25th March 2015 MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE

MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE

ET – ‘08 477
CHAPTER 53
BOILER MAINTENANCE
The maintenance of boiler is categorized under three ways.
1. Preventive maintenance
2. Predictive/annual maintenance
3. Break down maintenance
53.1 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Preventive maintenance is carried out to access the status of equipment and requirement
of maintenance. Preventive measures to extend the life of equipment before break
down.
It is carried out under two headings.
1. Daily maintenance
2. Periodical maintenance
1. Daily Maintenance
Maintenance check list during operation
1. Check the correctness of water level in the control desk with direct level glass.
2. Check the level indicators for proper illumination.
3. Check the combustor for proper fluidisation through peep holes.
4. Check for unusual noises for steam leakages.
5. Check for unusual noises from fans/pumps
6. Check for vibration in rotary equipments
7. Check for unusual traces of water on floor, buckstays or castings.
8. Check for oil spills around burner
9. Check for valve gland leakages.
10. Check for air leakages from ducts and flue.
11. Check for hot spots, bulging etc. on casings, ducts.
12. Check the positions of dampers and cleanliness.
13. Check for safety valve steam leakages.
14. Check the bearings for lubrication and cooling water systems
15. Check the fan damper linkages for lubrication and cleanliness
MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE
ET – ‘08 478
16. Check all alarm annunciation with respect to set points
2. Periodic Maintenance
1. Water jacket cleaning: As fly ash temperature is very high, water jacket is provided
to the intermediate ash hoppers of boiler bank, economiser and APH to cool the
ash. If the ash temperature is high it may cause damage to the seals and escape
through the gaps.
The water jacket is drained periodically and scales and sludges are removed.
2. Oil draining and cleaning: small quantity of oil drained out of the bearings, check
for viscosity variation and presence of metals deposits in it. The presence of metal
deposits in oil is a symptom of bearing wear out.
53.2 PREDICTIVE/ANNUAL MAINTENANCE
During the annual maintenance, the plant is shut down and all boiler parts are checked
for their functionality.
SR. COMPONENTS INSPECTION REQUIRED FOR
1. Drum (Water side) Corrosion, Scale/deposits, Pitting, Metal reduction,
Manhole seat, Process tapping, Internal
cleanliness.
2. Chemical dosing pipe in
steam drum
Plugging, Tightness, Holes orientation, Corrosion,
Pitting
3. Continuous blowdown
pipe in steam drum
Plugging, Tightness, Holes orientation, Corrosion,
Pitting
4. Headers(Water side) Corrosion, Scale, Pitting, Metal reduction,
Deposits
5. Headers(Gas side) Corrosion, Sagging, Overheating, Fly ash erosion,
Scaling supports, Cracks, Expansion clearance,
Steam impingement, Refractory status, Insulation
6. Furnace tubes(water
side)
Corrosion, Scale, Pitting, Metal reduction
7. Furnace tubes(Gas side) Corrosion, build up, Blisters, Sagging,
Overheating, Fly ash erosion, Scaling supports,
MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE
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Cracks, Expansion clearance, Steam impingement,
Refractory status, Insulation, erosion
8. Superheaters (steam
side)
Corrosion, Scale, Pitting, Metal reduction,
Deposits, Flare cracking, Erosion
9. Superheaters (gas side) Corrosion, build up, Blisters, Sagging,
Overheating, Fly ash erosion, Scaling supports,
Cracks, Expansion clearance, Steam impingement,
Refractory status, Insulation
10. Economiser(water side) Corrosion, Scale, Pitting
11. Economiser(gas side) Corrosion, build up, Blisters, Sagging,
Overheating, Fly ash erosion, Scaling supports,
Cracks, Expansion clearance, Steam impingement,
Tightness of access door
12. Refractory Looseness, Missing pieces, Erosion, Sealing,
Burner throat refractory, Flame impingement on
refractory, Refractory holding arrangement, Baffle
tile status, Corrosion, Erosion, Leakages.
