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1. STEAM GENERATION
1.1 BOILING STEAM GENERATION
Boiling & consequent steam generation is a quite familiar process. In brief , as we began to heat water, it goes on absorbing heat at constant pressure and is evident by rise in the temp. A stage reaches when water begins to boil and there is no rise in temp., at this stage steam is formed, which continues to be so at the same temp. unless and until pressure changes. The first stage of heat has ;due to the latent heat. Thus, thermodynamically speaking, boiling may be considered a special case of adding heat to the working substance in a constant-pressure, constant temp. process. As the pressure rises ,latent heat decreases and a stage is reached at (221.06 bar ), when the latent heat become zero, this pressure began termed as critical pressure. (for detail see part 1 ,chapter 6). Further , once the steam is formed & does not have any traces of water i.e. is dry & saturated , we keep the pressure constant while heat is being added, the temperature of steam will begin to rise, the heat expended being known as superheat. As the working pressure rises, the specific weight of the water goes on decreasing while that of steam goes on rising till at critical pressure it becomes equal both for steam and water as shown in fig. No. 1.1. Because of specific weight, differential between water & steam at a given pressure, there exists a different head, which ever a pretty long range of pressure provides a good means for circulation during steam generation. Depending upon working pressure i.e. below critical , the steam generators are designated as subcritical or super-critical. Whereas, for a greater part of the range in subcritical pressure it is possible to have natural circulation during evaporation, but above supercritical pressure circulation is forced one. In the higher subcritical pressure range also due to the reason of economy, forced or assisted circulation may be employed.
1 a) Except for the once-through type boiler designs for sub-critical pressure must stay within nucleate boiling conditions. b) The incremental increases in temperature gradients produce uniform increase in Conductance. i.e. kcal / cm2 ,if the boiling is kept within the nucleate zone. c) The required fluid velocities in the tubes in order to retain the conditions of nucleate boiling are : - for vertical tubes 0.3 to 3 mps - for horizontal / inclined tube ..1.5 to 3 mps
1.2.2. Beyond nucleate boiling region (i.e. higher heat fluxes ) the bubbles collapse to from a film of superheated steam over part or all the heating surfaces. This condition is known as 'film boiling'. This conditions also tends to arise when the proportion of steam in the fluid increases to a point
where complete film of steam is formed at solid, liquid interface resulting in decreased heat transfer rates. therefore, certain minimum flow velocities as discussed are essential. The point, beyond which film boiling begins is known as 'departure from nucleate boiling-(DNB)'.some of the important points associated with the phenomenon are :a) the metal temp. till the occurrence of (D.N.B.) is slightly higher above the water temp., when water start boiling , the metal temp. is slightly above the saturation temp., but at D.N.B. the difference between the two temperature is much higher. b) For higher heat flux, the D.N.B. point is reached at lower steam quality & peak metal temperature is higher. c) Break down of mode of boiling heat transfer i.e. D.N.B. leads to ' burn -out' of the tube by gross overheating.
ii) Forced circulation:- This term is generally used for movement of fluid in boilers working above critical pressures. These boilers are of 'Once-through' type. The pump forces movement of fluid through all the heating zones viz. Economizers , tubes in combustion zones and superheaters. A small separating or mixing vessel may be provided for removal of moisture from steam and pumping back to the circuit. Some designers tend to use this term even for 'Assisted circulation' described above.Fig.1.4 and 1.5.
1.3.2.2 THE C.E. (U.S.A.) & ALSO B.H.E.L. (INDIA) WHO HAVE TECHNICAL COLLABORATION FOR MANUFACTURE OF BOILER IN INDIA, CLASSIFY CIRCULATION SYSTEM AS UNDER : a) Natural circulation ; as described earlier. b) Controlled circulation ; This system is akin to "ASSISTED CIRCULATION" system as described above and is generally adopted beyond 180 kg/cm2. c) Combined Circulation ; The system is similar to "Forced circulation" system described earlier. It is applicable beyond the critical pressure where phase transformation is absent. The C.E. design in this range provide arrangements for recalculation of water through the furnace tubes at low loads. This protects tubes and simplifies the start up procedures. A typical operating pressure for such a system is 260 Kg/cm2.
The heat absorption rates may be somewhat higher than the predicted once because of miscalculation of friction loss, localized hot spots, or other unforeseen circumstances. These reduce the average density of the circuit and thus the flow to the circuit may be more than that calculated such as assisted or controlled self compensation is not available. One of the characteristics of natural circulation is its tendency to provide the highest flow in the tubes with the greatest heat absorption. Heat transfer rates between the inside surface of steam generating tube and the boiling water in it are extremely high, and the tube inner wall is normally only a few degrees above the saturation temperature corresponding to the operating pressure. Tube overheating and failures are almost invariably due to internal deposits that insulate the tube from the cooling effects of the water flowing in the tube. Those failures are mostly in high heat flux zones.
1.5
CIRCULATION RATIO
1.5.1 It is essential to maintain a certain amount of flow of water to the steam generating circuits in commensurate with the amount of steam generated from them, in order to prevent `Burnouts' and `On-load Corrosion'. The ratio by weight of the water fed to the steam-generating circuits to the steam actually generated (Kg water : Kg steam ) is called `Circulation Ratio'. Taking circuit shown in Fig. 1.8 as an example for a unit period of time 5 kg water is admitted to risers (which will get converted into mixture of water and steam during its passage through the furnace) and 1 kg of steam is taken out of the drum, the value of circulation ratio will be five. The remaining 4 Kg of water will be recirculated in the system. To compensate for 1 Kg. Of steam taken out, 1 Kg. Of water will have to be added to the drum, which will enter the risers alongwith the water under recirculation. 1.5.2 Circulation ratio to be adopted for a particular design will be influenced by the operating pressure and the available head. The values of these parameters will decide the circulation head available to produce the driving force available. The curves in graph of Fig. 1.8 show: (i) Typical design values of circulation ratio as a function of operating pressure. (ii) With given circulation ratio and uniform heat absorption over height `h' the maximum available circulation head for overcoming flow resistance.
1.5.3 The circulation ratio for various types of boilers are:(i) Utility Boilers . 6 to 9 (ii) Industrial Boiler.8 to 30 Higher circulation provides higher thermal inertia and faster response essential for industrial boilers. 1.6
1.6.1 The primary requisite of a circulation system design is to ensure prevention against burn-out and on-load corrosion. In order to prevent burn-out it is essential to maintain nucleate boiling conditions, i.e., the flow commensurate with the heat flux. The prevention of on-load corrosion in addition to requirement of a certain minimum flow also needs a stricter control on boiler water quality. The natural circulation within the boiler is a quite complex phenomenon and most of the deductions have been based upto experience and experimental date rather than the theoretical computations. The broad principles of natural boiler circulation are:a) Nucleate boiling conditions shall be maintained for all operating conditions ( This is applicable to assisted circulation also). b) An acceptable percentage of steam by volume (%SBV) or corresponding percentage of steam by weight (%SBW) shall be maintained. This is shown by curves of Fig. 1.9. The inverse of SBW is the circulation ratio which is discussed before. The limit SBV or SBW is a function of many variables such as pressure, heat flux and mass flow. For each pressure and heat flux, there is a maximum permissible quality which is dependent on mass velocity. c) Minimum velocity of water entering the heated portion of tubes A circulation rate of 1 to 5 fps (0.3 to 1.5 mps) is recommended.
d) Separation of steam and water in Drum to give steam free water to down comers. e) Segregation of circuits having different absorption rates.
