Steam Boilers

Helsinki University of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering
Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection Publications

Espoo 2002 TKK-ENY-11
STEAM BOILER TECHNOLOGY

Sebastian Teir
Helsinki University of Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Laboratory of Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection
Teknillinen korkeakoulu
Konetekniikan osasto
Energiatekniikan ja ympäristösuojelun laboratorio
Distribution:
Helsinki University of Technology
Laboratory of Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection
P.O. Box 4400
FIN-02015 HUT
Tel. +358 9 451 3631
Fax. +358 9 451 3418
E-mail: sebastian.teir@hut.fi
© Sebastian Teir and Laboratory of Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection
ISBN 951-22-6197-9
ISSN 1457-9944
Picaset Oy
Helsinki 2002
This book is the printable version of the eBook with the same name. Due to the limitations of paper,
the interactive lecture slides, which accompany every chapter, exist only in the online version and
on the attached CD-Rom. The Steam Boiler Technology eBook is the main course book for the
course on steam boiler technology (course code Ene-47.124) provided by the Laboratory of Energy
Engineering and Environmental Protection at Helsinki University of Technology.
Online location for the eBook: http://eny.hut.fi/boilers
• Username: eny
• Password boileruser
Book editor:
• Sebastian Teir, M.Sc.(Tech.)
Book reviewers:
• Prof. Carl-Johan Fogelholm

• Esa Vakkilainen, Ph.D.(Tech.)
List of contributors:
• Esa Vakkilainen, Jaakko Pöyry

• Carl-Johan Fogelholm, HUT
• Antto Kulla, HUT
• Anne Jokivuori, HUT
• Mika Metsärinne, Andritz
• Marianne Salomon, CompEdu, KTH
• Torsten Fransson, CompEdu, KTH
• Visa Ahola, Foster Wheeler
• Jyrki Appelgren, Foster Wheeler
• Tarja Pitkänen, Foster Wheeler
• Terttu Tuominen, Kvaerner
• Tapani Rintala, Fortum
• Höyrytys Oy.
iii
Table of contents
• The Basics of Steam Generation Sebastian Teir
• The History of Steam Generation Sebastian Teir
• Modern Boiler Types and Applications Sebastian Teir
• Steam/water Circulation Design Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla
• Feedwater and Steam System Components Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla
• Heat Exchangers in Steam Boilers Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori
• Boiler Calculations Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla
• Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori
iv
The Basics of Steam Generation
Sebastian Teir
Table of contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Basics of boilers and boiler processes..................................................................................................3
Definition .........................................................................................................................................3
A simple boiler.................................................................................................................................4
A simple power plant cycle..............................................................................................................4
Carnot efficiency..............................................................................................................................5
Properties of water and steam ..........................................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Boiling of water ...........................................................................................................................6
Effect of pressure on evaporation temperature ............................................................................7
Basics of combustion .......................................................................................................................7
Principles......................................................................................................................................7
Products of combustion................................................................................................................8
Types of combustion....................................................................................................................8
Combustion of solid fuels ............................................................................................................8
Combustion of coal ......................................................................................................................8
Main types of a modern boiler .........................................................................................................9
Heat exchanger boiler model .........................................................................................................10
General .......................................................................................................................................10
Heat exchanger basics ................................................................................................................10
T-Q diagram ...............................................................................................................................11
Heat recovery steam generator model........................................................................................12
Heat exchanger model of furnace-equipped boilers ..................................................................13
References ......................................................................................................................................15
The Basics of Steam Generation - 2

Introduction
The world energy consumption has doubled in the last thirty years and it keeps on increasing with
about 1,5 % per year. While the earth's oil and gas reserves are expected to deplete after roughly
one hundred years, the coal reserves will last for almost five hundred years into the future. In
Finland, 50 % of the electrical power produced, is produced in steam power plants. But there are
more reasons to why electricity generation based on steam power plant will continue to grow and
why there still will be a demand for steam boilers in the future:
• The cost of the produced electricity is low

• The technology has been used for many decades and is reliable and available
• Wind and solar power are still expensive compared to steam power
• The environmental impact of coal powered steam plants have under the past decade been
heavily diminished thanks to improved SOx and NOx reduction technology
• The paper industry uses steam boilers as a vital utility to recycle chemicals and derive
electricity from black liquor (pulping waste)
• Waste and biofuels can effectively be combusted in a boiler
Basics of boilers and boiler processes

Definition
In a traditional context, a boiler is an enclosed container that provides a means for heat from
combustion to be transferred into the working media (usually water) until it becomes heated or a gas
(steam). One could simply say that a boiler is as a heat exchanger between fire and water. The
boiler is the part of a steam power plant process that produces the steam and thus provides the heat.
The steam or hot water under pressure can then be used for transferring the heat to a process that
consumes the heat in the steam and turns it into work. A steam boiler fulfils the following
statements:
• It is part of a type of heat engine or process

• Heat is generated through combustion (burning)
• It has a working fluid, a.k.a. heat carrier that transfers the generated heat away from the
boiler
• The heating media and working fluid are separated by walls
In an industrial/technical context, the concept “steam boiler” (also referred to as “steam generator”)
includes the whole complex system for producing steam for use e. g. in a turbine or in industrial
process. It includes all the different phases of heat transfer from flames to water/steam mixture
(economizer, boiler, superheater, reheater and air preheater). It also includes different auxiliary
systems (e. g. fuel feeding, water treatment, flue gas channels including stack). [1]
The heat is generated in the furnace part of the boiler, where fuel is combusted. The fuel used in a
boiler contains either chemically bonded energy (like coal, waste and biofuels) or nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy will not be covered in this material. A boiler must be designed to absorb the
maximum amount of heat released in the process of combustion. This heat is transferred to the
boiler water through radiation, conduction and convection. The relative percentage of each is
dependent upon the type of boiler, the designed heat transfer surface and the fuels that power the
combustion.

A simple boiler
In order to describe the principles of a steam
boiler, consider a very simple case, where the
boiler simply is a container, partially filled with
water (Figure 1). Combustion of fuel produce
heat, which is transferred to the container and
makes the water evaporate. The vapor or steam
can escape through a pipe that is connected to
the container and be transported elsewhere.
Another pipe brings water (called “feedwater”)
to the container to replace the water that has
evaporated and escaped.
Since the pressure level in the boiler should be

kept constant (in order to have stable process
values), the mass of the steam that escapes has
to be equal to the mass of the water that is
added. If steam leaves the boiler faster than
water is added, the pressure in the boiler falls. If
water is added faster than it is evaporated, the Figure 1: Simplified boiler drawing.
pressure rises.
If more fuel is combusted, more heat is generated and transferred to the water. Thus, more steam is
generated and pressure rises inside the boiler. If less fuel is combusted, less steam is generated and
the pressure sinks.
A simple power plant cycle

The steam boiler provides steam to a heat
consumer, usually to power an engine. In a
steam power plant a steam turbine is used for
extracting the heat from the steam and turning it
into work. The turbine usually drives a generator
that turns the work from the turbine into
electricity. The steam, used by the turbine, can G
be recycled by cooling it until it condensates
into water and then return it as feedwater to the
boiler. The condenser, where the steam is
condensed, is a heat exchanger that typically
uses water from a nearby sea or a river to cool
the steam. In a typical power plant the pressure,
at which the steam is produced, is high. But
when the steam has been used to drive the
turbine, the pressure has dropped drastically. A
pump is therefore needed to get the pressure
Figure 2: Rankine cycle
back up. Since the work needed to compress a
fluid is about a hundred times less than the work
needed to compress a gas, the pump is located after the condenser. The cycle that the described
process forms, is called a Rankine cycle and is the basis of most modern steam power plant
processes (Figure 2).

