushed
by the impact against the armour plates and by attrition. The hot air supplied dries the coal in
the mill and transport the coal powder to the classifier. The coarser particles are returned by
classifier for further grinding.
Large capacity mill have not been further developed because of the very high speeds which are
necessary. This combined with the risk of damage of mill internals ( caused by the possible
ingress of tramp iron), the overall high maintenance costs, and the poor availability, has led to
the disinclination to install such mills in new power stations.
The advantages and disadvantages of high speed mills may be summarized as follows:-
Advantages:
(1) Compactness, with an integral arrangement of mill, classifier and exhauster.

(2) Power consumption is low, similar to that of the vertical spindle mill.
Disadvantage:
(1) High maintenance costs.
(2) Tramp iron and similar foreign matter may damage the mill because of the high speeds at high it
operate.
(3) The high speed which is necessary has restricted the development of very large mills.
4.3.5 Suction/Pressure Mill Selection:

All the low and medium speed mills(except the 'E' type) we have described exist in both suction
and pressure from. However, the trend has been away from suction mills and in favour of
pressure type mills, the reasons for this are explained below:
Problem with exhauster fans:
In a suction mill installation the exhauster fan is an essential feature, but because it has to
handle coal-laden air it is subject to blade erosion. With large p.f. installations, the pressure loss
through the milling and burner systems becomes greater owing to the increase in physical size
and the larger quantity of fuel in transit at a given time. Because of problems of maintenance,
exhausters fans have to be of [addle-blade design, in which case the higher pressure loss has to
be catered for either by an increase in fan speed or buy an increase in runner diameter. Either of
these leads to an increased blade tip velocity and there fore to higher wear rates caused by
erosion by p.f.
Advantages of P. A. Fan
In a pressure mill installation the inefficient paddle-bladed exhauster fan is replaced by a
primary air fan which is not subjected to the erosive efforts of p.f since it handles only clean air.
The fan, more efficient backward-bladed aerofoil section type is therefore used for primary air
fan duty; no problem experience in providing the increased fan output which is necessary for
the p.f. installations on large boilers. Therefore, the primary air fan firstly, it is far more

efficient( and on large boilers power consumption is an extremely important factor); and
secondly, maintenance requirements are negligible by comparison.
Table 1 gives a comparison of typical power consumption between different mill types. The
units are in KW/tonne of coal milled, and the table relates to mills having capacities of
approximately 15 tonne/hr with larger capacity mills the figures would tend to be slightly less.
From the table, one can see that the vertical spindle medium-speed pressure type mil has an
advantage. A further advantage appears when maintenance costs are considered. Maintenance
cost of an exhauster fan can be a much as twice those of a primary air fan. The combinations of
these considerations, and the higher availability of the primary air fan, make pressure mill
systems preferable.
Table 1- Typical power consumption of p.f mills of approximately 15 tonne/hr capacity in KW/tonne
coal milled.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Mill Type Mill Feeder P. A. Fan Exhauster Fan Total
_________________________________________________________________________________
Low Speed 12.05 0.22 10.60 22.87
Ball (Suction)
Low Speed Ball 13.10 0.20 5.50 18.80

(Pressure)
Medium Speed 7.63 0.18 11.85 19.66

(Suction)
Medium Speed 8.35 0.18 8.00 16.53

(Pressure)
High Speed (Suction) 19.50 19.50

_________________________________________________________________________________
Disadvantages of Pressure Mills

Pressure mills do have some disadvantages. It is necessary to provide a seal air supply to
prevent the escape of p.f. along drive shafts, k etc. This seal air supply may be taken from the primary
air fan discharge if the fan is located before the mill air-heaters. It may be necessary to provide a
supply to clean air from individual seal-air fans if the primary air fans take their suction from the outlet
of the main air-heaters: this is because some dust entertainment is inevitable in rotary regenerative air
heater. The mill coaxing and inspection doors must be completely air-tight if p.f. is to be prevented
from discharging into the boiler house. The coal feeder is an integral part of the mill system and must
also be air-tight. An important operational point is that bunkers should not be permitted to run empty.
If this happens the resulting loss in pressure within the mill, could lead to a reduction in velocity of
p.f./air mixture in the p.f. pipes, and this increases the risk of fire and explosion.
4.4. MILL CLASSIFIERS:

All mills are fitted with some type of classifiers. The purpose of classification is to control the
range of particle sizes in the pulverized fuel which leave the mill. All particles above a pre-
determined maximum size are recycled through the mill for further grinding while smaller
particles pass the p.f. burners.
Classifiers may be divided into two basic groups, rotary and static, both of which make use of a
similar principle the resistance of a particle to a change of direction of speed. The greater the
mass of a particle, the greater is its resistance to such change.
In the rotary classifiers, 'whizzer' separators are situated so that the coal/ air mixture from the
mills is directed through them. Centrifugal force directs the coarser particles to the outside of
the separator covering, where the air/ gas velocity is at its minimum, and the particles then
return to the mill table under the influence of gravity.
The static-type separators all use centrifugal force for classification. Some mills, employ
adjustable vanes in the head of the mill to produce a 'cyclonic' effect which results in the
necessary centrifugal force. Variation of the vane angle varies the intensity of the 'swirl' or
'vortex' within the classifier cone; the more intense the swirl the finer the p.f. produced. But
intensification of the swirl beyond an economic limit will reduce the throughout of the mill by
creating restriction at the mill outlet.
Classifier by their very nature, are subjected to considerable forces of erosion.. For this reason,
constant checks on p.f. fineness are required to ensure that classifier efficiency is being
maintained. Classifier efficiency will also fall off if the correct coal/air ratio through the mill is
not maintained. An air velocity which is too high will not permit the coarser particles to fall out
of the air stream and return to the mill.
4.4 COAL FEEDERS :

