Heating and Ventilating Systems 37

Figure 3-6. Combustion Chamber and Fire Tubes. Two-pass Boiler

tube boiler has the flame in the furnace and the combustion gases
inside the tubes. The furnace and tubes are within a larger vessel,
which contains the water and steam. Fire tube boilers are also
identified by the number of passes that the flue gases take
through the tubes. Boilers are classified as two-, three- or four-
pass. The combustion chamber is considered the first pass. There-
fore, a two-pass boiler would have one-pass down the
combustion chamber looping around and the second pass coming
back to the front of the boiler and out the stack. A three-pass
boiler would have an additional row of tubes for the gas to pass
through going to the back of the boiler and out the stack. A four-
pass boiler would have yet another additional row of tubes for the
gas to pass through going to the front of the boiler and out the
stack. An easy way to recognize a two-, three- or four-pass boiler
is by the location of the stack. A two- or four-pass boiler will have
the stack at the front, while a three-pass boiler will have the stack
at the back.
Fire tube boilers are available for low and high pressure
38 HVAC Fundamentals

steam, or hot water applications. The size range is from 15 to 1500

boiler horsepower (a boiler horsepower is 33,475 Btuh). HVAC
fire tube boilers are typically used for low pressure applications.

WATER TUBE BOILERS

In a water tube boiler, the water is in the tubes while the fire
is under the tubes. The hot flue gases pass around and between
the tubes, heating the water and then out the boiler stack. Most of
the water tube boilers used in heating systems today are rectan-
gular in shape with the stack coming off the top, in the middle of
the shell. Water tube boilers produce steam or hot water for in-
dustrial processes, commercial applications, or other modest-size
applications. They are used less frequently for comfort heating
applications. Water tube boilers typically range from 25 boiler
horsepower (836,875 Btuh or 836.88 MBh) to 250 boiler horse-
power (8,368,750 Btuh, or 8368.75 MBh or 8.37 MMBh).

BOILER OPERATION

For a better understanding of boiler construction and opera-

tion, let’s examine a four-pass, internally fired, fire tube, natural
gas-fired, forced-draft, marine, wet-back boiler. The boiler consists
of a cylindrical steel shell which is called the pressure vessel. It is
covered with several inches of insulation to reduce heat loss. The
insulation is then covered with an outer metal jacket to prevent
damage to the insulation. Some of the other components are a
burner, a forced-draft fan and various controls. When the boiler is
started it will go through a purge cycle in which the draft fan at
the front of the boiler will force air through the combustion cham-
ber and out the stack at the front of the boiler. This purges any
combustibles that might be in combustion chamber. An electrical
signal from control circuit will open the pilot valve allowing natu-
ral gas to flow to the burner pilot light. A flame detector will verify
that the pilot is lit and gas will then be supplied to the main