A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Prof. P. K. Das
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department IIT Kharagpur

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Boiler Drum a standard feature of water tube boilers

Function of a Boiler Drum

i. ii. iii. iv. v. Stores water and steam to meet varying load requirement Part of a circulation loop Separates of steam and water (three internals and free surface) Separates of sludge & floating impurities Maintains the ppm of dissolved solids by blow down and phosphate dosing

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Boiler Drum as an input output system Riser Water, steam, foam, sludge, floating impurities Steam outlet Steam, water droplet Feed water Water + chemical

Boiler Drum as an InputOutput System

Down Comer Water steam impurities

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

Blow down water Dissolved solids Precipitates

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Schematic of a boiler drum relative positions of different components

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

500 MW Boiler Drum

Inside of a boiler drum tube holes and baffles

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Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Typical drum internals 1- Drum; 2- Evaporating tubes; 3- Box; 4- Cyclone; 5- Drainage box; 6- Cover; 7- Steam-washing perforated plate; 8- Perforated steam baffle; 9- Feed water distribution box; 10- Steam circulating tubes; 11- Feed water in; 12- Hole in a partition; 13- Downtake tubes; 14- Emergency water drainage.

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Two unique features of drum type boilers Carry under entrainment of steam bubbles in the water stream of downcomer, reduces the circulation, increases the pressure drop in the down comer Carry over entrainment of water droplets in the steam leaving the boiler drum , dissolved solid gets deposited in super heater and other downstream components, creates the problem of over heating and failure. Carry over is a general term,

associated phenomena are known as priming and foaming

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Priming is the sudden gust of liquid slugs in the steam flow due to rapid change in steaming rate, increase in liquid level, improper circulation etc. It not only makes the steam dirty but can also create problems like flow fluctuation, water hammer, thermal stress. Foamnig occurs due to the saponification in presence of oil, grease, floating impurities. It restricts the release of the bubbles as the liquid has a high surface tension. During bubble rapture droplets are formed which are also carried away by steam Apart from mechanical cleaning of steam chemical correction is also applied. Tri-sodium phosphate or tannin is injected to induce precipitation of the dissolved salts in the form of sludge.

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Mechanism of carry over

Normal bubble

Carry over bubble

Liquid excursion by vapor drag

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

ABMA Standard Boiler Water Concentrations for Minimizing Carryover

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Carry Over from Boiler Drum Carry over effect from drum can be up to LP turbine blades Mechanical Drum Internal Alignments Drum level Very high levels Foaming High Alkalinity Oil in water Different quantum of vapor carry over Spray water Vapor out High salt content in boiler water Volatility different for each salt SO3 has high volatility Gets deposited in LP turbine
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

Faulty screen drier

High TDS in boiler water

Other salts in vapor carry over rare

Goes up above 200 kg/cm2

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Operation done on steam in a steam drum: Separation, Washing and Drying

Gravity Separation of Steam and Water:

1. Needs large free surface 2. Suitable for low pressure boilers (< 20bar)

3. Low cost
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Gravity separation assisted by internals like baffles and screens Baffles are the first level separator- Impact separations or separation due to change of momentum Screen (wiremesh) are secondary separators- intersects fine droplets
Baffles and screens

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum At high pressure density difference between water and screen diminishes Cyclone utilize centrifugal forces Scrubbers are corrugated platehelps to remove the last stresses of moisture Finally perforated plates or screens are used at the drum exit Cyclone and scrubbers

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Steam washing impurities are removed Steam is made to pass through a rain of Relatively pure incoming feed water.

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Saturated steam drier 1 & 5 - Constant- velocity Channels; 2 & 6 - Perforated plates; 3 - Horizontal chute; 4 - Drainage pipes; 7 - Corrugated plates; 8 - Moisture- trapping pocket

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Typical external cyclone separator 1- Header; 2- Steam-water mixture in; 3- Whirler; 4- Perforated plate; 5- Steam outlet pipe; 6- Air vent; 7- Blow-down; 8- Downtake tubes; 9- Water from drum; 10- Cross-piece Sometimes steams of high purity is required Separation inside the steam drum is not adequate External separators are used
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Guide lines to avoid carry over: Drum level to be within +/- 50 mm Maintain silica below recommended value for the pressure Drum internal alignment to be maintained FW to be 0.2 to 0.3 mho s/cm Boiler water solids to be in recommended level Measure & maintain steam purity within limits FW conductivity to be on line Boiler water salt control Dosing of solid salts to be after spray water tap off Turbine Deposits Guide: Soft & friable, pinkish white, 1st stage blades- easy to remove by air/water Sparkling silver, silver gray mainly in 4th and 5th stage bladesHard to remove by air/water.
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Test Facility

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Collection of carry over

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Blow Down : Intentional drainage of water from the boiler drum to control the level of dissolved solid

Surface Blow down Removes dissolved solids, foam, floating impurities often continuous

Bottom Blow down Removes sludge and precipitates mostly manual

Inadequate blow down - the problem of deposition Excessive blow down wastage of water, chemical and energy
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum Impurities in = impurities out

fw * ppm fw BD ppmdrum 1 x s ppmcarryover fw rate of feed water entering the drum kg S s rate of steam flow from the drum kg S x quality of steam leaving the drum
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BD rate of blowdown necessary kg S