1.7.3
a) Once-Through Type. Water from the feed supply is pumped to inlet ends of the heat absorbing circuits. Evaporation or change of stage gradually takes along the length of the circuit and when the evaporation is complete, further progress through the heated circuits results in superheating the vapor. No steam and water drum is required in this system and is generally applicable above supercritical pressures. Fig. No.1.4 shows the scheme of forced circulation boilers at supercritical pressures. b) A modification of once through type boiler is that, evaporation is up to partial dryness (9o%) and the water is removed in a separator and the dry steam passed further through the circuit for superheating. The system is used at sub-critical pressures in the higher pressure zone as shown in Fig. No. 1.5 c) Even near on beyond the critical pressures it has been found advantageous to recirculate the water through the furnace tube at low loads. This protects the furnace tubes and simplifies the start-up procedure. A typical operating pressure for such a system is 260 Kg/cm2. This system is called `Combined Circulation System' and has been adopted in C.E. Boiler designs. 1.8 ASSISTED CIRCULATION, `RECIRCULATING' FORCED CIRCULATION. In this type provision of steam-water drum is made as in the case of natural circulation boilers and circulating pumps for circulation in various circuits like the forced circulation boilers. This corresponds to `Controlled Circulation System' as per the CE/BHEL classification. In this system of circulation, there is net thermal loss for the boiler unit because of the separate circulating pump. See Fig. 1.10 The flow to individual tubes is controlled by orifice plates to compensate for different positions along the feed headers and different heat absorption. Though it is possible to adopt natural circulation for boilers working up to the range of 170 to 180 Kg/cm2 but some designers feel it necessary to have assisted circulation even in this or lower ranges. The advantages are: (i) It is possible to have tubes of smaller diameter for driving up the steam water mixture by making the pumps to do a little more work. (ii) The provisions of orifices helps to have a more uniform temperature giving another slight saving in tube wall thickness over and above that already obtained by using smaller tubes. (iii)There is overall reduction in furnace size:
steam is sufficiently pure for use in HP turbines. This step is called `Secondary Separation' or `Steam Scrubbing' All these steps are usually accomplished in the boiler drum. Steam Washing. This action takes place after primary separation and is the process of rinsing the steam with relatively clean feed water or steam condensate resulting from cooling with feed water. Its purpose is mainly to obtain contact with low silica content water, wash out impurities and condense vaporous silica. Boilers used in India for power generation do not have this system. In order to limit silica carry over care is taken that silica content of drum water always remain within specified limit. Blow Down. The salts from the above process will fall into the drum and thus in its water salt concentration will increase. The removal of a part of drum water preferably that which contains high concentration of salts is known as blow down. 1.9.1.2 THE STEAM CONTAMINATION MAY ALSO ARISE BECAUSE OF CARRY OVER DUE TO PRIMING & FOAMING PHENOMENON DESCRIBED BELOW: Priming.This is the carry over of water in pulps to the steam during higher water level periods i.e. when the separators (drum internals) get in-effective. There will be entertainment of water in steam due to this. Foaming is primarily the result of the chemical conditions of the boiler water caused by concentration of oil, soap, organic matter, suspended particles or other foreign matter. Excess foaming may result in foam over i.e. carry over of the foam with the steam. 1.9.2 Factors affecting steam separation.. Both the design features and operating factors, affect the separation of steam from steam water mixture reaching the drum through the risers. These factors influence the separation as discussed below: 1.9.2.1 DESIGN FACTORS Operating Pressure. Due to increase in sp. wt of steam with increased pressure and greater decrease in sp. wt. of water, the net available head for causing flow of the steam water mixture in the riser decreases as the pressure increases as shown in Fig. 1.8. This also affects the natural tendency of steam and water to separate, as the limiting velocity of a water particle conveyed din steam and force to gravity both vary directly with the differential in the specific weights of the water and the steam, which will affect steam flow per unit of flow area, the steam velocity and the force of gravity as shown in Fig. 1.11. Rate of steam generation and water circulation. For a low rate of steam generation (velocity of steam leaving water-upto 1 mps), the steam bubbles have enough time to separate from the mixture by gravity without being drawn into the down comers and without carrying entrained water drops into the steam outlet. At higher rate of generation, not only this advantage is denied, but also the dense upward traffic of steam bubbles causes swelling of level and false level rise is indicated. Arrangement of Down Comers and Risers The effect of the location of the riser circuits in relation to the water level is shown in Fig. 1.12 (a & b). Neither of the arrangement is capable of producing desired results if only gravity separation is to be depended upon. Size of the drum The lower rate of steam generation per unit area is required if separation is to be carried effectively . Further to permit separation of moisture droplets, a certain minimum distance between the swelled water level and the steam outlet is required, which has to be increased alongwith rise in pressure, at 300 psia (20.68 bars) this distance is approximately 24' (61cm). Thus, it will appear that size of the drum has marked affect on steam separation.
1.9.2.2
OPERATING FACTORS
Boiler water analysis. The increase in boiler water concentration will lead to higher contamination of steam. Also if the water has higher concent4ation of dissolved solids, increased foaming will take place, which will make ineffective the drum internals which have been fitted for effective steam separation and reduce available space where separation is by gravity only. Type of steam load. With rapid increase in boiler load, steam pressure will reduce causing thereby increase in steam volume through out. The resulting `Swell' will increase the level which effects separation adversely and results in water carry over. Thus to prevent carry over larger drum will be required or proper control over boiler load. Water level carried The rapid fluctuation in water level are not desirable as these affect the separation adversely and on increased level moisture carry over will result because of the reduced available space in the drum in case of steam separation by gravity and the ineffectiveness of drum internals by flooding. The modern boilers are ,therefore, equipped with proper and effective water level regulation system.
1.10
By gravity separation. The preceding discussion clearly reveals that gravity separation can be only employed in case of boilers having low generation rates, constant loads and low operating pressures. In case otherwise size of the drum has to be increased which will not be economical. Therefore, other methods for effective primary separation are employed. By use of Baffles These are the simplest type of primary separation devices and are in the form of obstacles in the direct path of steam to outlet. At lower rate of generation single V type baffle may be suitable, but for higher rates other designs such as compartment baffle be used. Diagrammatically baffles are shown in Figure 1.13 ( a & b) By use of Multiple drums and baffle combination. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 1.14. The steam outlet is in dry drum where provision of baffles is also made. By centrifugal action. In all the modern high pressure and high capacity boilers separation of steam is obtained buy employing cyclones which work on centrifugal action. The three basic effects which a good separation system shall promote are: (i) Centrifugal action to produce separation forces many time greater than those produced by gravity. (ii) Alter direction of steam water mixture so that the upward velocity vector is zero. (iii)Provision of drainable wetted surface into which fine spray can coalesce. An arrangement of steam drum internals for effecting steam separation incorporating the three requirements mentioned above the shown in Fig. 1.15. This is used in natural circulation type boilers of CE/BHEL designs. The steam water mixture from the furnace passes through the centrifugal separators where a spin by the spinner blades is imparted to it. This forces the water to the outer edge
of the centrifugal separator where it is separated from the steam. The water flows downward through the annuals space in the cylinder and this is free from steam bubbles. The partially deride steam passes at a low velocity through corrugated plates (secondary separators) where additional mixture is removed by wetting action on the plates. A similar process occurs in the final screen dryers. 1.11 BLOW DOWN The removal of a portion of water containing impurities from the Boiler Drum is termed as blow down. This is resorted in order to remove the impurities is which increase in the drum after the separation and purification of steam. The blow down water is first passed through a flash tank, where the flash steam is admitted to the deaerator and then water is led through a heat exchanger, where it gives its heat to D. M. water. These steps help to recover heat from a part of blow down water, which finally goes to waste channel. The blow down may be continuous and or periodic. Continuous blow down tapings are from the drum and periodic blow down is from low point drains fitted to lower headers of water walls. Periodic blow down is resorted to when concentrations increase and are not cleared by continuous blow down, and also to remove those impurities which reach the lower headers and get accumulated there. The amount of continuous blow down may be determined as given (Ref.Fig.1.17)
Let T tonnes of steam taken out per hr. P tonnes of steam blow down per hr. Then water to be admitted = T+P tonnes/hr. (This ignores a slight wastage of water which may be taking place due to leaks etc.) Solids allowed in steam per tonne = Ks. mg. Solids going down in blow down =Kp. mg. Solids coming along with water = Kf. mg. Kf assumed to be equal for make up water and boiler water in the circuit. T x Ks + P x Kp = (T + P)Kf. P = T (Kf - Ks) (P x Kf is neglected as quantity is quite small) ___________ Kp % blow down = (Kf - Ks) x 100 based upon steam out-put. ---------Kp
2.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
During the last thirty years there has been a phenomenal growth in the size of the generating plant. The increase in size has been necessitated due to many economical & technical factors such as the demand for increased power, desire to have it at low cost despite the steady increase in cost of materials & labour, and general deterioration in fuel quality. The last factor is of grate importance to India where large reserves of low grade coals can be utilized for power generation. The present technological advancements have placed practically no restrictions on unit size provided the grid has the capacity to bear it during tripping etc. In India the units of 500 MW sizes are being operated at present. The increase in size has led to increase in over all dimensions. These mammoth Boilers may be as high as a 12 to 15 story building. Fig. No. 2.1 compares the sizes of a 200 MW and 500 MW unit with Kutub Minar. The increase in boiler size also helps in reduction of vol. And area per KW capacity. This helps to utilize the power station to their utmost advantage. Typical figures are given below:
Capacity
30MW 120MW 200 MW 350 MW
Rel Vol.
1.0 0.61 0.58 0.47
2.4 2.5
IMPACT OF FUEL
The fuel or combination of fuels influence the design of modern high pressure & temperature boilers considerably. The cost of the fuel and the effect of constituents on corrosion also influence the choice of steam cycle. The main component which are likely to be effected and required consideration during design stage are :2.5.1 The furnace sizeThe choice of fuel will considerably influences the size of the furnace. The coal burning steam generators, because of the ash produced, have larger furnaces. The approximate comparison is as given below :-
2.5.2 FUEL BURNING & PREPARATION EQUIPMENT: 2.5.2.1 The medium and high volatile coals can be fired through horizontal circular burners in the front or and rear wall or through corners. These fuels are normally direct fired through medium speed ball or roller mills. Low volatile coals require the application of the U-flame and direct firing of these fuels is favored in using medium speed ball mills or tube mills. 2.5.2.2 For coal preparation equipment is wide and varied. This may comprise apart from the equipment in storage yards; the crushers, conveyors, raw coal bunkers, pulverizes and classifiers etc. For fuel oils the burning equipment consists of burners of various types. The main problem is to atomize the oil which may be done by raising pressure or in combination with steam or in combination with air. For fuel oil the preparation equipment will consist of pumps, storage tanks, pressure regulator, and heating arrangement right from the unloading stage to final burning into the furnace. 2.5.3 Heat surface Area & Placement . Low calorific value coals will require low furnace plan area heat release. The fuel properties also influence the spacing of the superheater and reheater banks to prevent serious fouling of the heating surfaces and the velocity of flues to minimize erosion. Particular care is taken to reduce speeds wherever local dust concentration can occur, ash content is high and it is of abrasive nature. Apart from the shape and dimensions of the furnace the fuel specifications also influence the arrangement of economizers and air heaters. 2.5.4 Choice of pollution control equipment including ash precipitators also depends upon the fuel specifications.
