marinediesels.co.uk Study Guide Auxiliary Boilers Written and illustrated by Clive Purser. | AUTHORS NOTE: [Although every care has been taken in the preparation ofthis study guide, no responsibilty 's taken for any ertor or omission. ©2007 Clive Purser [Al Rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying ‘oF otherwise, without the prior permission ofthe copyright holders For more information on the running and maintenance of marine diesel engines, visit hptwiw marinediesels,co uk o hitp:viwwrw.marinediesats info SEEGER REE EE EE Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 8 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Types of Boiler Boiler Feed Systems Boiler Fuel Oil Systems Safety Valves, Water Level Indicators Boiler Contaminants and Treatment ‘Chemical Cleaning of Boilers Exhaust Gas Boilers and Economisers Waste Heat Recovery Unit Fires Boiler Inspections & Surveys ‘What Can Sometimes Happen 98Chapter 1 Types of Boiler ‘Te loving baie groupings ae ke rom B.S.1170 = Matos for Treatment Weter for marine Boilers. ae het Group one boilers Packaged boilers (Including hylrid) Exhaust gas boilers Economisers. Low pressure water-tube boilers Operating pressures up to and including 17.5 bar Typically open feed system (may be closed) without de-aerator. Make-up feed-water: ‘Ideally distilled sea or fresh water from evaporator, occasionally raw fresh water. Group two boilers Water tube Operating pressures from 17.5 ~31.5 bar Preferably closed feed system, with or without de-aerator Make-up feed-water: = Distilled sea or fresh water from evaporator, Ideally ion exchange softened water ‘Never raw fresh water. Group three, four and five boilers. ‘Water tube Operating pressures. Group touiton 2Gobu Group five from 60-84 bar ‘Closed feed system, with de-serator Make-up feed-water: = Dist ses or fesh water rom evaporator passed though mined ed ion exchan unit before use. “poser a Be TEGGLFREGEEEES Fire or smoke-tube boilers ‘The fire or smoke-tube boiler, in which the combustion gasses passthrough tubes which are surrounded by water, i usually chosen for low-pressure saturated steam production on vessels requiring steam for auxiliary heating purposes only. ‘Operation is simple and feed-water of medium quality may be employed, The name “tank boiler is sometimes used for fire-tube boilers because oftheir large water ‘capacity. The term donkey boile'is also used. Horizontal package botlers @ £ i own vs ‘Smoke-tube package boilers are usually supplied as a complete unit, This will inelud the oll bumer, fuel pump, forced-draught fan, feed pumps and automatic controls for the system, ‘The boiler will be fited with all the appropriate boiler mountings. A single-furnace three-pass design is shown,“The first pass is through the partly corrugated furnace and ino the cylindrical wetback combustion chamber. The second pass is back over the furnace through small-bore ‘smoke tubes and then the flow divides a the front central smoke box. The third pass is. through outer smoke tubes tothe gas exit atthe back ofthe boiler. The three-pass design improves efficiency by allowing maximum energy extraction from the ‘combustion gasses. Fully automatic controls are provided and located in a control panel atthe side ofthe boiler. Vertical package boilers ‘The drawing shows the Spanner vertical package boiler and is designed to be single ‘pass, with e water cooled cylindrical furnece atthe bottom. The top plate of the furnace cts as the lower tube plate into which the fire tubes are rolled and/or welded. Some ofthe tubes are of sturdier construction and act as stay tubes, holding the tube plates in place against the steam pressure, These tubes are rolled and welded both fends. The remaining tubes act simply as passages for the hot flue gasses and are usually only rolled in place. Spanner has patented a tube design known as the *Swiryflow,’ which has a corkscrew appearance. This design makes the hot gasses spin as they pass up the tube. This is claimed to improve heat transfer. ‘The lower part ofthe fumace is protected from the combustion heat with refractory, of which more later, £ Water-tube boilers ‘Wotertube boilers, in which the water is contained in smal-bore tubes exposed, on the outside, to the heat of combustion, enables the generation of steam at much higher temperatures and pressures than can be achieved with smoke-tube boilers. The reason for this is that, practically, a small bore tube can be constructed with a greater wall thickness than a large