Carnot efficiency
When considering any heat process or power Hot reservoir Qh
cycle it is necessary to review the Carnot (temperature Th)
efficiency that comes from the second law of

thermodynamics. The Carnot efficiency
equation gives the maximum thermal efficiency
of a system (Figure 3) undergoing a reversible Wcycle
=
power cycle while operating between two Qh - Qc
thermal reservoirs at temperatures Th and Tc
(temperature unit Kelvin).
TH − TC T Cold reservoir Qc
η max = =1− C (1) (Temperature Tc)
TH TH
To give a practical example of the use of this Figure 3: Carnot efficiency visualized
theory on steam boilers, consider the Rankine
cycle example presented in Figure 2. The Hot reservoir Qh
temperature of the hot reservoir would then be (temperature Th)
the temperature of the steam produced in the

boiler and the temperature of the cold reservoir
would be the temperature of the cooling water
drawn from a nearby river or lake (Figure 4).
Wp Wt
The formula in Equation 1 can then be used to
get the theoretical maximum efficiency that we
can get from the turbine.
We can plot curve by of the maximum

efficiency as a function of the steam exhaust Cold reservoir Qc
(Temperature Tc)
temperature by keeping the cooling water
temperature constant. If we suppose the
temperature of the cooling water is around 20°C Figure 4: Carnot efficiency applied on the
(293 K) on a warm summer day, we get a curve, Rankine cycle.
which is presented in the figure: The bigger .
temperature difference, the higher thermal Carnot efficiency
efficiency.
0,7
Although no practical heat process is fully 0,6
reversible, many processes can be calculated

0,5
precisely enough by approximating them as
reversible processes. 0,4
0,3
Properties of water and steam
0,2
Introduction 0,1
Water is a useful and cheap medium to use as a 0

working fluid. When water is boiled into steam 200 400 600 800 1000
its volume increases about 1,600 times, Temperature [K]
producing a force that is almost as explosive as

gunpowder. The force produced by this Figure 5: Carnot efficiency graph example.

expansion is the source of power in all steam engines. It also makes the boiler a dangerous device
that must be carefully treated.
The theoretical amount of heat that can be

Evaporation of water
transferred from the combustion process to
the working fluid in a boiler is equivalent Phase change
180
to the change in its total heat content from
its state at entering to that at exiting the 160
boiler. In order to be able to select and
140
design steam- and power-generation
Temperature [C]
equipment, it is necessary to thoroughly 120
understand the properties of the working 100
fluid steam, the use of steam tables and the
use of superheat. These fundamentals of 80
steam generation will be briefly reviewed 60

in this chapter. When phase changes of the
water is discussed, only the liquid-vapor 40
and vapor-liquid phase changes are 20

mentioned, since these are the phase 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
changes that the entire boiler technology is Net enthalpy of water [kJ/kg water]
based on. [2]
Figure 6: Water evaporation plotted in a
temperature-enthalpy graph.
Boiling of water
Water and steam are typically used as heat carriers in heating systems. Steam, the gas phase of
water, results from adding sufficient heat to water to cause it to evaporate. This boiler process
consists of three main steps: The first step is the adding of heat to the water that raises the
temperature up to the boiling point of water, also called preheating. The second step is the
continuing addition of heat to change the phase from water to steam, the actual evaporation. The
third step is the heating of steam beyond the boiling temperature of water, known as superheating.
The first step and the third steps are the part where heat addition causes a temperature rise but no
phase change, and the second step is the part where the heat addition only causes a phase change. In
Figure 6, the left section represents the preheating, the middle section the evaporation, and the third
section the superheating. When all the water has been evaporated, the steam is called dry saturated
steam. If steam is heated beyond its saturation point, the temperature begins to rise again and the
steam becomes superheated steam. Superheated steam is defined by its zero moisture content: It
contains no water at all, only 100% steam.
Evaporation
During the evaporation the enthalpy rises drastically. If we evaporate the water at atmospheric
pressure from saturated liquid to saturated vapour, the enthalpy rise needed is 2260 kJ/kg, from 430
kJ/kg (sat. water) to 2690 kJ/kg (sat. steam). When the water has reached the dry saturated steam
condition, the steam contains a large amount of latent heat, corresponding to the heat that was led to
the process under constant pressure and temperature. So despite pressure and temperature is the
same for the liquid and the vapour, the amount of heat is much higher in vapour compared to the
liquid.
Superheating
If the steam is heated beyond the dry saturated steam condition, the temperature begins to rise again
and the properties of the steam start to resemble those of a perfect gas. Steam with higher

temperature than that of saturated steam is called superheated steam. It contains no moisture and
cannot condense until its temperature has been lowered to that of saturated steam at the same
pressure. Superheating the steam is particularly useful for eliminating condensation in steam lines,
decreasing the moisture in the turbine exhaust and increasing the efficiency (i.e. Carnot efficiency)
of the power plant.
Effect of pressure on evaporation temperature

It is well known that water boils and
evaporates at 100°C under atmospheric 1000
22,12 MPa
pressure. By higher pressure, water
evaporates at higher temperature - e.g. a 100
pressure of 10 bar equals an evaporation
temperature of 184°C. The pressure and the
Pressure [bar]
corresponding temperature when a phase 10
change occurs are called the saturation
temperature and saturation pressure. During 1
the evaporation process, pressure and 0 100 200 300 400
temperature are constant, but if the
vaporization occurs in a closed vessel, the 0,1
expansion that occurs due to the phase change
of water into steam causes the pressure to rise
0,01
and thus the boiling temperature rises.
Temperature [°C]
From the diagram (Figure 7) we can se that

when we exceed a certain pressure, 22,12
Figure 7: Evaporation pressure as a function of
Mpa (the corresponding temperature is
evaporation temperature.
374°C), the line stops. The reason is that the
border between gas phase and liquid phase is
blurred out at that pressure. That point, where
the different phases cease to exist, is called
the critical point of water.
Basics of combustion
Principles
The process of combustion is a high speed, high
temperature chemical reaction. It is the rapid
union of an element or a compound with oxygen
that results in the production of heat -
essentially, it is a controlled explosion.
Combustion occurs when the elements in a fuel
combine with oxygen and produce heat. All
fuels, whether they are solid, liquid or in
gaseous form, consist primarily of compounds
of carbon and hydrogen called hydrocarbons.
Sulphur is also present in these fuels.
Figure 8: A pulverized coal fired burner in

action.

Products of combustion
When the hydrogen and oxygen combine, intense heat and water vapor is formed. When carbon and
oxygen combine, intense heat and the compounds of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide are
formed. When sulfur and oxygen combine, sulfur dioxide and heat are formed. These chemical
reactions take place in a furnace during the burning of fuel, provided there is sufficient air (oxygen)
to completely burn the fuel. Very little of the released carbon is actually "consumed" in the
combustion reaction because flame temperature seldom reaches the vaporization point of carbon.
Most of it combines with oxygen to form CO2 and passes out the vent. Carbon, which cools before
it can combine with oxygen to form CO2, passes out the vent as visible smoke. The intense yellow
color of an oil flame is largely caused by incandescent carbon particles. As we mentioned in the
introduction to this segment, combustion can never be 100% efficient. All fuels contain some
moisture and non-combustibles:
• Top-quality coal has 20% noncombustibles.

• Residual oil is 10% noncombustible.
• Natural gas has 1 - 15% (depending on origin) of noncombustible gases like N2 and CO2.
Types of combustion
There are three types of combustion:
• Perfect Combustion is achieved when all the fuel is burned using only the theoretical
amount of air, but as we said before perfect combustion cannot be achieved in a boiler.
• Complete Combustion is achieved when all the fuel is burned using the minimal amount of
air above the theoretical amount of air needed to burn the fuel. Complete combustion is
always our goal. With complete combustion, the fuel is burned at the highest combustion
efficiency with low pollution.
• Incomplete Combustion occurs when all the fuel is not burned, which results in the
formation of soot and smoke.
Combustion of solid fuels

Solid fuels can be divided into high grade; coal
and low grade; peat and bark. The most typical
firing methods are grate firing, cyclone firing,
pulverized firing and fluidized bed firing, as
described below. Pulverized firing has been used
in industrial and utility boilers from 60 MWt to
6000 MWt. Grate firing (Figure 9) has been
used to fire biofuels from 5 MWt to 600 MWt
and cyclone firing has been used in small scale
3-6 MWt. Figure 9: Stoker or grate firing.
Combustion of coal
Oil and gas are always combusted with a burner, but there are three different ways to combust coal:

• Fluidized bed combustion
• Fixed bed combustion (grate boilers)
• Entrained bed combustion (pulverized coal combustion)
In fixed bed combustion, larger-sized coal is

combusted in the bottom part of the combustor with
low-velocity air. Stoker boilers also employ this type
of combustion. Large-capacity pulverized coal fired
boilers for power plants usually employ entrained bed
combustion. In fluidized bed combustion, fuel is
introduced into the fluidized bed and combusted.
Main types of a modern boiler

In a modern boiler, there are two main types of boilers
when considering the heat transfer means from flue
gases to feed water: Fire tube boilers and water tube
boilers.
In a fire tube boiler the flue gases from the furnace are
conducted to flue passages, which consist of several
parallel-connected tubes. The tubes run through the
boiler vessel, which contains the feedwater. The tubes
are thus surrounded by water. The heat from the flue
gases is transferred from the tubes to the water in the
container, thus the water is heated into steam. An easy
way to remember the principle is to say that a fire tube Figure 10: Fluidized bed combustion.
boiler has "fire in the tubes".
1. Turning chamber 8. Water space 16. Level control assembly

2. Flue gas collection 9. Steam space 17. Feedwater inlet
chamber 10. Outlet and circulation 18. Utility steam outlet
3. Open furnace 11. Flue gas out 19. Safety valve assembly
4. Flame tube 12. Blow-out hatch 20. Feet
5. Burner seat 13. Main hatch 21. Inslulation
6. Manhole 14. Cleaning hatch
7. Fire tubes 15. Main steam outlet
Figure 11: Schematic of a Höyrytys TTK fire tube steam boiler [Höyrytys].

