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A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover isstea m drive
n. Water is heated, turns into
steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it p
asses through the turbine, the
steam iscondensed in acondenser; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest
variation in the design of
thermal power stations is due to the different fuel sources. Some prefer to use
the term energy center because
such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy. However, po
wer plant is the most common
term in the United States, while power station prevails in many Commonwealth cou
ntries and especially in the
United Kingdom.
Almost allcoa l,nucl ear,geoth ermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incinera
tion plants, as well as many
natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequentlyco mbusted in gas
turbines as well asboilers. The
waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle pl
ant that improves overall
efficiency.Such power stations are most usually constructed on a very large scal
e and designed for continuous
operation.
History
Reciprocating steam engines have been used for mechanical power sources since th
e 18th Century, with notable
improvements being made by James Watt. The very first commercial central electri
cal generating stations in
New York and London, in 1882, also used reciprocating steam engines. As generato
r sizes increased, eventually
turbines took over due to higher efficiency and lower cost of construction. By t
he 1920s any central station
larger than a few thousand kilowatts would use a turbine prime mover.
Efficiency
The electric efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as s
aleable energy produced at the
plant busbars compared with the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically
33 to 48% efficient, limited as
all heat engines are by the laws ofther mod yna mics (See: Carnot cycle). The re
st of the energy must leave the
plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can be disposed of with cooling water
or in cooling towers. If the
waste heat is instead utilized for e.g. district heating, it is calledcogenera t
ion. An important class of thermal
power station are associated withdesal inat ion facilities; these are typically
found in desert countries with large
supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electrici
ty are equally important co-
products.
Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the a
bsolute temperatures of the steam
at turbine input and output, efficiency improvements require use of higher tempe
rature, and therefore higher
pressure, steam. Historically, other working fluids such asmer cur y have been e
xperimentally used in amer cur y
vapour turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than wate
r at lower working pressures.
However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, and poor heat transfer properties, hav
e ruled out mercury as a
working fluid.
Thermal power station
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Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
Typical diagram of a coal-fired thermal power station
1. Cooling to wer
10. Steam control valve
19.Superheater
2. Cooling water pump
11. High pressurestea m turbine
20. Forced draught (draft)fan
3. Three-phase transmission line
12.Deaerator
21. Reheater
4. Step-uptransfor mer
13. Feedwater heater
22.Combustion air intake
5. Electrical generator
14. Coal conveyor
23.Econo miser
6. Low pressure steam turbine
15.Coal hopper
24. Air preheater
7. Boiler feedwater pump
16. Coal pulverizer
25.Precipi tator
8. Surface condenser
17. Boiler steam drum
26. Induced draught (draft)fan
9. Intermediate pressurestea m
turbine
18. Bottom ash hopper
27. Flue gas stack
Steam generator
Schematic diagram of typical coal-fired power plant steam generator highlighting
the air preheater (APH)
location. (For simplicity, any radiant section tubing is not shown.)
The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure an
d temperature required for the
steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. The generator includes the e
conomizer, the steam drum, the
chemical dosing equipment, and thefurnace with its steam generating tubes and th
e superheater coils.
Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler
pressure. The air and flue gas
path equipment include: forced draft (FD)fan, air preheater (APH), boiler furnac
e, induced draft (ID) fan, fly
ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator orbaghouse
) and the flue gas stack.[1
][2][3]
For units over about 200MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by
installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID fan with is
olating dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead
be provided.
Boiler furnace and steam drum
Once water inside theboil er or steam generator, the process of adding the laten
t heat of vaporization orenthalp y
is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction o
f burning some type of fuel.
The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called thee
cono mizer. From the
economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it
goes down the downcomers to
the lower inlet waterwall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises throug
h the waterwalls and is
eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners loca
ted on the front and rear
waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwall
s, the steam/vapor once again
enters the steam drum. The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and w
ater separators and then dryers
inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove the water droplets
from the steam and the cycle
through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation
.
The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includescoa l feed nozzles and igniter gu
ns, soot blowers, water lancing
and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace inte
rior. Furnaceexplosions due to
any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing o
ut such gases from the
combustion zone before igniting the coal.
The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and
drains needed for initial
startup. The steam drum has internal devices that removes moisture from the wet
steam entering the drum from
the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils.
Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam source
s. Heat exchangers may be
used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspende
d solids. Nuclear plants also
boil water to raise steam, either directly passing the working steam through the
reactor or else using an
intermediate heat exchanger.
Fuel preparation system
In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is fi
rst crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the
boilers. The coal is nextpulver ized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers ma
y be ball mills, rotating drumgrinders, or other types of grinders.
Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (abov
e its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congeali
ng and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100°C before being
pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles.
Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Oth
er power stations may use
processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply
(coal or oil) is interrupted. In such
cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces.
Fuel firing system and igniter system
From the pulverized coal bin, coal is blown by hot air through the furnace coal
burners at an angle which imparts a swirling motion to the powdered coal to enha
nce mixing of the coal powder with the incoming preheated combustion air and thu
s to enhance the combustion.
To provide sufficient combustion temperature in the furnace before igniting the
powdered coal, the furnace
temperature is raised by first burning some light fuel oil or processed natural
gas (by
Air path
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced dra
ft fan takes air from the
atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, inj
ects it via the air nozzles on the
furnace wall.
The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from t
he furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid bac
kfiring through any opening. At the furnace outlet, and before the furnace gases
are handled by the ID fan, fine dust carried by the outlet gases is removed to
avoid atmospheric pollution. This is an environmental limitation prescribed by l
aw, and additionally minimizes erosion of the ID fan.
Auxiliary systems
Fly ash collection
Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators
or fabric bag filters (or
sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draf
t fan. The fly ash is periodically
removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Gene
rally, the fly ash is
pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or
railroad cars.
Bottom ash collection and disposal
At the bottom of every boiler, a hopper has been provided for collection of the
bottom ash from the bottom of
the furnace. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clink
ers falling down from the
furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying th
e crushed clinkers and bottom
ash to a storage site.
Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return ofcondensa t
e to the boiler, losses due to
blow-down and leakages have to be made up for so as to maintain the desired wate
r level in the boiler steam
drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. Th
e impurities in the raw water
input to the plant generally consist ofca lciu m andmagnesiu m salts which impar
thardness to the water.
Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water
surfaces which will lead to
overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from th
e water and that is done by a
water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cati
on, anion and mixed bed
exchangers. The final water from this process consists essentially of hydrogen i
ons and hydroxide ions which is
the chemical composition of pure water. The DM water, being very pure, becomes h
ighly corrosive once it
absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen
absorption.
The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in th
e raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be dow
n for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM w
ater is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water
is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping
and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arra
ngement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the
tank to avoid contact with atmospheric air. DM water make-up is generally added
at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arran
gement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the diss
olved gases being removed by the ejector of the condenser itself.
Steam turbine-driven electric generator
The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work
satisfactorily and safely. The
steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large di
ameter shaft. The shaft
therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while r
unning. To minimise the frictional
resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number ofbear ings. The bearing shel
ls, in which the shaft rotates, are
lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provid
ed to further reduce the friction
between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.
Barring gear
Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine
generator shaft at a very low
speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam inlet va
lve is closed), the turbine coasts
down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the t
urbine shaft to deflect or bend if
allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the
turbine casing tends to
concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the sh
aft hotter than the bottom half. The
shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches.
This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be en
ough to cause damaging
vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The
shaft is therefore automatically
turned at low speed (about one revolution per minute) by the barring gear until
it has cooled sufficiently to
permit a complete stop.
Condenser
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser.[2
][3][4][5]
The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water
is circulated through the
tubes.[6][7][8][2] The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the sh
ell where it is cooled and converted
to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram
. Such condensers usestea m
ejectorsor rotary motor-drivenexhausters for continuous removal of air and gases
from the steam side to
maintainvacuu m.
For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as pra
ctical in order to achieve the
lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperatur
e can almost always be kept
significantly below 100oC where the vapor pressure of water is much less than at
mospheric pressure, the
condenser generally works undervacuu m. Thus leaks of non-condensible air into t
he closed loop must be
prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their s
ource of condenser cooling water
becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electr
ical demand forair
conditioning.
The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tow
er to reject waste heat to the
atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean.
Feedwater heater
A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater.
In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler
, the surface condenser removes
the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour
to liquid. The heat content (btu
)
in the steam is referred to asEnth alp y. The condensate pump then pumps the con
densate water through a
feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of
the water by utilizing
extraction steam from various stages of the turbine.[2
][3]
Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generat
ion and therefore improves the
thermodynamic efficiency of the system.[9] This reduces plant operating costs an
d also helps to avoid thermal
shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam c
ycle.
Superheater
As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped
from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas
of the boiler. The areas known assuperhea ter and reheater. The steam vapor pick
s up energy and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperat
ure. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the val
ves of the high pressure turbine.
Deaerator
Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section an
d horizontal water storage
section
A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid o
f air and other dissolved gases,
particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoidcorrosion of the metal.
Generally, power stations use adea erator to provide for the removal of air and
other dissolved gases from the
boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration se
ction mounted on top of a
horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater sto
rage tank.[2
][3][10]
There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from
one manufacturer to another.
The adjacent diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator.[10][11] If
operated properly, most deaerator
manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed
7 ppb by weight (0.005
cm³/L).[10][12]
Auxiliary systems
Oil system
An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam
turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbi
ne's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and
seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms.
At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine
main shaft takes over the
functions of the auxiliary system.
Generator heat dissipation
The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generat
es. While small units may be cooled
by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require specia
l cooling arrangements.H ydrog en
gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known h
eat transfer coefficient of any gas
and for its lowviscosit y which reduceswindage losses. This system requires spec
ial handling during start-up,
with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hy
drogen. This ensures that the
highlyfla mmable hydrogen does not mix withox ygen in the air.
The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmos
pheric pressure to avoid
outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where t
he shaft emerges from the
casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annula
r gap to avoid rubbing between
the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to
atmosphere.
The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potent
ial of about 22kV and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon
is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings.
Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.
Generator high voltage system
The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV in larger unit
s. The generator high voltage
leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as comp
ared to the cables used in
smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are
supported on suitable
insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-uptransfor
mers for connecting to a high
voltage electrical substation (of the order of 110 kV or 220 kV) for further tra
nsmission by the local power grid.
The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage
leads. Thus, the steam turbine
generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11
kV, a breaker is provided to
connect it to a common 11 kV bus system.
Other systems
Monitoring and alarm system
Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, m
anual intervention may be
required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert
the plant operators when certain
operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range.
Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication
A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to suppl
y emergency electric power, when
needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communicat
ion systems, turbine lube oil
pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdow
n of the units in an emergency
situation.
Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage
Most thermal stations use coal as the main fuel. Raw coal is transported from co
al mines to a power station site
bytrucks,barges, bulk cargo ships orrai lwa y cars. Generally, when shipped by r
ailways, the coal cars are sent
as a full train of cars. The coal received at site may be of different sizes. Th
e railway cars are unloaded at site by
rotary dumpers or side tilt dumpers to tip over onto conveyor belts below. The c
oal is generally conveyed to
crushers which crush the coal to about ¾ inch (6 mm) size. The crushed coal is the
n sent by belt conveyors to a
