B y S A N A T S H E T T Y , P H D

Saving

Energy with
Economizers
Boiler economizers can reduce fuel costs, emissions

uel costs are a major portion of efficiency gain.

F the operating costs of fuel-fired

equipment, such as boilers. With
continuing increases in fuel costs and an
ing
With natural-gas energy prices averag-
$7 per thousand standard cubic feet
(MSCF) and doubling recently, the
emphasis on economy of operation, there installed payback of a typical economizer is
is an ever-increasing focus on exploring all measured in months, rather than years.
available options to increase system fuel With these high fuel costs, what used to be
efficiency. a large-boiler domain now incorporates a
Boiler economizers offer an efficient wider range of boiler sizes. Commercially
and low-cost way to available packaged
save energy dollars economizers run
during a time of By The Numbers from 30 bhp to
high fuel prices. 400,000 lb per hour
Plus, economizers 3 to 10: The percentage by which and larger.
are environmentally economizers can improve fuel efficiency. Decreasing the
friendly and offer 7: The dollars per thousand standard cubic amount of fuel con-
benefits beyond en- feet that natural-gas energy prices average. sumed decreases
ergy savings. 30: The minimum boiler horsepower that emissions propor-
commercially available packaged tionately. Addition-
Using an economizers run. ally, economizers
Economizer 400,000: The maximum number of pounds help boilers respond
Economizers pre- per hour that commercially available to load changes
heat boiler feedwa- packaged economizers run. faster because the
ter by using energy feedwater entering
still present in ex- the boilers is hotter.
haust-stack gases. Therefore, fuel that
would have been needed by a boiler Choosing an Economizer Type
to transfer this energy to feedwater With improvements in heat-transfer
is saved. Economizers can improve fuel surfaces, economizers have become
efficiency by 3 to 10 percent, depending compact and more efficient. Both inter-
on the stack-gas temperature from which nally and externally enhanced tubes
energy is being recovered. The tempera- are used in economizers to improve the
ture to which flue gas can be cooled transfer of heat from flue gas to boiler
is dictated by the fuel. A good rule of feedwater.
thumb for natural-gas-fired boilers is that Enhancements always should be on the
every 40ºF drop in an economizer’s gas side that has the lower and, therefore,
temperature corresponds to a 1-percent controlling heat-transfer coefficient. In

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boiler-feedwater economizers, the
water side has a very high heat-
transfer coefficient. Therefore, the
enhancement is on the gas side in
the form of finned tubes for econo-
mizers with gas on the shell side or
internally ribbed tubes for fire-tube
economizers.
There are applications in which
heat from flue gas is not being
transferred to water, but to a heat-
transfer fluid on the tube side.
In such cases, the tube-side heat-
transfer coefficient also is low. Such
units can benefit from double-sided
augmentation. However, these have
to be evaluated based on tube-side-
fluid physical properties.
Economizers are available in both
fire-tube (Photo A) and water-tube
designs. Water-tube designs are
available in either a cylindrical-
coiled (Photo B) or rectangular
(Photo C) design.
For boiler sizes from 30 to
400 bhp, a fire-tube economizer is
ideal because most boilers in this
range have on/off feedwater
pumps. A fire-tube economizer has
a large water reservoir. Because of
the water mass’ thermal inertia, the
water is extremely resistant to
steaming. There is no need for
PHOTO B. Cylindrical economizer.
expensive feedwater-proportioning
systems.
For boilers 400 bhp (13,800 pph)
to 100,000 pph in size, a cylindrical
design fits the bill. In most
instances, these economizers fit
directly into the stack, eliminating
the need for costly transition pieces.
Because there are fewer welds,
cylindrical economizers have the
lowest frequency of repair. These
economizers are compact and can
be used for a wide variety of fuels
because of the availability of online
soot blowing.
When a boiler’s size is greater
than 100,000 pph, a rectangular
design is necessary. These econo-
mizers offer the most customization
in terms of meeting required heat
duty, gas- and water-side pressure
drops, and constrained dimensions.
cation have useful lives exceeding
20 years. Materials of construction
should be dictated by design-tem-
perature requirements. In other
words, do not choose what is not
needed. Pay particular attention to
corrosion concerns.
An economizer is a pressure
vessel, just like a boiler. As such, it
will be stamped under American
Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME) Boiler and Pressure Code,
Section I: Power Boilers, or, if
materials of construction require it,
ASME Boiler and Pressure Code,
Section VIII: Pressure Vessels.
Carbon steel is the most common
material of construction for shell-
side design temperatures up to
750ºF. As design temperatures
increase, Cor-ten A387 Grade 11
steel and higher stainless alloys are
required.
Tube-side material selection
also depends on tube-side design
temperature. Tube-side wall tem-
perature is not controlled by gas
temperature, but, rather, by water
temperature. Welded tubes are
suitable for most applications. For

Things to Consider When

Selecting an Economizer
Economizers that are designed
PHOTO A. Fire-tube economizer. properly and selected for the appli- PHOTO C. Rectangular economizer.

