Topic 3

Fossil fuel steam generators

Power Plants ME 471

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
GIK Institute Pakistan
 Introduction
Steam generator is a complex combination of:
1. Economizer
2. Boiler (evaporator)
3. Superheater
4. Reheater
5. Air preheater
Auxiliary equipment:
1. Stokers
2. Pulverizers
3. Burners
4. Fans
5. Emission control equipment
6. Stack (chimney)
7. Ash handling equipment
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 Basic classification
Steam generators

Utility
Industrial
~1500psi
Subcritical Supercritical ~1 million lbm/h
(1900 2600 psia, 540oC) (3500 psia) Fuels: Stoker coal, oil,
Fuels: Pulverized coal, oil Nat. gas, Organic waste,
and natural gas. process heat.
High steam capacity: No superheated steam.
Once-through type
1 10 million lbm/h
125-1300MW

Water tube drum type Water tube drum type Fire tube type

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 Fire tube boiler
Used for industrial purposes in the past.
Limited use today. (NOT in large utility powerplants).
Presently they are used to produce sat. steam.
Typical maximum pressure: 250 psig
Steam capacity: 50,000 lbm/h (6.3Kg/s)

Evolution of fire tube boiler

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 Shell type boiler
It is the simplest possible way
of producing steam.
Water in a shell is heated
externally.
Two variations were electrical
heating and steam as in
accumulator.
Finally hot combustion gases
were passed in the tubes
through the shell.
Heat transfer surface wasnt
the shell body in 3 latter
cases.

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 Horizontal tube boiler
The fire tubes were placed in any orientation,
vertical, horizontal and inclined.
Horizontal fire tubes were the most common.

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 Types of fire tube boilers
1. Fire box boilers 2. Scotch marine boilers
The furnace or firebox is There exist cylindrical
integrated with the combustion chambers
shell. within the main shell.
The hot gases exit the
chamber from the rear
and renter the tubes.
One or more chambers
are normally present.

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 Fire box boiler

Back
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 Scotch marine boilers

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 Scotch marine boilers

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 Fire tube boilers
Since boiling occurs in the same compartment
where water is, the steam produced is only
saturated steam.
Therefore these boilers are confined to low
pressures and limited steam capacities.

Back

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 Water-tube boiler: Early developments
Need to minimize explosions and improved
operation, led to the development of water-tube
boilers.
The pressure was shifted to the tubes and drums,
carrying water and steam instead of the main shell.
Types of water-tube boilers
1. Straight tube boiler
2. Bent tube boiler

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 Straight tube boiler
Straight tubes of 3 4 in outer diameter.
Tubes spaced at 7 8 in.
Tubes inclined at 15o.
The water keeps circulating in the tubes and the drum
and the steam leaves this cycle as it forms.

Riser

Downheader

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 Types of straight tube boiler
1. Longitudinal drum:
The steam and water drum is parallel to the tubes.

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 Types of straight tube boilers
2. Cross drum:

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 Cross drum water-tube boiler

Superheater

Water and steam

drum

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 Longitudinal vs. Cross drum
1. Longitudinal drum 2. Cross drum
I. Could only accommodate I. Could accommodate
limited number of tubes. more tubes due to their
geometry.
II. Heating surfaces of II. Heating surfaces of
1000 10,000ft2. 5000 - 25000ft2.
III. Pressure: 175 340 psia III. Pressure: 175 1465 psia
IV. Steam capacity: 0.63 IV. Steam capacity: 0.63
10Kg/s. 63Kg/s.

Back

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 Bent tube boiler
In order to connect headers and drums, the tubing was bent, so it
enters the drums radially.
The number of drums varied from 2 4.
Gas baffles were used to increase gas flow passage.
Tubes were of 3 32 in in outer diameter. 5 7 in spacing.

Four drum Stirling boiler

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 Four drum Stirling boiler
To economizer

Gas baffles

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 Two drum Stirling boiler

Water walls

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 The water tube boiler: Recent advancements
Use of water walls allowed to integrate: furnace,
economizer, superheater, reheater and air
preheater into the a packaged steam generator.
Due to high temperature requirements, in
powerplants, 7 8 feedwater heaters are used,
which results in a small economizer.
High pressure requirements result in small boiler
surface area.
Superheated steam requirements result in a large
superheater tubing area.
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 A modern steam generator 300oF

600oF

450-500oF

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 Boiler walls
Use of water walls allows
maximum heat
absorption.
a) Bare tubes
b) Tangent to refractory
c) Embedded in refractory
d) Membrane design