storage pile. Normally, the crushed coal is compacted by bulldozers, as compacti
ng of highly volatile coal
avoids spontaneous ignition.
The crushed coal is conveyed from the storage pile to silos or hoppers at the bo
ilers by another belt conveyor
system.
I.D. Fan
(I.D. fan) Steam turbine or electric motor driven fan which develops negative dr
aft within the boiler to pull
the hot exhaust gases through the boiler.
Boiler
Aboile r is a closedvessel in whichwater or otherfluid is heated. The heated or
vaporized fluid exits the boiler
for use in various processes or heating applications. Diagram of a water-tube bo
iler.
Diagram of a fire-tube boiler
Application
Boilers have many applications. They can be used instat ionar y applications to
provide heat, hot water, or steam for domestic use, or in generators and they ca
n be used inmobi le applications to provide steam forloco motion in applications
such as trains, ships, and boats. Using a boiler is a way to transfer storedene
rg y from the fuel source to the water in the boiler, and then finally to the po
int of end use.
Materials
Construction of boilers is mainly instee l, stainless steel, and wrought iron. I
n live steam models,copper or
brass is often used. Historically copper was often used for fireboxes (particula
rly for steam locomotives
),
because of its better thermal conductivity. The price of copper now makes this i
mpractical.
Cast iron is used for domestic water heaters. Although these are usually termed
"boilers", their purpose is to
produce hot water, not steam, and so they run at low pressure and try to avoid a
ctual boiling. The brittleness of
cast iron makes it impractical for steam pressure vessels.
For much of the Victorian "age of steam", the only material for boilermaking was
the highest grade of wrought
iron, with assembly by rivetting. This iron was often obtained from specialist i
ronworks, such as Cleator Moor
(UK), noted for the high quality of their rolled plate and its suitability for h
igh reliability use in critical
applications, such as high pressure boilers. 20th century practice moved towards
steel and welding.
Fuel
The source of heat for a boiler iscombustion of any of severalfuels, such aswood
,coal,oil, or natural gas.
Electric steam boilersuse resistanceor immersion type heating elements. Nuclear
fission is also used as a heat
source for generatingstea m. Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) use the heat
rejected from other
processes such as gas turbines.
Configurations
Boilers can be classified into the following configurations:
•
"Pot boiler"or "Haycock boiler": a primitive "kettle" where a fire heats a parti
ally-filled water container
from below. 18th Century Haycock boilers generally produced and stored large vol
umes of very low- pressure steam, often hardly above that of the atmosphere. The
se could burn wood or most often, coal. Efficiency was very low.
•
Fire-tube boiler. Here, water partially fills a boiler barrel with a small volum
e left above to
accommodate the steam (steam space). This is the type of boiler used in nearly a
ll steam locomotives.
The heat source is inside a furnace orfireb o x that has to be kept permanently
surrounded by the water in
order to maintain the temperature of the heating surface just below boiling poin
t. The furnace can be
situated at one end of a fire-tube which lengthens the path of the hot gases, th
us augmenting the heating
surface which can be further increased by making the gases reverse direction thr
ough a second parallel
tube or a bundle of multiple tubes (two-pass or return flue boiler); alternative
ly the gases may be taken
along the sides and then beneath the boiler through flues (3-pass boiler). In th
e case of a locomotive-type
boiler, a boiler barrel extends from the firebox and the hot gases pass through
a bundle of fire tubes
inside the barrel which greatly increase the heating surface compared to a singl
e tube and further
improve heat transfer. Fire-tube boilers usually have a comparatively low rate o
f steam production, but
high steam storage capacity. Fire-tube boilers mostly burn solid fuels, but are
readily adaptable to those
of the liquid or gas variety.
•
Water-tube boiler . In this type,the water tubes are arranged inside a furnace i
n a number of possible
configurations: often the water tubes connect large drums, the lower ones contai
ning water and the upper
ones, steam; in other cases, such as a monotube boiler, water is circulated by a
pump through a
succession of coils. This type generally gives high steam production rates, but
less storage capacity than
the above. Water tube boilers can be designed to exploit any heat source includi
ng nuclear fission and
are generally preferred in high pressure applications since the high pressure wa
ter/steam is contained
within narrow pipes which can withstand the pressure with a thinner wall.
Boiler for steam locomotive[3]
•
Flash boiler . A specialized type of water-tube boiler.
•
Fire-tube boiler with Water-tube firebox. Sometimes the two above types have bee
n combined in the
following manner: the firebox contains an assembly of water tubes, called thermi
c syphons . The gases
then pass through a conventional firetube boiler. Water-tube fireboxes were inst
alled in manyHungar ian
locomotives, but have met with little success in other countries.
•
Sectional boiler. In a cast iron sectional boiler, sometimes called a "pork chop
boiler" the water is
contained inside cast iron sections. These sections are assembled on site to cre
ate the finished boiler.
Type of boilers
Fire Tube Boiler
In fire tube boiler, hot gases pass through the tubes and boiler feed
water in the shell side is converted into steam. Fire tube boilers are
generally used for relatively small steam capacities and low to
medium steam pressures. As a guideline, fire tube boilers are
competitive for steam rates up to 12,000 kg/hour and pressures up
to 18 kg/cm2. Fire tube boilers are available for operation with oil,
gas or solid fuels. For economic reasons, most fire tube boilers are
nowadays of “packaged” construction (i.e. manufacturers shop
erected) for all fuels.
Water Tube Boiler
Fig: Simple Diagram of Water
Tube Boiler
Reference:
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
images/ahd/jpg/A4boiler.jpg
In water tube boiler, boiler feed water flows through the tubes and enters the b
oiler drum. The circulated water is
heated by the combustion gases and converted into steam at the vapour space in t
he drum. These boilers are selected when the steam demand as well as steam press
ure requirements are high as in the case of process cum power boiler / power boi
lers.
Most modern water boiler tube designs are within the capacity range 4,500 – 120,00
0 kg/hour of steam, at very high pressures. Many water tube boilers nowadays are
of “packaged” construction if oil and /or gas are to be used as fuel. Solid fuel fi
red water tube designs are available but packaged designs are less common.
The features of water tube boilers are:
•
Forced, induced and balanced draft provisions help to improve combustion efficie
ncy.
•
Less tolerance for water quality calls for water treatment plant.
•
Higher thermal efficiency levels are possible
Packaged Boiler
The packaged boiler is so called because it comes as a complete package. Once de
livered to site, it requires only the
steam, water pipe work, fuel supply and electrical connections to be made for it
to become operational. Package boilers
are generally of shell type with fire tube design so as to achieve high heat tra
nsfer rates by both radiation and
convection.
The features of package boilers are:
•
Small combustion space and high heat release rate
resulting in faster evaporation.
•
Large number of small diameter tubes leading to good
convective heat transfer.
•
Forced or induced draft systems resulting in good
combustion efficiency.
•
Number of passes resulting in better overall heat transfer.
•
Higher thermal efficiency levels compared with other
boilers.
These boilers are classified based on the number of passes - the
number of times the hot combustion gases pass through the
boiler. The combustion chamber is taken, as the first pass after
which there may be one, two or three sets of fire-tubes. The most
common boiler of this class is a three-pass unit with two sets of
fire-tubes and with the exhaust gases exiting through the rear of the boiler.
Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) Boiler
Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) has emerged as a viable alternative and has signi
ficant advantages over conventional
firing system and offers multiple benefits – compact boiler design, fuel flexibili
ty, higher combustion efficiency and
reduced emission of noxious pollutants such as SOx and NOx. The fuels burnt in t
hese boilers include coal, washery
rejects, rice husk, bagasse & other agricultural wastes. The fluidized bed boile
rs have a wide capacity range- 0.5 T/hr to
over 100 T/hr.
When an evenly distributed air or gas is passed upward through a finely divided
bed of solid particles such as sand
supported on a fine mesh, the particles are undisturbed at low velocity. As air
velocity is gradually increased, a stage is
reached when the individual particles are suspended in the air stream – the bed is
called “fluidized”.
With further increase in air velocity, there is bubble formation, vigorous turbu
lence, rapid mixing and formation of dense defined bed surface. The bed of solid
particles exhibits the properties of a boiling liquid and assumes the appearanc
e of a fluid – “bubbling fluidized bed”.
If sand particles in a fluidized state is heated to the ignition temperatures of
coal, and coal is injected continuously into
the bed, the coal will burn rapidly and bed attains a uniform temperature. The f
luidized bed combustion (FBC) takes
place at about 840 OC to 950 OC. Since this temperature is much below the ash fu
sion temperature, melting of ash and
associated problems are avoided.
The lower combustion temperature is achieved because of high coefficient of heat
transfer due to rapid mixing in the
fluidized bed and effective extraction of heat from the bed through in-bed heat
transfer tubes and walls of the bed. The
gas velocity is maintained between minimum fluidisation velocity and particle en
trainment velocity. This ensures stable
operation of the bed and avoids particle entrainment in the gas stream.
Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion (AFBC) Boiler
Most operational boiler of this type is of the Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combust
ion. (AFBC). This involves little more than adding a fluidized bed combustor to
a conventional shell boiler. Such systems have similarly being installed in conj
unction with conventional water tube boiler.
Coal is crushed to a size of 1 – 10 mm depending on the rank of coal, type of fuel
fed to the combustion chamber. The
atmospheric air, which acts as both the fluidization and combustion air, is deli
vered at a pressure, after being preheated
by the exhaust fuel gases. The in-bed tubes carrying water generally act as the
evaporator. The gaseous products of combustion pass over the super heater sectio
ns of the boiler flow past the economizer, the dust collectors and the air prehe
ater before being exhausted to atmosphere.
Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) Boiler
In Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) type, a compressor supplies the F
orced Draft (FD) air and the
combustor is a pressure vessel. The heat release rate in the bed is proportional
to the bed pressure and hence a deep
bed is used to extract large amount of heat. This will improve the combustion ef
ficiency and sulphur dioxide absorption
in the bed. The steam is generated in the two tube bundles, one in the bed and o
ne above it. Hot flue gases drive a
power generating gas turbine. The PFBC system can be used for cogeneration (stea
m and electricity) or combined cycle
power generation. The combined cycle operation (gas turbine & steam turbine) imp
roves the overall conversion
efficiency by 5 to 8%.
Atmospheric Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Boilers (CFBC)
In a circulating system the bed parameters are so maintained as to promote solid
s elutriation from the bed. They are
lifted in a relatively dilute phase in a solids riser, and a down-comer with a c
yclone provides a return path for the solids.
There are no steam generation tubes immersed in the bed. Generation and super he
ating of steam takes place in the
convection section, water walls, at the exit of the riser.
CFBC boilers are generally more economical than AFBC boilers for industrial appl
ication requiring more than 75 – 100 T/hr of steam. For large units, the taller fu
rnace characteristics of CFBC boilers offers better space utilization, greater f
uel particle and sorbent residence time for efficient combustion and SO2 capture
, and easier application of staged combustion techniques for NOx control than AF
BC steam generators.
Stoker Fired Boilers
Stokers are classified according to the method of feeding fuel to the furnace an
d by the type of grate. The main
classifications are spreader stoker and chain-gate or traveling-gate stoker.
Spreader Stokers
Spreader stokers utilize a combination of suspension burning and grate
burning. The coal is continually fed into the furnace above a burning bed of
coal. The coal fines are burned in suspension; the larger particles fall to the
grate, where they are burned in a thin, fast-burning coal bed. This method
of firing provides good flexibility to meet load fluctuations, since ignition is
almost instantaneous when firing rate is increased. Due to this, the
spreader stoker is favored over other types of stokers in many industrial
applications.
Chain-grate or Traveling-grate Stoker
Coal is fed onto one end of a moving steel grate. As grate moves along the lengt
h of the furnace, the coal burns before dropping off at the end as ash. Some deg
ree of skill is required, particularly when setting up the grate, air dampers an
d baffles, to ensure clean combustion leaving the minimum of unburnt carbon in t
he ash.
The coal-feed hopper runs along the entire coal-feed end of the furnace. A coal
gate is used to control the rate at which coal is fed into the furnace by contro
lling the thickness of the fuel bed. Coal must be uniform in size as large lumps
will not burn out completely by the time they reach the end of the grate.
Pulverized Fuel Boiler
Most coal-fired power station boilers use pulverized coal, and many of the large
r industrial water-tube boilers also use this pulverized fuel. This technology i
s well developed, and there are thousands of units around the world, accounting
for well over 90% of coal-fired capacity.
The coal is ground (pulverized) to a fine powder, so that less than 2% is +300 m
icro meter (μm) and 70-75% is below
75 microns, for a bituminous coal. It should be noted that too fine a powder is
wasteful of grinding mill power. On the
other hand, too coarse a powder does not burn completely in the combustion chamb
er and results in higher unburnt
losses.
The pulverized coal is blown with part of the combustion air into the boiler
plant through a series of burner nozzles. Secondary and tertiary air may also
be added. Combustion takes place at temperatures from 1300-1700°C,
depending largely on coal grade. Particle residence time in the boiler is
typically 2 to 5 seconds, and the particles must be small enough for complete
combustion to have taken place during this time.
This system has many advantages such as ability to fire varying quality of
coal, quick responses to changes in load, use of high pre-heat air
temperatures etc.
One of the most popular systems for firing pulverized coal is the tangential fir
ing using four burners corner to corner to create a fireball at the center of th
e furnace.
Waste Heat Boiler
Wherever the waste heat is available at medium or high temperatures, a waste
heat boiler can be installed economically. Wherever the steam demand is more tha
n the steam generated during waste
heat, auxiliary fuel burners are also used. If there is no direct use of steam,
the steam may be let down in a steam
turbine-generator set and power produced from it. It is widely used in the heat
recovery from exhaust gases from gas
turbines and diesel engines.
Thermic Fluid Heater
In recent times, thermic fluid heaters have found wide application for indirect
process heating. Employing petroleum -
based fluids as the heat transfer medium, these heaters provide constantly maint
ainable temperatures for the user
equipment. The combustion system comprises of a fixed grate with mechanical draf
t arrangements.
The modern oil fired thermic fluid heater consists of a double coil, three
pass construction and fitted with modulated pressure jet system. The
thermic fluid, which acts as a heat carrier, is heated up in the heater and
circulated through the user equipment. There it transfers heat for the
process through a heat exchanger and the fluid is then returned to the
heater. The flow of thermic fluid at the user end is controlled by a
pneumatically operated control valve, based on the operating temperature.
The heater operates on low or high fire depending on the return oil
temperature, which varies with the system load
The advantages of these heaters are:
•Closed cycle operation with minimum
losses as compared to steam boilers.
•Non-Pressurized system operation even for
temperatures around 250 0c as against 40
kg/cm2 steam pressure requirement in a
similar steam system.
•Automatic control settings, which offer
operational flexibility.
•
Good thermal efficiencies as losses due to blow
down, condensate drain and flash steam do not
exist in a thermic fluid heater system.
The overall economics of the thermic fluid heater will
depend upon the specific application and reference basis.
Coal fired thermic fluid heaters with a thermal efficiency
range of 55-65% may compare favorably with most
boilers. Incorporation of heat recovery devices in the flue
gas path enhances the thermal efficiency levels further.
To top
Safety
Historically, boilers were a source of many serious injuries and property destru
ction due to poorly understood
engineering principles. Thin and brittle metal shells can rupture, while poorly
welded or riveted seams could
open up, leading to a violent eruption of the pressurized steam. Collapsed or di
slodged boiler tubes could also
spray scalding-hot steam and smoke out of the air intake and firing chute, injur
ing the firemen that loaded coal
into the fire chamber. Extremely large boilers providing hundreds of horsepower
to operate factories could
demolish entire buildings.[4]
A boiler that has a loss of feed water and is permitted to boil dry can be extre
mely dangerous. If feed water is
then sent into the empty boiler, the small cascade of incoming water instantly b
oils on contact with the
superheated metal shell and leads to a violent explosion that cannot be controll
ed even by safety steam valves.
Draining of the boiler could also occur if a leak occurred in the steam supply l
ines that was larger than the
make-up water supply could replace. The Hartford Loop was invented in 1919 by th
e Hartford Steam Boiler and
Insurance Company as a method to help prevent this condition from occurring, and
thereby reduce their
insurance claims.[5]
Superheated steam boilers