Coal feeders deliver the coal from the bunkers to the mill. Since the amount of coal delivered
determines the output of the mill, if follows that the coal flow through the feeder has to be
controlled. This is normally achieved either by control of feeder speed or by control of the
position of a scraper knife or plough.
Two principle types of coal feeder are in use on modern pulverized fuel plant, the rotary table
type and the chain or drag link type. The former were in wide-spread use on unit boilers up to
120 MW capacity, on larger plant they have been largely superseded by the drag link type.
4.5.1. Rotary Table Type Coal Feeders :

The feeder consists of rotating table, usually provided with a hardened metal surface in the form
of replaceable segments. The table is driven by an electric motor via a reduction gear box (Fig.
4.8).
Feeder output can be controlled by any of the following 1) a two speed or variable speed motor;
a constant speed motor with a variable speed drive; ii) by control of the position of the scraper
knife for plough. The height of the feed regulator sleeve above the table when leaving the
chute.

This type of feeder has one major disadvantage. It is prone to feed flow failure when fine, wet
coal is being handled. The reason is that the coal fails to 'spread' across the feeder table when
leaving the chute.
The loss of availability of plant caused by failure in the coal flow made it necessary to examine
the whole problem of coal handling between the bunker and the mill; the result of this was the
adoption of the chain link or drag link feeder.
4.5.2 Drag Link Coal Feeders :

In this type of coal feeder, illustrated in figure 10.9 the coal leaves the bottom of the bunker
through a large outlet hopper which is connected directly to the feeder casing. The coal falls on
the feeder top plate and is dragged along by the conveyor chain to the point where the top plate
ends. The depth of the coal bed is controlled by the height regulating gate(or shutter control
valve). At the end of the top plate the coal falls down between the stands of the chai8n to the
point of discharge at the mill inlet coal delivery chute. The rate of coal feed is controlled buy a
variable speed motor drive.
4.6 MILL FIRES :

With good maintenance and operation 'flash back' from the furnace is unlikely to cause fires.
The temperature of the primary air is unlikely to cause fires. Still they occur. The reason is
almost invariable the presence of deposits of coal or pulverized fuel in the mill system and so in
an environment which favours spontaneous combustion. Any deposits of coal, if left long
enough, and provided with oxygen, could eventually ignite. Once a small fire is established, it
could spread very quickly. When a mill is brought into service, or taken out of service, the
pulverized fuel/air mixture passes through the explosive range, and even a small fire can
provide the source of ignition to trigger off an explosion.
The importance of ensuring that mills are thoroughly purged of fuel when shutting down thus
becomes very obvious. Any coal or combustible material lodged any where within a mill
system presents a fire and /or explosion risk if it is allowed to remain. This is one of the basic
principles of the Pulverized Fuel Code of Practice. If the code of Practice is adhered to the
inherent dangers in the operation of milling plant will be reduced to a minimum.
4.6.1 General Safety Precautions :

(i) Extreme cleanliness and care in the operation of the entire plant should observed. This refers
not only to fuel in the milling system, but also to external deposits which could cause fires.
Leaks in pulverized fuel pipes must be cured as soon as possible and any pulverized fuel which
has got through the leak and built up a deposits must be cleared immediately.
(ii) The temperature of stand by mills must be restricted to a maximum of 49 oC to prevent any risk
of spontaneous combustion of trapped coal dust.
(iii) All dampers and safety devices should be maintained in good working order and regularly
checked for correct operation.
(iv) Whenever firing conditions become unstable or it is suspected that unstable conditions are
imminent, and ignition flame (e.g. oil burners) should be immediately established in the boiler
furnace.
(v) In tube mills an adequate air flow must be maintained through tube mills should be run for long
periods without coal, since other wise a dangerous rise in temperature, due to the heat caused by
friction, may occur.

4.7 FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF MILLING PLANT.
Mills are designed to handle coals within certain specification limits. Certain factors,
principally the properties of the coal being milled, can affect the performance of the plant. The
most important of the factors are discussed below :
4.7.1 Hardgrove Index :

This is a measure of the hardness of a coal a mill designed to handle a coal with a hard grove
Index 50 would have a greater output if supplied with a coal having an index of 65; conversely,
its output would be reduced if header coals with a Hard grove Index of 40 were to be used.
Even though the mill output increases with high grindability index coals, in practice it can be
realized only if the system is designed for it, otherwise limitation on Primary air fan, exhauster,
air coal ratio, velocity in coal pipe etc. will limit the output.
4.7.2 Moisture Content :

The total moisture content of raw coal is made up of hygroscopic moisture (inherent-within the
coal), and free (surface) moisture. In a well designed mill in which drying is carried out by the
passage of hot air through the mill, coals with a total 12.15 per cent moisture content can be
handled, the whole of the free moisture and up to half inherent moisture being removed. If
coals with a higher moisture content are handled (for instance, when reclaiming ground stock
during very wet weather) a progressive fall off in mill output, and so unit output will occur once
the design figure has been exceeded. This normally due to air flow limitations because the
capacity of the primary air or exhauster fan limits the total beat being passed to the mill for
drying purposes.
When it is known at the design stage that high moisture coals may have to be burnt provision
can be made to deal with this by installing mill air-heater. Such air heaters are in addition to
the main air-heater and they supply hot primary air to the mills only. These air temperature
may be increased by augmenting this gas supply from the economizer outlet, although the
primary air temperature may be increased by augmenting this gas supply with gases withdrawn
from the super heater or reheater outlet, when very high moisture coals are being burnt.
An alternative coal drying method, which is employed on one design of suction tube-ball mill or
mills handling lignite, is to extract hot gases from the bottom of the furnace to supplement the
heat to the mills.
Mill capacity variation due to moisture variation is shown in Fig. 4.10 for vertical spindle mill
and tube ball mill. From this it can be clearly seen that tube ball mill capacity reduces even
when the coal moisture crosses 4% and reduces at a faster rate. This is one of the factors that
favour bowl mills for Indian coal as moisture content continuously varies due to rain, necessity
to wet the coal to reduce fire hazard, receipt from different mines etc.
4.7.3 Fineness of milled product :