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 Radiant boiler
1. Heat transfer occurs by both, radiation and convection.
2. The combustion gases can be luminous or non-luminous
depending upon the fuel type.
3. Coal and oil: Luminous gases.
4. Gaseous fuels: Nonluminous gases.
5. Heavier gases also emit radiations.
6. Radiation is the dominant mode of heat transfer.
7. Normally fueled with coal (lignite) burnt in cyclone furnaces.
8. 540oC and 1260Kg/s
9. Limited to subcritical pressures: 1800 2500 psig

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 Water circulation
Full boiling to 100% quality in the tubes is
avoided.
Departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) is
undesirable.
Natural circulation depends upon:
1. Density differential
2. Height of the steam drum from the bottom
header.
Two types of steam drum systems:
1. Natural circulation
2. Forced / controlled circulation. (pumping is
used).

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 Water circulation
Forced circulation is favored over natural circulation in
high subcritical pressure steam generators.
The density differential decreases as the pressure rises.
A pump is used to provide a margin of safety against tube
burnout due to DNB.
Water tubes are designed with internal grooves, ribs or
corrugations to promote the separation of the bubbles
from the tubes.
Tubes are rifled helically to retard or stop DNB.

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 Water circulation
Natural circulation caused by the
pressure differential is given by:
g
Pd ( dc r ) H
gc

r is determined as follows:
In a two-phase mixture, void fraction is:

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 Water circulation

Vg and Vf are the specific volumes of the saturated water

and vapor.
S is the slip ratio: speed of vapor/speed of water.

S = 1 10

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 Water circulation
Mixture density distribution:

Average mixture distribution:

In case of uniform axial heating, the integral is:

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 Steam drum
Concerns in steam drum design:
1. It should accommodate sufficient water to deal with
load variations.
2. It should be such that no carryover occurs.
Carryover:
of water: water droplets carried by steam to the
superheater.
of solids: Solid impurities in water carried by steam to the
superheater and turbine (silica deposits).

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 Steam drum its job:
To separate steam and water.
Three mechanisms of separation.
1. Gravity separation
2. Mechanical separation
3. Centrifugal separation

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 Gravity separation in steam drums
Gravity separation is feasible,
if the steam velocity is low
(under 3ft/s).
No carryover and carryunder
should take place.
It depends on the design,
position of riser nozzles and
density differential.
It is only feasible for low
pressure applications.
Back
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 Mechanical separation in steam drums
In large steam generators,
mechanical separation assists gravity
separation.
Two steps of mechanical separation:
1. Primary (through baffles).
2. Secondary (steam scrubbing/drying
Baffles
through screens).

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 Centrifugal separation in steam drums
Cyclones or turbo separators are used in
high pressure applications.
Guide vanes in the separators impart a
spinning motion to the incoming mixture.
Denser water impinges the vanes and
walls and flows back through a bigger
concentric cylinder.
Screens are used for further drying.

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 Superheaters and reheaters
2 3 in Outer diameter tubes. Small dia tubes
withstand higher pressures but have more pressure
loss.
Internal ribbing is unnecessary.
Design concerns are:
1. High stresses (strength of material is reduced at high
temperatures).
2. Corrosion resistance (high temperatures favor
corrosion).

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 Types of superheaters/reheaters
1. Convection superheater
These are not in the direct view of
the flame.
Convection heat transfer occures.
Exit steam temperature increases
as the load increases.

back

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 Types of superheaters/reheaters
2. Radiant superheater
Superheater lies in direct view of
the flame.
Radiant heat transfer depends on
Tf4 - Tw4 .
Since Tf doesnt necessarily change
with load. The increase in load
results in lower temperature.

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 Orientation of superheaters/reheater

Pendant Inverted Horizontal

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 Once through boilers
Also known as:
1. Forced-circulation.
2. Benson.
3. Universal pressure boiler.

Drum type Once through

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 Once through boilers
Phase changes from saturated liquid to
superheated steam in one continuous pass.
No steam drum is needed.
Highly pure water is required.
Better suited for high subcritical and supercritical
applications.
Capital costs are higher but per unit power
produced is cheaper.

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 Economizer
It heats the feedwater coming from the high pressure FWH to the
saturation temperature corresponding to the boiler pressure.
Heat source fluid: hot gases leaving the last reheater at around 700
1000oF.
Problems in economizers before the use of FWH
Corrosion from outside of the tubes.
Erosion from the inside of the tubes.
Remedies:
Use of FW heaters.
Economizer operation above the dewpoint temperature of the
combustion gases.
Chemical cleaning of the inside surfaces of the tubes.
Use of deaerators.