2.6
The increase in unit size along with corresponding increase in pressure and superheat and reheat steam temperatures has brought considerable changes in boiler design. The distribution of heat within the boiler varies as tem. And pressure are increase. With the increase in superheat temp. the proportional heat required in heating the water and bringing it up to saturation temperature progressively decrease and the effect is more marked with the reheat cycle. The furnace must be able to complete the combustion of the fuel and reduce the flue temp. entering convection surfaces to a level at which fouling and corrosion can be controlled. With modern boilers this may not be possible and radiant superheaters surfaces may have to be added or increase.
2.7
2.7.1
FURNACES
Furnace is the primary part of boiler where the chemical energy available in the fuel is converted to thermal energy by combustion. Furnace is designed for efficient and complete combustion. Major factors that assist for efficient combustion are time of residence (fuel) inside the furnace, temperature inside the furnace and turbulence which causes rapid mixing between fuel and air. In modern boilers water cooled furnaces are used which has the following advantages : (i) In furnace not only combustion but also heat transfer is taking place simultaneously. (ii) The maintenance work involved in repairing the fire bricks (which is otherwise necessary) is practically eliminated. (iii)Due to heat transfer in the furnace, temperature of the flue gas leaving the furnace is reduced to the acceptable level of the superheating surfaces. (iv) Higher heat loading in the furnace is possible as heat is being simultaneously removed by heat transfer, and hence economy in surfacing. For the reasons explained in 8.6 the furnace rating of coal fired boilers are low. It will be seen from Fig. No. 2.3 that inspite of the large increase in boiler sizes, furnace rating have not increased. This is equally true , both for the heat release and the heat absorption rates which have remained reasonably constant at 15,000 tu /Cu. Ft/hr. (558263KJ/m/hr) and 35,000 to 40,000 Btu/ Sq.ft. / hr. (397081 - 453806 Kjm2/hr) respectively. 2.7.2 Front wall opposed and corner firing are the various systems used in furnace designs. The firing system will effect the shape and dimensions of the furnace. The horizontal circular turbulent burners for coal or other fuels can be designed upto 170 x 10 6 kj / hr. capacity. Opposed firing is very suitable for burning low volatile coals. In case of coal burners the furnace depth should be 8m and 11m for front wall and opposed firing. Corner firing requires extra fan power to maintain the high primary and secondary air velocities which are necessary to maintain the flame vortex. Furnace depth may be increased or multi furnace design may be adopted for large boilers. Note : All ratings are estimated on all projected radiant heating surface (P.R.H.S.) Inside the Furnace upto the top of the furnace arch.[a1]
Fig. 2.3 The adequate distance between wing burners & side walls should also be decided. The number of burners & widths can be increased in proportion to the heat input. Furnace heating surface can be increased either by increased height or by the use of division walls. A limiting factor with coal firing is the need to ensure that the residence time of fuel particles is sufficient to ensure complete combustion and transfer of heat and as per the present experience it should be 2 seconds, though only a fraction of a second is required for combustion of pulverized coal particles. The improvements in burner, air distribution & pulverizes are aimed towards reduction in furnace residence time of fuel particle. 2.7.3
The other important feature of the furnace construction is to reduce the air infiltration. This is to ensure sufficient air through the burners for efficient combustion, prevention of heat losses and proper steam temperature control. The tangent skin type of casing and membrane wall methods of construction for furnace are in use. The later two methods are now being used widely. 2.7.3.1 In the tangent tube construction generally a tube of smaller dia. is placed in between two larger tubes which touch each other. The wall is backed by fire bricks or moldable refractory Typical construction is shown in Fig. No. 2.4. 2.7.3.2 The skin type of casing is shown in fig No.2.5 and has been mostly used on 120 to 500 MW boilers. The casing plate is carried by mild steel channels welded to tubes which are stiffened by beams attached to the channels by some form o spigot or clip to allow for differential expansion between them. 2.7.3.3 A recent development in gas tight casings is the membrane was shown if Fig. No. 2.6 . The tightness is accomplished by either welding tubes together by means of flats or bars. This actually eliminates the casing and many of its accompanying problems. Insulation is directly applied to tubes and metal lagging is attached to give the outer surface durability and good appearance. The use of the membrane wall method of construction facilitates and construction of large surface panels (20m - 2.5m) in the shops and transported to site as such. Thus lot of assembly and welding work can be avoided. The method can be used in large boilers as well, (500, 660 MW). The two factors which have delayed the introduction of this form of construction have been fear of excessive stresses, particularly during starting and the high cost of plant needed for manufacture.
Downward expansion of the furnace walls is absorbed by the ash hopper water seal. The seal also prevents air ingress into the combustion chamber which is normally maintained at a controlled suction by the induced draught fans.
i) Ash hopper staggered throats: Ashing has often proved a difficult and costly operation. This is often due to the radiant heat from the furnace fusing the coarse ash in the hopper into large, extremely hard masses.
The introduction of the staggered throat did much to alleviate this problem. In the staggered throat design, the configuration of the ash slopes reduces the penetration of the radiant heat to the ash hopper. ii) Ash quench sprays : (Fig 2.7) These sprays in a considerable number are arranged around the top of the ash hopper. Supplied from a ring main, produce a finely divided spray of cooling water across the mouth of the furnace throat.
Dry bottom furnace Oil fired furnace Slag type or wet bottom type. i) Dry bottom furnace: Selected for coal of non-slagging type i.e. fusion temperature of the ash produced by combustion will be more than the temperature encountered in the furnace. Normally a maximum of 20% total ash may be collected as slag from bottom of furnace. The rest of the ash is carried away along with flue gas. If slagging type coal is used in dry bottom furnace slag will fuse and deposit in the heat transfer surfaces of furnace, superheater and reheater where removal may pose problem. Hopper at the bottom is formed by slopping the front and rear water walls, thus the amount of brick work is reduced and hence maintenance. By this arrangement loss of efficiency due to evaporation of water from hopper is also effectively reduced. Most of the Indian coals contain high amount of silica in the ash and hence ash fusion temperatures are high. Hence dry bottom types are best suited for Indian coals. In addition, loss of efficiency due to sensible heat in the molten ash of wet bottom furnace for high ash content coals. ii) Slag type: Furnace of this type normally has two furnace parts. Primary furnace is used for very high rate of combustion from where the molten slag passes to ash hopper and the flue gases into the secondary furnace which is very similar to dry type furnace. Provision is made to chill the molten slag and crush to granular form for easy disposal be used. To obtain high temperature inside the primary furnace which will facilitate the easy flow of ash, very small but highly rated design is needed for primary furnace. High temp. refractory material is used inside the primary furnace and hence maintenance is needed. iii) Oil fired boiler furnace: Oil fired furnace is generally closed at the bottom as there is no need to remove slag as in the case of PF fired boiler. Bottom will have small amount of slope to prevent film boiling in the bottom tubes. If the boiler has to be designed for both PF as well as oil, the furnace has to be designed for coal as otherwise higher heat loading with PF will cause slagging and high furnace exit gas temperature. 2.8 2.8.1 Superheaters(SH) are meant for raising the steam temperature above the saturation temperature. Present trend is to limit the superheated and reheated steam temperature around 540 oC. The introduction of advanced steam cycle in modern boilers has placed in greater burden on superheaters and reheaters. The percentage of heat to superheater and reheater for the 165 bar boiler is approx. 50%. 2.8.2 Classification of Superheater.
SUPERHEATER
i) SH(Reheater also can be classified into convection and radiation type according to heat transfer process. The superheaters and reheaters placed above the furnace which can view the flame is called radiant type. The other surfaces are called as convection types. This is most practical way of classification. ii) Superheater may be classified also according to the shape of the tube banks and the position of the heaters, such as pendant SH, paten SH, horizontal SH, celling SH, wall SH etc. iii) They may be classified according to their stages of superheating they perform, like primary SH, Secondary SH, Final SH etc. 2.8.3 Arrangements Generally heating surfaces can be arranged either in line or staggered. Staggered arrangement requires less surface for same duty but draft losses will be more and on load cleaning of surfaces will not be as effective as in-line arrangement. So, selection of nay one of them depends on the fuel fouling characteristics, operating cost of draft loss, cost of tube materials etc. The surfaces can be designed to place in such a way that the flow direction of flue gas and steam is parallel or opposite. Counter flow arrangement has the advantage of minimum surface but the metal temperature as the leaving selection is high compared to parallel flow. Hence the counter flow is used in most of the cases except in final section where the metal temperature limitation calls for parallel flow. The superheaters are placed in the flue gas path to transfer heat by radiation and convection in some proportion such that the outlet steam temperature can be maintained fairly constant at all loads. Fig. 2.8 shows how steam temperature changes with load for radiant SH, convection SH and combination of both. It is evident from the fig. That combination of radiant and convection type helps to keep the superheated steam temperature nearly constant during variation of load. Any number of stages of superheater can be designed but the present trend is to limit to 3 stages so that the cost on headers, connecting pipings desuperheater can be kept minimum. In a typical arrangement shown in Fig. 2.9 the saturated steam from drum enter the low temperature superheaters (LTSH) via ceiling superheaters. After LTSH the steam enters platen superheater through inter stage desuperheater and finally through a convection superheater.