A superheated boiler on a steam locomotive.
Most boilers heat water until it boils, and then the steam is used at saturation
temperature (i.e., saturated steam).
Superheated steam boilers boil the water and then further heat the steam in a su
perheater. This provides steam at
much higher temperature, and can decrease the overall thermal efficiency of the
steam plant due to the fact that
the higher steam temperature requires a higher flue gas exhaust temperature. How
ever, there are advantages to
superheated steam. For example, useful heat can be extracted from the steam with
out causing condensation,
which could damage piping and turbine blades.
Superheated steam presents unique safety concerns because, if there is a leak in
the steam piping, steam at such high pressure/temperature can cause serious, in
stantaneous harm to anyone entering its flow. Since the escaping steam will init
ially be completely superheated vapor, it is not easy to see the leak, although
the intense heat and sound from such a leak clearly indicates its presence.
The superheater works like coils on an air conditioning unit, however to a diffe
rent end. The steam piping (with
steam flowing through it) is directed through the flue gas path in the boiler fu
rnace. This area typically is
between 1300-1600 degrees Celsius (2500-3000 degrees Fahrenheit). Some superheat
ers are radiant type
(absorb heat by radiation), others are convection type (absorb heat via a fluid
i.e. gas) and some are a
combination of the two. So whether by convection or radiation the extreme heat i
n the boiler furnace/flue gas
path will also heat the superheater steam piping and the steam within as well. I
t is important to note that while
the temperature of the steam in the superheater is raised, the pressure of the s
team is not: the turbine or moving
pistons offer a "continuously expanding space" and the pressure remains the same
as that of the boiler.[6
]The
process of superheating steam is most importantly designed to remove all droplet
s entrained in the steam to
prevent damage to the turbine blading and/or associated piping
Supercritical steam generators
Supercritical steam generators (also known as Benson boilers) are frequently use
d for the production of electric
power. They operate at "supercritical pressure". In contrast to a "subcritical b
oiler", a supercritical steam
generator operates at such a high pressure (over 3200 PSI, 22 MPa, 220 bar) that
actual boiling ceases to occur,
and the boiler has no water - steam separation. There is no generation of steam
bubbles within the water,
because the pressure is above the "critical pressure" at which steam bubbles can
form. It passes below the
critical point as it does work in the high pressure turbine and enters the gener
ator's condenser. This is more
efficient, resulting in slightly less fuel use. The term "boiler" should not be
used for a supercritical pressure
steam generator, as no "boiling" actually occurs in this device.
History of supercritical steam generation
Contemporary supercritical steam generators are sometimes referred as Benson boi
lers. In 1922, Mark Benson
was granted a patent for a boiler designed to convert water into steam at high p
ressure.
Safety was the main concern behind Benson’s concept. Earlier steam generators were
designed for relatively
low pressures of up to about 100 bar, corresponding to the state of the art in s
team turbine development at the
time. One of their distinguishing technical characteristics was the riveted drum
. These drums were used to
separate water and steam, and were often the source of boiler explosions, usuall
y with catastrophic
consequences. However, the drum can be completely eliminated if the evaporation
process is avoided
altogether. This happens when water is heated at a pressure above the critical p
ressure and then expanded to dry
steam at subcritical pressure. A throttle valve located downstream of the evapor
ator can be used for this
purpose.
As development of Benson technology continued, boiler design soon moved away fro
m the original concept
introduced by Mark Benson. In 1929, a test boiler that had been built in 1927 be
gan operating in the thermal
power plant at Gartenfeld inBerl in for the first time in subcritical mode with
a fully open throttle valve. The
second Benson boiler began operation in 1930 without a pressurizing valve at pre
ssures between 40 and 180 bar
at the Berlin cable factory. This application represented the birth of the moder
n variable-pressure Benson boiler.
After that development, the original patent was no longer used. The Benson boile
r name, however, was retained.
Two current innovations have a good chance of winning acceptance in the competit
ive market for once-through
steam generators:
•
A new type of heat-recovery steam generator based on the Benson boiler, which ha
s operated
successfully at the Cottam combined-cycle power plant in the central part ofEngl
and,
•
The vertical tubing in the combustion chamber walls of coal-fired steam generato
rs which combines the
operating advantages of the Benson system with the design advantages of the drum
-type boiler.
Construction of a first reference plant, the Yaomeng power plant inChina, commen
ced in 2001.
Hydronic boilers
Hydronic boilers are used in generating heat for residential and industrial purp
oses. They are the typical power plant for central heating systems fitted to hou
ses in northernEurope (where they are commonly combined with domestic water heat
ing), as opposed to theforced-air furnaces or wood burning stoves more common in
North
America. The hydronic boiler operates by way of heating water/fluid to a preset
temperature (or sometimes in
the case of single pipe systems, until it boils and turns to steam) and circulat
ing that fluid throughout the home
typically by way ofradi ators, baseboard heaters or through the floors. The flui
d can be heated by any
means...gas, wood, fuel oil, etc, but in built-up areas where piped gas is avail
able, natural gas is currently the
most economical and therefore the usual choice. The fluid is in an enclosed syst
em and circulated throughout by
means of a motorizedpump. Most new systems are fitted with condensing boilers fo
r greater efficiency. The
name can be a misnomer in that, except for systems using steam radiators, the wa
ter in a properly functioning
hydronic boiler never actually boils. These boilers are referred to as condensin
g boilers because they condense
the water vapor in the flue gases to capture the latent heat of vaporization of
the water produced during
combustion.
Hydronic systems are being used more and more in new construction in North Ameri
ca for several reasons.
Among the reasons are:
•
They are more efficient and more economical thanforced-air systems (although ini
tial installation can
be more expensive, because of the cost of the copper and aluminum).
•
The baseboard copper pipes and aluminum fins take up less room and use less meta
l than the bulky steel
ductwork required for forced-air systems.
•
They provide more even, less fluctuating temperatures than forced-air systems. T
he copper baseboard pipes hold and release heat over a longer period of time tha
n air does, so the furnace does not have to switch off and on as much. (Copper h
eats mostly through conduction and radiation, whereas forced-air heats mostly th
rough forced convection. Air has much lower thermal conductivity and higherspeci
f ic
heat than copper; however, convection results in faster heat loss of air compare
d to copper. See also
thermal mass.)
•
They do not dry out the interior air as much.
•
They do not introduce any dust, allergens, mold, or (in the case of a faulty hea
t exchanger) combustion
byproducts into the living space.
Forced-air heating does have some advantages, however. See forced-air heating.
Accessories
Boiler fittings and accessories
•
Safety valve: It is used to relieve pressure and prevent possible explosion of a
boiler.
•
Water level indicators: They show the operator the level of fluid in the boiler,
also known as a sight
glass, water gauge or water column is provided.
•
Bottom blowdown valves: They provide a means for removing solid particulates tha
tcondense and lay
on the bottom of a boiler. As the name implies, this valve is usually located di
rectly on the bottom of the
boiler, and is occasionally opened to use the pressure in the boiler to push the
se particulates out.
•
Continuous blowdown valve: This allows a small quantity of water to escape conti
nuously. Its purpose
is to prevent the water in the boiler becoming saturated with dissolved salts. S
aturation would lead to
foaming and cause water droplets to be carried over with the steam - a condition
known aspriming.
•
Hand holes: They are steel plates installed in openings in "header" to allow for
inspections &
installation of tubes and inspection of internal surfaces.
•
Steam drum internals, A series of screen, scrubber & cans (cyclone separators).
•
Low- water cutoff: It is a mechanical means (usually a float switch) that is use
d to turn off the burner or
shut off fuel to the boiler to prevent it from running once the water goes below
a certain point. If a boiler
is "dry-fired" (burned without water in it) it can cause rupture or catastrophic
failure.
•
Surface blowdown line: It provides a means for removing foam or other lightweigh
t non-condensible
substances that tend to float on top of the water inside the boiler.
•
Circulatingpum p: It is designed to circulate water back to the boiler after it
has expelled some of its
heat.
•
Feedwater check valve or clack valve: A nonreturn stop valve in thefeedwa ter li
ne. This may be fitted
to the side of the boiler, just below the water level, or to the top of the boil
er. A top-mounted check valve
is called a top feed and is intended to reduce the nuisance ofli mescale. It doe
s not prevent limescale
formation but causes the limescale to be precipitated in a powdery form which is
easily washed out of
the boiler.
•
Desuperheater tubes or bundles: A series of tubes or bundle of tubes, in the wat
er drum but sometime
in the steam drum that De-superheated steam. This is for equipment that doesn t
need dry steam.
•
Chemical injection line: A connection to add chemicals for controlling feedwater
pH.
Steam accessories
•
Main steam stop valve:
•
Steam traps:
•
Main steam stop/Check valve: It is used on multiple boiler installations.
Combustion accessories
•
Fuel oil system:
•
Gas system:
•
Coal system:
Other essential items
•
Pressure gauges:
•
Feed pumps:
•
Fusible plug:
•
Inspectors test pressure gauge attachment:
•
Name plate:
•
Registration plate:
Controlling draft
Most boilers now depend on mechanical draft equipment rather than natural draft.
This is because natural draft
is subject to outside air conditions and temperature of flue gases leaving the f
urnace, as well as the chimney
height. All these factors make proper draft hard to attain and therefore make me
chanical draft equipment much
more economical.
There are three types of mechanical draft:
•
Induced draft: This is obtained one of three ways, the first being the "stack ef
fect" of a heated chimney,
in which the flue gas is less dense than the ambient air surrounding the boiler.
The denser column of
ambient air forces combustion air into and through the boiler. The second method
is through use of a
steam jet. The steam jet oriented in the direction of flue gas flow induces flue
gasses into the stack and
allows for a greater flue gas velocity increasing the overall draft in the furna
ce. This method was
common on steam driven locomotives which could not have tall chimneys. The third
method is by
simply using an induced draft fan (ID fan) which sucks flue gases out of the fur
nace and up the stack.
Almost all induced draft furnaces have a negative pressure.
•
Forced draft: Draft is obtained by forcing air into the furnace by means of a fa
n (FD fan) and ductwork.
Air is often passed through an air heater; which, as the name suggests, heats th
e air going into the
furnace in order to increase the overall efficiency of the boiler. Dampers are u
sed to control the quantity
of air admitted to the furnace. Forced draft furnaces usually have a positive pr
essure.
•
Balanced draft: Balanced draft is obtained through use of both induced and force
d draft. This is more
common with larger boilers where the flue gases have to travel a long distance t
hrough many boiler
passes. The induced draft fan works in conjunction with the forced draft fan all
owing the furnace
pressure to be maintained slightly below atmospheric.
Scrubber systems are a diverse group of air pollution control devices that can b
e used to remove some
particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams. Traditionally, the te
rm "scrubber" has referred to
pollution control devices that used liquid to "scrub" unwanted pollutants from a
gas stream. Recently, the term is also used to describe systems that inject a d
ry reagent orslurr y into a dirty exhaust stream to "scrub out" acid gases. Scru
bbers are one of the primary devices that control gaseous emissions, especially
acid gases.
•
Removal and neutralization
The exhaust gases ofco mbustion may at times contain substances considered harmf
ul to the environment, and it
is the job of the scrubber to either remove those substances from the exhaust ga
s stream, or to neutralize those
substances so that they cannot do any harm once emitted into the environment as
part of the exhaust gas
stream...
Wet scrubbing
A wet scrubber is used to cleanair or othergases of variouspollutants anddust pa
rticles. Wet scrubbing works
via the contact of target compounds or particulate matter with the scrubbing sol
ution. Solutions may simply be
water (for dust) or complex solutions of reagents that specifically target certa
in compounds.
Removal efficiency of pollutants is improved by increasing residence time in the
scrubber or by the increase of surface area of the scrubber solution by the use
of a spray nozzle,packed towers or anaspirator. Wet scrubbers will often signif
icantly increase the proportion of water in waste gases of industrial processes
which can be seen in a stack plume.
Compliance agencies typically place minimum DP thresholds on wet scrubber.
Dry scrubbing
Adr y or semi-dry scrubbing system, unlike the wet scrubber, does not saturate t
he flue gas stream that is being treated with moisture. In some cases no moistur
e is added; while in other designs only the amount of moisture that can be evapo
rated in the flue gas without condensing is added. Therefore, dry scrubbers do n
ot have a stack steam plume orwastewater handling/disposal requirements. Dry scr
ubbing systems are used to removeac id
gases (such as SO2 and HCl) primarily from combustionsources.
There are a number of dry type scrubbing system designs. However, all consist of
two main sections or devices: a device to introduce the acid gas sorbent materi
al into the gas stream and a particulate matter control device to remove reactio
n products, excess sorbent material as well as any particulate matter already in
the flue gas.
Dry scrubbing systems can be categorized as dry sorbent injectors (DSIs) or as s
pray dryer absorbers (SDAs).
Spray dryer absorbers are also called semi-dry scrubbers or spray dryers.
Dry sorbent injection involves the addition of analk alin e material (usually hy
drated lime or soda ash
) into the
gas stream to react with the acid gases. The sorbent can be injected directly in
to several different locations: the
combustion process, the flue gas duct (ahead of the particulate control device),
or an open reaction chamber (if
one exists). The acid gases react with the alkalinesorbe ts to form solidsalts w
hich are removed in the
particulate control device. These simple systems can achieve only limited acid g
as (SO2 and HCl) removal
efficiencies. Higher collection efficiencies can be achieved by increasing the f
lue gashu midit y (i.e., cooling
using water spray). These devices have been used on medical waste incinerators a
nd a few municipal waste
combustors.
In spray dryer absorbers, the flue gases are introduced into an absorbing tower
(dryer) where the gases are
contacted with a finely atomized alkalineslurr y. Acid gases are absorbed by the
slurry mixture and react to form
solidsalts which are removed by the particulate control device. The heat of the
flue gas is used to evaporate all
the water droplets, leaving a non-saturated flue gas to exit theabsorber tower.
Spray dryers are capable of
achieving high (80+%) acid gas removal efficiencies. These devices have been use
d on industrial and utility
boilersand municipal wasteco mbustors.
Mercury removal
Mercury has no known beneficial uses in nature, but it is a common substance fou
nd in coal that must also be
removed. Wet scrubbers are only effective for mercury removal under certain cond
itions. Mercury vapor in its elemental form, Hg0, is insoluble in the scrubber s
lurry and not removed. Oxidized mercury, Hg2+, compounds are more soluble in the
scrubber slurry and can be captured. The type of coal burned as well as the pre
sence of a
selective catalytic reduction unit both affect the ratio of elemental to oxidize
d mercury in the flue gas and thus
the degree to which the mercury is removed.
Scrubber waste products
One side effect of scrubbing is that the process only moves the unwanted substan
ce from the exhaust gases into
a solid paste or powder form. If there is no useful purpose for this solid waste
, it must be either contained or
buried to prevent environmental contamination. Limestone-based scrubbers can pro
duce a syntheticg ypsum of
sufficient quality that can be used to manufacturedr ywall and other industrial
products.
Mercury removal results in a waste product that either needs further processing
to extract the raw mercury, or
must be buried in a special hazardous wasteslandf ill that prevents the mercury
from seeping out into the
environment.
Bacteria spread
Until recently, scrubbers have not been associated with health risks involving b
acteria spread as a result of
inadequate cleaning, unlike other devices such as cooling towers. However, a 200
5 outbreak ofLeg ionnair es
diseasein Norway was proven to emanate from a scrubber, causing ten deaths and m
ore than fifty cases of
infection as it spread the bacteria through the air during a period of only two
scrubbers being the source of such
bacteria
Packed bed tower
Figure 1
–Venturi scrubber with mist eliminator
•
15000 per second or more.
Faraday s law of induction
Faraday s law of induction describes a basic law of electromagnetism, which is i
nvolved in the working of
transformers, inductors, and many forms of electrical generators. The law states
:[1]
The induced electromotive force or EMF in any closed circuit is equal to the tim
e rate of change of the magnetic flux
through the circuit.
The law was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831 and independently at the same
time by Joseph Henry.
Quantitatively, the law takes the following form:
Where is the electromotive force (EMF) involtsΦB is the magnetic flux through the
circuit (inwebers
).
The direction of the electromotive force (the negative sign in the above formula
) is given by Lenz's law. The
meaning of "flux through the circuit" is elaborated upon in the examples below.
Traditionally, two different ways of changing the flux through a circuit are rec
ognized. In the

