Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

Home About Us Services

Case Studies Contact Us

HOME / CASE STUDIES

01 Airheater Metal Fire | Biomass Fuel

Design Boiler was engaged to investigate the cause of
a metal <re in a wood <red boiler that had destroyed its
airheater. The <re effectively shut the plant down for
over 12 months. A metal <re is one of the most
extreme operational hazards likely to be encountered
within a boiler. Once initiated they can be extremely
diGculty to extinguish and they have the capacity to
destroy an entire boiler in a very short period of time.

View More

02 Biomass | Hotwater Boiler Design

A small timber processing plant needed to reduce
energy costs. Sawdust, which was a site waste
product, was available as a free source of fuel. If this
could be burned to heat hot water, it would displace
Natural Gas, and reduce the site’s energy costs.

View More

03 Biomass | High Particulate Emission &

Load Limiting

http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 1 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

A biofuel plant had purchased a 45 T/hr boiler from a

leading boiler manufacturer to generate electricity
through a small steam turbine at their production
facility. However, the plant owners believed that the
boiler was unable to achieve its Maximum Continuous
Rating (MCR) and that its particulate emissions
exceeded statutory limits. Design Boiler was engaged
by the boiler manufacturer to provide an independent
opinion.

View More

04 Biomass | Thermal Oil Economiser

A medium sized timber processing plant was looking
to expand its operation by introducing a new product.
The production expansion was going to impose a
signi<cant additional burden on the site heat plant
capacity. The site was remote with no reticulated gas
supply available and the cheapest alternative fuel
source was a bulk LPG which would have to be trucked
in. A cost bene<t analysis indicated that the cost of
providing LPG as a substitute fuel source would render
the proposed production expansion unviable.

View More

05 Boiler Internal Corrosion

A relatively new high pressure boiler was installed on
the deck of an oil tanker that had been recently
converted to a Floating Production Storage &
O\oading [FPSO] facility. The 110 [TPH] boiler
operated at around 65 [Bar] and produced 510 [°C]
superheated steam. Shortly after its 12 month warranty
http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 2 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

superheated steam. Shortly after its 12 month warranty

period had elapsed, and following a statutory boiler
inspection, signi<cant corrosion damage throughout
the entire boiler was discovered.

View More

06 Boiler Explosion
A small low pressure (8 [Bar]) waste heat recovery
boiler installed at the back end of the main propulsion
engine of a trading ship exploded at sea shortly after
the boiler had been serviced. The explosion caused
extensive damage to the ship and prevented it from
sailing under its own power. It was towed to a nearby
port where it was laid up for over 12 months for repair.

View More

07 Boiler Vibration
A natural gas <red high pressure boiler recently
installed in a gas re<nery had been experiencing major
vibration problems which limited the boiler’s ability to
achieve its maximum rated output. As was typical of
boiler vibration issues, the problem exhibited a
threshold load below which the vibration did not occur.

View More

08 Defective Boiler Circulation

A 600,000 [lbm/hr] high pressure pulverized coal boiler
operating at a steelworks experienced persistent
furnace wall tube blistering within 6 months of being
http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 3 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

furnace wall tube blistering within 6 months of being

<rst commissioned. After 3 months some of the
blistered tubes began to fail causing frequent forced
plant outages and expensive production losses. The
boiler manufacturer blamed poor water treatment,
pointing to the presence of a thin scale detected on the
inside surface of the tube within the zone of the
failures. A new water treatment chemical supplier was
engaged but despite an intense focus on optimizing
water chemistry over an additional 12-month period
the problem persisted.

View More

09 Downcomer Instability
The commissioning of a new 250 [TPH] high pressure
boiler could not be completed because of ongoing
problems with the drum level control system. The
boiler also exhibited a number of other unusual
problems including a signi<cant variation in drum level
between the left and right hand side of the drum. The
boiler was a pulverized coal <red natural circulating bi
drum unit producing 62 [Bar] steam at [470] °C. It was
<tted with a three-element drum level control system
but irrespective of whatever control settings were
made the drum level would initially exhibit a measure
of stability only to become erratic and uncontrollable
during subsequent operation.

