Blowdown

6.3 Blowdown

Contents
6.3.1 What should TDS of my boiler be?.......................................................................................2
6.3.2 What is the purpose of blowdown?.......................................................................................2
6.3.3 What problems are caused by carry over?..........................................................................3
Case Study-1..............................................................................................................................3
6.3.4 What is the difference between intermittent and continuous blowdown?.......................4
6.3.5

How should I minimize blowdown?..................................................................................7

6.3.6 How much blowdown is needed?..........................................................................................8

Case Study-2..............................................................................................................................9
6.3.7 What is the impact of condensate recovery on TDS?......................................................11
Case Study-3............................................................................................................................11
6.3.8 When should I recover heat from blowdown?...................................................................12
Case Study-4............................................................................................................................12
Case Study-5............................................................................................................................13
6.3.9 What care should be taken while blowdown?...................................................................14

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6.3.1 What should TDS of my boiler be?

The figures below are offered as a broad guide only for process boilers. The boiler
manufacturer should always be consulted for specific recommendations.

Maximum TDS tolerated by boiler type

Lancashire
2-pass economic
Package and 3-pass economic
Low pressure water tube
Medium pressure water tube
Coil Boilers and Generators

Maximum TDS (ppm)

10,000
4,500
3,000-3,500
2,000-3,000
1,500
2,000

6.3.2 What is the purpose of blowdown?

Water is not pure. It contains a lot of impurities like dissolved solids, suspended
solids, dissolved gases and scum forming substances.

Some of these impurities are carried in the boiler water. When steam is generated
the dissolved solids present in the boiler water continue to remain in the boiler and
the amount of dissolved solids in the boiler water increases. Some of the dissolved
solids form scales resulting in localized heating which progressively lead to tube
failure.
Also, high level of total dissolved solids (TDS) encourages foaming and carryover.
Therefore to control the level of concentrations, blowdown is carried out. In order to
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maintain an optimum level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) the blowdown water is
replaced by fresh feed water.
Blowdown is necessary to protect the heat exchanger surfaces in boiler.

6.3.3 What problems are caused by carry over?

As the boiler generates steam, any impurities which are present in the feed
water and which do not boil off with steam will concentrate in the boiler water.
As the concentration of dissolved solids increases, the steam bubbles tend to
become more stable, failing to burst as they reach the water surface of the
boiler. There comes a point where a substantial part of the steam space in
the boiler is filled with bubbles and foam which then gets carried with the
steam.
The increased moisture content in the steam is wastage of fuel as only steam
participates in heat exchange process. The illustration below shows the
decrease in dryness fraction to an increase in the level of TDS.
Case Study-1
Parameters
Boiler Design Pressure
Boiler Operating Pressure
Boiler Efficiency
Fuel Used
Feed water (softened) TDS
Blow down TDS
Steam Demand
At a TDS level of 8000ppm the

10 barg
8 barg
70%
Coal GCV 3000 kcal/kg
800 ppm
8000 ppm
2 TPH
steam would be 85% dry i.e. there would be a

15% moisture carryover, while at 3500ppm steam is 98% dry.

6.3.4 What is the difference between intermittent and continuous blowdown?

Continuous blowdown has a calibrated blowdown valve and blowdown tap near the
boiler water surface. It draws off water continuously from the top of boiler surface.
The rate at which blowdown needs to be carried out is pre-determined and hence
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requires no regular operator intervention.

The concentration of impurities in the water should be controlled by blowdown from
steam drum and blowdown from the mud drum or bottom header removes
suspended solids, mud or sludge from the boiler.

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Intermittent (Manual) Blowdown Operation

All steam boiler include a means for manual blowdown as standard equipment.
Manual blowdown allows for removal of solids that settle at the bottom of the boiler.
TDS must be controlled accurately near to maximum level, in order to minimize
blowdown, and to avoid carryover and foaming caused by TDS levels. Consider a
scenario of manual operation of blowdown valve by operator:

The boiler operator opens the blowdown valve when the TDS
level of boiler water goes above the set point and closes the
valve when the TDS level goes below the set point.

