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com/power-plants/41375-running-a-coal-fired-
boiler-at-the-best-efficiency/
Boiler efficiency is mainly depended on the amount of losses in the system. In high capacity
pulverized coal fired boilers the total losses account to about 12 to 14%. Roughly 50% of the
losses are governed by fuel properties like hydrogen in fuel, moisture in fuel and ambient air
conditions. The other 50% losses are carbon loss and dry gas loss.
The best efficiency in the boiler can be achieved if the losses are kept to the minimum. Since
50% of the losses are dependent on the fuel and ambient condition, the best efficiency can be
achieved by properly tuning the other 50%, i.e. mainly carbon loss and dry gas loss.
Carbon loss
Carbon loss is due to unburned carbon in fly ash and bottom ash. Normally the unburned in
bottom ash in the pulverised fuel firing are higher sized particle and of higher specific gravity
having the unburned macerals like Fusinite embedded in mineral matter and the low melting
constituents encapsulating the reactive maceral. Fly ash of pulverised coal firing system is
around 80 to 90 percent of the total ash removed. The normal types of unburned are inert
macerals, cenospheres, and carbonaceous clay.
The factors having the greatest influence on carbon loss are the boiler type, volatile matter
content in the coal, furnace heat loading (heat input/furnace volume), mass fraction of pulverised
coal smaller than 75 mm and excess air.
Dry gas loss
The dry gas loss accounts to about 40% of total losses. Dry gas loss is due to the heat carried
away by the flue gases leaving the boiler. Today many of the boiler designers reduce this loss by
recovering the heat after low temperature superheater by larger economizer and air pre-heaters.
As designers go for lower and lower exit gas temperature the size of air pre-heaters go up.
Keep an optimal excess air level, generally about 20% in a coal fired boiler
Tune combustion of coal to the optimal condition.
Understand the coal being fired
Proper distribution of combustion air at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels
Keep the required fineness of coal about 75% through 200 mesh and less than 2% on 50
mesh sieve
Keep the maximum mill outlet temperature to reduce air bypassing air pre-heater
Soot blowing the entire heat transfer surface at an optimal frequency
Minimize the air in leakage to the boiler
Dry gas loss is also influenced by the economizer feed water inlet temperature and the ambient
air temperature, which change the heat recovery pattern of economiser & air-pre-heater.
Minor losses
There are a few minor losses in boiler which can also be tuned are the mill reject loss and the
carbon monoxide loss. The mill reject loss depends on the amount of pyrite in coal and the mill
operating condition. The rejects by the mill do have a heat value which is accounted as mill
reject loss. This can be minimized by properly maintaining the mill cleanaces and operating at
the optimal condition. The carbon-monoxide loss is due to combustion not being fully
completed. However small these losses are, the present environmental condition requires these
losses also to be kept to the minimum.
Other losses like loss due to moisture in fuel, air moisture loss, loss due to hydrogen in fuel, etc
also get affected by change in exit gas temperature, but the major impact on these losses is by
fuel and ambient property. When dry gas loss and carbon loss are kept to the optimum level then
the boiler is operated with its best efficiency.
Related Reading
Classification of Steam Boilers – Boiler classification can be based on many factors like usage,
fuel fired, fuel firing system, type of arrangement etc. Commonly known types are pulverized
coal fired boilers, fluidized bed boilers, super critical boilers, oil and gas fired boilers. All cater
to industrial and power generation.
Coal Analysis for Boiler Designers – Hydrocarbon fuels are the major source of energy for
power and process steam generation, and coal takes a major share in this. Boiler furnace design
will depend more on fuel characteristics, and further heat transfer surface sizing will depend on
furnace outlet temperature.
Furnace Size Varies for Gas, Oil and Coal Firing – Furnace sizing is a very important for a
successful boiler design. The variation in boiler furnace size can upset the performance
drastically. Oil and gas fired units have more uniform sizes, but the coal fired units have large
variation.
High Ash Coals – A challenge to Power Plants – Optimisation of combustion in high ash coal
fired boilers is of special interest due to the organic and inorganic mix up and the large amount
of variation in the organics. One such experience with Indian low reactive coal in a tangential
fired steam generator of 670 T/hr capacity is given here.