View More

10 Economiser Metal Fire

An exhaust gas boiler <tted in the uptake of a trading

http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 4 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

VLCC motor tanker was destroyed beyond repair by a

metal <re, stranding the fully laden vessel in a foreign
port. The high value of the cargo and the size of the
ship meant signi<cant down time losses.

View More

11 High Superheater Steam Temperatures

The main boilers of a super tanker which were
originally built to <re heavy fuel oil were later converted
to <re crude oil as part of its conversion from a trading
tanker to stationary use as a Floating Production
Storage & O\oading [FPSO] facility. After its relocation
from the shipyard to an off-shore location on the West
Coast of Africa the boilers were brought into service
and <red on crude oil for the <rst time.

View More

12 HRSG Fin Burn Out

A 20 bar saturated steam Heat Recovery Steam
Generator [HRSG] had recently been commissioned at
a paper recycling plant. The HRSG was installed behind
a 6 MW gas turbine and <tted with a duct burner to
boost the boiler’s output. The HRSG was a forced
circulation unit fabricated from horizontally oriented
spiral wound <nned tubes. It had been <tted with two
circulation pumps that operated alternatively on a duty
/ standby basis in accordance with the applicable
statutory requirements.

View More
http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 5 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

View More

13 Marine Boiler FPSO Oil to Gas

Conversion
One of the most signi<cant developments in the oil and
gas industry in the seventies and eighties was the
coming of age of the super oil tanker. With a statutory
practical operating life limited to 25 years, many of
these tankers were ultimately retired from service and
utilized as Floating Production Storage & O\oading
[FPSO] facilities on offshore well heads. To allow these
tankers to be redeployed for FPSO operation, their
main boilers had to be converted from heavy fuel oil
<ring to natural gas.

View More

14 Sagging Economizer Tube

The economizer tubes on a 2400 [psi] subcritical coal
<red power station boiler were subject to an annual
inspection which revealed that the tubes had sagged.
This suggested that they had been exposed to
excessive operating temperatures. The power station
produced 350 MW of electricity and operated on a tight
production schedule. Because the economizer tubes
formed part of the reheater support system and further
tube sagging could damage the reheater elements and
shut the plant down for an extended period, this issue
required immediate action.

View More

http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 6 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

15 Sagging Roof Tubes

The furnace roof tubes in a low-pressure sugar mill
grate <red boiler experienced persistent sagging roof
tube issues which suggested that the tubes were
regularly overheating. The boiler manufacturer insisted
that the tubes sagged because of incorrect operational
practices, but the operator disagreed. The sugar mill
boiler owners had grave concerns that the entire roof
would collapse into the furnace if the problem was not
quickly addressed. They chose to install a beam above
the roof tubes as a temporary measure to address the
problem.

View More

16 Superheater Tube Failures

A pulverized coal <red industrial boiler experienced
several superheater tube failures about six months
after commissioning resulting in several boiler shut
downs. The failures were in the platen superheater
which hung above the furnace and acted as the <rst
stage of the superheater.

View More

17 Waste Heat Recovery

A re<nery identi<ed an opportunity to improve
operating eGciency and reduce internal energy
consumption by preheating a product stream and
extracting heat from the tail end of a cat cracker
exhaust stream. Design Boiler [DB] designed a
complete heat recovery system that required minimal
http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 7 of 8
Boiler Troubleshooting Cases Studies | Industrial and Marine | Most Fuels 26/6/20, 1(20 PM

complete heat recovery system that required minimal

draught plant modi<cations and maintain low fan
power requirements. Following a comprehensive
thermal design analysis, a full set of certi<ed
fabrication drawings were prepared for use by a third
party contractor for manufacture.

View More

18 Wood Fired Boiler - High Particulate

Emissions
A medium pressure wood waste <red boiler was
experiencing major combustion problems. The plant
was producing compressed wood sheeting and door
panels, using processed wood <bers. The boiler was
<red on various process waste streams including saw
dust. The boiler produced 65,000 [lbm/hr] of 600 psi
saturated steam which was predominantly used by the
process for stripping <ber from the wood.

View More

BOILER DESIGN & DIAG- Design Boiler © 2019 All Rights Reserved

NOSTICS: CONSULTING,
TRAINING & SOFTWARE

http://www.designboiler.com/case-studies/ Page 8 of 8