Boiler design and operation
Sinc e J ames Watt's first obs ervations on the power
of s team over 150 years ago, it has bec ome the
major power sourc e of the indus trial world. Today,
s team is the bes t energy trans fer medium for many
proc esses , including heating, plant proc ess steam,
power generation and utility operations .
Modern boilers range in s ize from s mall, res idential
units to the large steam generating sys tems used
by public utilities . While the variety of s team
generating sys tems in us e today is broad, they all
s hare the s ame principle of heat trans fer and
s team generation. I n addition, all s hare the need
for s ome degree of water purity. C ontaminants
commonly found in natural waters reduce operating
efficiency of boilers and other plant equipment,
leading to inc reased maintenanc e c osts and
reduc ed production c apacity.
T his training program is des igned to familiarize you
with water related problems whic h affec t s team
generating sys tems and s teps you c an take to
minimize their occurrence in your plant.
Steam generating sys tems include three
dis tinc t s ections : the preboiler, boiler and
afterboiler.
The pre boi ler phase

T he preboiler phas e employs various mec hanic al
and chemical methods to remove impurities from
raw water entering the sys tem. T his is pre-
treatment.
T he type of pre- treatment us ed depends on the
requirements of the s team generating sys tem and
the quality of the water entering the sys tem.
For example, low pressure boilers can generally
tolerate s ome degree of impurities , while high
press ure boilers used to drive turbines require
In addition to saving water, there are two other
benefits to recyc ling c ondensate:
Since condensate is hotter than make up
water, the amount of heat required to
generate steam is reduced resulting in fuel
savings .
Secondly, as condensate is generally high in
purity, the amount of make-up requiring
pre-treatment is also reduced.
The preboiler section may also include equipment to
recover heat energy from hot combustion gases .
These gases contain a considerable amount of heat
energy whic h can be used to heat the feedwater.

Waste gases escaping up the s tack cause the

greatest loss of heat in a s team generating sys tem.
The heat is rec overed in an economizer, a heat
exchanger placed between the boiler and s tack. The
rec overed heat is used to rais e the temperature of
feedwater before it enters the boiler. Using waste
combus tion gas to raise the temperature of
MU= Makeup FW-Feedwater feedwater increases boiler efficiency and reduces fuel
BD=Blowdown R=Returned Condensate consumption.
L=Losses S=Steam
Some plants employ deaerating feedwater heaters .
water that is virtually free of all impurities . In addition to heating the feedwater, deaerating
Feedwater is provided in two ways : make- up heaters remove oxygen and other dissolved gases
water and c ondens ate. from the water.

Make- up is raw water us ed to "make-up" for

water loss es in the plant. Make- up water enters
from the plant's water s ource and passes through
pre-treatment equipment to remove impurities
before it enters the boiler.

Condens ate, on the other hand, is water

whic h is recyc led from the boiler. A fter s team
has been used in the plant, it c ools and turns
bac k to water called c ondens ate. C ondens ate
is collec ted and passed through condens ate
return lines back to the feedwater s ystem. I n
this way, the water c an be recyc led over and
over again.
The boiler phase
The boiler s ection, where the s team is produced
includes a containing vessel along with heat
trans fer s urfaces .
overheating. When tubes overheat, metal s oftens ,
weakens and may eventually rupture.
In a s imple water tube circ uit, bubbles of steam form
in the heated tubes
or "ris ers".

The resulting steam

and water mixture is
lighter than cooler
water on the
unheated side of the
boiler, and rises to a
steam drum at the
top of the boiler.
Industrial boilers are generally classified as either fire Here the bubbles rise
tube of water tube. T his refers to the des ign of the to the surface and
boiler. steam is released.