Normally classifier is installed in the mill outlet circuit which will return back higher size
particles back to the mill for regrinding. Fineness of the milled product is varied by varying the
classifier setting. As the fineness of coal changes the combustion condition and efficiency, this

has to be kept at optimum value. 70 to 75% of product passing through 200 mesh maybe
required for low volatile coal. Excessive fineness only wastes mill power.
Mill out put varies inversely with fineness. Hence mill output can be increased just by reducing
the fineness without any alteration in the system but it is permissible only if combustion are
satisfactory in all respect.
Table-II shows the analysis of different types of Indian Coal.
Sr. Name of GCV of Proximate analysis of coal Grindabilit G.C.V.

no. coal field/ coal Moisture Ash % Volatile y volatile on dry
colliery Kcal/Kg % % % HGL mineral
matter
free
bases
1 raniganj 4900 to 4 - 9 10 - 25 30 - 40 40 -50 8200
5300
2 Talcher 4600 to 7 - 9 28 - 38 27 - 31 60 - 66 8100
4900
3 Singrauli 4450 to 9 - 10 21 - 24 28 - 29 50 - 65 8100
Jingruda 4900
4 Singareni 4000 to 7 - 10 28 - 42 25 - 35 44 - 60 8000
4400
5 Neyveli 2900 to 30 - 60 2 - 15 20 - 26 7900
3300
4.7.4 Size of raw Coal:

The larger the size of raw coal fed to the mill, the greater the energy required to break it down to
pulverized fuel. For a constant energy input, therefore, the mill output will very according to
the size of coal it has to handle. There is, however, an upper limit to the size of raw coal a mill
can handle, and this depends on the construction of the mill. A coal supply of a finer grade, will
result in an increased output from the mill, while a coarser grade will produce a reduction in
output. Fig. 4.11 shows this trend.
4.7.5 Mill Wear :

Mill output tends to fall off as wear increases on grinding surfaces or in suction mills-on
exhauster fan blades. However, it is frequently found that considerable wear can take place
before a reduction in output becomes really noticeable, and by then the output falls off quite
rapidly. It is also often found, that product fineness is maintained until the wet significantly
affects the mill output.
4.7.6 Calorific Value :

Calorific value of coal does not have any bearing on the mill capacity. But calorific value is
one which dictates the quantity of coal to be milled per boiler for a particular output. Hence

variation in calorific value of coal varies the number of mills to be kept in service, loading on
each mill for the same output of the boiler.
As boiler output is proportional to the heat input to the boiler, mill output in terms of heating
value can be considered as true indication for deciding number of mills etc. But calorific value
of coal is independent of mill and hence calorific value of coal has to be considered separately
in selecting the mills. Hard coals like anthracite which has low grindability index will reduce
the capacity of mills in terms of mass but increase in terms of heating value, hence no additional
milling capacity or reduction of boiler output is needed.
4.7.7 Conclusions
Therefore, the principal factors affecting mill output are grindability and moisture content of the
raw coal and fineness requirements of the ground product. Where these factors are mere
favourable than those on which the mill design has been based (high grindability indeed, low
moisture and low fines requirements), considerable increases in mill output may be possible on
the other hand if one of these factors is unfavourable (a high moisture content for example) then
high grindability and low fineries, requirements may still produce sufficient corrective action to
enable the mill to maintain its full duty.
5.FANS
5.1 THE FOLLOWING FANS ARE USED IN THE BOILER HOUSES :
5.1.1 Forced draft fan (F. D. fan)

To take air from atmosphere at ambient temperature to supply essentially all the combustion air.
Can either be sized to overcome all the boiler losses(pressurized system) or just put the air in
the furnace (balanced draft units)
Speeds vary between 600 to 1500 rpm.
5.1.2 Induced draft fan (I. D. fan) :

Used only in balanced draft units to suck the gases out of the furnace and throw them into the
stack.
Handles fly ash laden gases at temperatures of 125 to 200 oC
Speeds seldom exceeds 1000 rpm.
5.1.3 Primary air fans (P. A. fans) or Exhauster fan :
Used for pulverized system
Primary air has got two functions viz. Drying the coal and transportation into the furnace.
Usually sized for 1500 rpm due to higher pressure.

5.1.4 Seal air fan :
Used to seal mill bearings, coal feeders and coal pipes in case of pressure type mill.
May take air from atmosphere and supply air to mill at a pressure higher than mill pressure or
may take up suction from cold P.A. level and boost up that pressure.
There may be seal air fan for each mill or they may supply to a common duct from where air
can be supplied to mills for sealing.
Speed depends on the type of arrangements and fan.
5.1.5 Ignitor air fan :

Used to provide necessary combustion air to the ignitor.
Two fans are usually provided, one will run and the other will remain as stand by.
A control damper is provided on the discharge which modulate to maintain a constant

differential pressure (about 75 mm of w.c.) across ignitor when any ignitor is in service.
Typical speed 1460 RPM.
5.1.6 Scanner air fan :

Used to provide necessary cooling air to the flame scanners.
When F. D. fans are running a portion of cold air is diverted to the scanner air fans and then to
the flame scanner cooling air connections. Two scanner air fans are usually provided one will
run and other will remain as stand by. When F. D. fans trip the scanner air fan will draw air
from atmosphere through emergency damper.
Typical speed 3000 rpm.
5.2 A fan can be defined as a volumetric machine which like pumps moves quantities or air or gas
from one place to another. In doing this it over comes resistance to flow by supplying the fluid
with the energy necessary for contained motion. Fans, blowers, compressors all move air but at
greatly different pressures. Fan pressure range is from a few mm of water upto about 0.07
kg/cm2. Blowers work at about 3.5 kg/cm2, compressors span about 2.5 kg/cm2 and up.
Physically a fans elements are a bladed rotary (such as an impeller) and a housing to collect the
incoming air or gas and direct if flow.
5.3 CLASSIFICATION OF BOILER FANS :