case of
transformer EM the idea is to alter the field itself, for example by changing t
he current originating the field

(as in a transformer). In the case of motional EM , the idea is to move all or p
art of the circuit through the
magnetic field, for example, as in a homopolar generator .
Induction coil from 1800s used to demonstrate induction in physics classes
Terminology
The phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, connecting the electromotive force
with relation to the magnetic flux through the circuit, should not be confused w
ith the electrostatic induction method for creating an electrical charge in an o
bject with

another electrically charged object.
Maxwell- araday equation:∇ × E = –∂B/∂t


This subsection is a digression to distinguish " araday's law" as understood in
this article from the∇×E
equation that is one of the four Maxwell equations often referred to by the same
name. In this article, the∇× E

equation is called the Maxwell- araday equation. If you are not interested in th
is ambiguity, you can skip this
section.

In 1855, acurl version of " araday's law" was developed by James Clerk Maxwell a
nd in 1884,Oliver
Heaviside rewrote it in the from of acurl equation:
WhereE andB are theel ectr ic and magnetic fields,∇× denotes curl
denotes the partial time derivative holdingr fixed, wherer is the position vecto
r.
The equation is interpreted to say that if the spatial dependence of electric fi
eld were to curl counter-clockwise
on the page (by the right hand rule, that means the curl vector would point out
of the page), then the magnetic
field would change in time to point less out of the page and more into the page
(the opposite sign to the curl
vector). The equation relates tochange in the magnetic field. It does not mean t
hat the magnetic field is
necessarily pointing into the page, only that it is changing towards pointing in
that direction.

This equation, called in this article the Maxwell- araday equation, is best know
n as being one of the four
 Maxwell's equations.


In the Maxwell- araday equation, Heaviside used the partial time derivative. Use
of the partial time derivative,
instead of
the total time derivative that had been used by Maxwell, means that t
he Maxwell- araday equation


does not account for motional EM .[3] Nonetheless, the Maxwell- araday equation
often

simply is called
" araday's law".[4]

In
this article the term " araday's law" refers to the flux equation, and "Maxwe
ll- araday equation" refers to the

curl equation of Heaviside that
today is one of Maxwell's equations.
lux through a surface and EM around a loop


igure 1: The definition of surface integral relies on splitting the surface int
o small surface
elements. Each element is associated with a vector dA of magnitude equal to the
area of the

element and with direction
normal to the element and pointing outward.
igure 2: A vector field (r,t ) defined throughout space, and a surface Σ bounded
by curve ∂Σ

moving with velocityv over which the field is integrated.
araday's law of induction makes use of the magnetic flux ΦB through a surfaceΣ, def
ined by an integral over a
surface:
where dA is an element of surface area of the moving surfaceΣ(t),B is the magnetic
field, andB•dA is
a vector

dot product. ee igure 1. or more detail, refer to surface integraland magneti
c flux. The surface is considered

to have a "mouth" outlined

by a closed curve denoted∂ Σ(t). ee igure 2.
When the flux changes, araday's law of induction says that the work done (per u
nit charge) moving a test

charge around the closed curve∂Σ(t), called the electromotive force (EM ), is given
by:
where:
is the electromotive force (emf) involts
ΦB is the magnetic flux inweber s. The direction of the electromotive force (the n
egative

sign in the above formula) is given by Lenz's law.
or a tightly-wound

coil of wire, composed of N identical loops, each with the s
ame ΦB, araday's law of
induction states that
where:N is the number of turns of wire
ΦB is the magnetic flux in webers through asingle loop.


In choosing a path∂ Σ(t) to find EM , the path must satisfy the basic requirements t
hat (i) it is a closed path, and (ii) the path must capture the relative motion
of the parts of the circuit (the origin of thet-dependence in∂Σ(t) ). It isnot
a req
uirement that the path follow a line of current

flow, but of course the EM that
is found using the flux law will
be the EM around
the chosen path. If a curren
t path is not followed, the EM might not be the EM driving the current.

Example: patially varying B-field
igure 3: Closed rectangular wire loop moving alongx-axis at velocityv in magnet
ic fieldB that
varies with positionx.


Consider the case in igure 3 of a closed rectangular loop of wire in thexy-plan
e translated in thex-direction at
velocityv. Thus, the center of the loop atxC satisfies v = dxC / dt. The loop ha
s length ℓ in they-direction and
widthw in thex-direction. A time-independent but spatially varying magnetic fiel
dB(x) points in thez-
direction. The magnetic field on the left side isB(xC −w/ 2), and on the right sid
e isB(xC +w/ 2). The
electromotive force is to be found directly and by using Faraday's law above.
Lorentz force law method
A chargeq in the wire on the left side of the loop experiences a Lorentz forceqv×
Bk = −q v B(xC − w / 2)j (
j, k unit vectors in they  andz directions; see vector cross product
), leading to an EMF (work per unit charge)
of v ℓ B(xC − w / 2) along the length of the left side of the loop. On the right sid
e of the loop the same argument

shows the EMF to be v ℓ B(xC + w / 2). The two EM 's oppose each other, both pushi
ng positive charge toward
the bottom of the loop. In the case where theB-field increases with positionx, t
he force on the right side is
largest, and the current will be clockwise: using the right-hand rule, theB-fiel
d generated by the current opposes


the impressed field.[5] The EM driving the current must increase as we move cou
nterclockwise (opposite
to the

current). Adding the EM 's in a counterclockwise tour of the loop we find
araday's law method
At any position of the loop the magnetic flux through the loop is
The sign choice is decided by whether the normal to the surface points in the sa
me direction asB, or in the
opposite direction. If we take the normal to the surface as pointing in the same
direction as theB-field of the
induced current, this sign is negative. The time derivative of the flux is then
(using the chain rule of
differentiation or the general form of Leibniz rule for differentiation of an in
tegral):
(wherev = dxC / dt is the rate of motion of the loop in thex-direction ) leading
to:
as before.
The equivalence of these two approaches is general and, depending on the example
, one or the other method
may prove more practical.
Example: Moving loop in uniform B-field


igure 4: Rectangular wire loop rotating at angular velocity ω in radially outard
pointing
magnetic fieldB of fixed magnitude. Current is collected by brushes attached to
top and bottom
discs, hich have conducting rims.
Figure 4 shos a spindle formed of to discs ith conducting rims and a conducti
ng loop attached vertically
beteen these rims. The entire assembly spins in a magnetic field that points ra
dially outard, but is the same
magnitude regardless of its direction. A radially oriented collecting return loo
p picks up current from the
conducting rims. At the location of the collecting return loop, the radialB-fiel
d lies in the plane of the collecting
loop, so the collecting loop contributes no flux to the circuit. The electromoti
ve force is to be found directly and
by using Faraday's la above.
Lorentz force la method
In this case the Lorentz force drives the current in the to vertical arms of th
e moving loop donard, so
current flos from the top disc to the bottom disc. In the conducting rims of th
e discs, the Lorentz force is
perpendicular to the rim, so no EMF is generated in the rims, nor in the horizon
tal portions of the moving loop.
Current is transmitted from the bottom rim to the top rim through the external r
eturn loop, hich is oriented so
theB-field is in its plane. Thus, the Lorentz force in the return loop is perpen
dicular to the loop, and no EMF is
generated in this return loop. Traversing the current path in the direction oppo
site to the current flo, ork is
done against the Lorentz force only in the vertical arms of the moving loop, he
re
Consequently the EMF is
here ℓ is the vertical length of the loop, and the velocity is related to the ang
ular rate of rotation byv=r ω,
ithr = radius of cylinder. Notice that the same ork is done onany path that ro
tates ith the loop and
connects the upper and loer rim.
Faraday's la method
An intuitively appealing but mistaken approach to using the flux rule ould say
the flux through the circuit as
just ΦB =B w ℓ, wherew = width of the moving loop. This number is time-independent,
so the approach

predicts incorrectly that no EM is generated. The flaw in this argument is that
it fails to consider the entire
current path, which is a closed loop.
To use the flux rule, we have to look at the entire current path, which includes
the path through the rims in the top and bottom discs. We can choose an arbitra
ry closed

path through the rims and the rotating loop, and the flux law will fin
d the EM around the chosen path. Any path that has a segment attached to the ro
tating loop captures the relative motion of the parts of the circuit.
As an example path, let's traverse the circuit in the direction of rotation in t
he top disc, and in the direction

opposite to the direction of rotation in the b
ottom disc (shown by arrows in igure 4). In this case, for the moving loop at a
n angle θ from the collecting loop, a portion of the cylinder of areaA =r ℓ θ is part
of the circuit. This area is perpendicular to theB-field, and so contributes to
the flux an amount:
where the sign isnegat ive because the right-hand rule suggests theB-field gener
ated by the current loop is
opposite in direction to the appliedB field. As this is the only time-dependent
portion of the flux, the flux law
predicts an EMF of
in agreement with the Lorentz force law calculation.
Now let's try a different path. Follow a path traversing the rimsvia the opposit
e choice of segments. Then the
coupled flux wouldd ecrea se as θ increased, but the right-hand rule would suggest
the current loopadded to the
appliedB-field, so the EMF around this path is the same as for the first path. A
ny mixture of return paths leads
to the same result for EMF, so it is actually immaterial which path is followed.
Direct evaluation of the change in flux
Figure 5: A simplified version of Figure 4. The loop slides with velocityv in a
stationary,
homogeneousB-field.
The use of a closed path to find EMF as done above appears to depend upon detail
s of the path geometry. In
contrast, the Lorentz-law approach is independent of such restrictions. A discus
sion follows intended to
understand better the euivalence of paths and escape the particulars of path se
lection when using the flux law.
Figure 5 is an idealization of Figure 4 with the cylinder unwrapped onto a plane
. The same path-related analysis
works, but a simplification is suggested. The time-independent aspects of the ci
rcuit cannot affect the time-rate-
of-change of flux. For example, at a constant velocity of sliding the loop, the
details of current flow through the
loop are not time dependent. Instead of concern over details of the closed loop
selected to find the EMF, one can
focus on the area ofB-field swept out by the moving loop. This suggestion amount
s to finding the rate at which
flux is cut by the circuit.[6] That notion provides direct evaluation of the rat
e of change of flux, without concern
over the time-independent details of various path choices around the circuit. Ju
st as with the Lorentz law
approach, it is clear that any two paths attached to the sliding loop, but diffe
ring in how they cross the loop,
produce the same rate-of-change of flux.
In Figure 5 the area swept out in unit time is simply dA / dt =v ℓ, regardless of
the details

of the selected closed

path, so araday's law of induction provides the EM as:[7]


This path independence of EM shows that if the sliding loop is replaced by a so
lid conducting plate, or even
some complex warped surface, the analysis is the same: find the flux in the area
swept out by the moving
portion
of the circuit. In a similar way, if the sliding loop in the drum genera
tor of igure 4 is replaced by a 360°
solid conducting cylinder, the swept area calculation is exactly the same as for
the case
with only a loop.

