MEC239

Applied Thermal Engineering

Unit – 1: Steam Generators

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Lancashire Boiler Introduction
 Reliable with simplicity of design

 Ease of operation and less operating & maintenance cost

 Invented by Sir William Fairbairn in the year 1844

 Horizontal drum axis, natural circulation, two-tubular, low pressure, stationary, fire
tube boiler with furnace located internally

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Lancashire Boiler Introduction

Parameter Value
Diameter of the shell 2 to 3 m

Diameter of the tubes 0.8 to 1 m

Length of the shell 7 to 9 m

Maximum working 15 bar

pressure
Steam capacity 8000-9000 kg/hr

Thermal Efficiency 60- 70 %

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Lancashire Boiler Structural Diagram

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Lancashire Boiler Structural Diagram

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Lancashire Boiler Working

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Lancashire Boiler Structural Diagram

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Lancashire Boiler Advantages
 Due to 3 passes of flue gases, surface area per unit volume is large

 Easy to operate and maintain

 Can easily meet the load requirement

 Generates large amount of steam

 Low consumption of electricity due to natural circulation

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 Lancashire Boiler Disadvantages
 Low pressure type boiler, so high pressure steam is not produced

 Tedious maintenance of brick work

 It has limited grate area due to small diameter of flue tubes

 Steam production rate is low, about 9000 kg/hr

 Corrosion occurs in water legs

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Lancashire Boiler Applications
 Steam turbine

 Marines

 Locomotive

 Textile industry

 Paper sugar industry

 Tire industry

 Chemical industry

 Breweries industry

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 Cornish Boiler Introduction
 Similar in construction and appearance to Lancashire boiler

 But with low capacity and working pressure range

 Shell diameter 1.25- 1.75 m

 Shell length 4 to 8 m

 Only one furnace tube instead of two

 Hot flue gases first pass through the side flues and then through the bottom flues

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Cornish Boiler Front, top & side views

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Cornish Boiler Advantages & disadvantages
Advantages
 Simple design and easy construction
 Compactness and portability
 Low construction and maintenance cost
 Has ability to overcome load fluctuation

Disadvantages
 Low steam production rate (1350 kg/hr)
 Low maximum steam pressure range (12 bar)
 Need more ground because of horizontal structure

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Locomotive Boiler Introduction
 James Watt, in 1781, patented a steam engine that produced continued rotary motion
with a power of about 10 horsepower (7,500 W).
 First type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric
to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum. It was an improvement of Thomas
Newcomen's (1712) engine.
 The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive, was the 914 mm gauge Coal-
brookdale Locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick in 1802.
 A horizontal drum axis, multi-tubular, artificial draft, mobile, medium pressure, solid
fuel fired, fire tube boiler with internally fired furnace.
 It is used in railway locomotive engines and in marine.
 A mobile boiler with high steam generation rate.
 Steam capacity ~ 8500 kg/h at 14 bar and 370 °C.
 Fuel: coal at the rate of 1585 kg/h
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Locomotive Boiler Cross-section

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Locomotive Boiler Schematic

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Locomotive Boiler Components
1. Fire hole: It is a hole provided at the rear end of the boiler. The solid fuel is inserted and ignited
into the furnace through this hole.
2. Fire box: It is a box in which the burning of the fuel takes place.
3. Grate: Grate is a platform on which the solid fuel is kept and burnt.
4. Fire brick arch: It is a brick arch placed inclined over the grate. It prevents the entry of the ash,
dust and burnt fuel particles into the fire tubes. It provides a way to the hot flue gases to travel a
definite path before entering into the fire tubes of the boiler.
5. Boiler tubes: They are the fire tubes through which the hot flue gases pass and exchange the
heat with surrounding water.
6. Smoke box: It is a box in which the smoke of the burnt fuel after passing through the fire tubes
gets collected. From there it is exhausted in the environment by the chimney.
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Locomotive Boiler Components
7. Blast pipe: It is pipe provided above the steam engine. The exhaust steam passes through this
blast pipe. It is used to create the artificial draft that pushes the smoke out through the chimney and
creates suction for the hot flue gases. The suction created allows the hot flue gases to move forward
through the fire tubes.
8. Steam pipe: It is a pipe through which the steam passes. We have two steam pipes; one is main
steam pipe present in between the superheater header and dome. And second one is that which
connects the superheater exit end to the steam engine.
9. Superheater: It superheats the steam to the desired temperature before entering into the cylinder
of the steam engine.
10. Super heater element pipes: These are the pipes of superheater through which the steam travels
and gets superheated. 21
Locomotive Boiler Components
11. Dome: It is present at the top and contains the regulator for regulating the steam produced
through the steam pipe.
12. Regulator valve: It is a valve that regulates the steam through main steam pipe for superheating.
13. Safety valve: It is used to maintain the safe working steam pressure in locomotive boiler. It
blows off steam when the pressure of the steam increases above safety level and prevents blasting of
the boiler.
14. Superheater header: It is the head of the superheater which accepts the steam from the steam
pipe.
15. Chimney: It is used to throw out the exhaust smoke and gases to the environment. The length of
the chimney is very small in this boiler.
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Locomotive Boiler Working