In a water tube boiler, the conditions are the
opposite of a fire tube boiler. The water
circulates in many parallel-connected tubes. The
tubes are situated in the flue gas channel, and are
heated by the flue gases, which are led from the
furnace through the flue gas passage. In a
modern boiler, the tubes, where water circulates,
are welded together and form the furnace walls.
Therefore the water tubes are directly exposed to
radiation and gases from the combustion (Figure
12). Similarly to the fire tube boiler, the water
tube boiler received its name from having "water
in the tubes".
A modern utility boiler is usually a water tube

boiler, because a fire tube boiler is limited in
capacity and only feasible in small systems.
Figure 12: Simplified drawing describing the
water tube boiler principle. /4/
Heat exchanger boiler model
General
If a modern water tube boiler utilizes a furnace, flue gas
the furnace and the evaporator is usually the
same construction – the inner furnace walls
process steam
consists solely of boiler tubes, conducting feed
water, which absorbs the combustion heat and
evaporates.
In process engineering a boiler is modelled as a

network of heat exchangers, which symbolizes
the transfer of heat from the flue gas to the
steam/water in boiler pipes. feed water
For instance, the furnace, abstracted as a heat

exchanger (Figure 13), consists of the following
streams: the fuel (at storage temperature), air fuel
combustion air (at outdoors temperature) and
feedwater as input streams. The output streams
are the flue gas from the combustion of the fuel-
air mixture, and the steam. Figure 13: Furnace heat exchanger model.
Heat exchanger basics

The task of a heat exchanger is to transfer the heat from one flow of medium (fluid/gas stream) to
another - without any physical contact, i.e. without actually mixing the two media. When speaking
about the two streams that interact (exchange heat) in a heat exchanger we usually talk about the hot
stream and the cold stream (Figure 14). The hot stream (a.k.a. heat source) is the stream that gives
away heat to the cold stream (a.k.a. heat sink) that absorbs the heat. Thus, in a boiler the flue gas
stream is the hot stream (heat source) and the water/steam stream is the cold stream (heat sink).

There are two different main types of heat
exchangers: Parallel-flow and counter-flow. In a
parallel flow heat exchanger the fluids flow in hot stream
the same direction and in a counter flow heat

exchanger the fluids flow in the opposite
direction. Combinations of these types (like
cross-flow exchangers and more complicated
cold stream
ones, like boilers) can usually be approximately
calculated according to the counter-flow type.
T-Q diagram
A useful tool for designing a heat exchanger is
the T-Q diagram. The diagram consists of two
axes: Temperature (T) and transferred heat (Q).
The hot stream and the cold stream are
represented in the diagram by two lines on top
of each other. If the exchanger is of parallel- Figure 14: A heat exchanger (also furnace).
flow type, the lines proceed in the same
T
direction (Figure 15). If the exchanger is a
counter-flow (or cross-flow-combination, like a T1 hot stream
boiler), the lines points in the opposite direction
(Figure 16). The length of the lines on the Q-
T2
axis shows the transferred heat rate and the T- t2
axis the rise/drop in temperature that the heat
transfer has caused.
Since the heat strays from a higher temperature t1 cold stream
to a lower (according to the second law of Q

thermodynamics) the wanted heat transfer Figure 15: T-Q diagram of a parallel-flow type
happens by itself if and only if the hot stream is heat exchanger.
always hotter than the cold stream. That's why
the streams must never cross. Since no material T
has an infinite heat transfer rate, the “pinch
temperature” (Tpinch) of the heat exchanger T1
defines the minimum allowed temperature
difference between the two flows. T2
t2
If the streams cross, the lines must be
horizontally adjusted (that is, external heating
and cooling must be supplied) in order to
correspond with the pinch temperature (Figure t1
17). Q
deltaQ
Figure 16: T-Q diagram of a counter-flow type

heat exchanger.

T
t1
T1
Tpinch
T2
t1
external heating external cooling

required required
Figure 17: Adjusted streams.
Heat recovery steam generator model

To give an example of the construction of a heat exchanger model, a heat recovery steam generator
(HRSG) is constructed next as a heat exchanger cascade. The HRSG is basically a boiler without a
furnace – the HRSG extracts heat from flue gases originating from fuel combusted in an external
unit. Since the HRSG only deals with two streams (flue gases as the hot stream and steam/water as
the cold stream), it represents the simplest heat exchanger model of a modern boiler application.
Since the heating of water occurs in three steps (Figure 6), the heat exchanger model is usually
divided into at least three units.
We start with the heat exchanger unit, where the evaporation occurs – the evaporator. Assuming
that water enters the evaporator as saturated water and exits as saturated steam, the heat transferred
from the flue gas is the required heat to change the phase of water into steam. The phase change
occurs (water boils) at a constant temperature, and therefore the steam/water stream temperature
won’t change in the evaporator.
In order to preheat the water for the evaporator, another heat exchanger unit is needed. This unit is
called economizer, and is a cross-flow type of heat exchanger. It is placed after the evaporator in the
flue gas stream, since the evaporator requires higher flue gas temperature than the economizer.
The heat exchanger unit that superheats the saturated steam is called superheater. The superheater
heats the saturated steam beyond the saturation point until it reaches the designed maximum
temperature. It requires therefore the highest flue gas temperature to receive heat and is thus placed
first in the flue gas stream. The maximum temperature of the boiler is limited by the properties of

the superheater tube material. Today's economically feasible material can take temperatures of 550-
600 °C.
The result is a heat exchanger cascade of a HRSG (with a single pressure level), which can be found
in Figure 18. The T-Q diagram of the model is visualized in Figure 19.
Economizer
water
Sup Eva Eco

T
Evaporator
saturated
water
saturated
steam
Superheater
Q
Figure 18: Heat exchanger model of the HRSG. Figure 19: T-Q diagram of the HRSG model in
Figure 18.
Heat exchanger model of furnace-equipped boilers

The order of the heat transfer units on the water/steam side is always economizer - evaporator -
superheater (downstream order). The temperature levels and the temperature difference between the
flue gases and the working fluid usually limits the arrangement variation possibilities of the heat
transfer surfaces on the flue gas side.
In a boiler with a furnace, adequate cooling has to be maintained and material temperature should
not exceed 600°C. Thus the evaporator part of the water/steam cycle is placed in the furnace walls,
since the heat of the evaporation provides enough cooling for the furnace, which is the hottest part
of the boiler.
Since the furnace is inside the boiler, high flue gas temperatures (over 1000°C) are obtained. After
the flue gas has given off heat for the steam production, it is still quite hot. In order to cool down
the flue gases further to gain higher boiler efficiency, flue gases can be used to preheat the
combustion air. The heat exchanger used for this purpose is called an air preheater.

The result is a heat exchanger model of a furnace-equipped boiler (e.g. PCF-boiler, grate boiler or
oil/gas boiler), which can be found in Figure 20. The T-Q diagram of the model is visualized in
Figure 21
Eco
Air out
Eva Sup Air
T
Air in
Air preheater
Figure 21: T-Q diagram of the heat exchanger

model in Figure 20.
Figure 20: Furnace equipped boiler with air

preheater.