That
is, the EM predicted by araday's law is exactly the same for the case with a c
ylinder with solid conducting
walls or, for that matter, a cylinder with a cheese grater for walls. Notice, th
ough, that the current

that flows as a
result of this EM willnot be the same because the resistance of the circuit det
ermines the
current.

The Maxwell- araday equation
igure 6: An illustration of Kelvin- tokes theorem with surfaceΣ its boundary∂Σ and or
ientation
n set by the right-hand rule.
A changing magnetic

field creates an electric field; this phenomenon is describe
d by the Maxwell- araday
equation:[8]
where:
denotes curlE is the electric fieldB is the magnetic field
This equation

appears in modern sets of Maxwell's equations and is often referre
d to as araday's law. However, because it contains only partial time derivative
s, its application is restricted to situations where the test charge is stationa
ry in a time varying magnetic field. It does not account for electromagnetic ind
uction in situations where a charged particle is moving in a magnetic field.
It also can be written in an integral form by the Kelvin- tokes theorem:[9]
where the movement of the derivative before the integration requires a time-inde
pendent surfaceΣ (considered
in this context to

be part of the interpretation of the partial derivative), and
as indicated in igure 6:
Σ is a surface bounded by the closed contour ∂Σ; both Σand ∂Σ are fixed, independent of
time
E is the electric field, dℓ is aninfinitesimal vector element of the contour ∂Σ, B is
the
magnetic field.
dA is an infinitesimal vector element of surfaceΣ , whose magnitude is the area of
an
infinitesimal patch of surface, and whose direction isorthogonal to that surface
patch.
Both dℓ and dA have a sign ambiguity; to get the correct sign, the right-hand rule
is used, as explained in the

article Kelvin- tokes theorem. or a planar surface Σ, a positive path elementdℓ of
curve ∂Σ is defined by the
right-hand rule as one that points with the fingers of the right hand when the t
humb points in the direction of the
normaln to the surface Σ.
The integral around∂Σ is called a path integral or line integral. The surface integr
al at the

right-hand side of the
Maxwell- araday equation is the explicit expression for the magnetic flux ΦB throu
ghΣ. Notice that a nonzero
path integral forE is different from the behavior of the electric field generate
d by charges. A charge-generated
E-field can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar field that is a solution to
Poisson's equation, and has a zero
path integral. ee gradient theorem.
The integral equation is true forany path∂ Σ through space, and any surfaceΣ for which
that path is a boundary.
Note, however, that∂Σ andΣ are understoodnot to vary in time in this formula. This int
egral form
cannot treat
motional EM because
Σ is time-independent. Notice as well that this equation make
s no reference to EM ,
and indeed cannot do so without introduction of the Lorentz force law to enable

a calculation of work.
igure 7: Area swept out by vector elementdℓ of curve∂Σ in timedt when moving with vel
ocity
v.

Using the complete

Lorentz force to calculate the EM ,
a statement of
araday's law of induction more general than the integral form of
the Maxwell- araday equation
is (see Lorentz force
):
where∂ Σ(t) is the moving closed path bounding the moving surfaceΣ(t), andv is the vel
ocity

of movement.
ee igure 2. Notice that theord in a r y time derivative is used, not apart ial
time derivative, implying the time
variation ofΣ(t) must be included in the differentiation. In the integrand the ele
ment of the curvedℓ moves with

velocityv.

igure 7 provides an interpretation of the magnetic force contribution to the EM
on the left side of the above
equation. The area swept out by segmentdℓ of curve∂ Σ in timedt when moving with veloc
ityv is (see
geometric meaning of cross-product
):
so the change in magnetic flux ΔΦB through the this portion of the surface enclosed
by∂ Σ in timedt is:
and if we add these ΔΦB-contributions around the loop for all segmentsdℓ, we obtain th
e magnetic force


contribution to araday's law. That is, this term is related tomotional EM .
Example: viewpoint of a moving observer


Revisiting the example of igure 3 in a moving frame of reference brings out the
close connection betweenE-

andB-fields, and betweenmot ional andinduced EM 's.[10] Imagine an observer of t
he loop moving with the

loop. The observer

calculates the EM around the loop using both the Lorentz for
ce law and araday's law of
induction. Because this observer moves with the loop, the observer sees no movem
ent of the loop, and zerov×
B. However, because theB-field varies with positionx, the moving observer sees a
time-varying magnetic field,
namely:
wherek is a unit vector pointing in thez-direction.[11]
Lorentz force
law version
The Maxwell- araday equation says the moving observer sees an electric fieldEy i
n they-direction given by
(see Curl (mathematics)
):
Here the chain rule is used:
olving forEy, to within a constant that contributes nothing to an integral arou
nd the loop,
Using the Lorentz
force law, which has only an electric field component, the obs
erver finds the EM around the
loop at a timet to be:
which is exactly the same result found by the stationary observer, who sees the
centroidxC has advanced to a
positionxC +v t. However, the moving observer obtained the result under the impr
ession that the Lorentz force
had only anel ectric component, while the stationary observer thought the force
had only am agnet ic

component.
araday's law of induction


Using araday's law of induction, the observer moving withxC sees a changing mag
netic flux, but the loop does not appear to move: the center of the loopxC is fi
xed because the moving observer is moving with the loop. The flux is then:
where the minus sign comes
from the normal to the surface pointing oppositely to
the
appliedB-field. The EM
from araday's law of induction is now:
the same result. The time derivative passes through the integration because the
limits of integration have no
time dependence. Again, the chain rule was used to convert the time derivative t
o anx-derivative.


The stationary observer thought the EM was am otional EM , while the moving obs
erver thought

it was an

inducedEM .[12]
araday's law as two different phenomena


ome physicists have remarked that araday's law is a single equation describing
two different

phenomena: The
motional EM generated by a magnetic force on a moving wire, and the transformer


EM generated by an

electric force due to a changing magnetic field. As Richard eynman states:[13]
o the "flux rule" that the emf in a circuit is equal to the rate of change of t
he magnetic flux through the circuit applies
whether the flux changes because the field changes or because the circuit moves
(or both).... Yet in our explanation of the
rule we have used two completely distinct laws for the two
– cases for "circuit moves" and for "field changes".
We know of no other place in physics where such a simple and accurate general pr
inciple requires for its real
understanding an analysis in terms of two different phenomena.
History


araday's law was originally an experimental law based upon observation.[15][16]
Later it was formalized, and
along with the other laws ofel ectro magnet ism a partial time derivative restri
cted version of it was incorporated

into the modern Heaviside versions of Maxwell's
equations.
araday's law of induction is based on Michael araday's experiments in1831. The
effect was also discovered

by Joseph Henry at about the same time, but araday published first.[17
][18]
ee Maxwell's original discussion of induced electromotive force.[19]
Lenz's law, formulated by Baltic German physicist Heinrich Lenz in 1834, gives t
he direction of the induced
electromotive force and current resulting from electromagnetic induction.
Electrical generator


araday's disc electric generator. The disc rotates with angular rate ω, seeping
the conducting
radius circularly in the static magnetic fieldB. The magnetic Lorentz forcev× B dr
ives the
current along the conducting radius to the conducting rim, and from there the ci
rcuit completes
through the loer brush and the axle supporting the disc. Thus, current is gener
ated from
mechanical motion.
The EMF generated by Faraday's la of induction due to relative movement of a ci
rcuit and a magnetic field is the phenomenon underlying electrical generators. W
hen a permanent magnet is moved relative to a conductor, or vice versa, an elect
romotive force is created. If the ire is connected through an electrical load,
current ill flo, and thus electrical energy is generated, converting the mecha
nical energy of motion to electrical energy. For example, the drum generator is
based upon Figure 4. A different implementation of this idea is the
Faraday's disc, shon in simplified form in Figure 8. Note that either the analy
sis of Figure 5, or direct
application of the Lorentz force la, shos that asolid conducting disc orks th
e same ay.
In the Faraday's disc example, the disc is rotated in a uniform magnetic field p
erpendicular to the disc, causing a
current to flo in the radial arm due to the Lorentz force. It is interesting to
understand ho it arises that
mechanical ork is necessary to drive this current. When the generated current f
los through the conducting
rim, a magnetic field is generated by this current through Ampere's circuital la
 (labeled "induced B" in Figure
8). The rim thus becomes anel ectro magnet that resists rotation of the disc (an
example of Lenz's la
). On the
far side of the figure, the return current flos from the rotating arm through t
he far side of the rim to the bottom
brush. The B-field induced by this return current opposes the applied B-field, t
ending tod ecrea se the flux
through that side of the circuit, opposing thein crea s e in flux due to rotatio
n. On the near side of the figure, the
return current flos from the rotating arm through the near side of the rim to t
he bottom brush. The induced B-
fieldin crea ses the flux on this side of the circuit, opposing thed e c re as e
in flux due to rotation. Thus, both sides
of the circuit generate an emf opposing the rotation. The energy required to kee
p the disc moving, despite this
reactive force, is exactly equal to the electrical energy generated (plus energy
asted due tofrict ion,Joule
heating, and other inefficiencies). This behavior is common to all generators co
nverting mechanical energyto
electrical energy.
Although Faraday's la alays describes the orking of electrical generators, th
e detailed mechanism can
differ in different cases. When the magnet is rotated around a stationary conduc
tor, the changing magnetic field
creates an electric field, as described by the Maxell-Faraday equation, and tha
t electric field pushes the
charges through the ire. This case is called aninduced EMF. On the other hand,
hen the magnet is stationary
and the conductor is rotated, the moving charges experience a magnetic force (as
described by the Lorentz force
la), and this magnetic force pushes the charges through the ire. This case is
calledm otional EMF. (For more
information on motional EMF, induced EMF, Faraday's la, and the Lorentz force,
see above example, and see
Griffiths[20].)
Electrical motor
An electrical generator can be run "backards" to become a motor. For example, 
ith the Faraday disc, suppose
a DC current is driven through the conducting radial arm by a voltage. Then by t
he Lorentz force la, this
traveling charge experiences a force in the magnetic fieldB that ill turn the d
isc in a direction given by
Fleming's left hand rule. In the absence of irreversible effects, like friction
or Joule heating, the disc turns at the
rate necessary to make d ΦB / dt equal to the voltage driving the current.
Electrical transformer



The EM predicted by araday's law is also responsible for electrical transforme
rs. When the electric current in a loop of wire changes, the changing current cr
eates a changing magnetic field. A second wire in reach of this magnetic field w
ill experience this change in magnetic field as a change in its coupled magnetic
flux, ad ΦB /d
t. Therefore,

an electromotive

force is set up in the second loop called the ind
uced EM or transformer EM .
If the two ends of this loop are connected through an electrical load, current w
ill flow.
Magnetic flow meter


araday's law is used for measuring the flow of electrically conductive liquids
and slurries. uch instruments are called magnetic flow meters. The induced volt
ageε gnratd in th magntic fildB du to a conductiv liquid moving at vlocit
yv is thus givn by:
whr ℓ is the distance between electrodes in the magnetic flow meter.
•
Analternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to
alternating current electrical energy. Most alternators use a rotating magnetic
fieldbut
linear alternators are occasionally used. In principle, any AC electrical genera
tor can be
called an alternator, but usually the word refers to small rotating machines dri
ven by
automotive and other internal combustion engines. InUK, large alternators inpowe
r
stations which are driven by steam turbines are called turbo-alternators.
Alternating current generating systems were known in simple forms from the disco
very of themagn etic
induction of
electric current. The early machines were developed by pioneers suc
h as Michael aradayand


Hippolyte Pixii. araday developed the "rotating rectangle", whose operation was
heteropolar - each active
conductor passed successively through regions where the magnetic field was in op
posite directions.[1] The first
public demonstration of a more robust "alternator system" took place in 1886.[2]
Large two-phase alternating
current generators were built by a British electrician, J.E.H. Gordon, in 1882.