13. Fans Clearance between rotor and casing, Damper
operating mechanisms, Bearing clearance,
Lubrication arrangement, Cooling water
arrangement, Fly ash deposits, Shaft seal
condition, Coupling arrangement
14. Air preheater Cooling discs, Gas side plugging, Gas side
cleanliness, Air side cleanliness, Gas side
corrosion, Gas side sealing, Air side sealing, Drive
mechanism, Soot blower status(if any)
15. Wind box Bed material in ducts, Thermocouple and pressure
taps for erosion/corrosion,
16. Fuel oil pumps(gear
pumps)
Backlash, Bearing, Clearances, Leakages, Oil
seals, Condition of valves, Relief valve functions
17. Oil burners Oil/Steam line pressure, Regulators functioning,
Strainers cleanliness, leakages, Erosion of burners
tips, Carbonization of nozzles
MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE
ET – ‘08 480
18. Valves Erosion, Corrosion, Leakages, Spindle movement,
Handle rigidity, Drive mechanism, Lubrication
19. Safety valves Valve nozzle condition, Disc seat condition,
Corrosion of internals, Pitting/ cracks, Valve
spring status, Spring squareness, Corrosion of
springs.
20. Silencer status Discharge pipe rigidity, Expansion clearance,
Valve setting
21. Deaerator Feed pipe status, Dosing pipe status, Spray nozzle
status, Sediments, Corrosion.
53.3 ANNUAL MAINTENANCE OF SOME BOILER PARTS AND
ITS AUXILIARIES
a. BOILER DRUM
During shut down period, drum is opened and all the defective parts are replaced.
Scale formation on the different parts of the boiler drum is descaled. Tightness of
separating chamber is ensured by torch test. Readjust all the safety valve pressures.
b. WATER WALL
Water walls are cleaned by wire brush or water jet. Internal diameter of water walls
are checked with the limit gauge suiting to the site conditions and ultrasonic
equipment are used to check the wall thickness and depth of erosion. Maintenance
of water wall is done by cutting the defective portion and welding the new tube in
preventive maintenance.
c. PRESSURE PARTS
Condition of pressure parts can be assessed by NDT method. Ultra thickness gauge
is used to measure the tube thickness which will indicate the external and internal
corrosion, erosion and pitting. Radiography can also be used for this purpose.
Erosion is indicated by polished surface appearance, gauging holes in the duct
expansion, joints etc.
MAINTENANCE BOILER MAINTENANCE
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d. FANS
Check for proper tightening of all bolts in the stator and rotor parts.
Check impeller blades for wear or any damage.
Check critical impeller clearances.
Check for oil leakage from bearing housing, blade bearing assembly and
servomotor.
e. COAL CRUSHER
Primary coal crushers are checked for gap between the rolls.
53.4 BREAKDOWN MAINTENANCE
This is carried out when the system ceases to work.
a. TUBE FAILURES
Operating a boiler with a known tube leak is not recommended. Steam or water
escaping from the steam leak can cut other tubes by impingement and set up a
chain reaction of the tube failures.
Small leaks can be sometimes be detected by the loss of water in the cycle or
system, a loss in boiler chemicals or by the noise made by the leak. If a leak is
suspected , shutdown the boiler as soon as possible.
After the exact location of the leaks are located, the leaks may be repaired by
replacing the failed tube by splicing in a new section of tube.
b. BACK FLUSHING OF SUPERHEATER COILS
Under steady load conditions of plant operations, the fluctuation in demand for
steam from boiler will be very minimum about 5% . but when there are large load
fluctuation in multiboiler installation, the steam load swing are passed on from
one boiler to the other. Under such conditions, there is a possibility for water
carryover to superheater coils.
During water carryover the salts in water may deposit inside the coil which will
affect the heat transfer and lead to premature coil failure. The purpose of back
flushing is to remove the water soluble salts deposited inside the coils.
Posted 25th March 2015 by kishorereddy kattukolu

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