Boiler fans are broadly classified as axial type and radial type, according to the direction of fluid
flow in the impeller.
5.3.1 Axial type :

In which the fluid is accelerated parallel to the fan axis. Axial fans have the following
advantages;

The physical size is less than for a comparable capacity centrifugal fan.
The cost is less.
The impeller blades can be of variable pitch type. This gives efficient and rapid control.
However they have the following disadvantage :
The noise level is higher because of high tip speed.
The impeller blades may be subject to erosion, particularly toward the tips because of the high
carefully sealed to prevent the ingress of dust and grit.
5.3.2 Radial or centrifugal type :

In which the fluid is accelerated of right angles to the fan axis. There are three types of blade
from in the radial fan. These are (a) radial or straight (b) forwarded curved and (c) back ward
curved as shown in fig. 5.1. Centrifugal fans has the following advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages :
(a) Efficiency is higher than axial type
(b) Easy repairable at site
(c) Less noise
Disadvantages:
(a) Higher cost both initially and operating
(b) Physical size is more in comparison to axial type.
5.4 RADIAL OR STRAIGHT BLADE TYPE :

This is the simple and cheapest of all the types. A typical application for this kind of fan is for
use as on exhauster associated with a suction mill. Basically6 this type has a low efficiency is
fairly low speed and low pressure.
Forward curved blade type :

These are low speed high volume fans. The outlet velocity is high for fairly low rotational
speeds. If higher rotational speeds are required the rotating element is made up a large number
of shallow blades on a small diameter. Although the through out is high the fan does not
occupy much floor space. Induced draught fans are commonly of this type.
Backward curved blade type :

These fans have long blades which are set back of a considerable angle. This results in a low
outlet velocity. These fans are high speed and high efficiency. In power stations it is used for
forced draught fan duty.
5.5 PERFORMANCE OF CENTRIFUGAL FANS

Fig. 5.2 compares the performance curves of above mentioned centrifugal fans on a qualitative
basis. Manufacturers supply data for each type of fan they offer. These curves define constant
speed performance. With speed change the theoretical performance at constant efficiency
follows the fans laws, which are :

i) Capacity α N (N = rpm)
ii) Head α N2
iii) Power input α N3
Backward curved blades have air leaving at low velocity from the blade ties, making them more
suitable for high motor speed. Then power consumption at an intermediate flow so that they
cannot be overloaded. Power plants use this type of fan for F. D. fan.
The forward or straight bladed fans are preferred for I.D. fans since then lower speed retards
blade erosion caused by fly ash.
5.6 CONTROL OF FAN OUTPUT :
5.6.1 Necessity ….. In any system load conditions will vary such as from light up of the boiler to
full load & load fluctuation during normal operation. Thus to maintain combustion & draft
conditions at different loads control of fan output is essential. Further a margin of pressure &
capacity above those normally required for full output has to be provided on draft plant to
compensate for boiler fouling, adverse combustion or poor fuel, which again calls for draft plan
control from zero load to MCR.
5.6.2 Methods …. Following methods of control of output are available.
Damper Control …. It is a simple control & acts a throttle valve introducing resistance into
the system to restrict the fan output to any desired quantity. The use of dampers to control draft
is very inefficient as the excess energy developed at a particular load must be dissipated by
throttling. Thus, system cannot be used on large capacity boilers. The performance &
characteristic is shown in Fig. 5.3. The system has however got the following advantages.
(i) Low initial cost

(ii) Easy adoption operation including that on automatic control.
(iii) The least expensive type of fan drive, constant speed A. C. motors can be used.
(iv) Continuous or stepless control.
Inlet vane control …. This method of control requires less horse power at fractional output
than outlet damper control (Ref. Fig. 5.3). The vanes are located radially in the inlet eye of the
casing. In the fully closed position they overlap each other slightly. Each vane spindle is
connected by a lever to a ring supported on the fan casing & this ring is free to rotate through a
limited are. The arrangement for a radial fan is shown in Fig. No. 5.4. Some of the designs (as
in BTPS - 100 MW Units axial flow type) incorporate wire rope pulleys arrangement for
operating the mechanism.
The inlet vanes give the air or gas a varying degree of spin in direction of fan rotation. This
enables the required head to be produced at a proportionately lower power input. Inlet vane
control is costlier as compared to damper control, but cheaper than that of speed control. Vane
leakage often makes it difficult to reduce the air/gas flow below 1/4th of full fan output when a
single speed motor is used. For a large size fans says for 500 MW units this control is used in
conjunction with two speed drive.
Variable speed control… This is the most efficient method of control from the point of
view of power consumption. The characteristics are shown in Fig. No. 5.3. However, speed
control involves high capital cost & the added complications of variable a. c. or d. c. motor

system. Mechanical or hydraulic coupling are other methods of attain variable speeds. As
stated before the inlet vane control with two speed drive is finding greater application.
Blade Pitch Control… This type of control is achieved in axial reaction fan. The impeller
blades are titled during operation and hence the angle of entry is varied to vary the performance.
The hydraulic servomotor helps in achieving the control with the help of an external oil system.
On large modern plant almost all dampers & control equipment are provided with remote
control; in other words, they are operable from a central control room. However, local control
is provided for emergency use & is generally backed up by a manual operation facility.
5.7 FAN DESIGNATION :