So, over a period of time there is a large fluctuation in the TDS

level of the boiler water. High TDS level causes scaling and
carryover which is bad for boiler and also for equipments along
the steam line.

Low TDS levels causes loss of sensible heat and thus wastage
of fuel.

Thus, manual blowdown control is not energy efficient!!

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Over
Blowdo
wn

Boiler Pressure
drop

Under
Blowdo
wn High TDS Levels

resulting in foaming
and Water Carryover
resulting wet steam

Steam supply
fluctuations
affecting
production
throughput

Water hammering
resulting in the
wear & tear of
pipeline and
process
equipments

Loss of useful
heat

Reduced heat
transfer
efficiency due
to scaling
Increase in
Stack
temperature
Scaling of
Boiler Tubes
over a period
of time

6.3.5 How should I minimize blowdown?

Blowdown can be minimized by Automatic Blowdown Operation and by maintaining
the dissolved solids level to an optimum level inside the boiler.
In automatic blowdown, the blowdown valve opens automatically when the
boiler water TDS level exceeds its permissible level in the boiler. This TDS
level is calculated by the conductivity of the boiler water.
TDS = Conductivity x 0.7
Where,
TDS = Total Dissolved Solids in ppm
Conductivity = measured in microSiemens/cm (S/cm)

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The blowdown valve closes automatically just below the allowable TDS level.
The fluctuation of TDS level is very less, hence there is no scaling or
carryover or wastage of fuel.

6.3.6 How much blowdown is needed?

The quantity of boiler water that needs to be removed to maintain the TDS level can
be calculated by the following formula:
Amount to be blown down =

F XS
BF
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Where,
F = Feed water TDS (ppm)
B = Boiler water TDS level required (ppm)
S = Steam generation rate (kg/h)
Actual blowdown and required blowdown can be calculated using the following
formula:
Actual blowdown

Required blowdown =

FXS
B 1F

F XS
BF

Where,
F = Feed water TDS (ppm)
B = Boiler water TDS level required (ppm)
B1 = Actual boiler water TDS maintained (ppm)
S = Steam generation rate (kg/h)
Excess blowdown can be calculated as:

Excess
Blowdo
wn

Actual
Blowdo
wn

Require
d
Blowdo
wn

The blowdown water is at saturation temperature of water at boiler operating

pressure. So, if the heat in the blowdown water is recovered then some savings can
be calculated as follows:

Savings

Excess Blowdown X Sensible heat lost X Cost of fuel X No . of working hrs per annum
GCV of fuel X Efficiency of boiler X Specific gravity of fuel (only if oil)
Case Study-2
A boiler is fed with soft water (feed water) containing 250 ppm dissolved solids. As per
standards, the maximum dissolved solids in boiler should be 3500 ppm. In order to
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maintain the specified level of TDS an automatic blowdown system is adopted. The
calculations below show the blown down quantity:

Given Information
F = Feed water TDS (ppm) = 250 ppm
B = Boiler target TDS (ppm) = 3,500 ppm
S = Boiler steaming rate (kg/h) = 10,000 kg/h
Feed water temperature = 30 oC
Cost of furnace oil (fuel) = Rs. 50/litre
Furnace oil, specific gravity = 0.88

Amount to be blown down =

FXS
250 X 10000
=
BF
3500250

= 769 kg/h

However the boiler was maintained at 3000 ppm of dissolved solids. The calculation
shows the amount of savings obtained as a result of this:
Given Information:
Ba = Actual Boiler TDS (ppm) maintained = 3000 ppm

Amount actually blown down =

FXS
=
BaF

250 X 10000
= 909 kg/h
3000250

Amount of excess blowdown =909 769 = 140 kg/h

Net Savings =

Savingblowdown x Sensible heat lost x Cost of fuel

GCV of fuel x Efficiency of boiler x Sp . gravity of fuel ( if oil )
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140 x 24 x ( 18430 ) x 50 x 100

10200 x 80 x 0.92

= Rs. 3446 per day

Total Saving = Rs. 1,03,338 per month

Bottom blowdown chart:
The amount of blowdown can also be measured using the bottom blowdown chart as
below:

A large valve when slammed wide open, even for a very short time with boiler
pressure behind it, results in a very high release of energy!
For example, the graph shows at what pressure and size of blowdown valve, what
will be the blowdown rate in kg/sec.
This will help us arrive at the sensible heat contained in blowdown quantity at that
pressure.