2.9
REHEATERS
Reheaters (RH) are provided to raise the temperature of the steam from which part of energy has already been extracted by HP turbine. The arrangement and construction of a reheater is similar to that of a superheater and in modern boilers the reheat sections are mixed with superheat section (see fig. 2.9) Like super heater in reheater also, any number of stages can be designed. Normally most of the reheater surfaces are placed in hotter zone so that the surface requirement is kept minimum to reduce the pressure drop in steam to keep the cycle efficiency maximum.
2.10 DE SUPERHEATER
Though superheaters are designed in such a way that heat absorbed by radiant and convection superheaters always try to maintain the steam temperature constant during variation of load, in practice the necessary control is achieved by using a de-superheater. All modern boiler have contact type de-superheaters (Fig.2.10) by which feed water are sprayed directly into the steam for required cooling. Amount of feed water to be sprayed is controlled by automatic control system which is designed to maintain a set final steam temperature. Provision of manual control is also there for emergency or other wise.
2.11.4 All modern large utility boilers are fired under 'balanced draft' condition i.e. where draft is zero. This condition is created by the combination of 'forced draft' and 'induced draft'. Forced draft represents flow of air or products of combustion at a pressure above atmosphere. The air for combustion is carried under forced draft conditions and the fan used for this purpose is called Forced Draft(FD) fan. Induced draft represents the system where air or products of combustion are caused to flow to or through a unit by maintaining them at a progressively increasing sub-atmospheric pressure. (This, when, attained with a chimney is called natural draft). This is achieved with the help of stack and fans. These fans are called Induced Draft(ID) fans. 2.11.5 Fig.2.11 shows the principle parts of balanced draft system. The draft steadily drops from FD fan outlet to ID fan inlet. Though theoretically balanced draft means keeping furnace pressure equal to atmospheric pressure. In practice the furnace is kept slightly below atmospheric pressure(-2.. to -5mm of W.C.). It ensures that there is no egress of air or hot gas and ash into boiler house. 2.11.6 Draft System Flow Resistance The flow pressure pattern in the draft system may be presented as : DF+DS = DA + DG = DV
Where, DF = Total fan - effective pressure DS = Net stack effect (Chimney is vertical passage) DA= Draft pressure loss on air side DG= Draft pressure loss on gas side DV= Gas exit velocity pressure In this equation DA is the sum of friction losses in air ducts, bends, air heater, secondary air pressure at fuel burner etc. And, DG is the sum of friction losses in gas ducts, bends, economizer, air heater, super heaters and reheaters, chimney etc.
2.12 ECONOMISERS
2.12.1 The economizer absorbs heat from the flue gas and adds it mainly as sensible heat to the feed water. The temperature of feed water is kept just below the saturation in case of non-steaming economizers. The work in the evaporative section of the plant is reduced by its heat contribution as well as lowering the temperature of the flue gases prior to their entry into the air heaters. Some of the boilers are equipped with steaming economizers. The evaporation in these economizers is limited to 20% of feed water at full load and of course less as the load decreases, because of the practical difficulties in treating a high percentage of water to a condition suitable for steaming economizers, they cannot be used good advantage in boiler units where high feed make-up is required. 2.12.2 Location, arrangement and design criteria Earlier the economizers were introduced mainly to recover the heat available in flue gas that leaves the boiler and provision of this additional heating surface increased the efficiency of steam generation, saving in fuel consumption, thus the name 'Economizer' developed. In the modern boilers used for power generation feed water heaters were used to increase the efficiency of the unit and feed water temperature and hence the relative size of economizer is less than earlier units. This is a good proposition for pulverized fuel fired boilers. Using of economizer or air heater or both is decided by the total economy that will result flexibility in operation, maintenance and selection of firing system and other related equipment. Modern medium and high capacity boilers used both economizer and air heater. In low capacity boilers air heater alone may be selected. It is usual to locate economizer ahead of air heaters and following primary super-heater or reheater in the gas stream. Hence it will generally be contained in the same casing as the primary super heater or reheater . See Fig.2.12 for location and arrangement of economizer. Counter flow arrangement is normally selected so that heating surface requirement is kept minimum for the same temperature drop in the flue gas. Economizers coils are designed for horizontal placement which facilitate draining of the coils and favours the arrangement in the second pass of boiler. Water flow is from bottom to top so the steam if any formed during the heat transfer can move along with water and prevent the lock up steam which will cause over heating and failure of economizer tube.
The economizer design usually has to fit in with restrictions imposed by other aspects of boiler design. The most important items which have to be borne in mind include the following: (a) It must reduce the gas temperature to a level which is satisfactory for the air heaters. (b) Its surface area must be minimized and its overall dimensions must be as compact as possible. It must fit in with the design of the preceding section of the boiler, usually the reheater. (c) Provision must be made for on-load cleaning equipment to ensure that gas-side draught loss is kept to a minimum. (d) Water flow must be uniformly distributed between tubes, and resistance to flow must be as low as possible. A low flow through given tube or element could cause local steam formation which could result in tube failure. (e) Economizer supports must be arranged to cater for expansions and tubes must be adequately supported to prevent sagging. (f) A water recirculating connection may be provided from the boiler drum to give adequate circulation during periods when feed flow is absent; this prevents economizer tubes from 'boiling out' and over heating, such as during pressure raising. On once-through boilers this connection of course, is not necessary since a feed flow has to be maintained during pressure raising periods. 2.12.3 Economizer types On modern high pressure plant only two main types of economizers are installed.. These are the plain tube type and the welded fin tube type. Plain tube economizers are composed of several banks of tubes either in line or in staggered formation. The staggered formation induces more gas side turbulence than the in line and so results in a higher rate transfer. However, it has the disadvantage of giving a higher draught loss. In line arrangement may need about 10 to 15% more surface but effectively cleanable with the help of on load steam soot blowers. Hence selection of in-line or staggered arrangement depends on the nature of fuel (fouling) and transverse distance between tube and compactness of the assembly required. Welded fin type economizers have the tube heat exchange surface area extended by the addition of welded fins. With earlier design of extended surface economizers, finned cast shrouds were shrunk on to a mild steel tube. This type was costly and was prone to fouling. It was claimed however, to often food resistance to gas side corrosion and erosion. With the high feed water temperatures utilized on modern plant, gas -side corrosion is unlikely to occur and consequently the air-steel welded fin tube designs have been developed; these are cheaper, lighter and more accurately constructed an so less prone to fouling.
A stronger material for use in boiler drums is Ducal W30 (Table 2). The advantage of this material is the high proof stress/UTS ratio and this has enabled to reduce the thickness of drum for 500 MW (CEGB) boilers from , typically, 5 3/4" thick to about 4 1/2" due to an increase in acceptable stress from 9 tons/in2 to 11.7 tones/in2. 2.13.3 The material used in the manufacture of furnace wall tubes for coal fired boilers is ordinary carbon steel but in the 500 MW oil fires unit of CEGB the major proportion of the furnace is constructed from the 1% Cr. .5% Mo alloy. Designs submitted for 660 MW units also include this material for the whole of the furnace. The anticipated maximum heat flux in these boilers in approximately 175,000 BTU/ft2 (451395 Kcal/m2 hr) and therefore the use of this material is necessary from stress temperature considerations only.
Table - 1 Chemical Composition Austenitic Tube Steels ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------% Tp 321 Tp 347 Tp 316 Esshete 1250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Carbon .04.90 .04.90 .04.90 .06.15 Silicon .20.80 .20.80 .25.75 .30.75 Manganese .50-2.0 .50-2.0 1.6.20 5.50-7.0 Sulphur .030 Max .030 Max .030 Max .040 Max Phosphorus .040 Max .040 Max .040 Max .040 Max Nickel 9.0-13.0 11.0-13.0 12.0-14-0 9.0-11.0 Chromium 17.0-20.0 17.0-19.0 16.0-17.5 0.8-1.20 Molybdenum 2.0-2.75 0.8-1.20 Niobium 10 x C min 75-1.25 1.10 Max Titanium 4 x C min 0.6 Max Boron .006 .009 Vanadium .15-40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Table 2. Ducol W.30 Chemical composition ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grade 'A' Grade 'B' Min. Max. % Min Max -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Carbon Silicon Manganese 0.11 1.00 0.17 0.30 1.50 0.09 0.90 0.15 0.30 1.30
Chromium 0.40 0.70 0.40 0.70 Molybdenum 0.20 0.28 0.20 0.28 Vanadium 0.04 0.12 0.04 0.12 Sulphur 0.20 0.05 0.05 Phosphorus 0.04 0.05 0.05 Nickel 0.70 0.79 1.00 Copper 0.20 0.20 Nobium 0.10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tensile strength ( 3" to 6" thick) Yield stress ( 3" to 6" thick) 0.2% proof stress ( 3" to 6" thick) 36.44 ton f/in2 25 ton f/in2 at 360 oC 19.5 ton f/in2
Ducol W.30 A has been used for a large number of boiler drums including all the 500 MW units and the Drax 660 MW boilers. The grade B variant has a higher Nickel content for improved impact.