The designations used fir different fans (Manufactured by BHEL) are as follows:
5.8 CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES (NDFV FANS) FIG. 5.5

The major sub-assemblies may be listed as :
i) Spiral casing
ii) Impeller
iii) Inlet guide vane control assembly
iv) Shaft with bearing assembly
v) Seal assembly
5.8.1 Spiral Casing

It consists of two parallel side walls, spiral plate, inlet cone. The casing is a fully welded
structure stiffened by rolled sections both inside and outside. The spiral wall is rough rolled
initially and then corrected while welding the side walls. The inlet cone which forms the
entrance to the spiral casing helps in accelerating the flow. On to the inlet side flange of this
cone the IGV is mounted. Manhole is provided in the spiral casings. Drain connection has
been given at the lowest point of the casing. The casing rests in the foundation by means of
four rigid footings for maintenance, lifting eyes have been provided.
5.8.2 Impeller
The impeller is a welded structure consisting of back plate, cover plate, impeller ring, blades
and hub.
Blades have been welded onto the back plate and cover plate with proper welding sequence.
The impeller ring is welded to the inlet side of the cover plate at its inside diameter. The hub is
welded to the back plate. Hub will have a taper bore for the mounting of the impeller on to the
shaft. The impeller is dynamically balanced.
5.8.3 Inlet Guide Vane Control Assembly

It is a one piece housing flanged at both sides, one connected to the inlet cone flange and the
other to the flange of the inlet bell. The blades of the IGV are thin sheets fixed on to the
individual shafts by rivets. All the IGV shafts are connected to a common ring through angular

joints and levers. The ring is divided and it is externally actuated by a power cylinder or
servomotor.
5.8.4 Shaft with Bearing Assembly
Shaft
It is a solid shaft dynamically balanced. Critical speed will be well above the operating speed
(more than 30 %). One end is having a taper on to which the impeller is mounted and the other
end is having provision for taking one coupling half through key. Torque is transmitted through
the keyed joint on the coupling side and by the taper fit to the impeller. Shaft is provided with
oil holes and grooves for hydraulic mounting and dismounting.
Bearings
Bearings for this NDFV fans are monoblock design with two cylindrical roller bearings and one
angular contact ball bearing kept in the same housing. Bearings and housings are the same for
fan sizes 18-25. The bearings are lubricated by stand oil. Presently forced oil circulation system
has also been envisaged as a safety measure in meeting the high temperature problems.
The advantages of the monoblock design are that the shaft is of short length . Hence it is easy
for machining th4e bearing locations in one setting and avoids a lot of misalignment. It is shop
assembled due to its compactness and hence only impeller mounting is done at site.
5.8.5 Seal Assembly

The sealing of the shaft passage through the spiral is effected axially by means of labyrinth and
radially by asbestos strips. The labyrinth seal is centered and fastened at the bearing housing.
As a consequence it is possible to adjust the gaps in the labyrinth seals very precisely.
5.9 CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES :

(NDV & NDZV Fans) Fig. 5.6
The fan as a whole can be divided into some major sub assemblies.
i) Spiral casing
ii) Impeller
iii) Shaft
iv) Bearings
v) Damper Assembly
vi) Sealing.
NOTE :Difference between NDV & NDZV fans is that one side suction chamber with damper is absent
in NDV fans.
5.9.1 Spiral Casing

The spiral casing consists of two parallel side walls, spiral wall, suction chamber and inlet cone.
It is split horizontally in the shaft axis plane. If necessary upper portion will also be vertically

split off center so that impeller installing is easy. The inlet cones and the suction chamber are
welded to the side walls. The casing walls, spiral wall and the suction chamber walls are
reinforced by rolled sections. Also the inside is reinforced without affecting the flow through
the casing.
The inlet cone helps in accelerating the flow and supports the inlet ring.
5.9.2 Impeller
The impeller is a completely welded structure. It consists of center plate or back plate, cover
plate, blades. The blades are welded between back plate and cover plate. Proper welding
sequence is followed to have minimum distortion.
The three different impellers are :
NDV - Single Suction with full back plate
NDZV - Double suction with common full center plate
NDZV - Double Suction saw-tooth type center plate
The saw tooth type wheel design has the center plate recessed between the blades. The other
things are same.
Blades are all of circular single are profile. The impeller ring comes at the inlet dia. Of the
cover plate. The center and hub discs have machined groove which ensures central location of
the wheel relative to the shaft during operation (running fit) The internal recess of center and
hub disc permits central assembly (assembly fit)
To protect the connection from wear between impeller, shaft and center disc a conical cover
plate is provided which is fixed to the center plate for NDZV fans and fixed to the hub disc in
the case NDV fans.
Upon completion of all welding operations, the impellers are stress relieved. It is dynamically
balanced.
5.9.3 Shaft
The shaft is a hollow tube with two end pins shrunk fit at the two ends and welded. Torque is
transmitted through the fit and the weld is only for securing purpose. The tube is controlled at
the inside diameter. The shaft ends are machined after welding. A flat split rings is welded on
to the shaft tube for taking up the shaft flange. The completed shaft is dynamically balanced.
The shaft's first speed must be at least 35 % above the operating speed. It is so dimensioned to
meet this requirement.
5.9.4 Bearings
The impeller is mounted on pillow block bearings. One is a locating bearing and the other is a
non locating (free) bearing. The bearings are spherical roller type housed in SOFN bearing
housing. Temperature gauges are provided on the housings for each bearing.