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Locomotive Boiler Working
 In locomotive boiler, first the solid fuel (coal) is inserted on the grate and is ignited from the fire
hole. The burning of the fuel starts and it creates hot flue gases.
 A fire brick arch is provided that makes the flow of hot flue gasses to a definite path before
entering into the long tubes (fire tubes). It also prevents the entry of burnt solid fuel particles into
the fire tubes.
 The hot flue gases passes through the long fire tubes and heats the water surrounding them. Due
to the heating the water gets converted into saturated steam and gets collected at the top.
 The saturated steam from the dome enters into the main steam pipe through the regulator valve.
 The steam travels in the main steam pipe and reaches to the superheater header. From header, the
steam enters into super heater element pipes.
 Here it is superheated and then the superheated steam enters into the steam pipe of the smoke
box.

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Locomotive Boiler Working
 The steam now goes to the cylinder containing piston.
 The superheated steam makes the piston moves within the cylinder.
 The piston is connected to the wheels of the steam engine and the wheels start rotating.
 The exhaust steam from the cylinder enters into the blast pipe.
 The exhaust steam coming out from the blast pipe pushes the smoke out of the boiler through the
chimney.
 The burnt gases and smoke after passing through the fire tubes enters into the smoke box.
 Here the smoke cannot escape out from the boiler on its own, so artificial draft is created by
exhaust steam coming out from the steam engine.
 This artificial draft created pushes the smoke out of the smoke box and creates suction for the hot
flue gases.

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Locomotive Boiler Working

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Locomotive Boiler Advantages
 It is portable.

 It is capable of meeting sudden and fluctuating demands of steam.

 It is cost effective boiler.

 It has high steam generation rate.

 It is compact in size and its operation is easy.

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Locomotive Boiler Disadvantages
 It cannot take high overload without being damaged through overheating

 Due to accumulation of sediments with the mud particles, it is hard to clean inside

 Large flat surface needed

 Rust in water legs.

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The Titanic had 29 boilers: 24 double-ended and 5 smaller single-ended. The larger boilers were 4.80 m
diameter and 6.1 m long, the smaller were 3.58 m in length. All had three corrugated Morrison furnaces of
1.14 m diameter, 159 furnaces in total, and a working pressure of 1,480 kPa.

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Scotch Boiler Introduction
• The only type fire tube boiler used aboard ocean-going ships is the Scotch marine.
• It is a famous boiler, the first one having been installed in a ship in about 1862 and up
until around 1900 was practically the only type boiler found aboard merchant or Navy
ships.
• At that time water tube boilers began to come into use but for a number of years the
Scotch marine still remained the dominant boiler.
• With the advent of modern high pressure power plants the water tube boiler became a
necessity. However, there are still a considerable number of older American ships with
Scotch boilers.
• Scotch marine boiler is a fire tube boiler. It is also a scotch or tank type boiler which is
used for the marine works. The reason behind, it is used for marine work is its
compactness, efficiency in operation and its ability to work in any type of water. Brick
work setting and external flues are not required in scotch marine boiler.
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Scotch Boiler Introduction
• In Scotch Marine Boiler, hot flue gases pass through tubes set within a tank of water.
The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder.
• One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler shell. Above
this is a large number of small-diameter fire-tubes.
• Gases and smoke from the furnace pass to the back of the boiler, then return through
the small tubes and up and out of the chimney.
• A Scotch marine boiler contained large quantity of water, about six times more than a
water-tube boiler, and was therefore slow to steam up and to change the output
capacity.
• Due to the Scotch boiler's stiff construction it required also a long steaming up period
to avoid leaks caused by thermal expansion of the material.