2.14 SUPPORTS
Modern high capacity boilers are top supported units. The hanger rods are designed for the direct tensile stress resulting from the weight of the unit and the bending tensile stress from the pressure part expansion that deflects the hanger rods horizontally from the vertical or cold load position. A common support elevation is normally used and the effect of temperature load distribution among them. In the walls of a top-supported unit, the tubes are carrying the lower sections and the load stress in the tubes must be added to the pressure stress to determine the total stress in these members, all the loads such as that of water, ash etc. shall be taken into account. The wind loads an earthquake effects are also to be considered. Fig. No.2.13 shows a typically top-supported boiler (500 MW)
The complete assembly of the soot blower is enclosed in the supporting case. The main parts enclosed are power packs, travelling carriage assembly, valve head and it controlling linkage. (Fig. 2.14) The lance is attached to a travelling carriage which runs on tracks inside the blower housing. The lance gets its rotary and traverse movement from the independent gear boxes and drive chains. Control of movement is by stop and reverse limit switches fixed on extreme ends. Flow of medium through the retractable is controlled by a valve head mounted at the rear of the blower. An adjustable bar on the travelling carriage strikes a "v" shaped lever to cause the flow of blowing medium. Blowing pressures for each blower can be adjusted by positioning the screw attached to the valve head. b) Half Retractable Soot Blower
The operation is same as long retractable but the lance will be extended for half boiler width. A support bearing will be provided to support the lance. This type of blower is not suitable for the regions where the gas temperature is more than 55 oC. c) Wall Deslagger
The wall deslagger (Fig.2.15) consists of a stationary body and a gear-box for travel and another for rotation of the swivel tube. The swivel tube is supported by sleeve type bearings at each end of the body casting. The horizontal guide rods are used to assure proper alignment of the traveling gear-box. Unlike the retractable the wall blower nozzles do not follow the helical path. Since the purpose of the wall blower is to get the water walls on which it is mounted, cleaned, the swivel tube along with the nozzle first moves forward and when the nozzle cleans the water wall, the traverse movement stops and the swivel tube starts rotating. The valve for controlling the steam flow is identical to that of long retract. This valve is opened when the swivel tube is fully extended the traverse movement is fast (~1.2m/sec.) and the rotation is very slow (n = 0.6 rpm). This gives maximum time for the cleaning effort. The material of the nozzle and the nozzle head are made of heat resisting stainless steel containing 25% Cr. And 12% Ni. The operation of the wall blower is controlled by 3 limit switches which from part of the control box, integral with the soot blower. This type of blower is employed to clean the furnace walls. The travel is only 30 cms. The swivel tube will go into the wall for 4 cms. And the nozzle attached to the swivel tube cleans the surface . 2.15.3 Soot blower Piping System The soot-blowing can be with steam or compressed air; both are equally efficient. Normally for all the boilers supplied by us we use superheated steam. The steam taping is taken from any of the intermediate superheater header. The enthalpy of superheated steam is selected such that after the steam pressure is reduced to the blowing pressure, the steam will have enough superheat and also will
be below 427 oC. This limitation is to avoid the use of alloy steel piping. About 50 oC superheat is preferred to prevent the water particle being blown through the nozzle which may lead to tube cutting and consequent tube failures. The steam taken from the intermediate header is reduced through a pressure reducing valve to approximately 25 to 30 atmosphere and his steam is directly fed to the soot blowers. A separate line from the pressure reducing station is taken to the air heater so that the air heater soot blowers can be used along with the soot-blowers in other areas normally the soot-blowers are operated one by one. Hence the piping is sized for the maximum flow required for any of the soot blowers. The lay out of the piping is carried out in such a way that the piping is self-drained and finally ending up with the electrically operated drain valve. This drain valve will have a permanent orifice in the disc so that a continuous drain can be maintained. This will keep line in the warmed up condition and will prevent condensate formation. Modern soot blower installations are remotely operated and sequentially controlled from a separate panel in the unit control room. The operation is usually carried out with conventional switch gear, but can be by 'solid state' (electronic). Provision is made in the sequence control to skip any individual soot blower or any group of soot blower in the boiler where it is found that less cleaning is required or if one of the soot blowers is out for maintenance.
3.AIR HEATERS
3.1 The air heater is now an essential boiler auxiliary, because hot air is necessary for rapid and efficient combustion in the furnace and also for drying coal in the milling plant. This is rather different from its original purpose, which was to recover 'waste' heat from the flue gas to increase boiler efficiency. In any of the present generation of large boilers, two sets of air heaters are provided one for the normal duty of pre-heating air for combustion and the other for providing higher temperature air to the mills for drying out wet coal. So, there are two main types of air heater in use; the static recuperative plate or tube-type and the rotary regenerative type, with its two variants (the Ljungstrom and the Rothemuhle types). In the recuperative type, the flue gas is on one side of the tube or plate and the air is on the other side. In the regenerative type the gas flows through a closely packed matrix or heat transfer elements giving up heat to the air heater elements and so raising the temperature of the matrix. Air is then passed through and recovers the heat. Either the matrix or the hoods may be rotated to achieve this heat transfer as a continuous process.
3.2
These comprise of parallels plates which provide alternate passage for gas and air. This type is simple and compact compared to that of tubular type. The narrow passes between plates make the cleaning tedious but with shot cleaning method it is improved. But replacement is a major task.
3.3
3.4
(i) Compact and hence save space and structure cost. Since this type of air heater can be effectively cleaned when in service the elements can be closely packed, hence they are compact. (ii) This is the type that can be economically used for high capacity boiler. As the boiler size increases heat transfer area required in air-heater also increases and if the pressure drop on air and gas side is to be kept constant to limit the fan capacities and operation cost the recuperative air heater size assumes even greater proportions than boiler. (iii)From the above two reasons, it is clear that initial cost as well as the operating cost can be kept minimum with regeneration air heaters for higher size boilers. (iv) Less weight of metal permit economic usage of alloy steel like carton steel elements in the low temperature section thus corrosion problem is combated to a great extent. (v) Normally the cold end element packs are separate and handy and because of the nature of this arrangement (possible only with regenerative type) the replacement cost and down time is very low. (vi) Minimum metal temperature at the cold end of a regenerative heater is slightly higher than is a recuperative design operating under the same condition. This is because regeneration type works very close to the counter flow, while that of recuperative is on cross flow where metal reaches the air inlet temperature. (vii) Holes in the elements due to corrosion etc. will not materially affect the performance of the heater. (viii) Deposit on the heat transfer surface does not reduce the heat transfer Deposit will reduce heat transfer in the case of recuperative exchanges due to their poor heat conduction. (ix) Ducting arrangements are neat, streamlined, simple and less costly. (x) Pressure drop across the elements can be kept nearly constant throughout the operating period with on load cleaning arrangement.. Off-load cleaning also helps. (xi) Hot primary air for coal drying in mill is possible with single air heater of tri-sector design. This also helps to make use of a cold primary air fan. 3.5
3.6
Deposits in air heaters are initiated by condensation of acid or moisture from flue gas on metal surface operating at temperature below dew point. Other things remaining same, degree of fouling depends on air heater heating element metal surface.. Minimum metal temperature occurs at the cold end, where, as a result, most fouling and corrosion occur. As coal contains less Sulphur, corrosion is not normally as much a problem as fouling and hence lower exit gas temperature to a level of 120 oC is permissible. But in the case of oil firing, the corrosion and plugging due to corrosive products of combustion are very common. The gas outlet temperature and/or air inlet temperature has to be raised to restrict the corrosion to the permissible
level. Operating the oil fire boiler at very low excess air reduces the acid formation and hence corrosion. During starting and at low loads the flue gas exit temperature falls to a low value the twill lead to corrosion. 3.7
FIRE RISKS:
All types of air heaters present a potential fir hazard, particularly if a low load is carried for considerable periods when firing on oil. A fine deposit, similar to lamp black in appearance, accumulates on the air heater surfaces when temperature are low; subsequent increase in temperature may result ignition of this inflammable deposit. Some types of oily only deposit will ignite at temperature as low as 150 oC. The resulting fire can prove disastrous if not detected and controlled at a very early stage. On load soot blowing or shot cleaning must be used to prevent the build-up of such deposits, and alarm are normally fitted to give early warning of fires in their very early stages. In rotary air heater fixed sprays are installed permanently inside the air heater casings and coupled to fire mains so that instant action my be taken if there is a fire. To prevent flues, ducts and hoppers from collapsing under the excessive accumulated weight of water suitable quick-release drain valves are fitted at suitable points for using during fire-fighting operations.
3.8
(a) Recuperative Type Proven practical method is by shot cleaning. (b) Regenerative Type Fixed or moving type soot blowers with multinozzle thoroughly cleans the air heater.
4. MILLING PLANT
4.1 The development and perfection of pulverized fuel firing for commercial use is one of the milestones after which the steam generating capacity for boilers could be increased as desired. The factor influencing the type of firing to be adopted on a boiler is basically the evaporation capacity and not the steam condition. I.e. temperature and pressure. There are instances of stoker fired units operating at 70 Kg/cm2 pressure and comparable temperature. Generally, for travelling grate stoker the maximum out put is around 120 tonnes/hour. This is basically limited by grate area. For spreader stoker, the limit is around 200 tonnes/hour. So only after the development of pulverized fuel firing, larger size steam generator could be built and used. Any coal available in the world is being burnt in the pulverized form in suspension in the present in the present day steam generators. Proper choice of furnace design, furnace volume, burners etc. along with the type of pulverizer can be done to meet any quality of coal or even grit, waste and by-product fuel. The basic advantage of pulverized coal fire is a higher thermal efficiency, lower labour cost and larger flexibility in operation. Pulverized fuel firing is now being used for over fifty years. Initially, it was developed of firing cement kilns. The cement industry's experience in handling and crushing rocks, grinding cement clinker and their experience in handling large quantity of solid material for which they have devised technique for transportation and conveyance were available for development of pulverized coal firing.