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S A V I N G E N E R
PHOTO D. High-frequency serrated fins.
higher design pressures, seamless
tubes can be used.
The heart of a heat exchanger is
the finned tubing. Fin-to-tube
welds need a high tensile strength.
Tension-wrapped fins or those with
dissimilar metals should be avoided
because they may have different
coefficients of expansion that may
result in the fins becoming detached
from the tubing. In fact, high-
frequency resistance-welded fins are
the only kind accepted by most
boiler manufacturers. Serrated fins
typically are used for cleaner-burn-
ing applications (Photo D). Solid
fins are used for “dirtier” applica-
tions (Photo E).
When the fuel being fired may be
dirty (e.g., coal or heavy oil) clean-
ability is an issue. Therefore, an
economizer must have provisions
for soot blowing. An inline-tube
layout is preferred (Figure 1).
Finned tubes still can be used for
fouling applications, as long as the
proper fin pitch and fin-tip clear-
ances are maintained.
For applications with particulate-
laden flue gas, gas velocities should
be maintained so erosion is not a
concern. If need be, tube shields can
be provided for select rows.
Corrosion Considerations
Corrosion is an area that is not
highlighted enough or for which
confusing or misleading informa-
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G Y W I T H E C O N O M I Z E R S
PHOTO E. High-frequency solid fins. FIGURE 1. Inline-tube layout.
tion often is available. Users, as well 180ºF. To remove oxygen suffi-
as designers, need to be aware of ciently, mechanical deaeration in
three concerns: combination with chemical deaera-
• Oxygen-pitting corrosion. tion typically is needed.
Feedwater contains dissolved oxy- If deaerated feedwater is not avail-
gen that will come out of solution able, economizers still can be used.
as it is heated because oxygen However, it is important to use
solubility decreases as temperature stainless-steel tubes to combat
increases. This oxygen will corrode oxygen-pitting corrosion.
carbon-steel construction in no • Water dew-point concerns.
time. It is important to have ade- Tube-wall temperature in an econo-
quately deaerated water available mizer is controlled predominantly
for economizers with carbon-steel by the water temperature because
construction. Atmospheric preheat- the tube-side heat-transfer coeffi-
ing alone is not always sufficient cient is orders of magnitude higher
because the oxygen-solubility curve than the gas-side coefficient. Mois-
shows an asymtotic value beyond ture present in the flue gas will
360
340
320
300
Acid dew point (sulfite or SO3)
280
Temperature (˚F)
260
240 Minimum-recommended
220 feedwater temperature
200
180
160
140
Water dew point
120
100
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Sulfur content (weight percentage)
FIGURE 2. Minimum-recommended feedwater temperature.
S A V I N G E N E R
condense out at the water dew-
point temperature (typically,
135ºF) if the water temperature is
lower. This can cause problems with
an economizer.
Acid dew-point concerns. If
sulfur is present in fuel, sulfur diox-
ide and some sulfur trioxide will dis-
solve in the moisture present in the
flue gas to form corrosive acids.
These acids will condense out of the
flue gas at much higher tempera-
tures (approximately 200 to
250ºF). This is the acid dew-point
temperature. It depends on the
amount of sulfur present in the fuel
(Figure 2). The only economical
way to prevent this is to keep the
water-inlet temperature high
enough so that the wall temperature
stays above the acid dew-point
temperature.
Water or flue-gas bypassing is
not the solution to acid dew-point
corrosion.
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G Y W I T H E C O N O M I Z
Saving With an Economizer
This is a representative example
of how fuel savings with an econo-
mizer are calculated:
A natural-gas-fired, 300-hp boiler
operates at 80-percent efficiency
with 150-psig operating pressure.
Flue-gas temperature from the
boiler is 460ºF. Heat input into the
boiler is 12.55 Mmbtu per hour.
Flue-gas mass flow is 10,975 lb per
hour. Flue gas is being cooled to
280ºF in the economizer. Heat
recovered in the economizer is:
Q = m × Cp × ( Tgas in – Tgas out ) =
10, 975 × 0.275 × ( 460 – 280) =
543, 214 Btuh
percent fuel saved =
mizer × 100
heat transferred in econom
=
heat input into boiler
543, 214 × 100
= 4.33
12,550,000
( approximately 1 percent peer 40°F drop)
Circle x
E R S
amount of fuel saved ( SCFH ) =
heat transferred in economizer
=
boiler efficiency × heating value of fuel
543, 214
= 700
0.8 × 970
This is assuming a natural-gas
heating value of 970 Btu per pound.
With fuel cost at $7 per MSCF,
this is equivalent to a monetary
savings of:
700
× 7 = $4.90 per hour
1,000
Assuming 7,920 hr of operation
per year, the value of fuel saved in a
year is equal to:
$4.90 × 7, 920 = $38,808 per year
The cost of this economizer is
$9,890.
Although installation costs may
vary widely, depending on each ap-
 S A V I N G E N E R G Y W I T H E C O N O M I Z E R S

Boiler economizers offer an efficient and low-cost way

to save energy dollars during a time of high fuel prices.
Plus, economizers are environmentally friendly
and offer benefits beyond energy savings.

plication, assume the installation smart way to reduce ever-increasing

cost of this economizer to be
roughly $9,890. A good rule of
thumb is that installation cost
should not exceed the cost of an
economizer.
installed cost of economizer
payback =
fuel savvings per year
12 months per year =
9,890 + 9, 890
× 12 = 6.1 months
38,808
In conclusion, an economizer is a
fuel costs. The energy recovered
already has been paid for.
About the Author
The director of research and
development for Fintube Technolo-
gies Inc. in Tulsa, Okla., Sanat
×
Shetty, PhD, is a chemical engineer
specializing in fluid mechanics and
heat transfer. He has been at the
forefront in the development of
X-ID(R) tubing and advanced
finning designs.

Circle XXX Circle x

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