References
1. Ahonen, V. “Höyrytekniikka II”. Otakustantamo, Espoo. 1978.
2. Combustion Engineering. ”Combustion: Fossil power systems”. 3rd ed. Windsor. 1981.
3. Esa Vakkilainen, lecture slides and material on steam boiler technology, 2001
4. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition,

http://www.bartleby.com

The History of Steam Generation
Sebastian Teir
Table of contents
Table of contents..................................................................................................................................2
Briefly ..................................................................................................................................................3
Early boilers .........................................................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Newcomen’s boiler ..........................................................................................................................4
Wagon boiler....................................................................................................................................5
Cylindrical boiler .............................................................................................................................5
The development of modern boiler technology ...................................................................................7
Introduction......................................................................................................................................7
Fairbarn’s fire tube boiler ................................................................................................................7
Wilcox’ water tube boiler ................................................................................................................7
Steam drum boiler............................................................................................................................9
Tube walled furnace.........................................................................................................................9
Once-through boiler .......................................................................................................................10
Supercritical boiler.........................................................................................................................11
Graphs and timelines of development in boiler technology ..............................................................12
Development of unit size ...............................................................................................................12
Development of main steam temperature ......................................................................................12
Development of main steam pressure ............................................................................................13
Steam boilers and safety ....................................................................................................................14
References ..........................................................................................................................................15
The History of Steam Generation - 2

Briefly
Steam was early used to get mechanical power.
Among the relics of ancient Egyptian
civilization over 2000 years old records are
found of the use of hot air for opening and
closing temple doors (Figure 1).
About the same time, mathematician Heron of

Alexandria experimented with steam power and
constructed among other things a rudimentary
rotary steam engine. It was a spinning ball
whose rotation was driven by steam jets coming
from two nozzles on the ball. Although the
inventor only considered it a toy, used for
teaching physics to his students, it is the first
known device to transform steam into rotary
motion and thus the world's first reaction turbine
(Figure 2). Hero’s experiments and theories can
be found in his book, The Pneumatics. Figure 1: Machine that uses steam to open
temple doors.
Strangely enough, steam wasn't seriously
considered a useful force until 1600 years later,
when two British inventors began to turn steam
power into practical devices - Thomas Savery in
1698 and Thomas Newcomen in 1705. James
Watt further improved on their inventions,
patenting several designs that earned him the
title of father of the modern steam engine.
Applications of steam power grew during the
1700s, when steam engines began to find use
powering stationery machinery such as pumps
and mills, and its usages expanded with time
into vehicles such as tractors, ships, trains, cars
and farm/industrial machinery. The age of steam
lasted almost 200 years, until the internal
combustion engine and the electricity took over.
Even so, efficient steam turbines are still used
today for submarine torpedo propulsion and for Figure 2: Heron's steam engine.
naval propulsion systems. But more importantly,
steam power is still the most common means for
generating electricity. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Early boilers
Introduction
Furnaces were developed originally from a need to fire pottery (4000 B.C.) and to smelt copper
(3000 B.C.). Closely associated with furnaces are boilers, that were first used for warming water
and are of Roman and Greek origin. Early boilers were recovered from the ruins of Pompeii.
In 1698, Thomas Savery developed a steam-driven water pump. As the steam condensed, a vacuum
was created causing the water to be drawn into the cylinder. The boiler continued to be refined and
developed for use during the Industrial Revolution.
Newcomen’s boiler
The era of first boilers for industrial use stems
from England in the 1700 - 1800. The first use
of boilers was pumping water out from mines.
These boilers had a very low efficiency, but
since there was no lack of fuel supply the boilers
replaced the horse driven pumps.
One of the first successful boilers was Thomas

Newcomen's boiler (Figure 3). It was the first
example of steam driven machine capable of
extended period of operation. This type of boiler
was called shell boiler. The steam was produced
at atmospheric pressure. The boiler was made Figure 3: Newcomen's boiler, 1 - shell over the
from copper, using rivets and bent metal sheets boiling water , 2 - steam valve, 3 - steam pipe, 4
(Figure 4). In 1800, iron replaced copper in - float for water level, 5 - grate doors
order to make the boiler last for increased
pressures. Later the cylindrical design was
replaced by the wagon-type design for increased
capacities.
Figure 4: Different kinds of riveting techniques. Riveting was used as the main manufacturing
method of boilers until the 1950's. Riveting is today used when manufacturing aircraft aluminium
structures [Shields, 1961].

Wagon boiler
When James Watt made some critical
improvements to the Newcomen steam engine
by separating the condenser from the cylinder
and thus improving the efficiency substantially,
the steam engine became in demand and
provided a rapid growth of boilers.
The earliest steam boilers were usually spheres

or sections of spheres, heated entirely from the
outside (Figure 5). Watt introduced the use of
the wagon boiler (shaped like the top of a
covered wagon), which is still being used with
low pressures.
Cylindrical boiler
Watt and Newcomen steam engines all operated
at pressures only slightly above atmospheric
pressure. In 1800 the American inventor Oliver
Evans built a high-pressure steam engine
utilizing a horizontal cylindrical boiler. Evans's
boiler consisted of two cylindrical shells, one
inside the other with water occupying the region
between them. The fire grate was housed inside
the inner cylinder, so flue gas flowed through
the smaller cylinder and thus heated the water,
permitting a rapid increase in steam pressure. Figure 5: Wagon boiler
Figure 6: Cylindrical boiler [Forsman-Saraoja, 1928].
As can be seen from the picture (Figure 6), the flue gas passes also around the cylindrical boiler.
One of the advantages of the cylindrical boiler is that it has a larger heat transfer surface per unit of
working fluid. Therefore cylindrical boiler can be built cheaper than the earlier boilers. The pressure
(and thus the temperature) can also be increased with the cylindrical design. Simultaneously but

independently, the British engineer Richard Trevithick developed a similar boiler, which was used
in the world's first practical steam locomotive that he invented in 1801. The cylindrical boiler was
later expanded to contain several passes and eventually formed the fire tube boiler.

The development of modern boiler technology
Introduction
The steam boiler became ever more important towards the end of the last century. The industry and
transportation methods had become heavily dependant of steam power. Inventive engineers were set
to work to develop increasingly new boiler types. There was room for improvement as efficiency
and safety of many boilers frequently left a lot to be desired. Again and again there were boiler
explosions with catastrophic consequences. Hundreds of workers died. In the USA in 1880, for
instance, 170 notified boiler explosions are recorded involving 259 dead and 555 injured.
The principles of the boiler technologies introduced in this chapter are still in use today.
Fairbarn’s fire tube boiler

The first major improvement over Evans and Trevithick's boilers was the fire-tube Lancashire
Boiler, patented in 1845 by the British engineer Sir William Fairbairn, in which hot combustion
gases were passed through tubes inserted into the water container, increasing the surface area
through which heat could be transferred. The saturated steam was led out from the top. The main
use was to run steam engines for motive power: It was used to power steamboats, railroad engines
and run industrial machinery via belt drives. Fire-tube boilers (
Figure 7) were limited in capacity and pressure and were also, sometimes, dangerously explosive.
Figure 7: Cast iron fire tube boiler.
Wilcox’ water tube boiler

The water tube boiler (Figure 8 and Figure 9) was patented in 1867 by the American inventors
George Herman Babcock and Stephen Wilcox. The boiler had larger heating surfaces, allowed
better water circulation, and, most noteworthy, reduced the risk of explosion drastically. In the
water-tube boiler, water flowed through tubes heated externally by combustion gases through
radiation and convection and steam was collected above in a drum. The large number of tubes and
use of cross gas flow increases the heat transfer rate. Boilers of this type could be built with larger
heat transfer surface per unit of working fluid than the previous design. Due to the higher rate of

heat transfer cooler flue gases could be used. Tubes could be made inexpensively and with higher
quality than plate. [7]
The water-tube boiler became the standard

for all large boilers as they allowed for
higher pressures than earlier boilers as
well. Their first use was to run the largest
steam machines but it quickly became the
boiler type of choice for a steam turbine.
Wilcox and Babcock founded in 1867 the
first boiler-making company in
Providence. This company exists still
today and one of its former subsidiaries
delivers boilers in Europe under the name
Babcock Borsig. [8]
Figure 8: Wilcox’ water tube boiler [Babcock].
Figure 9: A drawing of a Wilcox' water tube boiler. Bent tubes in a tight bundle receive heat from
flue gas mainly convectively. The tubes are in a tilted position in order to achieve a natural
circulation of water/steam. The furnace is usually made of bricks. [Croft, 1922].

Steam drum boiler
The next step was the emergence of the
drum boiler, which introduced a steam
drum for separating steam from water
(Figure 10). This coincided with the
spreading of a new tube manufacturing
technology, forming. This allowed cheap
and reliable joint between the drum and a
tube. Except from being easier to
manufacture, the drum boiler was also
beneficial by providing better control of
the water quality by having a mud drum.
Some early designs incorporated a number
of steam drums, as in the picture. A boiler
with two drums became quickly a
standard. The limitation of a tube shell is
its thickness required to withstand
pressure. If larger units were required
multiple boilers needed to be operated. In
late 1800 some ten water tube boilers
could be connected to a single steam Figure 10: Multi drum boiler of Stirling type. [Steam,
engine or a turbine. With the new design 1992]
much larger boilers could be built.
Tube walled furnace

The demand for even bigger boiler unit sizes to
drive steam turbines required larger furnace
volume, which eventually led to the
development of the tube walled furnace (Figure
11). The tube walled furnace finally integrated
the earlier separated combustion and heat
transfer into the same space by building heat
transferring tubes into the furnace. This meant
high savings and started rapid unit size
increase. About 1955 the first fully welded
furnace (membrane wall) was developed.
In a modern tube walled furnace the inside of

the furnace wall is completely covered of heat
transferring water tubes, welded together side
by side. Since the water tubes are in the furnace
the heat is being transferred mainly by radiation
from the combustion process. A utility boiler is
a boiler that is part of an industrial process.
Figure 11: Early boiler with tube walled furnace
Welding forms today the basis of all modern
[Effenberg, 2000].
steam boiler manufacture. The first applications
of welding to boiler manufacturing were in the
1930's ().

