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A. Kaupp, e-mail: webmaster@kaupp.

net Page 1

Boiler specifications

Issue Boilers are sold with a guaranteed design


efficiency and capacity.

Learning • Understanding name plate information


Objectives • Knowing how to convert from one unit to
the other
• Developing of skills to estimate the true
capacity of the boiler
• Reporting boiler operating hours
correctly
• Assessing to what extend a boiler is
overloaded or underloaded
• Developing a proper boiler hour
reporting sheet.
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 2

 NOTES

1. Boiler capacities
Operating an oversized boiler increases fuel consumption, while
operation of an undersized boiler also increases fuel consumption
and in addition causes increased repair and maintenance as well as
capacity problems. Selecting the correct boiler size and minimizing
investment life cycle costs is the objective.

It is sometimes difficult to understand boiler capacity terminology


because not all manufacturers stick to norms when advertising
boiler capacities. In the literature, sales brochures, tender
documents, and on boiler name plates you may find the following
references to boiler capacity:

• “The boiler has 180 b.h.p”


• “Capacity is 15 tons/hour”
• “Nutzwärmeleistung 15 MW”
• “Heat output 15 Million BTU/hour”
• “Rated output equals ...”
• “Nominal output equals ...”

Understanding the true meaning of these terms helps to ask the


right questions if one is not so sure about the real output of the
boiler.

2. The concept of “boiler horsepower” (bhp)


This term is very old (100 years) but still used and found on name
plates of boilers. One bhp is the evaporation of 34.5 pounds (=
15.648 kg) of water per hour from a temperature of 212oF
(=100oC) into dry saturated steam at the same temperature.
Equivalent to 33,472 BTU/h (= 35.291 MJ/h).

A boiler rated 1,000 bhp has therefore enough heating surface to


adsorb 1,000 * 35.291 = 35,291 MJ/h of energy to the steam-water
circuit. The steam-water circuit includes the heat adsorbed by the
blowdown, according to the American and German norm.

A boiler rated at 30 bar and 1,000 bhp will not have a guaranteed
generation of 1,000 * 34.5 / 2,204.75 = 15.6 tons of steam per hour
because as stated, the term bhp refers to heating water from and at
100 oC.
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 3

 NOTES

Boiler horsepower ratings are rapidly phased out and rarely found
in new boiler installations, except for American boilers.

3. The concept of “tons of steam/hour”


This term is the most informative and easiest to understand if it
refers to steam properties the boiler is designed for. However one
better asks whether the capacity refers to tons of steam/hour from
and at 100 oC, or to tons of steam/hour at say 30 bar and 350 oC at
nominal output and standard operating procedures.

4. The concept of “heat output”


This term is normed and the same in the American and German
norm (“Nutzwärmeleistung”). It means the adsorbed heat in the
steam-water circuit at specific operating conditions. The only
difference are the units. Countries that have adapted the SI unit
express the heat output in MW, others refer to BTU/hour. The
official conversion is
1 BTU = 1,054.35 Joule and
1 MW = 3,600 MJ/h

In practice the rated or nominal heat output is the continuos


maximum heat adsorption capacity of the boiler. To what extend
all this heat is used to generate steam or some is discharged
through blowdown depends on the operation.

Boiler rated heat output selection is done much more generous than
electric motor or combustion engine output selection, since
marginal costs of boiler capacity are small. In fact there is more
concern that boilers are oversized to cope with large fluctuating
steam demands.

5. Pressure ratings
On the name plate of boilers you may find its pressure rating in
either bar, kPa, or psi. The pressure rating refers to the highest
boiler drum pressure (= steam pressure) the boiler should be
operated. The conversion factors are
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 4

 NOTES

1 psi = 6,894.8 Pa = 6.8948 kPa


1 bar = 100,000 Pa = 100 kPa

The above units bar, kPa, and psi are also found on steam
pressure gages. In addition the unit kp/cm2 (or kg/cm2) is
occasionally found on gages.
1 kp/cm2 = 0.9807 bar
1 kg/cm2 = 1 atm

Depending on the type of gage, the steam pressure is either


measured in absolute terms, that means the instrument measures
the true pressure of the steam against the steam drum and pipe
walls, or the differential pressure between steam pressure and
ambient pressure is shown. To know which pressure is shown by
the instrument is important for steam calculations.

6. Definition of parameters of boiler operation


One of the less pleasant situations in boiler efficiency testing is the
lack of vital information in boiler logbooks. Often a logbook
doesn’t exist at all. Efficiency testing is also a first step to advise
on other equally important issues such as boiler maintenance and
fine tuning as well as investment in a new boiler, or the need for
capacity expansion. These additional tasks are difficult to
accomplish without a documented history of the boiler
performance and utilization.

We have adapted a few terms common in the operation of power


plants to get a better overview about existing problems with a
boiler that are hidden to an occasional visitor.

The Dependable Capacity of a boiler is the maximum heat output


under specific conditions for a given time interval (day, month,
year).