4.2
For steam, generation, there are basically two systems of pulverization normally in use : (I) Bin System or indirect firing system and (ii) Direct Firing System. 4.2.1 Bin System In this system, at a location apart from the furnace, the coal is dried and pulverized and classified continuously in the pulverizer. Then the finished product is pneumatically conveyed to a collector where coal is separated and discharged by gravity into the storage bins or headers. From the storage the pulverized coal is conveyed by pneumatic transport through pipelines to bins or location where it is used . See Fig. 4.1 The basic advantage of the bin system is that the pulverization is not tied with the minute to minute unit operation and the whole system can stand short outage of pulverizer system. Disadvantage in intrinsic dust nuisance of the installation, incidence of the fire and higher cost of pulverization. Under certain condition, serious explosion from coal gas emanating from the fuel in bin may occur. More over, pulverized fuel is hygroscopic in nature. It picks up any moisture in the storage bin after sometime. Initial investment and operating costs are higher. Preference has shifted to the direct firing system due to greater advantage of the latter in simplicity, cost of operation and initial investment.
Separate sealing air fans are required to seal the mill and journal bearings. b) Cold Primary Air System : As the name implies, the primary air fan handles clean cold air either from FD fan discharge or taking suction from atmosphere. The advantages are saving in fan power and maintenance. The number of primary fans can be only 2 per boiler to supply all the air to the pulverizes and the capacity of each need not exceed 2/3 of total air requirement of pulverizers. The only disadvantage is the cost increase due to additional duct work and air heater. The advantages of pressurized system is that the coal air mixture can be directed into the boiler thus saving the maintenance of exhauster. Separate sealing air arrangements are required to seal the bearings, inside the mill, feeders and various dampers. c) Suction System: In this system the mill operates under negative pressure. Suction being created by an exhauster placed after the mill. The exhauster handles all the coal air mixture and forces it into the burners. The advantage of suction system is that the plant can be maintained clean. Since the mills operate under suction, sealing of bearings in the mill base and journal shafts is not necessary. Allowable maximum air temperatures can be higher than pressurized system, since the temperature of medium handled by exhauster is constant around 70-100 oC Common motors can be employed to drive both mill and exhauster. Cold air is drawn from atmosphere near the mill, thus eliminating cold air duct. Cold air flow is regulated by the exhauster inlet damper which should be automatically positioned by the combustion control system to provide primary air flow to meet pulverizing system requirement for proper transport of pulverized coal. The disadvantage of this system is that the high speed exhauster has to handle coal air mixture and tends to wear more as the pulverizer size increase. Smaller size mills can be adopted with the above system. d) Pressurized Exhauster System: In this system the mills operate under positive pressure. With exhauster provided at the exit of pulverizer to boost the pulverized coal into the pressurized furnace. Since the pulverizer operates with lesser pressure than forced draft fan pressure. The sealing of mill parts can be affected by taking cold air line from FD fan discharge. 4.2.3 Direct Firing System with Beater Mills : In this system (Fig. 4.3) raw coal from the bunker is fed at a regulate rate to the mills through a feeder depending on the boiler load. Air required for drying and transporting the pulverized coal from the mill is obtained from the FD fan. Hot air is drawn through air heaters and cold air directly from FD fan discharge. Both are mixed before entering the milling circuit, in order to achieve a constant temperature after classifier within safe limits. The drying and grinding takes place inside the mills. The pulverized particle are being carried from the mill to the classifier directly mounted on the mill. The medium is directed into the burners through various fuel pipe lines mounted at the outlet of the classifier.
This can be used for lignite also with hot combustion gas along with hot and cold air for drying and transporting the pulverized coal.
4.3
TYPE OF PULVERIZERS
The type of pulverizers may be classified based upon their speeds.
a) b)
c)
Slow speed mills : These mills, usually rotating between 15 to 25 rpm depending upon the mill size, are called Drum mills or Tube mills or Ball mills or Ball tube mills. The medium speed mills: These will normally be operating between 50 to 100 rpm. There are varieties of designs in these types. These are called vertical shaft mills, or table type pulverizers. The mills belonging to these categories are Bowl mills, Ball and Race Mills, Roller mills etc. High speed mills : These are directly coupled to the driving motor and run at 750 to 1000 rpm.
4.3..1 Drum/Tube Mills Mills of this type are often called type ball mills. They operate at a speed of 17 - 20 rev/min and formerly were designed as suction mills (in other words in conjunction with exhauster fans), but in modern power plant they are used as pressure-type mills (Fig.4.4) The mill drum carrying the ball charge rotates on the anti-friction bearings. Raw-coal is fed to the drum through the inlet elbow and gets crushed to powder inside the mill drum. The ball charge and the coal are carried to a certain height inside the drum and allowed to fall down. Due to the impact of the balls on coal particle and due to attrition as the particles slide over each other and also over the liners, the coal gets crushed. Hot flue gases are used for drying and transporting the pulverized coal from the mill to the classifier. The coarser parti8cles are returned by the classifier for further grinding. In the past this type of mills has suffered from two principle disadvantages: (1) (2) The Power input required per tonne of coal milled could be up to twice as great as that for the vertical spindle medium speed mill. The reliability of the mill has been limited mainly because of failures of bearings and gearboxes. As a result of this high availability in a tube-ball mill installation, it is not normal to provide standby milling capacity; this helps to reduce the over all capital cost of the plant. Power requirements have also been reduced, but they are still much greater than those for mediumspeed mills. The advantage and disadvantages of tube ball mills may be summarized as follows:
Advantages:
1 2 3 4 5 6 High output possible, up to 50 tonnes per hour. No maintenance over long periods (apart from routine on-load recharging of mill balls.) High availability. Because of high availability no stand by capacity is required. No mill rejects, no problems with 'tramp' iron. Reserve of fuel within mill makes output more stable.
7 On a pressure mill installation the pressure is low and the air/fuel ratio is low; this keeps the primary air power requirements to a minimum.
Disadvantages :
1 2 3 4 5 High power consumption. Some problems with control of coal level within the mill Virtually constant power consumption at all loads; low load operation is therefore not economical. With high moisture constant fuels a high primary air temperature is required because of the low air /fuel ratio. Unplanned stops leave the mill full of coal which, under unfavorable conditions, can ignite. This coal has to be quenched and even dug out otherwise the mill cannot be restarted
The mill housing is fabricated from thick mild steel plat and is provided with access doors and with slots to allow the spring tensioning cables to pass to the outside of the mill. These slots are provided with cable covers and seals to prevent the escape of p.f. the segments and the rollers are made from cast Ni-hard material. The rollers are not mounted on spindles but are kept equally spaced around the grinding table by a three-pronged roller spacer assembly; this assembly is mounted on the grinding table but is free to rotate independently of it. (In fact, when the grinding table is rotating at 26 rpm, the rollers will be rotating about their own axes at about 19 rpm and they will be pushing the roller spacer assembly around at 13 rpm. Mill control and operation is similar in many respects to the 'E' types, It differs in one major respect. Among various designs of pulverizers of the medium speed family, the bowl mill design has a specific characteristic feature in that, there is no metal contact between the grinding elements. This is one of the features which contributes to lesser metal loss on the grinding elements. Low power consumption, quiet and vibration less operation, flexibility of operation through wide load range, good control response for varying loads, good drying capability, easy maintainability are some of its main advantageous features. Capacities of various ranges are available from 1.7 t/hr to 100 t/hr. 4.3.3 Advantages & Disadvantages of Medium speed Mills
Advantages
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Low power consumption, (slightly less than suction type mills and considerably less than tube balls of equivalent output) Output is little affected by fuel characteristic, such as moisture in the fuel. Primary air fan is more efficient than exhauster fan. Primary air fan requires less maintenance than exhauster fan, so giving improved availability. Total area required for new design high output mill is less than for equivalent ball mills. Comparatively quiet in operation.
Disadvantages:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Provision of sealing air supply necessary. Periodic maintenance is required. Tightness requirements of casing and inspection ports. Pyrites and tramp iron must be removed during operation. Small reserves of coal within the mill make it sensitive to the coal ' hanging up', so producing load fluctuations.
A typical example of a high speed mill is shown in Fig. 4.7. The coal fed to the mill is crushed by the impact against the armour plates and by attrition. The hot air supplied dries the coal in the mill and transport the coal powder to the classifier. The coarser particles are returned by classifier for further grinding. Large capacity mill have not been further developed because of the very high speeds which are necessary. This combined with the risk of damage of mill internals ( caused by the possible ingress of tramp iron), the overall high maintenance costs, and the poor availability, has led to the disinclination to install such mills in new power stations. The advantages and disadvantages of high speed mills may be summarized as follows:-
Advantages:
(1) (2) Compactness, with an integral arrangement of mill, classifier and exhauster. Power consumption is low, similar to that of the vertical spindle mill.