Figure 12: Different methods of welding boiler tubes.
Once-through boiler
In order to be able to increase the current
unit size and efficiency of boilers, the
restriction of natural circulation boilers
needed to be overcome. The idea of a
once through boiler, were no steam drum
would be used and thus no circulation of
non-vaporized water would take place,
was not new. Patents for once through
boiler concepts date from as early as
1824.
The first significant commercial

application of a once through boiler was
not made until 1923, when the
Czechoslovakian inventor Mark Benson
provided a small 1,3 kg/s once through
boiler for English Electric Co. The unit
was designed to operate at critical steam
pressure, but due to frequent tube
failures, the pressure had to be dropped.
The once through boiler uses smaller

diameter and thinner walled tubes than
the natural circulation boiler. In addition,
the once through boiler eliminates the
need for thick steel plate for the steam
drum. Due to limited material availability
in Europe, the once through philosophy
was followed during the 1930's and
1940's, while the United States continued
Figure 13: Benson type once through boiler with tilted
to rely on natural circulation boiler
tube wall [Stultz and Kitto, 1992].
design. [9]

Supercritical boiler
The era following the Second World War brought on rapid economic development in the United
States and the desire for more efficient power plant operation increased. Improvements in both
boiler tube metallurgy and water chemistry technologies in combination with once through boiler-
technology made a power plant, operating at supercritical water pressure, possible.
Figure 14: The world's first supercritical power plant, built by Babcock&Wilcox and General
Electric, started operating at 125 MW in 1957 with a main steam condition of 31 MPa and 621°C
[Babcock].

Graphs and timelines of development in boiler technology
Development of unit size
To conclude the chapter on the history of boiler technology up to date, we start with presenting a
timeline on how the unit sizes of boilers have changed throughout history (Figure 15).
Figure 15: Development of unit size.
Development of main steam

temperature
The development of the main steam temperature
in steam boilers increased until the 70's. The
limiting factor for raising steam temperature is
the tube materials. Although there are power
plants running at main steam temperatures over
600°C, there are yet no good, economical
materials that can take temperatures above
550°C available (Figure 16).
Figure 16: Graph presenting the development

of the main steam temperature of boilers.

Development of main steam
pressure
The development of the main steam pressure
increased also steadily until the 70's. The peak
that can be spotted about 1930 comes from the
early trials of once through boilers, cause the
first once through boilers were run at critical
steam pressures but later lowered since the tube
material available couldn't take the high
pressures. The pressure was stabilized in the 70's
in order to correspond with steam temperature
about 540-550°C.
Figure 17: Graph presenting the development of

the main steam pressure of boilers.

Steam boilers and safety
The safety--or lack of safety--of steam was an important part of its history. The boilers, which
contained the steam, were prone to explode. This occurred for a variety of reasons: undetected
corrosion or furring of the heated surfaces, clumsy repairs, or failure to keep the water up to the
required level, so causing firebox plates to overheat. As early as 1803 a safety device, a lead plug,
was invented. The plug was designed to melt if the firebox crown became overheated and release
steam before worse damage was done. However, this device was not adopted widely.
After an 1854 explosion in England that killed ten people, the Boiler Insurance and Steam Power
Company was started. Not until 1882, though, was safety legislation introduced in Britain. In the
United States there was no government regulation at all.
Following the action of safety legislation in England, the number of lives lost in England from
boiler accidents fell from 35 in 1883 to 24 in 1900 and to 14 in 1905. During a comparable time
period in the United States, 383 people were killed in boiler accidents. The problem of safety with
steam engines was eventually reduced by the introduction of new forms of power, including the
steam turbine. However, boiler accidents remain a fact of life even today, and continue to cause
fatalities. [4]

References
2. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition,

http://www.bartleby.com
3. Two thousand years of steam (Steam Boat Days), web page, read autumn 2001,
http://www.ulster.net/%7Ehrmm/steamboats/steam1.html
4. Dreams of Steam: The History of Steam Power, web page, read autumn 2001,
http://www.moah.org/exhibits/archives/steam.html
5. The Growth of the Steam Engine, web page, read September 2001,
http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/Chapter1.html
6. Great Old Steam Pictures, web page, read September 2001,

http://www.bigtoy.com/photo/old_steam.html
7. Inventors: Babcock & Wilcox, web page, read September 2001,

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbabcock_wilcox.htm
8. Boiler - Water Tube Type, web pager, read September 2001,

http://www.shomepower.com/dict/b/boiler_water_tube_type.htm
9. Babcock & Wilcox: Supercritical (Once Through) Boiler Technology, PDF-file, read
October 2001, http://www.babcock.com/pgg/tt/pdf/BR-1658.pdf

Modern Boiler Types and Applications
Sebastian Teir
Table of contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Grate furnace boilers ............................................................................................................................3
Cyclone firing ......................................................................................................................................4
Pulverized coal fired (PCF) boilers......................................................................................................5
General information .........................................................................................................................5
Burners and layout ...........................................................................................................................5
Oil and gas fired boilers .......................................................................................................................6
Fluidized bed boilers............................................................................................................................7
General .............................................................................................................................................7
Principles..........................................................................................................................................7
Main types........................................................................................................................................8
Heat recovery steam generators (HRSG)...........................................................................................10
Definition .......................................................................................................................................10
HRSGs in power plants..................................................................................................................10
Refuse boilers.....................................................................................................................................12
Recovery boilers ................................................................................................................................13
Packaged boilers ................................................................................................................................13
Scandinavian steam generator suppliers ............................................................................................14
References ..........................................................................................................................................15
Modern Boiler Types and Applications - 2

Introduction
Steam boilers can be classified by their combustion method, by their application or by their type of
steam/water circulation. In this chapter the following boiler types will be presented and briefly
described, to give the reader a perspective of the various types and uses of various steam boilers:
• Grate furnace boilers

• Cyclone boilers
• Pulverized coal fired (PCF) boilers
• Oil and gas fired boilers
• Heat recovery steam generators (HRSG)
• Refuse boilers
• Recovery boilers
• Packaged boilers
Grate furnace boilers

Grate firing has been the most commonly used
firing method for combusting solid fuels in
small and medium-sized furnaces (15 kW - 30
MW) since the beginning of the
industrialization. New furnace technology
(especially fluidized bed technology) has
practically superseded the use of grate furnaces
in unit sizes over 5 MW. Waste is usually
burned in grate furnaces. There is also still a lot
of grate furnace boilers burning biofuels in
operation. Since solid fuels are very different
there are also many types of grate furnaces. The
principle of grate firing is still very similar for
all grate furnaces (except for household
furnaces). Combustion of solid fuels in a grate
furnace, which is pictured in Figure 1, follows
the same phases as any combustion method:
• Removal of moisture - brown part

• Pyrolysis (thermal decomposition) and
combustion of volatile matter - yellow part Figure 1: Drawing of the combustion process in
• Combustion of char - red part a sloping grate furnace.
When considering a single fuel particle, these phases occur in sequence. When considering a
furnace we have naturally particles in different phases at the same time in different parts of the
furnace.
The grate furnace is made up a grate that can be horizontal or sloping (Figure 2). The grate can
consist of a conveyor chain that transports the fuel forward. Alternatively some parts of the grate
can be mechanically movable or the whole grate can be fixed. In the later case the fuel is
transported by its own weight (sloping grate). The fuel is supplied in the furnace from the hopper
and moved forward (horizontal grate) or downward (sloping grate) sequentially within the furnace.

