Boiler Feedwater

By James McDonald, PE, CWT

Originally Published: CSTN – January 2005

The boiler feedwater calculation is:

Steam
Feedwater =
1 - % BD
100

It is helpful to understand how this equation is derived. The mass balance

around a boiler as illustrated in Figure 1 is:

Feedwater = Steam + Blowdown

Steam

Feedwater

Boiler

Blowdown

Figure 1: Boiler System Mass Balance

Calculations 414
Cycles of concentration (or cycles) is a comparison of dissolved solids level
of the blowdown with the feedwater. This can be expressed as:
BD concentration
Cycles =
FW concentration
where FW stands for feedwater and BD stands for blowdown.
Just like in a cooling tower system, cycles of concentration can also be
expressed as:
FW lb/hr
Cycles =
BD lb/hr

Now, if we solve for BD, we get:

FW
BD =
Cycles

Plugging this into the mass balance equation previously shown gives:

FW
FW = Steam +
Cycles

Solving for FW yields the following series of equations:

FW
FW - = Steam
Cycles

(
FW 1 -
1
Cycles ) = Steam

Steam
FW =

( 1-
1
Cycles )
Calculations 415
This last equation is a very good equation to have, because by simply
knowing the steaming rate and cycles, one can calculate feedwater.
Usually, this last equation is taken a step further to include percent
blowdown instead of just cycles. Percent blowdown is defined as:
100
% BD =
Cycles

Rearranging this equation reveals:

1 % BD
=
Cycles 100
Plugging this into the feedwater equation just derived gives us the familiar
feedwater equation:
Steam
FW =
1 - % BD
100
Now, with the two equations highlighted in blue, the feedwater flowrate can
be determined if the steam rate is known and either the cycles or percent
blowdown are known.

Calculations 416