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 Modern economizers
Vertical sections of 1.75 2 in OD tubes.
Some boiling is done in the economizer. To a quality of
20% at full load.
Spacing between tubes depends upon the type of fuel.
(lesser spacing for cleaner burning fuels).
Economizer tube design can be plain or extended.
Occasionally a low pressure economizer can be used
AFTER the air preheater which acts as a low pressure
FWH, that arrangement is known as stack cooler.

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 Air preheaters
Flue gases at 600 800oF are passed through the air
preheaters to heat the atmospheric air before combustion.
Air preheating saves fuel.
Typical fuel savings are 4% for a 200oF air temperature rise.
And 11% for a 500oF air temperature rise.
Preheated air (300-600oF) is also used in pulverized-coal
furnaces.
It is used to dry and transport the coal.
Small stoker-fired units dont need preheated air, large units
however use up to 350oF preheated air.

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 Types of Air preheaters
1. Recuperative air preheater.
Heat is directly transferred from
flue gases to the air.
It is a shell and tube or a plate type
heat exchanger, with hot gases
flowing through the tubes, in shell
and tube heat exchangers.
The leakage of the air should be
avoided to minimize fan power.

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 Recuperative air preheater
Various arrangements are available depending upon the
steam generator space.
Typical tube size range: 1.5 4 in.
Modern large steam generators use 2 2.5 in OD heater
tubes.
In marine applications, 1.5 2 in OD tubes are common.
Smaller OD results in more tubes, and thus results in a
greater heat transfer surface. Thus compact heaters can
be designed for a same heat transfer requirements.

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 Types of Air preheaters
2. Regenerative air preheater.
Heat transfer is indirect.
An intermediate medium is used.

Example:
Most commonly used rotary type air preheater is
Rotary (Ljungstrom) preheater.

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 Rotary (Ljungstrom) air preheater
Rotor is driven at 1 3 rpm.
12 24 sectors of heat storage
medium which is corrugated or
ribbed steel plates.
The rotor is bisected by a stationary
partition, keeping the gas and air in
separate zones.
Rotary heater may be either
laminar or turbulent depending
upon the spacing of storage plates.

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 Fans
In the absence of fans, the air and the combustion gases
must flow due to the density differential.
But large steam generators, where pressure losses are
higher in long piping, fans are used to force the air/gas flow.
Types of fans:
1. Forced draft (FD) fan.
2. Induced draft (ID) fan.
Either one or both may be used.

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 Forced draft (FD) fans
These are normally used alone in large steam
generators and marine applications.
FD fans pressurize the incoming atmospheric air up to
the exit of flue gases to the stack.
Advantages:
1. Since cold atmospheric air with a lower specific volume,
is blown. The work requirements are low.
2. The load is less because it doesnt deal with the
combustion gases.
3. Lesser maintenance problems.
4. Lower capital and operating costs.
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 Forced draft (FD) fans
Disadvantages:
1. The furnace is subjected to a higher than atmospheric
pressure, which may result in combustion gases to leak out.
2. The steam generator needs to be designed to prevent leakage
from the inspection doors and other openings.

Normally to avoid down time, two FD fans are employed in

parallel, each capable of taking 60% of the full load.

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 Induced draft (ID) fan
ID fans blow the exhaust (flue) gases
out, thus creating a negative pressure in
the whole system.
ID fans handle hot gases, and higher
mass flow rates, therefore their power
requirements are high.
Maintenance problems may happen
more often, because of a greater chance
of corrosion due to high temperatures.
Ash deposits also need periodic
cleaning.

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 Balanced draft
Both FD and ID fans may be used in such a way that the
furnace is operating slightly less than the atmospheric
pressure, so any leakage will be inflow of air.
Both fans may be installed with in the stack base.
The stack itself adds to the upward draft of the hotter flue
gases.

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 Fan designs
Fans used in powerplants have the capacity of blowing air
at around 1.5million ft3/min and 2.2 psi.
Because these fans operate for 1 1.5 years, they must be
efficient, well balanced and ruggedly designed.
Types of fans:
1. Centrifugal fans: the air/gases are accelerated radially
outwards into a volute housing.
2. Axial fans: the air/gases are accelerated parallel to the fan
axis.