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Scotch Boiler Structure

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Scotch Boiler

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Scotch Boiler Schematic

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Figure: Scotch Boiler

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Scotch Boiler Schematic

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Figure: Scotch Boiler

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Scotch Boiler
• First the fuel is inserted into the furnace through the fire hole and here it is ignited.
• The fuel is burnt on the furnace and hot burnt gases are generated. This hot burnt gas
enters into the combustion chamber. A large amount of heat is generated into the
combustion chamber. The heat from the combustion chamber is used to heat the water
surrounds it.
• The water gets converted into steam and made to pass on the steam turbine.
• The water surrounds the furnace, combustion chamber and smoke tubes and due to this
the scotch marine boiler provides a greater heating surface for the water.
• The burnt exhaust gas passes to the chimney through smoke tubes.
• The chimney releases these exhaust gases or smoke in the atmosphere.
• In this boiler the level of water is maintained a little above the combustion chamber

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Scotch Boiler
Advantages
• Due to the much larger amount of water contained in the Scotch boiler, there is a much larger
amount of heat stored up which makes for steadier steaming pressure and water level.
• The Scotch boiler is somewhat cheaper to build and it can use dirtier water, even sea water if
necessary.
• The Scotch boiler generally requires less repairs than the water tube due to there being no
brickwork in the firebox to keep in repair.
• Steaming rates are of the order of 20 to 25 kg/sq.m. of heating surface per hour.
• In dry back Scotch boiler, rear combustion chamber is lined with refractory
• In wet back Scotch boiler, smoke box is water-jacketed

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Scotch Boiler
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of the Scotch boiler are such as to have caused its replacement with the water
tube boiler in new construction of American ships for a number of years.
• Its large size and weight prevents carrying as much cargo as with water tube boilers.
• Due to the large amount of water and poor circulation, steam cannot be raised quickly.
• All of the stored-up heat energy being contained in one large shell makes for a greater
possibility of boiler explosion.
• There being a limit on the thickness of steel plate that can be shaped, Scotch boilers cannot be
constructed for working pressures much higher than 17 bar which prohibits their use with
modern turbine plants.
• Generally speaking Scotch boilers are not as efficient to operate as water tube.

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Scotch Boiler Applications
• This boiler is generally used in marine works and on ships. This is because of its
compactness, efficiency in operation and its ability to work in any type of water.

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Introduction
• Cochran Boiler is a vertical drum axis, natural circulation, natural draft, low
pressure, multi-tubular, solid fuel fired, fire tube boiler with internally fired furnace.
• It is the modified form of simple vertical boiler. In this boiler, the fire tubes are
placed horizontally.
• Multiple fire tubes increase heat transfer area of the boiler.
• Efficiency is much better than the simple vertical boiler.
• Typical size is 4.6 m high and 2.1 m in diameter, giving a heating surface of 46 m2
and a grate area of 2.2 m2.
• Working pressure is between 7 and 9 bar.
Structural Diagram
Working
• First the fuel is inserted into the fire box and placed on the grate. The fuel is ignited
through the fire hole provided at the right bottom of the boiler.
• The fuel is burnt in the fire box and due to the burning of the fuel, smoke and hot flue
gases emerges out. The hot flue gases enter into the combustion chamber through flue
pipes.
• From the combustion chamber hot gases enters into the fire tubes. The fire tubes are
surrounded by water. The hot flue gases inside the tubes exchange the heat from the
hot gases to the water.
• Due to the exchange of heat, the temperature of the water start increasing and it gets
converted into steam. The steam produced rises upward and collected at top of the
boiler in the hemispherical dome.
• An anti-priming pipe is installed at top of the boiler which separates the water from
the steam and makes it dry steam. This dry steam is then transfer to the turbines
through the steam stop valve.
Working contd…
• The hot flue gases and smoke after exchanging heat moves to the smoke box. From
the smoke box the burnt gases and smoke is discharge to the atmosphere through the
chimney.

• Burnt fuel is transferred to the ash pit. Blow off cock is preset at left bottom of the
boiler and is used to blow of the impurities, mud and sediment from the boiler water.

• A fusible plug is also provided at top of the combustion chamber. When the
temperature of the combustion chamber crosses the permissible level, the fusible plug
melts and the water through the combustion chamber enter into the furnace of the
boiler and stop the fire. In this way a big fire accident can be prevented to take place
and also protects the boiler from damage.

• Various boiler mounting and accessories are attached to the boiler for its efficient
working.
Animation
Advantages
• Low floor area required.
• Low initialization cost.
• It is easy to operate.
• It is easy to transport from one place to another.
• It has higher volume to area ratio.

Disdvantages
• Low steam generation rate
• Limited pressure handles capacity
• Difficult to inspect and maintenance
Applications

• Widely used in marine practice.

• Was not applied to locomotives, but was used for a pair of experimental
steam railmotors built for the GNSR by Andrew Barclay in 1905.