Disadvantage:
(1) (2) (3) High maintenance costs. Tramp iron and similar foreign matter may damage the mill because of the high speeds at high it operate. The high speed which is necessary has restricted the development of very large mills.
Advantages of P. A. Fan
In a pressure mill installation the inefficient paddle-bladed exhauster fan is replaced by a primary air fan which is not subjected to the erosive efforts of p.f since it handles only clean air. The fan, more efficient backward-bladed aerofoil section type is therefore used for primary air fan duty; no problem experience in providing the increased fan output which is necessary for the p.f. installations on large boilers. Therefore, the primary air fan firstly, it is far more
efficient( and on large boilers power consumption is an extremely important factor); and secondly, maintenance requirements are negligible by comparison. Table 1 gives a comparison of typical power consumption between different mill types. The units are in KW/tonne of coal milled, and the table relates to mills having capacities of approximately 15 tonne/hr with larger capacity mills the figures would tend to be slightly less. From the table, one can see that the vertical spindle medium-speed pressure type mil has an advantage. A further advantage appears when maintenance costs are considered. Maintenance cost of an exhauster fan can be a much as twice those of a primary air fan. The combinations of these considerations, and the higher availability of the primary air fan, make pressure mill systems preferable. Table 1- Typical power consumption of p.f mills of approximately 15 tonne/hr capacity in KW/tonne coal milled. _________________________________________________________________________________ Mill Type Mill Feeder P. A. Fan Exhauster Fan Total _________________________________________________________________________________ Low Speed 12.05 0.22 10.60 22.87 Ball (Suction) Low Speed Ball (Pressure) Medium Speed (Suction) Medium Speed (Pressure) 13.10 0.20 5.50 18.80
7.63
0.18
11.85
19.66
8.35
0.18
8.00
16.53
4.4.
MILL CLASSIFIERS:
All mills are fitted with some type of classifiers. The purpose of classification is to control the range of particle sizes in the pulverized fuel which leave the mill. All particles above a predetermined maximum size are recycled through the mill for further grinding while smaller particles pass the p.f. burners. Classifiers may be divided into two basic groups, rotary and static, both of which make use of a similar principle the resistance of a particle to a change of direction of speed. The greater the mass of a particle, the greater is its resistance to such change. In the rotary classifiers, 'whizzer' separators are situated so that the coal/ air mixture from the mills is directed through them. Centrifugal force directs the coarser particles to the outside of the separator covering, where the air/ gas velocity is at its minimum, and the particles then return to the mill table under the influence of gravity. The static-type separators all use centrifugal force for classification. Some mills, employ adjustable vanes in the head of the mill to produce a 'cyclonic' effect which results in the necessary centrifugal force. Variation of the vane angle varies the intensity of the 'swirl' or 'vortex' within the classifier cone; the more intense the swirl the finer the p.f. produced. But intensification of the swirl beyond an economic limit will reduce the throughout of the mill by creating restriction at the mill outlet. Classifier by their very nature, are subjected to considerable forces of erosion.. For this reason, constant checks on p.f. fineness are required to ensure that classifier efficiency is being maintained. Classifier efficiency will also fall off if the correct coal/air ratio through the mill is not maintained. An air velocity which is too high will not permit the coarser particles to fall out of the air stream and return to the mill.
4.4
COAL FEEDERS :
Coal feeders deliver the coal from the bunkers to the mill. Since the amount of coal delivered determines the output of the mill, if follows that the coal flow through the feeder has to be controlled. This is normally achieved either by control of feeder speed or by control of the position of a scraper knife or plough. Two principle types of coal feeder are in use on modern pulverized fuel plant, the rotary table type and the chain or drag link type. The former were in wide-spread use on unit boilers up to 120 MW capacity, on larger plant they have been largely superseded by the drag link type.
This type of feeder has one major disadvantage. It is prone to feed flow failure when fine, wet coal is being handled. The reason is that the coal fails to 'spread' across the feeder table when leaving the chute. The loss of availability of plant caused by failure in the coal flow made it necessary to examine the whole problem of coal handling between the bunker and the mill; the result of this was the adoption of the chain link or drag link feeder.
4.6
MILL FIRES :
With good maintenance and operation 'flash back' from the furnace is unlikely to cause fires. The temperature of the primary air is unlikely to cause fires. Still they occur. The reason is almost invariable the presence of deposits of coal or pulverized fuel in the mill system and so in an environment which favours spontaneous combustion. Any deposits of coal, if left long enough, and provided with oxygen, could eventually ignite. Once a small fire is established, it could spread very quickly. When a mill is brought into service, or taken out of service, the pulverized fuel/air mixture passes through the explosive range, and even a small fire can provide the source of ignition to trigger off an explosion. The importance of ensuring that mills are thoroughly purged of fuel when shutting down thus becomes very obvious. Any coal or combustible material lodged any where within a mill system presents a fire and /or explosion risk if it is allowed to remain. This is one of the basic principles of the Pulverized Fuel Code of Practice. If the code of Practice is adhered to the inherent dangers in the operation of milling plant will be reduced to a minimum.
(v)
4.7
has to be kept at optimum value. 70 to 75% of product passing through 200 mesh maybe required for low volatile coal. Excessive fineness only wastes mill power. Mill out put varies inversely with fineness. Hence mill output can be increased just by reducing the fineness without any alteration in the system but it is permissible only if combustion are satisfactory in all respect. Table-II shows the analysis of different types of Indian Coal.
Sr. no.
Name of GCV of Proximate analysis of coal coal field/ coal Moisture Ash % Volatile colliery Kcal/Kg % %
1 2 3 4 5
4900 5300 4600 4900 4450 4900 4000 4400 2900 3300
to 4 - 9 to 7 - 9 to 9 - 10 to 7 - 10 to 30 - 60
10 - 25 28 - 38 21 - 24 28 - 42 2 - 15
30 - 40 27 - 31 28 - 29 25 - 35 20 - 26
Grindabilit G.C.V. y volatile on dry % HGL mineral matter free bases 40 -50 8200 60 - 66 50 - 65 44 - 60 8100 8100 8000 7900
variation in calorific value of coal varies the number of mills to be kept in service, loading on each mill for the same output of the boiler. As boiler output is proportional to the heat input to the boiler, mill output in terms of heating value can be considered as true indication for deciding number of mills etc. But calorific value of coal is independent of mill and hence calorific value of coal has to be considered separately in selecting the mills. Hard coals like anthracite which has low grindability index will reduce the capacity of mills in terms of mass but increase in terms of heating value, hence no additional milling capacity or reduction of boiler output is needed.
4.7.7 Conclusions
Therefore, the principal factors affecting mill output are grindability and moisture content of the raw coal and fineness requirements of the ground product. Where these factors are mere favourable than those on which the mill design has been based (high grindability indeed, low moisture and low fines requirements), considerable increases in mill output may be possible on the other hand if one of these factors is unfavourable (a high moisture content for example) then high grindability and low fineries, requirements may still produce sufficient corrective action to enable the mill to maintain its full duty.
5.FANS
5.1 THE FOLLOWING FANS ARE USED IN THE BOILER HOUSES :
To take air from atmosphere at ambient temperature to supply essentially all the combustion air. Can either be sized to overcome all the boiler losses(pressurized system) or just put the air in the furnace (balanced draft units) Speeds vary between 600 to 1500 rpm.
The physical size is less than for a comparable capacity centrifugal fan. The cost is less. The impeller blades can be of variable pitch type. This gives efficient and rapid control. However they have the following disadvantage : The noise level is higher because of high tip speed. The impeller blades may be subject to erosion, particularly toward the tips because of the high carefully sealed to prevent the ingress of dust and grit.
Advantages :
(a) (b) (c) Efficiency is higher than axial type Easy repairable at site Less noise
Disadvantages:
(a) (b) Higher cost both initially and operating Physical size is more in comparison to axial type.
5.4
i) ii) iii)
Backward curved blades have air leaving at low velocity from the blade ties, making them more suitable for high motor speed. Then power consumption at an intermediate flow so that they cannot be overloaded. Power plants use this type of fan for F. D. fan. The forward or straight bladed fans are preferred for I.D. fans since then lower speed retards blade erosion caused by fly ash.
5.6
5.6.1 Necessity .. In any system load conditions will vary such as from light up of the boiler to full load & load fluctuation during normal operation. Thus to maintain combustion & draft conditions at different loads control of fan output is essential. Further a margin of pressure & capacity above those normally required for full output has to be provided on draft plant to compensate for boiler fouling, adverse combustion or poor fuel, which again calls for draft plan control from zero load to MCR. 5.6.2 Methods . Following methods of control of output are available.
Damper Control . It is a simple control & acts a throttle valve introducing resistance into
the system to restrict the fan output to any desired quantity. The use of dampers to control draft is very inefficient as the excess energy developed at a particular load must be dissipated by throttling. Thus, system cannot be used on large capacity boilers. The performance & characteristic is shown in Fig. 5.3. The system has however got the following advantages. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Low initial cost Easy adoption operation including that on automatic control. The least expensive type of fan drive, constant speed A. C. motors can be used. Continuous or stepless control.