Lord Kelvin and ebasti an
erranti also developed early alternators, producing frequencies between 100 and
300 hertz. In 1891, Nikola
Tesla patented a practical "high-frequency" alternator (which operated around 15
,000 hertz).[3] After 1891,
polyphase alternators were introduced to supply currents of multiple differing p
hases.[4] Later alternators were
designed for varying alternating-current frequencies between sixteen and about o
ne hundred hertz, for use with
arc lighting, incandescent lighting and electric motors.[5]
Theory of operation
Alternators generate electricity by the same principle as DC generators, namely,
when the magnetic field around
a conductor changes, a current is induced in the conductor. Typically, a rotatin
g magnet called therotor turns
within a stationary set of conductors wound in coils on an iron core, called the
stator. The field cuts across the
conductors, generating an electrical current, as the mechanical input causes the
rotor to turn.
The rotating magnetic field induces an AC voltage in the stator windings. Often
there are three sets of stator
windings, physically offset so that the rotating magnetic field produces three p
hase currents, displaced by one-
third of a period with respect to each other.
The rotor magnetic field may be produced by induction (in a "brushless" alternat
or), by permanent magnets (in
very small machines), or by a rotor winding energized with direct current throug
h slip rings and brushes. The
rotor magnetic field may even be provided by stationary field winding, with movi
ng poles in the rotor.
Automotive alternators invariably use a rotor winding, which allows control of t
he alternator generated voltage
by varying the current in the rotor field winding. Permanent magnet machines avo
id the loss due to magnetizing
current in the rotor, but are restricted in size, owing to the cost of the magne
t material. ince the permanent
magnet field is constant, the terminal voltage varies directly with the speed of
the generator. Brushless AC
generators are usually larger machines than those used in automotive application
s.
ynchronous speeds
The outputfrequen c y of an alternator depends on the number of poles and the ro
tational speed. The speed
corresponding to a particular frequency is called the synchronous speed for that
frequency. This table[6] gives
some examples:
P
ole
s
RPM at
50 Hz
RPM at
60 Hz
2
3000
3600
4
1500
1800
6
1000
1200
8
750
900
10 600
720
•

Rotational speeds are given in revolutions per minute (RPM)
requencies are given inhert z (Hz
12500 600
14
428.
6
514.
3
16375 450
18
333.
3
400
20300 360
Automotive alternators
Alternators are used in modernauto mobil es to charge thebat ter y and to power
a car's electric system when its
engine is running. Alternators have the great advantage over direct-current gene
rators of not using a
commutator, which makes them simpler, lighter, less costly, and more rugged than
a DC generator. The stronger
construction of automotive alternators allows them to use a smaller pulley so as
to turn twice as fast as the
engine, improving output when the engine is idling. The availability of low-cost
solid-statediodes from about
1960 onward allowed car manufacturers to substitute alternators for DC generator
s. Automotive alternators use
a set ofrectif iers (diode bridge
) to convertAC toDC. To provide direct current with low ripple, automotive
alternators have athre e-phase winding.
Typical passenger vehicle and light truck alternators use Lundell or claw-pole f
ield construction, where the field
north and south poles are all energized by a single winding, with the poles look
ing rather like fingers of two
hands interlocked with each other. Larger vehicles may have salient-pole alterna
tors similar to larger machines.
The automotive alternator is usuallybelt driven at 2-3 times the engine cranksha
ft speed.
Modern automotive alternators have a voltage regulator built into them. The volt
age regulator operates by
modulating the small field current in order to produce a constant voltage at the
stator output. The field current is
much smaller than the output current of the alternator; for example, a 70-amp al
ternator may need only 2 amps
of field current. The field current is supplied to the rotor windings by slip ri
ngs and brushes. The low current
and relatively smooth slip rings ensure greater reliability and longer life than
that obtained by a DC generator
with its commutator and higher current being passed through its brushes.
Efficiency of automotive alternators is limited by fan cooling loss, bearing los
s, iron loss, copper loss, and the
voltage drop in the diode bridges; at part load,effic ienc y is between 50-62% d
epending on the size of alternator,
and varies with alternator speed.[7] In comparison, very small high-performance
permanent magnet alternators,
such as those used for bicycle lighting systems, achieve an efficiency of around
only 60%. Larger permanent
magnet alternators can achieve much higher efficiency.
automotive alternator mounted
The field windings are initially supplied via the ignition switch and charge war
ning light, which is why the light
glows when the ignition is on but the engine is not running. Once the engine is
running and the alternator is
generating, adiode feeds the field current from the alternator main output, thus
equalizing the voltage across the
warning light which goes out. The wire supplying the field current is often refe
rred to as the "exciter" wire. The
drawback of this arrangement is that if the warning light fails or the "exciter"
wire is disconnected, no excitation
current reaches the alternator field windings and so the alternator, due to low
residual magnetism in the rotor
will not generate any power. However, some alternators will self-excite when the
 engine is revved to a certain
speed. The driver may check for a faulty exciter-circuit by ensuring that the wa
rning light is glowing with the
engine stopped.
Very large automotive alternators used on buses, heavy equipment or emergency ve
hicles may produce 300
amperes. Very old automobiles with minimal lighting and electronic devices may h
ave only a 30 ampere
alternator. Typical passenger car and light truck alternators are rated around 5
0-70 amperes, though higher
ratings are becoming more common. Very large automotive alternators may be water
-cooled or oil-cooled.
Many alternator voltage regulators are today linked to the vehicle's on board co
mputer system, and in recent years other factors including air temperature (gain
ed from the mass air flow sensor in many cases) and engine load are considered i
n adjusting the battery charging voltage supplied by the alternator.
Electrostatic precipitator
An electrostatic precipitator (E P), or electrostatic air cleaner is aparticulat
e collection device that removes
particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an induced electro
static charge. Electrostatic
precipitators are highly efficientfiltr ation devices that minimally impede the
flow of gases through the device,
and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the ai
r stream.[1]
•
Invention of the electrostatic precipitator
The first use of corona to remove particles from an aerosol was by Hohlfeld in 1
824. However, it was not

commercialized until almost a century later. In 1907 Dr. rederick G. Cottrell a
pplied for a patent on a device
for charging particles and then collecting them throughelectrostat ic attraction
— the first electrostatic
precipitator. He was then a professor of chemistry at the University of Californ
ia, Berkeley. Cottrell first applied
the device to the collection of sulfuric acid mist emitted from various acid-mak
ing and smelting activities.
Cottrell used proceeds from his invention to fund scientific research through th
e creation of a foundation called
Research Corporation in 1912 to which he assigned the patents. Research Corporat
ion has provided vital
funding to many scientific projects:Goddard's rocketry experiments,Lawren ce'sc
yc lotron, production methods for vitamins A andB1, among many others. The organ
ization continues to be active to this day and the company formed to commerciali
ze the invention for industrial and utility application is still in business as
well.
The plate precipitator
The most basic precipitator contains a row of thin wires, and followed by a stac
k of large flat metal plates, with
the plates typically spaced about 1 cm apart. The air stream flows through the s
paces between the wires, and
then passes through the stack of plates.
A negative voltage of several thousandvolts is applied between wire and plate. I
f the applied voltage is high enough an electric discharge ionizes the air aroun
d the electrodes. Negative ions flow to the plates and charge the gas-flow parti
cles.
The ionized particles, following the negative electric field created by the powe
r supply, move to the grounded
plates.
Particles build up on the collection plates and form a layer. The layer does not
collapse, thanks to electrostatic
pressure (given from layer resistivity, electric field, and current flowing in t
he collected layer).
Collection efficiency (R)
The collection efficiency of an electrostatic precipitator is strongly dependent
on the electrical properties of the
particles. A widely taught concept to calculate the collection efficiency is the
Deutsch model, which assumes
infinite remixing of the particles perpendicular to the gas stream.
ulfur trioxide is sometimes injected into a flue gas stream to lower the resist
ivity of the flue gas in order to
improve the collection efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator.
Modern industrial electrostatic precipitators
E Ps continue to be excellent devices for control of many industrial particulate
emissions, including smoke from electricity-generating utilities (coal and oil
fired), salt cake collection from black liquor boilers in pulp mills, and cataly
st collection from fluidized bed catalytic cracker units in oil refineries
to na
me a few. These

devices treat gas volumes from several hundred thousandAC M to 2
.5 million AC M (1,180 m³/s) in the largest coal-fired boiler applications.
The original parallel plate–weighted wire design (described above) has evolved as
more efficient (and robust)
discharge electrode designs were developed, today focusing on rigid discharge el
ectrodes to which many
sharpened spikes are attached, maximizingcorona production. Transformer-rectifie
r systems apply voltages of
50–100kilovo lts at relatively high current densities. Modern controls minimize sp
arking and prevent arcing,
avoiding damage to the components. Automatic rapping systems and hopper evacuati
on systems remove the
collected particulate matter while on line, theoretically allowing E Ps to stay
in operation for years at a time.
Wet electrostatic precipitator
A wet electrostatic precipitator (WE P or wet E P) operates with saturated air s
treams (100% relative
humidity). The WE P uses water sprays to clean the collected particulate from th
e collection surface (plates,
tubes). The collected water and particulate forms a wet film slurry that elimina
tes the resistivity issues
associated with dry E P's.
Consumer-oriented electrostatic air cleaners
Plate precipitators are commonly marketed to the public as air purifier devices
(such as the Ionic Breeze
) or as a
permanent replacement for furnace filters, but all have the undesirable attribut
e of being somewhat messy to
clean. A negative side-effect of electrostatic precipitation devices is the prod
uction of toxicozone andNOx.
However, electrostatic precipitators offer benefits over other air purifications
 technologies, such asHEPA
filtration, which require expensive filters and can become "production sinks" fo
r many harmful forms of
bacteria.
With electrostatic precipitators, if the collection plates are allowed to accumu
late large amounts of particulate
matter, the particles often bond so tightly to the metal plates that vigorous wa
shing and scrubbing may be
required to completely clean the collection plates. The close spacing of the pla
tes can make thorough cleaning
difficult, and the stack of plates often cannot be easily disassembled for clean
ing. One solution, suggested by
several manufacturers, is to wash the collector plates in a dishwasher.
ome consumer precipitation filters are sold with special soak-off cleaners, whe
re the entire plate array is removed from the precipitator and soaked in a large
container overnight, to help loosen the tightly bonded particulates.
A study by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation testing a variety offorce
d- air furnace filters found
that E P filters provided the best, and most cost-effective means of cleaning ai
r using a forced-air system.[
Air preheater
An air preheater or air heater is a general term to describe any device designed
to heatair before another
process (for example,combustion in aboil er) with the primary objective of incre
asing the thermal efficiency of
the process. They may be used alone or to replace arecupera tive heat system or
to replace a steam coil.
In particular, this article describes the combustion air preheaters used in larg
eboilers found in thermal power
stationsproducing electric power from e.g. fossil fuels, biomassesor waste.[1
][2][3][4][5]
The purpose of the air preheater is to recover the heat from the boiler flue gas
which increases the thermal
efficiency of the boiler by reducing the useful heat lost in the flue gas. As a
consequence, the flue gases are also
sent to the flue gas stack (orchi mne y
) at a lower temperature, allowing simplified design of theducting and the
flue gas stack. It also allows control over the temperature of gases leaving the
stack (to meet emissions
regulations, for example).
•
Types
There are two types of air preheaters for use in steam generators in thermal pow
er stations: One is a tubular type
built into the boiler flue gas ducting, and the other is aregenera tive air preh
eater.[1
][2][6] These may be arranged
so the gas flows horizontally or vertically across the axis of rotation.
Another type of air preheater is theregenerator used in iron or glass manufactur
e.
Tubular type
Construction features
Tubular preheaters consist of straighttube bundles which pass through the outlet
ducting of the boiler and open
at each end outside of the ducting. Inside the ducting, the hot furnace gases pa
ss around the preheater tubes,
transferring heat from the exhaust gas to the air inside the preheater. Ambient
air is forced by a fan through
ducting at one end of the preheater tubes and at other end the heated air from i
nside of the tubes emerges into
another set of ducting, which carries it to the boiler furnace for combustion.
Problems
The tubular preheater ductings for cold and hot air require more space and struc
tural supports than

a rotating
preheater design. urther, due to dust-laden abrasive flue gases, the tubes outs
ide the ducting wear out faster on
the side facing the gas current. Many advances have been made to eliminate this
problem such as the use of
ceramic and hardened steel.


Many new circulating fluidized bed (C B) and bubbling fluidized bed (B B) steam
generators are currently
incorporating tubular air heaters offering an advantage with regards to the movi
ng parts of a rotary type.
Dew point corrosion
Dew point corrosion occurs for a variety of reasons.[7
][8] The type of fuel used, its sulfur content and moisture
content are contributing factors. However, by far the most significant cause of
dew point corrosion is the metal
temperature of the tubes. If the metal temperature within the tubes drops below
the acid saturation temperature,



usually
at between 190° (88°C)and 230° (110°C), but sometimes at temperatures as high
as 260° (127°C),
then the risk of dew point corrosion damage becomes considerable.
Regenerative air preheaters
There are two types ofregenera tive air preheaters: the rotating-plate regenerat
ive air preheaters (RAPH) and the
stationary-plate regenerative air preheaters (Rothemuhle).[1
][2][3][9]
Rotating-plate regenerative air preheater
Typical Rotating-plate Regenerative Air Preheater (Bi-sector type)[10]
The rotating-plate design (RAPH)[2] consists of a central rotating-plate element
installed within a casing that is divided into two (bi-sector type, three (tri-
sector type) or fourquad-sector type) sectors containing seals around the elemen
t. The seals allow the element to rotate through all the sectors, but keep gas l
eakage between sectors to a minimum while providing separate gas air and flue ga
s paths through each sector.
Tri-sector types are the most common in modern power generation facilities.[11]
In the tri-sector design, the largest sector (usually spanning about half the cr
oss-section of the casing) is connected to the boiler hot gas outlet. The hot ex
haust gas flows over the central element, transferring some of its heat to the e
lement, and is then ducted away for further treatment in dust collectors and oth
er equipment before being expelled from the
flue gas stack. The second, smaller sector, is fed with ambient air by a fan, wh
ich passes over the heated
element as it rotates into the sector, and is heated before being carried to the
boiler furnace for combustion. The
third sector is the smallest one and it heats air which is routed into thepulver
izers and used to carry the coal-air
mixture to coal boiler burners. Thus, the total air heated in the RAPH provides:
heating air to remove the
moisture from the pulverised coal dust, carrier air for transporting the pulveri
sed coal to the boiler burners and
the primary air for combustion.
Therotor itself is the medium of heat transfer in this system, and is usually co
mposed of some form of steel
and/orcera mic structure. It rotates quite slowly (around 3-5RPM
) to allow optimum heat transfer first from the
hot exhaust gases to the element, then as it rotates, from the element to the co
oler air in the other sectors.
Construction features
In this design the whole air preheater casing is supported on the boiler support
ing structure itself with necessary
expansion joints in the ducting.
The vertical rotor is supported on thrust bearings at the lower end and has an o
il bath lubrication, cooled by
water circulating in coils inside the oil bath. This arrangement is for cooling
the lower end of the shaft, as this
end of the vertical rotor is on the hot end of the ducting. The top end of the r
otor has a simple roller bearing to
hold the shaft in a vertical position.
The rotor is built up on the vertical shaft with radial supports and cages for h
olding the baskets in position.
Radial and circumferential seal plates are also provided to avoid leakages of ga
ses or air between the sectors or
between the duct and the casing while in rotation.