The primary combustion air is supplied from
underneath the fire bed, by which the air makes
efficient contact with the fuel, when blowing
through the bed, to dry, ignite and burn it. The
secondary (and sometimes tertiary) combustion
air is supplied above the bed, in order to burn
combustible gases that have been released from
the bed. The fuel is subjected to self-sustained
burning in the furnace and is discharged as ash.
The ash has a relatively high content of
combustible matter.
Cyclone firing
The cyclone furnace chambers are mounted
outside the main boiler shell, which will have a Figure 2: Sloped grate furnace.
narrow base, together with an arrangement for
slag removal (Figure 3). Primary combustion air
carries the particles into the furnace in which the
relatively large coal/char particles are retained in
the cyclone while the air passes through them,
promoting reaction. Secondary air is injected
tangentially into the cyclone. This creates a
strong swirl, throwing the larger particles
towards the furnace walls. Tertiary air enters the
centre of the burner, along the cyclone axis, and
directly into the central vortex. It is used to
control the vortex vacuum, and hence the
position of the main combustion zone which is
the primary source of radiant heat. An increase
in tertiary air moves that zone towards the
furnace exit and the main boiler. [5] Figure 3: Schematics of a 100 MW coal fuelled
boiler with a cyclone burner [1].
Cyclone-fired boilers are used for coals with a low ash fusion temperature, which are difficult to use
with a PCF boiler. 80-90% of the ash leaves the bottom of the boiler as a molten slag, thus reducing
the load of fly ash passing through the heat transfer sections to the precipitator or fabric filter to just
10-20% of that present. As with PCF boilers, the combustion chamber is close to atmospheric
pressure, simplifying the passage of coal and air through the plant. [5]
Cyclone firing can be divided into horizontal and vertical arrangements based on the axis of the
cylinder. Cyclone firing can also be dry or molten based on ash behaviour in the cyclone. Based on
cooling media the cyclones are either water-cooled or air-cooled (a.k.a. air cooled). Cyclone firing
has successfully been used to fire brown coal in Germany. Peat has been fired in cyclones at Russia
and Finland.
Compared with the flame of a conventional burner, the high-intensity, high-velocity cyclonic flames
transfer heat more effectively to the boiler's water-filled tubes, resulting in the unusual combination
of a compact boiler size and high efficiency. The worst drawbacks of cyclone firing are a narrow
operating range and problems with the removal of ash. The combustion temperature in a cyclone is

relatively high compared to other firing methods, which results in a high rate of thermal NOx
formation. [1]
Pulverized coal fired (PCF) boilers

General information
Coal-fired water tube boiler systems generate approximately 38% of the electric power generation
worldwide and will continue to be major contributors in the future. Pulverized coal fired boilers,
which are the most popular utility boilers today, have a high efficiency but a costly SOx and NOx
control. Almost any kind of coal can be reduced to powder and burned like a gas in a PCF-boiler.
The PCF technology has enabled the increase of boiler unit size from 100 MW in the 1950's to far
over 1000 MW. New pulverized coal-fired systems routinely installed today generate power at net
thermal cycle efficiencies ranging from 40 to 47% lower heating value, LHV, (corresponding to 34
to 37% higher heating value, HHV) while removing up to 97% of the combined, uncontrolled air
pollution emissions (SOx and NOx).
Coal is a heterogeneous substance in terms of its

organic and inorganic content. Since only
organic particles can be combusted, the
inorganic particles remain as ash and slag and
increase the need for particle filters of the flue
gas and the tear and wear of furnace tubes.
Pulverizing coal before feeding it to the furnace
has the benefit that the inorganic particles can be
separated from the organic before the furnace.
Still, coal contains a lot of ash, part of which can
be collected in the furnace. In order to be able to
remove ash the furnace easier, the bottom of the
furnace is shaped like a 'V'.
Burners and layout Figure 6: PCF-burner [Andritz].

Another benefit from pulverizing coal before
combustion is that the coal air mixture can be
fed to the boiler through jet burners, as in oil and
gas boilers. A finer particle is faster combusted
and thus the combustion is more complete the
finer the coal is pulverized and formation of soot
and carbon monoxides in the flue gas is also
reduced. The size of a coal grain after the coal
grinder is less than 150 mm.
Two broadly different boiler layouts are used.

One is the traditional two-pass layout where
there is a furnace chamber, topped by some heat
transfer tubing to reduce the FEGT. The flue
gases then turn through 180°, and pass
downwards through the main heat transfer and
Figure 7. PCF Boiler schematics [Clean Coal
economiser sections. The other design is to use a
Tech.]
tower boiler, where virtually all the heat transfer

sections are mounted vertically above each
other, over the combustion chamber. [2]
Oil and gas fired boilers

Oil and natural gas have some common
properties: Both contain practically no moisture
or ash and both produce the same amount of flue
gas when combusted. They also burn in a
gaseous condition with almost a homogenous
flame and can therefore be burnt in similar
burners with very little air surplus. Thus, oil and
Figure 8: Burner for horizontal firing of coal.
gas can be combusted in the same types of
boilers. The radiation differences in the flue
gases of oil and gas are too high in order to use
both fuels in the same boiler. Combusting oil
and gas with the same burner can cause flue gas
temperature differences up to 100°C.
The construction of an oil and gas boiler is

similar to a PCF-boiler, with the exception of
the bottom of the furnace, which can be
horizontal thanks to the low ash content of oil
and gas (Figure 10). Horizontal wall firing (all
burners attached to the front wall) is the most
affordable alternative for oil and gas burners. [3]
Figure 9. PCF-boiler with horizontal coal firing

with two-pass layout.
Figure 4: Photo of a flame from a burner

combusting oil.
Figure 10: Oil or Gas Boiler with horizontal

Figure 5: Photo of a flame from a burner
wall firing [Babcock&Borsig].
combusting gas.

Fluidized bed boilers
General
Fluidized bed combustion was not used for energy production until the 1970's, although it had been
used before in many other industrial applications. Fluidized bed combustion has become very
common during the last decades. One of the reasons is that a boiler using this type of combustion
allows many different types of fuels, also lower quality fuels, to be used in the same boiler with
high combustion efficiency. Furthermore, the combustion temperature in a fluidized bed boiler is
low, which directly induce lower NOx emissions. Fluidized bed combustion also allows a cheap
SOx reduction method by allowing injection of lime directly into the furnace.
Principles
The principle of a fluidized bed boiler is based on a layer of sand or a sand-like media, where the
fuel is introduced into and combusted. The combustion air blows through the sand layer from an
opening in the bottom of the boiler. Depending on the velocity of the combustion air, the layer gets
different types of fluid-like behaviour, as listed and described in Figure 11. This type of combustion
has the following merits:
• Fuel flexibility; even low-grade coal such as sludge or refuse can be burned
• High combustion efficiency
• Low NOx emission
• Control of SOx emission by desulfurization during combustion; this is achieved by
employing limestone as a bed material or injecting limestone into the bed.
• Wide range of acceptable fuel particle sizes; pulverizing the fuel is unnecessary
• Relatively small installation, because flue gas desulfurization and pulverizing facilities are
not required
FIXED BED BUBBLING TURBULENT CIRCULATING
MIN FLUID ENTRAINMENT PARTICLE

VELOCITY VELOCITY MASS FLOW
∆p
(LOG)
VELOCITY (LOG)
Figure 11: Regimes of fluidized bed systems [4].

Main types
There are two main types of fluidized bed combustion boilers: Bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) and
circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers.
In the bubbling type, because the velocity of the air is low, the medium particles are not carried
above the bed. The combustion in this type of boiler is generated in the bed. Figure 12 and Figure
13 show examples of BFB boilers.
BUBBLING FLUIDIZED BED BOILER
The CFB mode of fluidization is 30.8 MWth, 11.9 kg/s, 80 bar, 480 °C
characterized by a high slip velocity

between the gas and solids and by
intensive solids mixing. High slip
velocity between the gas and solids,
encourages high mass transfer rates that
enhance the rates of the oxidation
(combustion) and desulfurization
reactions, critical to the application of
CFB’s to power generation. The
intensive solids’ mixing insures adequate
mixing of fuel and combustion products
with combustion air and flue gas
emissions reduction reagents.
In the circulating type, the velocity of air

is high, so the medium sized particles are
carried out of the combustor. The carried
particles are captured by a cyclone
installed in the outlet of combustor.
Combustion is generated in the whole
combustor with intensive movement of
particles. Particles are continuously
captured by the cyclone and sent back to ©PIIRTEK OY #8420
the bottom part of the combustor to SALA-HEBY ENERGI AB

SWEDEN
combust unburned particles. This

contributes to full combustion. Figure 12: Example of a BFB boiler [Foster Wheeler].
The CFB boiler (Figure 14) has the following advantages over the BFB Boiler:
• Higher combustion efficiency

• Lower consumption of limestone as a bed material
• Lower NOx emission
• Quicker response to load changes
The main advantage of BFB boilers is a much larger flexibility in fuel quality than CFB boilers.
BFB boilers have typically a power output lower than 100 MW and CFB boilers range from 100
MW to 500 MW. In recent years, many CFB boilers have been installed because of the need for
highly efficient, environmental-friendly facilities.

Figure 13: BFB boiler applied in a CHP power plant, [Härnösand Energi&Miljö Ab, Fortum].
Figure 14: Example of a CFB boiler [Foster Wheeler].