Inlet vane control . This method of control requires less horse power at fractional output
than outlet damper control (Ref. Fig. 5.3). The vanes are located radially in the inlet eye of the casing. In the fully closed position they overlap each other slightly. Each vane spindle is connected by a lever to a ring supported on the fan casing & this ring is free to rotate through a limited are. The arrangement for a radial fan is shown in Fig. No. 5.4. Some of the designs (as in BTPS - 100 MW Units axial flow type) incorporate wire rope pulleys arrangement for operating the mechanism. The inlet vanes give the air or gas a varying degree of spin in direction of fan rotation. This enables the required head to be produced at a proportionately lower power input. Inlet vane control is costlier as compared to damper control, but cheaper than that of speed control. Vane leakage often makes it difficult to reduce the air/gas flow below 1/4th of full fan output when a single speed motor is used. For a large size fans says for 500 MW units this control is used in conjunction with two speed drive.
Variable speed control This is the most efficient method of control from the point of
view of power consumption. The characteristics are shown in Fig. No. 5.3. However, speed control involves high capital cost & the added complications of variable a. c. or d. c. motor
system. Mechanical or hydraulic coupling are other methods of attain variable speeds. As stated before the inlet vane control with two speed drive is finding greater application.
Blade Pitch Control This type of control is achieved in axial reaction fan. The impeller
blades are titled during operation and hence the angle of entry is varied to vary the performance. The hydraulic servomotor helps in achieving the control with the help of an external oil system. On large modern plant almost all dampers & control equipment are provided with remote control; in other words, they are operable from a central control room. However, local control is provided for emergency use & is generally backed up by a manual operation facility.
5.8
5.8.2 Impeller
The impeller is a welded structure consisting of back plate, cover plate, impeller ring, blades and hub. Blades have been welded onto the back plate and cover plate with proper welding sequence. The impeller ring is welded to the inlet side of the cover plate at its inside diameter. The hub is welded to the back plate. Hub will have a taper bore for the mounting of the impeller on to the shaft. The impeller is dynamically balanced.
joints and levers. The ring is divided and it is externally actuated by a power cylinder or servomotor.
Bearings
Bearings for this NDFV fans are monoblock design with two cylindrical roller bearings and one angular contact ball bearing kept in the same housing. Bearings and housings are the same for fan sizes 18-25. The bearings are lubricated by stand oil. Presently forced oil circulation system has also been envisaged as a safety measure in meeting the high temperature problems. The advantages of the monoblock design are that the shaft is of short length . Hence it is easy for machining th4e bearing locations in one setting and avoids a lot of misalignment. It is shop assembled due to its compactness and hence only impeller mounting is done at site.
NOTE :Difference between NDV & NDZV fans is that one side suction chamber with damper is absent in NDV fans.
split off center so that impeller installing is easy. The inlet cones and the suction chamber are welded to the side walls. The casing walls, spiral wall and the suction chamber walls are reinforced by rolled sections. Also the inside is reinforced without affecting the flow through the casing. The inlet cone helps in accelerating the flow and supports the inlet ring.
5.9.2 Impeller
The impeller is a completely welded structure. It consists of center plate or back plate, cover plate, blades. The blades are welded between back plate and cover plate. Proper welding sequence is followed to have minimum distortion. The three different impellers are : NDV - Single Suction with full back plate NDZV - Double suction with common full center plate NDZV - Double Suction saw-tooth type center plate The saw tooth type wheel design has the center plate recessed between the blades. The other things are same. Blades are all of circular single are profile. The impeller ring comes at the inlet dia. Of the cover plate. The center and hub discs have machined groove which ensures central location of the wheel relative to the shaft during operation (running fit) The internal recess of center and hub disc permits central assembly (assembly fit) To protect the connection from wear between impeller, shaft and center disc a conical cover plate is provided which is fixed to the center plate for NDZV fans and fixed to the hub disc in the case NDV fans. Upon completion of all welding operations, the impellers are stress relieved. It is dynamically balanced.
5.9.3 Shaft
The shaft is a hollow tube with two end pins shrunk fit at the two ends and welded. Torque is transmitted through the fit and the weld is only for securing purpose. The tube is controlled at the inside diameter. The shaft ends are machined after welding. A flat split rings is welded on to the shaft tube for taking up the shaft flange. The completed shaft is dynamically balanced. The shaft's first speed must be at least 35 % above the operating speed. It is so dimensioned to meet this requirement.
5.9.4 Bearings
The impeller is mounted on pillow block bearings. One is a locating bearing and the other is a non locating (free) bearing. The bearings are spherical roller type housed in SOFN bearing housing. Temperature gauges are provided on the housings for each bearing.
For special customer demands sleeve bearings sleeve bearings are also provided.
5.9.6 Seals
Sealing for the shaft with the spiral casing consists of a labyrinth section for axial and an asbestos strip for radial sealing. The labyrinth seal in centrally located and screwed to the bearing pedestal which helps precis controlling of the labyrinth passage. The asbestos strip ensures that the movement of the spiral casing during hot conditions relative to the impeller wheel does not affect the fans function. The unmachined flanges of the spiral casing are sealed with asbestos rope.
guides the flow to the impeller. To one end of the shaft the impeller is either flange mounted or taped mounted depending upon the size of the fan. This main shaft is connected to the prime mover by means of an intermediate shaft with flexible coupling
(a)
Particle Size
The size distribution of the fly ash entering the inlet of the electrostatic precipitators play a major role in the performance of EP Typical particle size distribution is given in Table II
(b)
Resistively
For temperatures below about 160 oC, the resistivity is dominated by the surface conduction over the fly ash particles which in turn is greatly influenced by the chemical composition of the flue gas. (i.e. H2O, SO3 etc.) At higher temperatures, or in a perfectly dry atmosphere the fly ash behaves as semi insulator.
(i)
Characteristic of dust :
(a) (b) (c) Particle size distribution Dust loading Chemical composition.
(d) (e)
(ii)
Characteristics of gases :
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Temperature. Chemical composition. Moisture content. Quantity to be handled. Pressure.
6.2.4 Description
The electrostatic precipitator essentially consists of two sets of electrodes, one in the form of thin wires called discharge or emitting electrodes and other set called collecting electrodes in the form of pipes or plates. The emitting electrodes are placed in the center of pipes or midway between two plates and are connected usually to negative polarity of high voltage D.C. source of the order of 25 - 100 Kv. The collecting electrodes are connected to the positive polarity of the source and grounded. Fig 6.2 shows the details of a typical precipitator used of collection of fly ash.
6.2.5 Types
The precipitator can be basically classified into the following types : (i) Dry or wet (irrigated). (ii) Horizontal or vertical flow. (iii) Plate type or tubular type. For recovery of valuable material, dry type precipitator is normally chosen.
6.3.1 Casing
The precipitator casing is designed for horizontal gas flow. It is an all -welded steel construction, assembled from prevaricated wall and roof panels using panel construction. The main part of the fabrication is done in the workshop. The gas pressure and temperature and the wind load will cause the casing structure to flex.
Problem free precipitator operation requires that the electrode contained in and supported by the casing remain perfectly aligned. Therefore excessive flexing of the casing must be avoided.
6.3.2 Hopper
The hoppers are of pyramidal type (Figure 6.2). Also rough type and flat-bottom precipitators with scraper conveyors are available for some applications. The valley angle of the hoppers (angle between hopper corner and horizontal is never less than 55 oC and offer more to ensure easy dust flow down to the feed out flange. All hoppers have gas baffles. To ensure free flow of ash into the disposal system lower portions of the hoppers are provided with electrical heaters with thermostatic control.
For optimum functional efficiency of the precipitator, the supply voltage should be maintained near the flash over level between the precipitator electrodes. This can be achieved by an electronic control system which rises the output voltage to flash over level and reduces it automatically by a small amount in the event of a flash over. An additional increase in voltage beyond the normal operating zone produces a disproportionate increase in current accompanied by heavy sparking and a rapid reduction in dust collection efficiency. Experience has shown that the maximum dust collecting efficiency is related to the amount of minor sparking that occurs on the electrodes. Thus the function of effective control system is :(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) To operate the precipitator by a current and voltage that will vary according to the conditions in the precipitator, maintaining a high efficiency by controlling the spark rate. To provide an inherent arc suppression by arranging for the power supply output to reduce practically to zero for the duration of an arc. To provide back up protection against sustained power arc or persistent low voltage conditions by means of an under voltage alarm circuit. To indicate when the power supply is inadequate or a power arc is sustained due to fault conditions by means of visual and audio alarms. Provision of manual and automatic circuits. The rectifier-control provides all the modern controls and has a spark rate controller unit which controls a spark rate of 5 to 10 sparks per minute to maintain optimum dust collection efficiency. The rectifier system provides a smoother control of output current from 10 % to 100 % of the rated value and also maintains the constant current output.
The system consists of rotary switches interlocks and key exchange boxes. The exchanges boxes are located in control room and at prominent places on the precipitator casing. In the interlocking system, the insulator housings, inspection doors, hopper doors, HV isolating switches are provided with key interlocks. Each key designation consists of numbers and letters representing the unit involved, type of unit and its location TABLE 6.1 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CAOL ASH FROM INDIAN COALS. Singreni Fe2O3 SiO2 Al2O3 3.20 61.01 31.06 Pence West 7.90 62.70 24.80 Kampte Seam 12.50 59.00 23.00
TABLE 6.2 TYPICAL FLY ASH ANALYSIS ENTERING THE DUST COLLECTOR (Pulverized Fuel Bituminous Coal)
% Distribution by Weight 32 24 14 10 20