In a fire tube boiler, combustion takes place within a The water then flows from the drum down through
cylindrical furnace located within the boiler and the cooler rubes , or "downcomers", completing and
combustion gases pass through tubes s urrounded by repeating the cycle.
water. Because the steamdrum is so important in the effici-
The combus tion gases leave the furnac e through the ent operation of the boiler, we'll go a bit more into
rear of the boiler, then reverse direction and pass detail about this subject.
through the boiler tubes several times , increasing the The main purpose of the s team drum is the
amount of heat trans fer. separation of steam from water. T his is accomplished
To maintain high gas velocity throughout the tubes , by providing sufficient volume and low enough
the number and diameters of tubes in each velocity to allow the steam to escape.
succeeding pass are reduced. This separation of steam and water is assisted by
I n water tube boilers , water is converted to s team steam separators within the drum. T hese are
ins ide the tubes , mechanical devices , such as baffles installed in the
while hot gases space above the water level to rapidly c hange the
pass over and direc tion of steam flow.
around the
outside of the
tubes . Water
tube boilers c an
operate at
higher press ures
than fire tube
boilers .

The flow of
steam and water within a water tube boiler is called
circulation.

This circulation is c ritical in preventing tubes from

Some steam drums contain more intricate devices
 burner position in the center of the boiler.

called cyclone separators , which s wirl the steam in a

circular motion. Water droplets being carried by the
steam are trapped in steam separators and drain
back into the water. This prevents water from leaving
the steam. The term "carry-over" refers to any
contaminant that leaves the s team drum along with
the s team.

In addition water tube boilers usually include

one or more "bottom drums " or "mud-drums "
where s uspended impurities in the water can
The "A" type boiler has two s mall mud drums with a
larger single steam drum. Regardless of design, all

settle out.

The c ontinuous or intermittent removal of small

amounts of water and impurities from these drums is
called blow-down.
Water tube boilers are c lassified according to their
design. I n a "D" type boiler, the s team drum is
placed directly above the mud drum. T he furnace and
boiler are placed off to one s ide.
The "O" type boiler also utilizes two drums , with the
water tube boilers rely on c irculation to allow s team
to ris e and pass on to the afterboiler s ection where it
is c arried to the plant and used as a s ource of
energy.
In s ome boiler water systems , steam may pass
through a superheater raising steam temperature in
order to generate more energy. T his works as
follows : boils at other temperatures . Steam tables list the
boiling point of water at various pressures (s ee the
Heating water at any given pressure will cause the
enclosed table).
water to boil and steam to be released. A change in
Regardless of the boiling point, when water boils , the
water and s team have the same temperature. T his is
called the saturation temperature.

As long as the water and steam remain in c ontac t,

the temperature will remain at the s aturation
temperature. T he boiler is only capable of producing
saturated steam.

To raise the temperature of steam and inc rease

energy production, without increasing pressure,
steam must be heated out of contact with water.
This is done in a superheater.

pressure res ults in a c hange to the boiling point of

water.

For example, at atmospheric pressure, water boils at

100 degrees Celsius . At a pressure of 10 Bar, water
The af t erboi ler phase

Saturated steam leaving the drums of large
industrial and utility boilers is c ommonly direc ted
through s uperheaters . Superheater tubes have
s team on one s ide and hot c ombus tion gases on
the other.
Temperatures here are higher than in boiler tubes .
T he s uperheated s team c an then be us ed to drive
turbines whic h func tion to drive s ome other
rotating piece of equipment.
T he larges t turbines are us ed to drive generators
and produce elec tric power.
T he more c ondensate your plant can return to the
boiler, the lower your make-up and fuel
requirements will be. T his results in inc reased
energy efficiency of your boiler.
We have now handled the c omponents of an
indus trial steam generating sys tem. The s ystem
cons ists of three s ections .
- T he preboiler sec tion removes impurities from
inc oming make up water and rais es
the temperature of the feedwater before it enters
the boiler.

O nce steam is us ed in the plant, it is condensed and T he boiler heats the water to boiling and separates
returned to the feedwater system. Condensate re- s team.
enters the preboiler, having made one complete
- T he afterboiler phase superheats the steam to a
pass through the steam generating s ystem.
temperature above boiling and
I n a sys tem with a properly maintained c hemic al c arries it to the plant where it is put to work.
treatment programme, c ondensate is high in purity.
I f not los t in the s ystem through process
As mentioned earlier, this reduces the amount of
cons umption or leaks , s team c ondenses and is
water whic h mus t be pretreated before it enters the
rec ycled in the feedwater.
boiler.

I n addition, because c ondensate has a high heat

value, less energy is required to heat the
feedwater.