For special customer demands sleeve bearings sleeve bearings are also provided.
5.9.5 Damper Assembly

This consists of a single piece casing, damper flaps, damper bearings and the actuating
mechanism.
It is a welded casing flanged at both ends. The bearings pedestals are mounted to the side walls
by screws.
There are 3 to 5 flaps fixed by screws on the their shafts which are supported y pedestals
providing dry lubrication. The flat shafts carry clamping levers and the adjusting torque is
transmitting by feather keys and the individual clamping levers are connected by a linkage.
In double suction fans the two damper assemblies at the two suction chambers are connected
through universal joints and driven only from one side. Depending on the site conditions the
drive can be arranged on the linkage side. The adjusting travel is same for all fan sizes.
Connected to the drive unit is provided by an adjusting rod with ball joints. A graduated plate
indicates the flap position in degrees.
5.9.6 Seals
Sealing for the shaft with the spiral casing consists of a labyrinth section for axial and an
asbestos strip for radial sealing. The labyrinth seal in centrally located and screwed to the
bearing pedestal which helps precis controlling of the labyrinth passage.
The asbestos strip ensures that the movement of the spiral casing during hot conditions relative
to the impeller wheel does not affect the fans function.
The unmachined flanges of the spiral casing are sealed with asbestos rope.
5.10 CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES OF 'AP' FAN (FIG. 5.7)

The major sub-assemblies of this type of fans are:
i) Suction Chamber
ii) Shaft with Bearing Assembly
iii) Impeller Assembly
iv) Servomotor Assembly
v) Diffuser Assembly
5.10.1 Suction Chamber

This is a completely welded structure suitably stiffened to reduce the vibrations. Manhole is
provided for accessibility.
5.10.2 Shaft with Bearing Assembly

The bearings for this fan are placed inside a common housing and they are shop assembled on
to the shaft. It is very compact as the housing is placed inside the static hub (nose) which

guides the flow to the impeller. To one end of the shaft the impeller is either flange mounted or
taped mounted depending upon the size of the fan. This main shaft is connected to the prime
mover by means of an intermediate shaft with flexible coupling
5.10.3 Impeller Assembly

This is the most sophisticated and complicated part of the fan. It is a highly precision machined
and close tolerance one. The hub surface is special and 23 blades are located on the periphery.
The heart of the impeller is the one called supporting body, which is a casting. All the 23 Blades
are fixed on to individual shafts which are supported in the supporting body by bearings. The
other end of the shaft receives a lever through key joint. All the levers are connected to a disc
through jewel bearings which help in transferring the axial movement of the disc into a rotary
movement of the blade shafts and hence the blades.
5.10.4 Servomotor Assembly

A hydraulic Servomotor fixed on to the impeller hub on the discharge side helps in achieving
the actuation of the blades. The servomotor consists of a piston and cylinder assembly with
control slide and control spool. These are externally controlled by an oil system and electric
servomotor with proper linkages.
5.10.5 Diffuser Assembly

The diffuser is a completely welded structure with a core inside. This helps in converting the
Kinetic Energy into Pressure Energy. The linkages for the Servomotor are taken through eyes
provided on the diffuser. Outlet blades are also housed inside the diffuser. Actually the diffuser
core is supported by the outlet blades on the inlet side of the diffuser any by the struts on the
discharge side of the diffuser side of the diffuser. There is a manhole provided for attending to
the servomotor linkages etc.
6. DUST EXTRACTION PLANT

6.1 The methods used for the removal of dust from gases are many but, for power station
applications they are limited to two types, the mechanical collector which by centrifugal action
causes the dust particles to leave the gas stream by inertia and the electrostatic precipitator
which uses electrical forces to remove the dust from the gas stream.
To achieve higher extraction efficiency, it was the practice for some years to install a
mechanical dust collector before an electrostatic precipitator. The reason for this was that data
available at the time showed that a precipitator was not significantly affected by fine dust and
therefore one could put in a relatively cheap mechanical collector to remove 70 % of the dust,
leaving a smaller precipitator to deal with the balance of finer dust. The two units would
therefore give the over all efficiency required.
Unfortunately, the results obtained from these combined plants were disappointing and later
information showed that the performance of the precipitator was considerably reduced in
dealing with the finer dust resulting from the use of a mechanical pre-collector. In view of the
above power stations are provided with electrostatic precipitators alone.
6.2 ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

6.2.1 Working Principle
The principles upon which an electrostatic precipitator operates are that the dust laden gases
pass into a chamber where the individual particles of dust are given an electric charge by
absorption of free ions from a high voltage D.C. ionizing field. Electric forces cause a stream of
ions to pass from the discharge electrodes to the collecting electrodes and the particles of dust
entrained in the gas are deflected out of the gas stream onto the collecting surfaces where they
are retains, either by electrical or molecular attraction (See fig.6.1). They are removed by an
intermittent blow usually referred to as rapping this causes the dust particles to drop into the
dust hoppers situated below the collecting electrodes.
There are four different steps in the process of precipitation :
(i) Ionization of gases and charging of dust particles.

(ii) Migration of the particle to the collector.
(iii) Deposition of charged particles on the collecting surfaces
(iv) Dislodging of particles from the collecting surface.
6.2.2 Properties of Fly Ash

It would appear possible from physical and chemical tests on coal and dust to obtain sufficient
information to predict at least broadly, the behavior of a precipitator when used for collecting a
particular fly ash. Fly ash from fossil fuel burning vary markedly in composition depending on
the source of coal and degree and type of combustion. In addition to substantial quantities of
oxides of silicon, aluminium, iron and calcium as many as 30 to 40m additional elements are
present in traces to significant quantities.
Typical chemical properties of the Indian low Sulphur coal fly ash are given in Table 1.
(a) Particle Size

The size distribution of the fly ash entering the inlet of the electrostatic precipitators play a
major role in the performance of EP Typical particle size distribution is given in Table II
(b) Resistively
For temperatures below about 160 oC, the resistivity is dominated by the surface conduction
over the fly ash particles which in turn is greatly influenced by the chemical composition of the
flue gas. (i.e. H2O, SO3 etc.) At higher temperatures, or in a perfectly dry atmosphere the fly
ash behaves as semi insulator.
6.2.3 Performance Criteria

The performance of the electrostatic precipitator depends on several factors among the
prominent are:
(i) Characteristic of dust :

(a) Particle size distribution
(b) Dust loading
(c) Chemical composition.