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Boiler Drum

Scheme for automatic surface blow down

Possibility of heat recovery from surface blow down stream

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Drum Level Control : Steam supply for variable demands changes the water level in the boiler drum Drum level control is important for both plant protection and equipment safety Excessive low level uncover boiler tubes leads to overheating. It also affects the circulation Very high level interferes with the process of steam water separation, leads to loss of boiler efficiency, priming and carry over. Excessive carry over may lead to surge or even water hammer Unique phenomena like shrink and swell are also associated.
Desirable In case of a large change in the level, bring the drum up to the level at boiler start up and maintain the level at that condition
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Example

Boiler specifications: 367.7 kW(500 bhp), 7840.9 kg/h (17,250 PPH) Operating pressure 1.55 Mpa (225 PSIG) Boiler Water temperature 476K (397 F) Boiler is operated with 75% firing rate with 80% efficiency i.e. 5863.6 kg/h

(12,900 PPH) with 4 597.3 kWh (1,56,86,720 Btu) heat input.

Using ON/OFF feed water system (recovery volume of 3% low water capacity

(235 kg) + 2% over capacity(157 kg) = 5% water recovery capacity (392 kg) )
Feed water cycle = 392/5863 hr = 4.01 min Feed water is supplied at 355.2 K with 261.4 kg/min.
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Resultant impact
Total feed water delivery time = 392/ 261.4=1.5 min, temperature rise= 120 K 1.Sub-cooling of water occurs due to mixing of drum water with feed water. 95% of water at 476 K + 5% of water at 355.2 K= 469.7 K of boiler water i.e. 6.3 K of sub-cooling
2.Steaming pressure falls from 1.55 Mpa (@ 476 K) to 1.34 Mpa (@ 469.7 K) i.e.

13% drop in steaming pressure

3.Steaming pressure falls

specific volume changes nozzle discharge velocity increases from 20.6 m/s to 23.5 m/s. 2.03 m/s is critical velocity for carry over. Priming most likely to occur.
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

steam

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

4.

To recover steaming pressure, firing rate should be increased by 1640.8 kWh i.e. 26.76% of total firing rate in 1.5 min. So boiler would have to fire 75 + 26.76 =101.76 % to recover Steaming Pr. decreases drum water level rises 1.77 to 2.54 cm wrong signal send to feed water controller shut the feed 1.77 cm early. Operating steaming pressure reached water level shrinks.

5.

6.

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Drum level control Level measurement Level control

On-off control Modulating Control

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Conductivity probe for level measurement Possible actions: Start or stop a valve Open or close a valve Sound an alarm Open or close a relay

Two point conductivit y probe

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control Capacitance method of level measurement

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control Float type level indicator

Can be conveniently used for on-off control

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Differential Pressure cell Suitable for high pressure clean water system with a low conductivity Diaphragm type sensing element

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Desirable features of a good drum level control Operator adjustment of the set point for drum level Compensation for the shrink & swell effects Automatic control of drum level Manual control of the feed water valve Bump-less transfer between auto and manual modes Indication of correct drum level and steam flow Indication of feed water valve position and feed water flow Absolute/deviation alarms for drum level Additionally a good controller should take care of Blow down variations due to changes in dissolved solids Variations in feed water supply pressure Leaks in the steam circuits.
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Options for drum level control Manual control Single element control Two element control Three element control

Only one analogue input and one analogue output required Suitable for single boiler / single feed pump configurations Suitable for stable loads since there is no relationship between drum level and steam- or feed water flow Possible inadequate control option because of the swell effect
Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur
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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Limitation of single level control:

Increase of demand decreases steam pressure Gives rise to expansion of bubbles and drum level swell Feed water flow rate decreases while an increase of flow rate is needed to maintain mass balance Sudden or large load changes gives rise to phasing of shrink and swell Water level controller looses control Nuisance of low water trips or water priming and carry over

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control Suitable for moderate load swing Any size of boiler Uses steam flow and drum level As steam flow is very dynamic load change can be sensed before any change of drum level Steam flow is a large variable can over ride the trim effect of the drum level change

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Limitations of two element control

Can not adjust pressure or load disturbance of the feed water flow
Can not eliminate the phasing interaction between the feed water flow and drum level as only a slow process of drum level is controlled The second issue can lead to a high subcooling of the drum water on a large increase of steam demand due to excessive feed water entry

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Boiler Drum and Drum Level Control Drum Level Control

Three element controller: Basic two element controller is cascaded to the feed water flow controller to act as a remote set point Feed water controller (first controller) uses feed water flow as the process variable and steam flow as the set point The set point of the two element controller at just itself Minor losses like blow down can be taken care off Independent tuning of each controller Can handle large and rapid load change Suitable for any boiler size Must for multiple boilers with a common feed water heater No trim correction stroke supervision needed

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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A Course on Thermal Power Plant

Prof. P. K. Das; Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; IIT Kharagpur

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