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 Axial and centrifugal fans
Axial fans with variable-pitch moving blades have high
efficiencies over a wide range of loads.
But such axial fans have higher capital costs.
Centrifugal fans may following blade designs:
1. Backward curved blades: used in FD fans. Also used in
ID fans but with lesser curvature of the blades.
2. Flat and forward-curved blades: used in ID fans.
Lesser curvature means: lesser dirt sticks to the blades.
Low speed, flat blade fans are used with dirty and
corrosive fans.

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 Fan power
Difference of static
pressure across the
fan.

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 Fan control (how to control the fan output)
1. Damper control:
Used normally on the outlet of the fans.
Inlet dampers called inlet vanes are also used.
A simple, single speed induction AC motor can be used.
Drawbacks are:
Dampers add to the flow resistance so more power is
required by the motor to maintain the load.
Power savings be done by using an inexpensive 2-speed
motor (which is still inexpensive than a variable speed
motor).

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 Fan control (how to control the fan output)
2. Variable-speed control
It is the most efficient way of fan control.
Effect of speed on fan performance is:
a) Flow = f(N)
b) Pressure = f(N2)
c) Power input = f(N3)
Drawback:
Higher capital cost than damper control.

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 The stack
1. It creates an updraft of the hot
flue gases.
2. It disperses the flue gases into the
atmosphere.

In modern large steam generators,

FD or ID fans are necessary to
overcome flow resistances.

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 Stack driving pressure
Driving pressure Pd is given by:
g
Pd ( a s ) H
gc
P

RT
Pa Ps g
Pd H
RaTa RsTs gc
Pa, Ps and Ra and Rs differ slightly, so we write:
P 1 1 g
Pd a H
Ra Ta Ts g c
To TH
Ts
2
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 Dispersion

H e H H
H e is the effective stack height

Design of stack is highly dependant on regional topology

and weather conditions.

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 Analytical models for plume height calculation
1. Carson and Moses [21]

2. Briggs [22]

3. TVA model [24]

See book for details

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 Steam generator control
There are many aspects in a steam power plants
which require precise control.
We will talk about:
1. Feedwater and drum level control.
2. Steam-pressure control.
3. Steam-temperature control.

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 Feedwater and drum level control
The feedwater flow essentially controls the amount of
steam produced.
At any load, the drum level is maintained at its middle
level.

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 Steam pressure control
It is achieved by
adjusting the fuel and
airflows.
A steam pressure sensor
sends the signal to
increase or decrease the
amount of fuel and air.
Air and fuel flow rate
sensors keep the air-fuel
mixture in the right
proportions.

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 Steam temperature control
Steam temperature control is critical to the efficient
operation of the plant.
Temperature may fluctuate due to ash deposits but mainly
due to load variation.
A drop in 35 45oF steam temperature results in 1% loss in
efficiency.
Superheater and reheater response to load changes requires
special attention.

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 Steam temperature control
Figure
Combined radiant-convective superheater:
A relatively flat steam temperature is obtained after
superheating, if both radiant and convective superheaters
are used in series.
Attemperation: It is the reduction in steam temperature.
Methods of attemperation:
1. Surface attemperator.
2. Spray or direct contact attemparator.

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 Surface attemperator
1. Shell type:
A shell and tube heat exchanger is used to transfer heat
from the overheated steam to the boiled water (from
evaporator).
2. Drum type:
Overheated steam is diverted to a heat exchanger which
is formed around the main steam drum.
The drum needs to be larger to accommodate the
attemperator tubing.

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 Spray / direct contact attemperator
Steam temperature is lowered
by spraying low temperature
water from the boiler or
economizer exit.
It offers a rapid and sensitive
control.
Steam temperature is
regulated by controlling the
amount of sprayed water.
Simple energy balance gives:

ms hs1 mwhw (ms mw )hs 2

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 Spray / direct contact attemperator

Attemperation is sometimes used in series with gas recirculation.

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 Gas recirculation:
Combustion gases from economizer or air preheater is
recirculated by means of a fan back into the furnace (burning
zone).
Gas tempering:
Gases recirculated to a point downstream of the burning zone
is called gas tempering.
BENEFIT:
Recirculating the gases alters the heat absorbing
characteristics of various heat absorbing surfaces in the
steam generator, to yield desired effect.
It dilutes the furnace gases and reduces the flame
temperature.

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 Other methods
Tiltable burners:
Burner tilting change the distance and orientation of the
flame with respect to the superheater.
Bypassing:
Hot gases can be bypassed from the superheater or
reheater through dampers.
Separately fired superheater:
Superheater may occasionally have its own burner, fan
and controls.
An expensive way of temperature control. Better suited to
chemical process industry than an electric power plant.

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