cylindrical water tank and therefore withstand higher pressures Boilers ofthis type are considered to be group two and above dependant on the designed steam pressure Size for size the weight of water contained in te boiler is much less than that in an ‘equivalent smoke-tbe boiler and the steam raising process is much quicker. Design arrangements ae flexible and efficiency is high. These are some ofthe many reasons ‘why the watertube boiler has replaced the smoke-tube boiler as a steam producer of choice for power applications. ‘Watertube boilers rely om a natural circulation within the tubes to prevent ‘overheating and tube failure. As shown above, generating tubes exposed tothe heat of the furnace are fed with relatively cool high density water from a steam-water drum .down-comer tubes situated outside of the furnace. As the water is heated inthe ‘generating tubes, steam is created, which then forms a steam-water emulsion that reduces the effective density of the water. The low density steam-water emulsion then rises to the steam-water drum, where the seam is released and collected. The water ‘density then increases and the process is repeated.Hybrid boilers -Sunrod/Artborg “This typeof boiler uses a combination of watertube and smoke-tube prineiples. “The lower part ofthe boiler operates on the water-tube circulation principe, where the furnace is surounded by a ring of generating tubes supplied with water from a water ‘tank’ or steam separating drum suspended above the furnace via a series of down- ‘comers and a distributing ing a the bottom of the fumace. From the furnace the combustion gases rise towards the main fae outlet through a series of vertical uptake tubes within the watersteam separating drum. ‘Within the uptake tubes are elements connected by tubes at the top and bottom tothe \water-team drum. These act on the water-tube principle as water is drawn into the tube atthe bottom, heated by the hot combustion gases and the resultant steam-water ‘emulsion propelled out of the top ofthe tube where the steam is then separated from the water. Photos showing the inside and outside of the furnace of an Artborg type hybrid boiler. FERRER REE ER ESSES High pressure water-tube bollers Early watertube boilers used a single drum as inthe Babcock sinuous reader boiler shown below, Headers were connected tothe drum with straight generating tubes ‘between the headers. The hot gases from the fumace passed over the tubes, often in a single pass and thence toa superheatersitusted above the tube banks SUPERHEATER Simple low pressure package boilers produce low quality wet saturate steam that ‘only suitable for heating purposes, High pressure water-tube boilers are required to deliver steam fo main propulsion and power turbines. For this use dry superheated Steam is required in order to avoid water droplet damage to turbine blading. Supereating also increases the thermal energy available in the steam and increases plant ffciencyFurther developments in boiler technology led to boilers of the Babcock & Wileock 'D'type as shown below. This boiler has two drums, a steam drum atthe top and a smaller water drum atthe bottom. oi sieseeae a Seam Drum Soot Blowers Superhecer Bape 1 Root Ter re Exonemiser set Blower Downsamert cong Soot Blowers Suppor Tbe ‘Superhener | Wit ih Senha ine OF vise, O10 Fire Row Tubes cor Tubes Side Wall and Root Tuber The furnace is at the side ofthe two drums and is encased on all sides by walls of| generating tubes. These water-wall tubes are connected either to headers orto the drums, the upper headers are connected by return tubes tothe steam drum and the lower headers tothe water drum. The tubes running drestly between the steam drum and the water drum act a sercen-wall tubes separating the furace from te uptake, The tubes are normally rolled into the steam and water drums and headers. The sereen wall tubes provide the main heat transfer surfaces for steam generation ‘The process of steam generation in these tubes causes an upward flow of water t0 ‘occu from the water drum to the steam drum. To balance this upwards flow, large= bore down-comers are fitted, extemal tothe furnace, between the steam and water drum to allow the relatively cooler and thus denser water to return back tothe water drum. The superheater is located between the drums, protected from the very ht furnace gases by several rows of sreen tubes. ‘After passing through the superheater, the hot gasses then pass upwards through a {eed water heater or economiser. ‘ofthe