The world's largest solid
biofuel-fired circulating
fluidized bed (CFB) boiler
(550 MWth) has been built
at Alholmens Kraft power
plant at Pietarsaari on the
west coast of Finland
(Figure 15). The CFB boiler
with auxiliary equipment
and the building was
delivered by Kvaerner
Pulping Oy and
commissioned in autumn
2001.
Figure 15: Schematic of the CFB boiler at Alholmen. Power output:

550 MWth, Steam parameters: 194 kg/s, 165 bar, 545°C [Kvaerner
Pulping Oy]
Heat recovery steam generators (HRSG)

Definition
As the name implies, heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) are boilers where heat, generated in
different processes, is recovered and used to generate steam or boil water (Figure 16). The main
purpose of these boilers are to cool down flue gases produced by metallurgical or chemical
processes, so that the flue gases can be either further processed or released without causing harm.
The steam generated is only a useful by-product. Therefore extra burners are seldom used in
ordinary HRSGs. HRSGs are usually a link in a long process chain, which puts extremely high
demands on the reliability and adaptability of these boilers. Already a small leakage can cause the
loss of the production for a week. Problems occurring in these boilers are more diverse and more
difficult to control than problems in an ordinary direct heated boiler.
Figure 16 shows an example of a HRSG with horizontal layout.
HRSGs in power plants

Gas turbines and diesel engines are nowadays commonly used in generating electricity in power
plants. The temperature of the flue gases from gas turbines is usually over 400°C, which means that
a lot of heat is released into the environment and the gas turbine plant works on a low efficiency.
The efficiency of the power plant can be improved significantly by connecting a heat recovery
boiler (HRSG) to it, which uses the heat in the flue gases to generate steam. This type of
combination power generation processes is called a combined cycle (Figure 17).

1 Inlet Duct 7 CO Catalyst
13 Deareator 18 IP Evaporator
2 Distribution grid 8 HP Steam Drum
14 Stack 19 IP Superheater
3 HP Superheater 1 9 Top Supports
15 Preheater 20 HP Economizer
4 Burner 10 SCR Catalyst
16 DA Evaporator 21 Ammonia Injection Grid
5 Split Superheater 11 LP Steam Drum
17 HP/IP Economizer 22 HP Evaporator
6 HP Superheater 2 12 HRSG Casing
Figure 16: A horizontal HRSG [Nooter/Eriksen].
Since the flue gases of a gas

turbine are very clean, tubes can be
tightly seated or rib tubes can be
used to improve the heat transfer
coefficient. These boilers are
usually natural circulation boilers.
If the life span of the power plant
is long enough, the boiler is
usually fitted with an economizer.
If more electrical power output is
wanted, but the temperature of the
flue gas is insufficient, the boiler
can be equipped with an extra
burner (that burns the same fuel as
the gas turbine) in order to increase
the flue gas temperature and thus
generate steam with a higher Figure 17: Simplified combined cycle, utilizing a HRSG
temperature. [Nooter/Eriksen].

Refuse boilers
The standard refuse (or waste) recovery boiler incinerates solid or liquid waste products. This boiler
type is not to be mixed with the recovery boilers used in pulp and paper industry. Therefore, we will
always refer to refuse boilers when talking about waste and recovery boilers when we mean the
specific chemical recovery process used in the pulp and paper industry.
The combustion of waste differs radically compared to other fuels mostly due to the varying
properties of waste. Also, the goal when combusting waste is not to produce energy, but to reduce
the volume and weight of the waste and to make it more inert before dumping it on a refuse tip.
1 storage bin 8 wet scrubber 1

2 furnace with grate 5 electrostatic precipitator 9 wet scrubber 2
3 post combustion 6 economizer (not typically here) 10 SCR DENOx
4 boiler 7 draft fan 11 dioxin removal
13 bottom ash conveyor 12 stack
Figure 18: Municipal Solid Waste Incineration plant.
Waste is burned in many ways, but the main method is to combust it in a grate boiler with a
mechanical grate (Figure 18). Other ways to burn waste is to use a fixed grate furnace, a fluidized
bed for sludge or rotary kilns for chemical and problematic waste. Waste is usually “mass burned”,
i.e. it is burned in the shape it was delivered with minimal preparation and separation. The main
preparation processes are grinding and crushing of the waste and removal of large objects (like
refrigerators). Waste has to be thoroughly combusted, so that harmful and toxic components are
degraded and dissolved.
Waste can be refined into fuel, by separating as much of the inert and inorganic material as
possible. This is called refuse derived fuel (RDF) and can be used as the primary fuel in fluidized
bed boilers or burned as a secondary fuel with other fuels. RDF is becoming more common
nowadays.

Recovery boilers
All paper is produced from one raw material:
pulp. One of the most common methods used to
produce pulp is the Kraft process, which consists
of two related processes. The first is a pulping
process, in which wood is chemically converted
to pulp. The second is a chemical recovery
process, in which chemicals used in pulping are
returned to the pulping process to be used again.
The waste liquid, from where chemicals are to
be recovered, is called black liquor.
The largest piece of equipment in power and

recovery operations is the recovery boiler. It
serves two main purposes. The first is to
"recover" chemicals in the black liquor through
the combustion process (reduction) to be
recycled to the pulping process. Secondly, the
boiler burns the organic materials in the black
liquor and produces process steam and supplies
high pressure steam for other process
components.
Black liquor is injected into the recovery boiler

from a height of six meters (Figure 20). The Figure 19: Recovery boiler schematics
combustion air is injected at three different [Andritz].
zones in the boiler. The burning black liquor
forms a pile of smelt at the bottom of the boiler,
where complicated reactions take place. The
smelt is drained from the boiler and is dissolved
to form green liquor. The green liquor is then
causticized with lime to form white liquor for
cooking the wood chips. The residual lime mud
is burnt in a rotary kiln to recover the lime.
Energy released by the volatilization of the
liquor particles in the recovery boiler yields a
heat output that is absorbed by water in the
boiler tubes and steam drum. Steam produced by
the boiler is utilized primarily to satisfy heating
requirements, and to co-generate the electricity
needed to operate the various pieces of
machinery in the plant.
Figure 20: Schematics of the furnace of a
Packaged boilers recovery boiler. The pile on the bottom is the
Packaged boilers are small self-contained boiler smelt [Andritz].
units (Figure 21). Packaged boilers are used as
hot water boilers, aiding utility boilers and
process steam producers. Packaged boilers can

be both water tube and fire tube boilers.
Packaged boilers can only be used with oil and
gas as fuel without separate preparation devices.
A packaged boiler can also be rented if there is a
need for a temporary boiler solution.
The benefits of packaged boilers over common

utility boilers are:
• Short installation time and low

installation costs
• Small space usage
• Lower acquisition cost
• Better quality surveillance in work
• Standardized units Figure 21: Fire tube packaged boiler
[Höyrytys].
The drawbacks of packaged boilers are:
• Higher power consumption

• Cleaning periods more frequent
Scandinavian steam generator

suppliers
• Andritz Figure 22: Trailer-mounted boiler for rental

o Recovery boilers [Nationwide Boiler Inc.].
• Foster Wheeler
o CFB and BFB boilers
o Coal (PC) and oil fired boilers
o Packaged Boilers
o HRSGs
• Kvaerner
o CFB and BFB boilers
o Recovery boilers
• Noviter
o Packaged boilers
o Oil fired boilers
o Biomass boilers Figure 23: Skid-mounted boiler [Nationwide
• Sermet Boiler Inc.].
o BFB boilers
o Grate furnace boilers
o Package boilers
• Höyrytys
o Package boilers
o Steam & Heating services
o Boiler rentals

References
1. Demonstration of Coal Reburning for Cyclone Boiler NOx Control, Los Alamos
National Laboratory, Clean Coal Technology Compendium
4. CFB Engineering Manual, extract supplied by Foster Wheeler
5. Cyclone fired wet bottom boilers, IEA Coal Research Centre, Web Page,
http://www.iea-coal.org.uk/CCTdatabase/cyclone.htm , read 15.8.2002