(d) Electrical resistivity.
(e) Adhesive/cohesive properties.
(ii) Characteristics of gases :

(a) Temperature.
(b) Chemical composition.
(c) Moisture content.
(d) Quantity to be handled.
(e) Pressure.
6.2.4 Description
The electrostatic precipitator essentially consists of two sets of electrodes, one in the form of
thin wires called discharge or emitting electrodes and other set called collecting electrodes in
the form of pipes or plates. The emitting electrodes are placed in the center of pipes or midway
between two plates and are connected usually to negative polarity of high voltage D.C. source
of the order of 25 - 100 Kv. The collecting electrodes are connected to the positive polarity of
the source and grounded. Fig 6.2 shows the details of a typical precipitator used of collection of
fly ash.
6.2.5 Types
The precipitator can be basically classified into the following types :
(i) Dry or wet (irrigated).

(ii) Horizontal or vertical flow.
(iii) Plate type or tubular type.
For recovery of valuable material, dry type precipitator is normally chosen.
6.3 CONSTRUCTION DETAILS (BHEL DESIGN)

The major fundamental parts of the electrostatic precipitator consists of the following :
(i) Casing
(ii) Hoppers
(iii) Gas distributor screen
(iv) Collecting system
(v) Emitting system
(vi) Rapping mechanism for collecting system
(vii) Rapping mechanism for emitting system
(viii) Insulator housing.
6.3.1 Casing
The precipitator casing is designed for horizontal gas flow. It is an all -welded steel
construction, assembled from prevaricated wall and roof panels using panel construction. The
main part of the fabrication is done in the workshop.
The gas pressure and temperature and the wind load will cause the casing structure to flex.

Problem free precipitator operation requires that the electrode contained in and supported by
the casing remain perfectly aligned. Therefore excessive flexing of the casing must be avoided.
6.3.2 Hopper
The hoppers are of pyramidal type (Figure 6.2). Also rough type and flat-bottom precipitators
with scraper conveyors are available for some applications. The valley angle of the hoppers
(angle between hopper corner and horizontal is never less than 55 oC and offer more to ensure
easy dust flow down to the feed out flange.
All hoppers have gas baffles.
To ensure free flow of ash into the disposal system lower portions of the hoppers are provided
with electrical heaters with thermostatic control.
6.3.3 Gas Distribution Screen

The gas velocity in the precipitator is approximately 1/10th of the velocity in the ducting before
the precipitator. It is therefore essential that the precipitator has arrangements to give an even
gas distribution over its entire cross sectional area. Special gas distribution screens are
therefore located at the inlet of the precipitator 1. The screens are of modular design and hang
within a frame work in the precipitator casing inlet. During the final checking of the gas flow
pattern additional deflector plates are added on to the screens, if necessary.
6.3.4 Collecting System

The 'G' profiled collecting electrode is base do the concept of dimensional stability. The upper
edge of the collecting plates are provided with hooks, which are hung from support angles
welded to the roof structure (fig. 6.3). The lower edge of each plate has a shock receiving plate,
which is securely guided by the shock bar arrangement. This results in a stable collecting
system similar to the emitting system.
The collecting plates are made of 1.6 mm steel plate and shaped in one piece by roll forming.
Rigidity is the main purpose for the special design of the collecting plate edges.
In order to assure the most rigid construction, taller collecting plate (10m) are connected to one
another by transverse guides, thereby preventing any swinging tendencies.
6.3.5 Emitting System

The emitting system is an important part of the precipitator. The emitting frame work is
thoroughly braced and forms a rigid box-like structure (Figure 6.4). The frame is assembled,
adjusted and welded to its final position inside the casing , which makes it possible to obtained
and maintain highly accurate electrode spacing.
The frame work has a four point suspension effectively taking care of the expansion when hot
gas is entering. All sharp edges and ends of frame parts are rounded to avoid excessive flash
overs.
Wire type electrodes give the best current distribution. Therefore they are the ones best suited
for difficult dusts with high electric resistivity.

6.3.6 Rapping mechanism for Collecting System.
Each collecting plate has a shock receiving plate at its lower end. The plate is one row of each
field are interfaced to one another by these shock receiving irons resting in slots in the shock bar
thus maintaining the required spacing. The shock bars are kept in alignment with guides located
at the front and rear of each shock bar. Each collecting plate is hung on an eccentric positioned
hook to ensure that the shock-receiving iron of the collecting plate is constantly resting against
the shock bar. In this manner the highest possible energy is transferred to the collecting plate
when the 'tumbling hammer' s the corresponding shock bar. A review of the plate rapping
system is as follows :
The system (Fig. 63) employs 'tumbling hammers which are mounted on a horizontal shaft in a
staggered fashion, with one hammer for each shock bar. As the shaft rotates slowly each of the
hammers in turn over balances and tumbles, hitting its associated shock bar. The shock bar
transmits the blow simultaneously to all of the collecting plate in one row because of their direct
contact with the shock bar. A uniform rapping effect is provided for all collecting plates in one
row.
It is of prime importance in any rapping system to avoid excessive re-entertainment of the dust
into the gas stream during the rapping procedure. With the tumbling hammer rapping
mechanism the plates are given an acceleration, which cause the collected dust to shear away
from the collecting plates and fall down in large agglomerates. These large agglomerates, which
result from a single shock shearing action greatly reduce the possibility of dust re-entrainment
during rapping.
The rapping frequency should be as low as possible in order to minimize dust losses from
rapping. The frequency of each rapping system is adjustable within a wide range. There is one
set of rapping equipment provided for each bus section so that the frequency can be suited to the
conditions in that individual area.
6.3.7 Rapping System for Emitting Electrodes