6.3.7 What is the impact of condensate recovery on TDS?

Condensate being as good as distilled water has negligible TDS and can be
returned directly to the feed water tank. Recovering condensate reduces the
overall TDS of the feed water and thereby reduces the blowdown losses from
the boiler (see illustration below).
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Case Study-3
Consider a steam load of 6 TPH of which 50% i.e. 3 TPH is indirect steam
consumption.
TDS of feed water (soft water): 100 ppm
TDS of condensate: 10 ppm
TDS maintained in boiler: 3500 ppm

Condensate recovered
Avg. TDS addition to the boiler

Case 1
Nil
100 ppm

Blowdown per day

4.2 TPD

Case 2
3 TPH
100+10
= 55 ppm
2
2.9 TPD

6.3.8 When should I recover heat from blowdown?

Any boiler with continuous blowdown exceeding 5% of steam rate should consider
recovering heat from blowdown. If your plant has intermittent (manual) blowdown system
consider switching to continuous blowdown coupled with heat recovery.
Blowdown heat can be recovered with a heat exchanger, flash tank or flash tank in
combination with a heat exchanger. The blowdown is flashed in a flash vessel to obtain
low pressure steam. This low pressure steam is typically used to increase feed water
temperature.

Recovering heat from blowdown flash

Blowdown water is at the same pressure and temperature as water in the
boiler drum. It is possible to recover the heat in the blowdown water by
separating the flash steam from the blow down before draining it. This flash
steam can be recovered and utilized to increase the feed water temperature.
Case Study-4
Continuing the Case study-3
Liquid enthalpy hf at 10 bar = 186.77 kcal/kg
Liquid enthalpy hf at 0.5 bar = 111.78 kcal/kg
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Latent heat hfg at 0.5 bar = 531.7 kcal/kg

hf high pressurehf low pressure
hfglow pressure

% flash generated =

186.77111.78
531.7

x 100

x 100 = 14.1 %

Amount of flash steam generated= 769 kg/h x 14.1% = 108 kg/h

hg of steam = 643.43 kcal/kg
Energy in flash steam =108 x 643.43 = 69490 kcal/kg
Calculator for % flash
This flash steam can be recovered and utilized to increase the feed water
temperature.
Recovering heat from blowdown water
For large boilers besides blow down flash we can additionally recover the
blowdown heat via a heat exchanger. These methods minimize the heat loss
through blowdown, saving fuel.
Case Study-5
Continuing the case study-4
Total blowdown = 769 kg/h with 108 kg/h flash steam
Water flowrate required = 769-157 = 612 kg/h
Energy in water
Enthalpy (hf) of saturated water at 0.5 bar = 111.78 kcal/kg
Enthalpy of water at 50 oC = 50 kcal/kg
Energy available to heat make up water = 111.78-50= 61.78 kcal/kg
Total energy that can be recovered = 612 x 61.78 = 37809 kcal/h
This energy can be utilized to increase the feed water temperature.
Calculator for BHRS

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6.3.9 What care should be taken while blowdown?

Safety care
In order to prevent the uncontrolled flashing of steam in the boiler room, the
blowdown water should be discharged into a vessel in which the flashing can
occur in a controlled manner.
Environment care
Environmental laws state that the temperature of the discharged hot water
should be less than 60 oC. Hot water promotes excessive growth of bacteria
leading to degradation of sewer lines.
Hence additional steps should be taken to bring down the temperature of
blowdown water from its boiling point to 60 oC or less.
One of the ways is to use the blowdown water in heat exchanger to heat
incoming water which can be used as feed water which in turn cools down the
temperature of the blowdown water to specified norms.

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