or on line cleaning of the deposits from the baskets steam jets are provided su
ch that the blown out dust and
ash are collected at the bottom ash hopper of the air preheater. This dust hoppe
r is connected for emptying along
with the main dust hoppers of the dust collectors.
The rotor is turned by an air driven motor and gearing, and is required to be st
arted before starting the boiler and
also to be kept in rotation for some time after the boiler is stopped, to avoid
uneven expansion and contraction
resulting in warping or cracking of the rotor. The station air is generally tota
lly dry (dry air is required for the
instrumentation), so the air used to drive the rotor is injected with oil to lub
ricate the air motor.
afety protected inspection windows are provided for viewing the preheater's int
ernal operation under all
operating conditions.
The baskets are in the sector housings provided on the rotor and are renewable.
The life of the baskets depend
on the ash abrasiveness and corrosiveness of the boiler outlet gases.
Problems
The boiler flue gas contains many dust particles (due to high ash content) not c
ontributing towards combustion, such as silica, which cause abrasive wear of the
baskets,
and may also contain corrosive gases depending on the composition of t
he fuel. or example,Indian coals[1] generally result in high levels ofash,sulfu
r andsilica in the flue gas. The wear of the baskets therefore is generally more
than other, cleaner-burning fuels.
In this RAPH, the dust laden, corrosive boiler gases have to pass between the el
ements of air preheater baskets.
The elements are made up of zig zag corrugated plates pressed into a steel baske
t giving sufficient annular space
in between for the gas to pass through. These plates are corrugated to give more
surface area for the heat to be
absorbed and also to give it the rigidity for stacking them into the baskets. He
nce frequent replacements are
called for and new baskets are always kept ready. In the early days,Cor -ten ste
el was being used for the
elements. Today due to technological advance many manufacturers may use their ow
n patents. ome
manufacturers supply different materials for the use of the elements to lengthen
the life of the baskets.
In certain cases the unburnt deposits may occur on the air preheater elements ca
using it to catch fire during normal operations of the boiler, giving rise to ex
plosions inside the air preheater. ometimes mild explosions may be detected in
the control room by variations in the inlet and outlet temperatures of the combu
stion air.
chematic of typical stationary-plate regenerative air preheater
tationary-plate regenerative air preheater

The heating plate elements in this type of regenerative air preheater are also i
nstalled in a casing, but the heating
plate elements are stationary rather than rotating. Instead the air ducts in the
preheater are rotated so as to
alternatively expose sections of the heating plate elements to the upflowing coo
l air.[1
][2][3]
As indicated in the adjacent drawing, there are rotating inlet air ducts at the
bottom of the stationary plates
similar to the rotating outlet air ducts at the top of the stationary plates.
tationary-plate regenerative air preheaters are also known as Rothemuhle prehea
ters, manufactured for over 25
Regenerator
Aregen erator consists of a brick checkerwork: bricks laid with spaces equivalen
t to a brick's width between
them, so that air can flow relatively easily through the checkerwork. The idea i
s that as hot exhaust gases flow
through the checkerwork, they give up heat to the bricks. The airflow is then re
versed, so that the hot bricks heat

up the incoming combustion air and fuel. or a glass-melting furnace, a regenera
tor sits on either side of the

furnace, often forming an integral whole. or a blast furnace, the regenerators
- commonly calledCow per
stoves - sit separate to the furnace; a furnace needs no less than two stoves, b
ut may have three. One of the
stoves is 'on gas', receiving hot gases from the furnace top and heating the che
ckerwork inside, whilst the other
is 'on blast', receiving cold air from the blowers, heating it and passing it to
the blast furnace.
A regenerative heat exchanger, or more commonly aregene rator, is a type of heat
exchanger where the flow
through the heat exchanger is cyclical and periodically changes direction. It is
similar to a countercurrent heat
exchanger. However, a regenerator mixes the two fluid flows while a countercurre
nt exchanger maintains them
separated. The temperature profile remains at a nearly constant temperature, and
this includes the fluid entering
and exiting each end.
In regenerative heat exchangers, the fluid on either side of the heat exchanger
is nearly always the same fluid. The fluid is cycled through the heat exchanger,
often reaching high temperatures. The fluid may go through an external processi
ng step, and then it is flowed back through the heat exchanger in the opposite d
irection for further processing. Usually the application will use this process c
yclically or repetitively. Thus, in regenerative heat exchangers, a fluid incomi
ng to a process is heated using the energy contained in the fluid exiting this p
rocess.
The regenerative heat exchanger gives a considerable net savings in energy, sinc
e most of the heat energy is
reclaimed nearly in a thermodynamically reversible way. This type of heat exchan
ger can have a thermal
efficiency of over 90%, transferring almost all the relative heat energy from on
e flow direction to the other.
Only a small amount of extra heat energy needs to be added at the hot end, and d
issipated at the cold end, even
to maintain very high or very low temperatures.
•
History
The regenerator was invented by Rev. Robert tirling in 1816, and is commonly fo
und as a component of his
tirling engine. The simplest tirlings, and most models, use a less efficient b
ut simpler to construct,displacer
instead.
Types of regenerators
This section contains too muchjargon and may need simplification or further expl
anation. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or remove or explain ja
rgon terms used in the article. Editing help is available. (April 2008)
In rotary regenerators the matrix rotates continuously through two counter-flowi
ng streams of fluid. In this
way, the two streams are mostly separated but the seals are generally not perfec
t. Only one stream flows through
each section of the matrix at a time; however, over the course of a rotation, bo
th streams eventually flow
through all sections of the matrix in succession. Each portion of the matrix wil
l be nearlyisother mal, since the
rotation is perpendicular to both the temperature gradient and flow direction, a
nd not through them. The two
fluid streams flow counter-current. The fluid temperatures vary across the flow
area; however the local stream
temperatures are not a function of time.
In a fixed matrix regenerator, a single fluid stream has cyclical, reversible fl
ow; it is said to flow "counter-
current". This regenerator may be part of avalv eless system, such as a tirling
engine . In another configuration,
the fluid is ducted through valves to different matrices in alternate operating
periodsPh andPc resulting in
outlet temperatures that vary with time.
Another type of regenerator is called a micro scale Regenerative Heat Exchanger.
It has a multilayer grating
structure in which each layer is offset from the adjacent layer by half a cell w
hich has an opening along both
axes perpendicular to the flow axis. Each layer is a composite structure of two
sublayers, one of a high thermal
conductivity material and another of a low thermal conductivity material. When a
 hot fluid flows through the
cell, heat from the fluid is transferred to the cell wells, and stored there. Wh
en the fluid flow reverses direction,
heat is transferred from the cell walls back to the fluid.
A third type of regenerator is called a "Rothemuhle" regenerator. This type has
a fixed matrix in a disk shape,
and streams of fluid are ducted through rotating hoods. TheRothemuhle regenerato
r is used as an air preheater
in some power generating plants. The thermal design of this regenerator is the s
ame as of other types of
regenerators.[citation needed
]
Cryogenics
Regenerator heat exchangers are made up of materials with high volumetric heat c
apacity and lowther mal
conductivity in the longitudinal (flow) direction. At cryogenic (very low) tempe
ratures around 20K, the specific
heat of metals are low, and so a regenerator must be larger for a given heat loa
d.
Advantages of regenerators
The advantages of a regenerator over a recuperating (counter-flowing) heat excha
nger is that it has a much
higher surface area for a given volume, which provides a reduced exchanger volum
e for a given energy density,
effectiveness and pressure drop. This makes a regenerator more economical in ter
ms of materials and
manufacturing, compared to an equivalent recuperator.
The design of inlet and outlet headers used to distribute hot and cold fluids in
the matrix is much simpler in
counter flow regenerators than recuperators. The reason behind this is that both
streams flow in different
sections for a rotary regenerator and one fluid enters and leaves one matrix at
a time in a fixed-matrix


regenerator. urthermore flow sectors for hot and cold fluids in rotary regenera
tors can be designed to optimize
pressure drop in the fluids. The matrix surfaces of regenerators also have self-
cleaning characteristics, reducing

fluid-side fouling and corrosion. inally properties such as small surface densi
ty and counter-flow arrangement
of regenerators make it ideal for gas-gas heat exchange applications requiring e
ffectiveness exceeding 85%. The
heat transfer coefficient is much lower for gases than for liquids, thus the eno
rmous surface area in a regenerator
greatly increases heat transfer.
Disadvantages of regenerators
The major disadvantage of a regenerator is that there is always some mixing of t
he fluid streams, and they can
not be completely separated.[citation needed] There is an unavoidable carryover
of a small fraction of one fluid stream
into the other. In the rotary regenerator, the carryover fluid is trapped inside
the radial seal and in the matrix,
and in a fixed-matrix regenerator, the carryover fluid is the fluid that remains
in the void volume of the matrix.
This small fraction will mix with the other stream in the following half-cycle.
Therefore regenerators are only
used when it is acceptable for the two fluid streams to be mixed. Mixed flow is
common for gas-to-gas heat
and/or energy transfer applications, and less common in liquid or phase-changing
fluids since fluid
contamination is often prohibited with liquid flows.
Arecuperato r is a special purpose counter-flow heat exchanger used to recover w
aste heat from exhaust gases.
In many types of processes,combustion is used to generate heat, and the recupera
tor serves to recuperate, or
reclaim this heat, in order to reuse or recycle it. The term recuperator refers
as well to liquid-liquid counterflow
heat exchangers used for heat recovery in the chemical and refinery industries a
nd in closed processes such as
ammonia-water or LiBr-water absorption refrigeration cycles. Other forms of heat
or enthalpy recovery include
the regenerative heat exchanger (see blast furnace
), the heat wheel (see rotating recuperator, below), and the
enthalpy wheel (see energy recovery ventilation
).
Recuperators are often used in association with the burner portion of a heat eng
ine, to increase

the overall
efficiency. or example, in a gas turbine engine, air is compressed, mixed with
fuel, which is then burned and
used to drive a turbine. The recuperator transfers some of the waste heat in the
exhaust to the compressed air,
thus preheating it before entering the fuel burner stage. ince the gases have b
een pre-heated, less fuel is needed
to heat the gases up to the turbine inlet temperature. By recovering some of the
energy usually lost as waste
heat, the recuperator can make a heat engine or gas turbine significantly more e
fficient.
Rotating recuperator
During the automotive industry's interest in gas turbines for vehicle propulsion
(around 1965),Chr ysler
invented a unique recuperator[1] that consisted of a rotary drum constructed fro
m corrugated metal (similar in
appearance to corrugated cardboard). This drum was continuously rotated by reduc
tion gears driven by the
turbine. The hot exhaust gasses were directed through a portion of the device, w
hich would then rotate to a
section that conducted the induction air, where this intake air was heated. This
recovery of the heat of
combustion significantly increased the efficiency of the turbine engine. This en
gine proved impractical for an
automotive application due to its poor low-rpm torque. Even such an efficient en
gine, if large enough to deliver
the proper performance, would have a low average fuel economy. uch an engine ma
y at some future time be
attractive when combined with an electric motor in a hybrid vehicle owing to its
robust longevity and an ability

burn a wide variety of liquid fuels.
to
eedwater heater
A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered t
o astea m generating
boiler.[1][2][3] Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved
in steam generation and therefore
improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system.[4] This reduces plant opera
ting costs and also helps to
avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back in
to the steam cycle.
In a steam power plant (usually modeled as a modified Rankine cycle
), feedwater heaters allow the feedwater to
be brought up to the saturation temperature very gradually. This minimizes the i
nevitable irreversibilities
associated with heat transfer to the working fluid (water). ee the article on t
he econd Law of
Thermodynamics for a further discussion of such irreversibilities.
•
Cycle discussion and explanation
It should be noted that the energy used to heat the feedwater is usually derived
from steam extracted between
the stages of the steam turbine. Therefore, the steam that would be used to perf
orm expansion work in the
turbine (and therefore generate power) is not utilized for that purpose. The per
centage of the total cycle steam
mass flow used for the feedwater heater is termed the extraction fraction [ 4] a
nd must be carefully optimized for
maximum power plant thermal efficiency since increasing this fraction causes a d
ecrease in turbine power
output.