During electrostatic precipitation, a fraction of the dust will be collected on the emitting
electrodes and the corona will gradually be suppressed as the dust layer grows. It is therefore
necessary to rap the emitting electrodes occasionally. This rapping is done with a rapping
system employing 'Tumbling Hammers" which are mounted on a horizontal shaft in a staggered
fashion (Figure 6.4). These hammers hit specially designed shock beams to which the
intermediate part of the emitting frame of each duct is attached. In this manner the shock
energy generated by the hammer is transmitted to the emitting electrodes.
One rapping mechanism is provided per electrical bus section. The driving arrangement for the
rapping mechanism is located either on the roof or on the side wall of the precipitator. The
operation of the gear motor for the rapping mechanism is controlled by a programmer relay,
which is adjusted to optimum conditions at the time of commissioning. Subsequent adjustments
can easily be carried out during operation, should operating conditions vary.
6.4 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

For optimum functional efficiency of the precipitator, the supply voltage should be maintained
near the flash over level between the precipitator electrodes. This can be achieved by an
electronic control system which rises the output voltage to flash over level and reduces it
automatically by a small amount in the event of a flash over.
An additional increase in voltage beyond the normal operating zone produces a disproportionate
increase in current accompanied by heavy sparking and a rapid reduction in dust collection
efficiency. Experience has shown that the maximum dust collecting efficiency is related to the
amount of minor sparking that occurs on the electrodes. Thus the function of effective control
system is :-
(a) To operate the precipitator by a current and voltage that will vary according to the conditions in
the precipitator, maintaining a high efficiency by controlling the spark rate.
(b) To provide an inherent arc suppression by arranging for the power supply output to reduce
practically to zero for the duration of an arc.
(c) To provide back up protection against sustained power arc or persistent low voltage conditions
by means of an under voltage alarm circuit.
(d) To indicate when the power supply is inadequate or a power arc is sustained due to fault
conditions by means of visual and audio alarms.
(e) Provision of manual and automatic circuits.
The rectifier-control provides all the modern controls and has a spark rate controller unit which
controls a spark rate of 5 to 10 sparks per minute to maintain optimum dust collection
efficiency. The rectifier system provides a smoother control of output current from 10 % to 100
% of the rated value and also maintains the constant current output.
6.5 INTERLOCKING SYSTEM

This system is designed for the safety of the personnel and protection of equipment during the
operation and maintenance. This system will not operate unless the instructions are followed
sequentially.
The system consists of rotary switches interlocks and key exchange boxes.
The exchanges boxes are located in control room and at prominent places on the precipitator
casing.
In the interlocking system, the insulator housings, inspection doors, hopper doors, HV isolating
switches are provided with key interlocks.
Each key designation consists of numbers and letters representing the unit involved, type of unit
and its location
TABLE 6.1 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CAOL ASH FROM INDIAN COALS.
Singreni Pence West Kampte Seam
Fe2O3 3.20 7.90 12.50
SiO2 61.01 62.70 59.00
Al2O3 31.06 24.80 23.00

CaO 0.86 0.88 1.10
MgO 0.13 0.62 0.50
TiO2 2.24 1.48 1.40
P2O5 0.10 0.11 0.17
Na2O 0.16 0.16 0.14
K2O 0.79 0.90 0.88
SO3 0.445 0.45 1.31
TABLE 6.2 TYPICAL FLY ASH ANALYSIS ENTERING THE DUST COLLECTOR
(Pulverized Fuel Bituminous Coal)
Micron Size % Distribution by Weight

10 32
10 - 20 24
20 - 30 14
30 - 40 10
Over 40 20

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1.1 BOILING STEAM GENERATION

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1.3 CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

1.3.2 TYPES OF BOILER CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

1.3.2.1 SOME DESIGNERS HAVE THE FOLLOWING CLASSIFICATIONS FOR TYPES OF

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a) Natural circulation ; as described earlier.

(i) Sudden over loads

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1.5 CIRCULATION RATIO

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(i) Utility Boilers …. 6 to 9

1.6 DESIGN CRITERIA OF A CIRCULATION SYSTEM.

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1.7 FORCED CIRCULATION

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1.8 ASSISTED CIRCULATION, `RECIRCULATING' FORCED CIRCULATION.

1.9 STEAM SEPARATION & PURITY

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1.9.1.2 THE STEAM CONTAMINATION MAY ALSO ARISE BECAUSE OF CARRY

1.9.2.1 DESIGN FACTORS

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1.10 METHODS OF STEAM SEPARATION

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1.11 BLOW DOWN

Let T tonnes of steam taken out per hr.

P = T (Kf - Ks) (P x Kf is neglected as quantity is quite small)

% blow down = (Kf - Ks) x 100 based upon steam out-put.

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Capacity Rel Vol.

A 30 MW, Boiler will require around 6.5 m3 of furnace space.

2.2 STEAM PRESSURE

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2.4 BASIC BOILER TYPES

2.5 IMPACT OF FUEL

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2.5.2 FUEL BURNING & PREPARATION EQUIPMENT:

2.6 EFFECT OF STEAM CYCLE

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2.7.4 ASH HOPPER SEAL OR THROUGH SEAL

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Dry bottom furnace

Oil fired furnace

Slag type or wet bottom type.

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2.11 DRAFT SYSTEM

2.11.6 Draft System Flow Resistance

The flow pressure pattern in the draft system may be presented as :

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2.12.2 Location, arrangement and design criteria

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2.12.3 Economizer types

2.13 PRESSURE PART MATERIALS

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Table - 1 Chemical Composition Austenitic Tube Steels

Carbon 0.11 0.17 0.09 0.15

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