• The Average Load is defined as


Actual hea t output
Average lo ad =
Operating hours
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 5

 NOTES

The Average Load shows how much of the Dependable


Capacity is being utilized by the boiler. Average Load equals
Dependable Capacity, means 100 % utilization.

• The Availability is defined as

 FOH + MOH + POH 


Availability = 1 -  ⋅ 100
 Period hours 

The higher the percent Availability, the more the boiler is


available to supply steam
where FOH = Forced outage hours (boiler or downstream failures)
MOH = Maintenance outage hours (scheduled repair)
POH = Planned outage hours (non operation due to events
such as Sundays, two shifts, etc.)

• The Capacity Factor is defined as


Actual hea t output
Capacity F actor = ⋅ 100
Rated heat output ⋅ Period ho urs

The higher the Capacity Factor, the longer the unit is being
used. Period hours may refer to any time frame from one day, a
week, months, a year or time since commissioning of the
boiler. For accounting purposes we assume 8,760 hours/year
and 365 days/year.

• The rated heat output of the boiler is defined as given by


the American or German norm. Several exercises deal with this
subject.
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 6

 NOTES

7. Data collection issues


The rated heat output of the boiler can be obtained from the
manual, or even boiler plate. How to derive tons of steam/hour is
shown in task 2.

Recording FOH, MOH, and POH is a management matter. The


only complication is therefore to record the “Actual heat output” of
the reporting period. In the case of accumulating steam meters or
accumulating feedwater meters there is no problem. In the latter
case a reasonable percentage is subtracted from the feedwater flow
to account for blowdown.

If neither feedwater nor steam metering is available one needs to


assess the output based on the fuel input adjusted by the boiler
efficiency.

One is mostly interested to quickly detect any serious


inconsistencies of the reported fuel consumption versus boiler
capacity as well as to judge the boiler management based on
Average Load, Availability and Capacity Factor. Any inaccuracy
in the boiler efficiency entering the calculation of the above terms
doesn’t matter.

Often one can reduce operational costs of boiler operation by


increasing the Availability and Capacity Factor rather than
reducing thermal losses through retrofitting and improved
monitoring.
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 7

 NOTES

EXERCISES

Task 1
Convert the following pressure units:

• 16 bar = _______ psi = ________ kPa = ______


kp/cm2

• 200 psi = ________ bar = ________ kPa

• 993 kPa = ________ psi

• 1 atmosphere = __________ bar

State the difference between 15 bar absolute and 15 bar gauge


pressure. _______ bar

Task 2
Assume there was an error in the pressure reading of saturated
steam. A value of 45 bar was mistakenly recorded as absolute
pressure although the instrumentation measures the gauge pressure.

Repeat this exercise with saturated steam at 5 bar.

Results
45 bar 5 bar

The incorrect steam enthalpy is MJ/kg MJ/kg

The correct steam enthalpy should be MJ/kg MJ/kg

The error equals % %

The incorrect steam temperature is o


C o
C

The correct steam temperature should be o


C o
C

The error equals % %

Task 3
Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 8

 NOTES

Consider a boiler of a small power plant. Steam properties are 40


bar and 450 oC. Convert the statement “The boiler has a heat
output of 40 MW” into

• “The boiler has _________ bhp”


• “The capacity is ________ tons/h from and at 100 oC”
• “The capacity is ________ tons/h of life steam”
• “The unit has an electrical power output of about ______ MW”

Feedwater input conditions are 125 °C and 50 bar. Calculate first


the adsorbed heat.

Task 4
Plant operators insist that a boiler generates 25 tons of steam (15
bar, saturated) per hour. The available boiler documentation
indicates that the boiler has a guaranteed rating of 13 MW. Do you
believe what you were told? Justify your answer.

The information is  correct  false, because

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Task 5
How large is the error if we assume a boiler has a capacity of 25
ton/hour of steam at and from 100 oC instead of 25 ton/hour life
steam at 10 bar saturated.

The error is _________ % at most

Repeat the exercise for steam at 40 bar and 480 oC.

The error is _________ % at most


Lecture 16: Boiler specifications Page 9

 NOTES

Task 6
Making sense of information provided by boiler owners about fuel
consumption, operating hours and nominal capacity is sometimes
not easy and requires detective skills to identify possible
inconsistencies.

In the first part of this exercise we explore the concepts of Average


Load, Availability and Capacity Factor. In the second part
examples of inconsistencies are discussed.

(1) The attached sheet of a “boiler logbook” shows a monthly


record of a 12 t/h boiler that generates saturated steam at 10
bar in a soap factory. The operator has recorded the forced,
maintenance, and planned outage hours. Also recorded is the
daily fuel consumption. The daily fuel consumption is
obtained from measuring the fuel level in the day tank. The
fuel is “Bunker C” oil. Assume a feedwater temperature of 80
o
C and blowdown of 10 % of feedwater input.

The rated heat output is ____________MJ/h or _____MW

(2) Analyze the boiler logbook and point out inconsistencies and
critical areas, where you could perhaps reduce energy
consumption by changing operational procedures.

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