eedwater heaters can also beopen andclosed heat exchangers. An open feedwater h
eater is merely a direct- contact heat exchanger in which extracted steam is all
owed to mix with the feedwater. This kind of heater will normally require a feed
pump at both the feed inlet and outlet since the pressure in the heater is betw
een the boiler pressure and thecondenser pressure. Adeaera tor is a special case
of the open feedwater heater which is specifically designed to remove non-conde
nsable gases from the feedwater.
Closed feedwater heaters are typically shell and tube heat exchangers where the
feedwater passes throughout
the tubes and is heated by turbine extraction steam. These do not require separa
te pumps before and after the
heater to boost the feedwater to the pressure of the extracted steam as with an
open heater. However, the
extracted steam (which is most likely almost fully condensed after heating the f
eedwater) must then be throttled
to the condenser pressure, anisenthalp ic process that results in someentrop y g
ain with a slight penalty on
overall cycle efficiency.
Many power plants incorporate a number of feedwater heaters and may use both ope
n and closed components.


eedwater heaters are used in both fossil- and nuclear-fueled power plants. mal
ler versions have also been
installed on steam locomotives, portable engines and stationary engines. Anecono
miser serves a similar
purpose to a feedwater heater, but is technically different. Instead of using ac
tual cycle steam for heating, it uses
the lowest-temperature flue gas from thefurnace (and therefore does not apply to
nuclear plants) to heat the
water before it enters the boiler proper. This allows for the heat transfer betw
een the furnace and the feedwater
to occur across a smaller average temperature gradient (for the steam generator
as a whole). ystem efficiency
is therefore further increased when viewed with respect to actual energy content
 of the fuel.
Deaerator
Adeaerato r is a device that is widely used for the removal of air and other dis
solvedgases from the feedwater
to steam generatingboilers. In particular, dissolvedox ygen in boiler feedwaters
will cause serious corrosion
damage in steam systems by attaching to the walls of metal piping and other meta
llic equipment and forming
oxides (rust). It also combines with any dissolved carbon dioxide to form carbon
ic acid that causes further
corrosion. Most deaerators are designed to remove oxygen down to levels of 7 ppb
by weight (0.0005 cm³/L) or
less.[1
][2]
There are two basic types of deaerators, the tray-type and the spray-type:
Thetray-type (also called thecascade- type) includes a vertical domed deaeration
section mounted on top of a
horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater sto
rage tank.
•
Thespray-type consists only of a horizontal (or vertical) cylindrical vessel whi
ch serves as
both the deaeration section and the boiler feedwater storage tank.
•
Types of deaerators
There are many different horizontal and vertical designs available from a number
of manufacturers, and the

actual construction details will vary from one manufacturer to another. igures
1 and 2 are representative
schematic diagrams that depict each of the two major types of deaerators.

Tray-type deaerator
igure 1: A schematic diagram of a typical tray-type deaerator.


The typical horizontal tray-type deaerator in igure 1 has a vertical domed deae
ration section mounted above a
horizontal boiler feedwater storage vessel. Boiler feedwater enters the vertical
dearation section above the
perforatedtra ys and flows downward through the perforations. Low-pressure deara
tion steam enters below the
perforated trays and flows upward through the perforations. ome designs use var
ious types ofpacking
material, rather than perforated trays, to provide good contact and mixing betwe
en the steam and the boiler feed
water.
The steam strips the dissolved gas from the boiler feedwater and exits via the v
ent at the top of the domed
section. ome designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water
entr ained in the vented gas.
The vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escap
e with the vented gases to
provide a small and visible telltale plume of steam.
The deaerated water flows down into the horizontal storage vessel from where it
is pumped to the steam
generating boiler system. Low-pressure heating steam, which enters the horizonta
l vessel through as p arg e r
pipe in the bottom of the vessel, is provided to keep the stored boiler feedwate
r warm. Externalinsula tion of the
vessel is typically provided to minimize heat loss.

pray-type deaerator
igure 2: A schematic diagram of a typical spray-type deaerator.


As shown in igure 2, the typical spray-type deaerator is a horizontal vessel wh
ich has a preheating section

(E)
and a deaeration section ( ). The two sections are separated by a baffle(C). Low
-pressure steam enters the
vessel through a sparger in the bottom of the vessel.
The boiler feedwater is sprayed into section (E) where it is preheated by the ri
sing steam from the sparger. The
purpose of the feedwater spray nozzle (A) and the preheat section is to heat the
boiler feedwater to itssaturation
temperature to facilitate stripping out the dissolved gases in the following dea
eration section.


The preheated feedwater then flows into the dearation section ( ), where it is d
eaerated by the steam rising from
the sparger system. The gases stripped out of the water exit via the vent at the
top of the vessel. Again, some
designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water entrained in
the vented gas. Also again, the
vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escape wi
th the vented gases to provide a
small and visible telltale plume of steam
The deaerated boiler feedwater is pumped from the bottom of the vessel to the st
eam generating boiler system.
Deaeration steam
The deaerators in the steam generating systems of most thermal power plants use
low pressure steam obtained from an extraction point in their steam turbine syst
em. However, the steam generators in many large industrial facilities such as pe
troleum refineries may use whatever low-pressure steam that is available.
Oxygen scavengers
Oxygen scavenging chemicals are very often added to the deaerated boiler feedwat
er to remove any last traces
of oxygen that were not removed by the deaerator. The most commonly used oxygen
scavenger issodiu m
sulfite (Na2 O3). It is very effective and rapidly reacts with traces of oxygen
to form sodium sulfate(N a2 O4)
which is non-scaling.
Other scavengers include1,3-dia minoure a (also known as carbohydrazide),dieth y
lh yd rox yl a mine (DEHA),
nitriloacetic acid(NTA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and hydroquinon
e
urface condenser is the commonly used term for a water cooled shell and tube he
at exchanger installed on the
exhauststea m from a steam turbine in thermal power stations.[1][2][3] Thesecond
ensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid st
ate at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling water is in short su
pply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled condenser is however
significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as low a steam turbine exhaust p
ressure as a surface condenser.
urface condensers are also used in applications and industries other than the c
ondensing of steam turbine
exhaust in power plants.
•
urface condenser
Purpose
In thermal power plants, the primary purpose of a surface condenser is tocondens
e the exhaust steam from a
steam turbine to obtain maximumeffici enc y and also to convert the turbine exha
ust steam into pure water
(referred to as steam condensate) so that it may be reused in the steam generato
r orboil er as boiler feed water.
Why is it required?
The steam turbine itself is a device to convert theheat in steam to mechanicalpo
wer. The difference between
the heat of steam per unit weight at the inlet to the turbine and the heat of st
eam per unit weight at the outlet to
the turbine represents the heat which is converted to mechanical power. Therefor
e, the more the conversion of
heat perpound orkilogr a m of steam to mechanical power in the turbine, the bett
er is its efficiency. By
condensing the exhaust steam of a turbine at a pressure below atmospheric pressu
re, the steam pressure drop
between the inlet and exhaust of the turbine is increased, which increases the a
mount of heat available for
conversion to mechanical power. Most of the heat liberated due tocondensa tion o
f the exhaust steam is carried
away by the cooling medium (water or air) used by the surface condenser.
Diagram of water-cooled surface condenser
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser
The adjacent diagram depicts a typical water-cooled surface condenser as used in
power stations to condense
the exhaust steam from a steam turbine driving an electrical generator as well i
n other applications.[2][3][4][5] There
are many fabrication design variations depending on the manufacturer, the size o
f the steam turbine, and other
site-specific conditions.
hell
The shell is the condenser's outermost body and contains the heat exchanger tube
s. The shell is fabricated from
carbon steel plates and is stiffened as needed to provide rigidity for the shell
. When required by the selected
design, intermediate plates are installed to serve as baffle plates that provide
the desired flow path of the
condensing steam. The plates also provide support that help prevent sagging of l
ong tube lengths.
At the bottom of the shell, where the condensate collects, an outlet is installe
d. In some designs, a sump (often referred to as the hotwell) is provided. Conde

nsate is pumped from the outlet or the hotwell for reuse as boiler feedwater.
or most water-cooled surface condensers, the shell is undervacuu m during norma
l operating conditions.
Vacuum system

Diagram of a typical modern injector or ejector. or a steam ejector, the motive
fluid is steam.


or water-cooled surface condensers, the shell's internal vacuum is most commonl
y supplied by and maintained
by an external steam jet ejector system. uch an ejector system uses steam as th
e motive fluid to remove any
non-condensible gases that may be present in the surface condenser. The Venturi
effect, which is a particular
case of Bernoulli's principle, applies to the operation of steam jet ejectors.
Motor driven mechanical vacuum pumps, such as liquid ring type vacuum pumps, are
also popular for this
service.
Tube sheets
At each end of the shell, a sheet of sufficient thickness usually made of stainl
ess steel is provided, with holes for
thetubes to be inserted and rolled. The inlet end of each tube is also bellmouth
ed for streamlined entry of water.
This is to avoid eddies at the inlet of each tube giving rise to erosion, and to
reduce flow friction. ome makers
also recommend plastic inserts at the entry of tubes to avoid eddies eroding the
inlet end. In smaller units some
manufacturers use ferrules to seal the tube ends instead of rolling. To take car
e of length wiseexpansion of
tubes some designs haveexpansion joint between the shell and the tube sheet allo
wing the latter to move
longitudinally. In smaller units some sag is given to the tubes to take care of
tubeexpansion with both end water
boxes fixed rigidly to the shell.
Tubes
Generally the tubes are made of stainless steel, copper alloys such as brass or
bronze, cupro nickel , ortitaniu m
depending on several selection criteria. The use of copper bearing alloys such a
s brass or cupro nickel is rare in
new plants, due to environmental concerns of toxic copper alloys. Also depending
on the steam cycle water
treatment for the boiler, it may be desirable to avoid tube materials containing
copper. Titanium condenser tubes
are usually the best technical choice, however the use of titanium condenser tub
es has been virtually eliminated
by the sharp increases in the costs for this material. The tube lengths range to
about 55 ft (17 m) for modern
power plants, depending on the size of the condenser. The size chosen is based o
n transportability from the
manufacturers’ sit and as of rction at th installation sit. Th outr diam
tr of condnsr tubs typically
rangs from 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inch, basd on condnsr cooling watr friction co
nsidrations and ovrall
condnsr siz.
Watrboxs
Th tub sht at ach nd with tub nds rolld, for ach nd of th condnsr
is closd by a fabricatd box
covr known as a watrbox, with flangd connction to th tub sht or condns
r shll. Th watrbox is
usually providd with man hols on hingd covrs to allow inspction and clanin
g.
Ths watrboxs on inlt sid will also hav flangd connctions for cooling wa
tr inlt buttrfly valvs, small
vnt pip with handvalv  for air vnting at highr lvl, and hand opratd dra
invalv  at bottom to drain th
watrbox for maintnanc. Similarly on th outlt watrbox th cooling watr con
nction will hav larg
flangs, buttrfly valvs, vnt connction also at highr lvl and drain connc
tions at lowr lvl. Similarly
thrmomtr pockts ar locatd at inlt and outlt pips for local masurmnts
of cooling watr tmpratur.
In smallr units, som manufacturrs mak th condnsr shll as wll as watrbo
xs of cast iron.
Corrosion
On th cooling watr sid of th condnsr:
Th tubs, th tub shts and th watr boxs may b mad up of matrials havin
g diffrnt compositions and
ar always in contact with circulating watr. This watr, dpnding on its chmi
cal composition, will act as an
lctrolyt btwn th mtallic composition of tubs and watr boxs. This will
giv ris to lctrolytic
corrosion which will start from mor anodic matrials first.
Sa watr basd condnsrs, in particular whn sa watr has addd chmicalpol
lutants, hav th worst
corrosion charactristics. Rivr watr withpollu tants ar also undsirabl for
condnsr cooling watr.
Th corrosiv ffct of sa or rivr watr has to b tolratd and rmdial mth
ods hav to b adoptd.
On th stam (shll) sid of th condnsr:
Th concntration of undissolvd gass is high ovr air zon tubs. Thrfor th
s tubs ar xposd to highr

corrosion rats. Som tims ths tubs ar affctd by strss corrosion crackin
g, if originally strss is not fully
rlivd during manufactur. To ovrcom ths ffcts of corrosion som manufac
turrs provid highr
corrosiv rsistant tubs in this ara.
Effcts of corrosion
As thtub nds gt corrodd thr is th possibility of cooling watr lakag t
o th stam sid contaminating th condnsd stam or condnsat, which is harmf
ul to stam gnrators. Th othr parts of watr boxs may also gt affctd in
th long run rquiring rpairs or rplacmnts involving long duration shut-down
s.
Protction from corrosion
Cathodic protction is typically mployd to ovrcom this problm. Sacrificial
anodsof zinc (bing chapst)
plats ar mountd at suitabl placs insid th watr boxs. Thszinc plats w
ill gt corrodd first bing in
th lowst rang of anods. Hnc thszinc anods rquir priodic inspction a
nd rplacmnts. This
involvs comparativly lss down tim. Th watr boxs mad of stl plats ar
also protctd insid by poxy
paint.
Cross-sctional schmatic diagram of a powr plantcondnsr for condnsing xhau
st stam from a stam turbin. This condnsr is singl-pass on both th tub an
d shll sids with a larg opning at th top for th xhaust stam to ntr and
ahotwll at th bottom whr
condnsat watr drips down to and collcts. Circulating watr for cooling is sh
own in light
grnish color and condnsat is light blu.
Othr applications of surfac condnsrs
•
Vacuum vaporation
•
Vacuum rfrigration
•
Ocan Thrmal Enrgy (OTEC)
•
Rplacing baromtric condnsrs in stam-drivn jctor systms
•
Gothrmal nrgy rcovry
•
Dsalination systms
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