boiler provides a heated passage for the combustion air to the air control or register surrounding the burner. ‘The burners (normally 3 of 4) are situated on the side ofthe fumace. A more modem development ofthe water-tube boiler asin the Foster-Wheeler ESD 3 boiler shown below, has the superheater banks situated outside of the screen wall tubes within the vertical gas uptake trunking, seam Deve conamiar Seat Bowes ea Tubes se Bier Seprnecer Sect Blow ed Pas Supcheser Sot Bower Superner “ue erat a side and ewteomat Row Tuber an Tie Bak “The gases leaving the fumace pass through the lower part of the sereen tubes, which are staggered to permit flow between them. The het gasses then pass upwards through the secondary superheater bank, the primary superheater bank and the economiser before passing to exhaust.Another development with this design of boiler has the firing arrangements situated in the roof of the furnace with the lame suspended downwards, This allows for a larger flame to be developed without risk of direct impingement onto the tubes, Furnace wall and refractory Refractory isa material in solid form that is capable of maintaining its shape at high ‘temperatures. Refractoriness may be defined from the foregoing as ability to maintain shape at elevated temperatures, Refractories act asa heat barrier 9 the high temperatures generated in the furnaces of boilers. ‘Various types of refractories are used in modem marine boilers and they could be classified simply as follows :- Firebricks Usually these are made from naturally occuring lays containing alumina an silica, the clay is shaped into brick form and ther fired in kiln. The refractoriness and resistance to fuel ash inreases with the increase of alumina content. Plastic refractory ‘Small amounts of plastic clay can be added to caleined (i.e. roasted until crumbly) fireclay which has been rushed and graded, the amount wares up to 20%. Ths type of refractory can be moulded or east into position. (Note mouldable refractories have to be fired in the furnace, easable refractories chemically cue like structural concrete.) Plastic chrame ore is a refractory that i used considerably for monolithic linings (i. cone piece) in modem water tube boils. Secondary insulating material Insulating blocks, bricks, sheets and powder are placed behind the furnace refractory thats exposed to the burmer lame. This secondary insulation would have been astestosmilloard ar magnesia asbestos, but the se of asbesos based materia is now banned. Moder materials includ calcined magnesia blocks o datomite blocks, 4iutomite is porous an siliceous and may be used asa powder, bonded with lay and ‘made into bricks. ‘he refractory materials used in marine boilers perform the following functions - ‘© Gives protection to the furnace casing. ‘= Reduces heat loss from the boiler Acts asa reservoir of heat to even out stresses asthe boiler fired and shut down, 9 SECC RE EEE EES A typical example ofthe use of refactory:= Use of refractory onthe floor ofan AtTborg type boiler Refractory tends to deteriorate over a period of time, particularly if subjected to direct Impingement of flame, or if subjeeted to ash deposit form the fuel. This is less of @ problem on furnace floors where the brick wrk is held in place by gravity but itis a ‘major problem on fumace walls. If the refractory is damaged it will tend to collapse (pall) and leave areas ofthe wall uninsulated, also hot gasses can then flow round the back of the tubes and diectly impinge an the steel easing of the furnace, leading to ‘overheating and eventual fulure. For this reason the furnace generating tubes are Pitched as else as possible so that the tubes, rather than the refractory, absorb the bulk ofthe heat generated in the furnace. “Modem boilers now take this concept one stage further and the Fumace tubes are now formed into solid or mono- walls by welding the tubes together with steel strips, thus eliminating any gaps between the tubes. This ereates a membrane wallFurther use of refractory in an Ariborg type boiler. ‘Steam to steam generator ‘This is a type of boiler whieh uses main plant high pressure steam to produce low pressure saturated steam for auxiliary purposes ie. eating etc. The main benefit ‘biained by producing steam in this way is thatthe auxiliary system is completely separated from the main system, Ifany contamination due to sea water or ol etc. finds its way into the auxiliary system then it will be next to impossible for it to ‘contaminate the main system, Low pressure steam out ‘The steam fo steam generator consists of a drum which is designed to perform the same funetion and have the same facilities as a tank type auxiliary boiler ie. safety valves, gauge glasses, low-down valves ete. Instead of furnace, however, the {generaor is ited witha heating coll through which is passed de-superhested high pressure steam directly from the main water-tube bole. | FETC REE EEE Boiler mountings ‘Any boiler has to have certain fittings to ensure its safe operation, These are refered toas boiler mountings:- Satety valves ‘These protect the boiler against overpressure and are ited in pairs. The valves are designed to open automatically athe pre-set blow-off pressure (3% above the designed working pressure) Once te valve lifting pressure is set the valve is locked and cannot be casually adjusted ‘Water level gauges. ‘Water level gauges or zauge glasses are usually fitted in pairs. The construction ofthe level gauge depends upon the boiler pressure. Feed cheeks asi bate me] ates non return = Feed oh ‘supply ‘Two pairs of valves are fitted in order to give two independent means of supplying feed water to the boiler. One pair are designated the main feed check valves and the other pair the auxiliary feed check valves. The first valve of each paris fited directly ‘onto the dram of the boiler and is always a serew lift valve, The olher valve of the pair 1s fitted tothe inet ofthe first valve and isa screw down non-return valve, This double shut-off arrangement as the following benefits The first valve (serew lif) does not have to be used to contol the flow ofthe feed water and will, therefore, not become wirexdrawn and can be used to isolate the feed line, ' The second valve (Screw dovn non return) can be used to contol the fed flow + Ifa fed line joint blows then the sd. valve will shut and prevent the boiler contents being discharged. ‘+ Two feed check valves wil give double isolation to the feed line,‘Main and auxiliary stop v3 “These valves are fitted to in order to isolate the main and auxiliary steam supply lines and are usually ofthe non-return type. (Usually fitted in pairs to give double isolation particularly where there is more than one boiler connected to the steam lines) Air release or vent cock. ‘This valve is fted tothe highest point on the boiler shell or drum inorder to release sirand seam when filling the boiler, when intially raising steam, or to release ‘vacuum when shutting the boiler down. Superheater circulating valves Actin when 1s air vents, these fitings ensure a low of steam through the superheater ly warming through and raising steam in the boiler. ‘Sampling connection. A water outlet valve is provided forthe sampling and analysis of feed water. Provision may also be made for injecting water treatment chemicals Blow down valves ‘These valves, ited in pairs, enable water to be blown down or emptied from the boiler. The same feed cheek principles of double valves apply, except both valves are serew lif. Scum valve [A shallow dish positioned intemally atthe normal water level is connected to the scum valve. This enables the blowing down of removal of scum and other impurities, particulary of from the water surface. Pressure gauge and other instrument conneetions, Where necessary on the boiler drum, superheater, etc. Separate double isolating valves are usually required for each connection. Chapter 2. Boiler Feed Systems ima Be sitar feot ‘Typical Group One baler open feed system “The above drawing shows a typical steam supply and boiler open feed system. The steam consumers are split into two categories:- © General eating systerns © Oilheating systems “The condensate returns from the general heating ystems are led straight back to the hotwell via a drains cooler, The condensate returns from the oll heating systems are led back through an oil observation tank where any oil leakage can be detected before ithas a chance to contaminate the est ofthe system. From the horwell, the feed water is drawn through after by the feed pump and supplied under pressure tothe boiler. The hotwell i kept atthe working level by a float operated make-up valve, supplying water from (preferebly) a distilled water souree, Note: Two feed pumps and separate feed lines, both of which can be cross-connected (Open feed systems i. hotell open, have the drawback that they allow gasses (oxygen, carbon dioxide) to be absorbed by the feed water. Moder practice tends to avour a closed feed system witha eas tight ld ited to the hotwell