Steam/Water Circulation Design
Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla
Table of contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Large volume boilers ...........................................................................................................................3
Shell type boilers..............................................................................................................................3
Fire tube boilers ...............................................................................................................................4
Water tube boilers ................................................................................................................................6
Introduction......................................................................................................................................6
Natural circulation boilers................................................................................................................6
General .........................................................................................................................................6
Natural circulation principle ........................................................................................................6
Advantages and disadvantages.....................................................................................................7
Natural circulation design ............................................................................................................8
Introduction..............................................................................................................................8
Circulation ratio .......................................................................................................................8
Driving force of natural circulation .........................................................................................9
Downcomers ..........................................................................................................................10
Wall tubes ..............................................................................................................................11
Headers...................................................................................................................................12
Boiling within vertical evaporator tubes ................................................................................12
Heat transfer crisis .................................................................................................................12
Optimization of natural circulation design.............................................................................13
Special designs .......................................................................................................................13
Assisted or forced circulation boilers.............................................................................................14
General .......................................................................................................................................14
Principle of forced circulation....................................................................................................14
Flow distribution between parallel riser tubes ...........................................................................15
Boilers types...............................................................................................................................15
La Mont boilers ......................................................................................................................15
Controlled circulation boilers.................................................................................................16
Advantages and disadvantages...................................................................................................16
Once-through boilers......................................................................................................................17
General .......................................................................................................................................17
Once-through boiler types..........................................................................................................18
General ...................................................................................................................................18
Benson design ........................................................................................................................18
Sulzer design ..........................................................................................................................18
Ramzin design........................................................................................................................18
Spiral wall tubes.........................................................................................................................19
Multiple pass design...................................................................................................................19
Advantages and disadvantages...................................................................................................19
Operation....................................................................................................................................20
Manufacture and use of once-though boilers .............................................................................20
Combined circulation boilers .........................................................................................................21
General .......................................................................................................................................21
References ..........................................................................................................................................22
Steam/Water Circulation Design - 2

Introduction
As presented in the previous chapter, boilers can be classified by their combustion method, by
their application or by their type of steam/water circulation.
This chapter will describe the different types of steam/water circulation in boilers. It will not
discuss steam/water circulation for the applications listed in Figure 1 under “Others” (i.e.
nuclear, solar, and electric). [1]
Steam boilers
Large volume Water tube Others
Fire tube Natural Solar

circulation
Gas tube Assisted/forced Electric

circulation
Shell Once-through Nuclear
Combined
circulation
Figure 1: Steam boiler types according to steam/water circulation.
Large volume boilers

Shell type boilers
A steam boiler can be either a large volume
(shell) type boiler or a water tube boiler. Shell
type boilers are boiler that are built similarly to
a shell and tube heat exchanger (Figure 2). In
large volume (shell) type boilers a burner or a
grate is situated inside a big tube, called
chamber. The chamber is surrounded by water
in a pressure vessel, that functions as the outer
boiler wall. Thus, the water absorbs the heat
and some of the water is converted to saturated
steam. Flue gases continue from the chamber
to the stack so that they are whole the time Figure 2: Shell type boiler: Höyrytys TTKV-
situated inside the tubes. Nowadays fire-tube fire tube boiler [Hoyrytys].
boilers are the most used type of large volume boilers. Also electric boilers where water is heated
with an electrode source can be considered large volume boilers. However, large volume boilers
are today used for small-scale steam and hot-water production only and, overall, they are not
common in large-scale industrial use anymore. [1]
Fire tube boilers

Modern fire tube boilers are used in
applications that require moderate pressures
and moderate demand. As the name implies,
the basic structure of a fire tube boiler consists
of tubes, where fuel is burned and flue gas is
transported, located in a pressurized vessel
containing water. Usually boilers of this type
are customized for liquid or gaseous fuels, like
oil, natural gas and biogases. Fire tube boilers
are used for supplying steam or warm water in
small-scale applications. [2]
Usually fire tube boilers consist of cylindrical

chambers (1-3) where the main part of
combustion takes place, and of fire tubes. In
most of the cases, fire tubes are situated Figure 3: Höyrytys TTK fire tube steam boiler
horizontally (fire tubes placed above [Hoyrytys].
chambers).
1. Turning chamber 6. Fire tubes 12. Flue gas out

2. Flue gas collection 7. Manhole 13. Blow-out hatch
chamber 8. Hatch 14. Outlet and circulation
3. Open furnace 9. Cleaning hatch 15. Feet
4. Fire tube 10. Steam outlet 16. Insulation
5. Burner seat 11. Water inlet
Figure 4: Schematic of the Höyrytys TTKV-fire tube hot-water boiler from Figure 2 [Hoyrytys].
Fire tube boilers generally have tubes with a diameter of 5 cm or larger. They are usually straight
and relatively short so that the hot gases of combustion experience a relatively low pressure drop
while passing through them. The path of the flue gases goes from burners/grate, through one of
the chambers, to the other end of the chamber. There the flue gases turn to reverse direction and
return through the fire tubes and continue then to the stack (Figure 4).
1. Turning chamber 8. Water space 16. Level control assembly

2. Flue gas collection 9. Steam space 17. Feedwater inlet
chamber 10. Outlet and circulation 18. Utility steam outlet
3. Open furnace 11. Flue gas out 19. Safety valve assembly
4. Flame tube 12. Blow-out hatch 20. Feet
5. Burner seat 13. Main hatch 21. Inslulation
6. Manhole 14. Cleaning hatch
7. Fire tubes 15. Main steam outlet
Figure 5: Schematic of the Höyrytys TTK fire tube steam boiler from Figure 3 [Hoyrytys].
Fire tube boilers have a fairly large amount of contained water so that there is a considerable
amount of stored heat energy in the boiler. This also allows for load swings where large amounts
of steam or hot water are required in a relatively short period of time, as often happens in process
applications. Fire tube boilers can take a great deal of abuse and inattention and still function at
competent levels. Fire tube boilers have a life expectancy of 25 years or more. Boilers that are
older than 75 years are still known to be in operation. Consistent maintenance and careful water
treatment go a long way towards insuring the long life of these boilers.
Nowadays fire tube boilers are mostly used as district heating boilers, industrial heating boilers
and other small steam generators. Fire-tube boilers are not anymore used for electricity
production because of their upper limits (4 MPa steam pressure and about 50 kg/s steam mass
flow). The steam pressure limit is based on the fact that when the steam pressure in the boiler
rises, thicker fire tubes and chambers are needed – thus the price of the boiler rises. As a result of
this, boiler types where water/steam mixture is inside the tubes have lower prices for the same
steam capacity and pressure. Fire-tube boilers can reach thermal efficiencies of about 70 percent.

There are also special types of fire-tube boilers such as scotch marine boilers and firebox boilers,
but they will not, however, be discussed further here. The rest of this chapter concentrates on the
main types of water tube boilers.
Water tube boilers

Introduction
As contrast to large volume boilers, in water tube boilers water/steam mixture is inside the tubes
and is heated by external combustion flames and flue gases. The water tube boilers are classified
by the way of the water/steam circulation: natural circulation, forced or assisted circulation,
once-through and combined circulation type boilers. All boilers for power generation are
nowadays water tube boilers.
Natural circulation boilers
General
The natural circulation is one of the oldest principles for steam/water circulation in boilers. Its
use has decreased during the last decades due to technology advances in other circulation types.
Natural circulation principle is usually implemented on small and medium sized boilers.
Typically the pressure drop for a natural circulation boiler is about 5-10 % of the steam pressure
in the steam drum and the maximum steam temperature varies from 540 to 560 °C.
Natural circulation principle

The water/steam circulation begins from
the feed water tank, from where feed
water is pumped. The feedwater pump Superheaters
(Figure 6) raises the pressure of the
feedwater to the wanted boiler pressure.
In practice, the final steam pressure Steam drum
must be under 170 bar in order for the
natural circulation to work properly.
Economizer
The feed water is then preheated in the
economizer almost up to the boiling
point of the water at the current
pressure. To prevent the feed water from Downcomers
boiling in the economizer pipes, the
water temperature out of the economizer
temperature is on purpose kept about 10
degrees under the boiling temperature.
Feedwater
In other words, the approach
Evaporator pump
temperature is 10 K. Mud drum (riser tubes)
From the economizer the feed water

flows to the steam drum of the boiler. In Figure 6: Natural circulation principle
the steam drum the water is well mixed
with the existing water in the steam drum. This reduces thermal stresses within the steam drum.
The saturated water flows next from the steam drum through downcomer tubes to a mud drum
(header). There are usually a couple of downcomer tubes, which are unheated and situated
outside the boiler.
The name "mud drum" is based on the fact that a part of the impurities in the water will settle
and this 'mud' can then be collected and removed from the drum.
The saturated water continues from the header to the riser tubes and partially evaporates. The
riser tubes are situated on the walls of the boiler for efficient furnace wall cooling. The rises
tubes are sometimes also called generating tubes because they absorb heat efficiently to the
water/steam mixture (steam being generated). The riser tubes forms the evaporator unit in the
boiler.
After risers, the water/steam mixture goes back to the steam drum. In the steam drum water and
steam are separated: the saturated water will return to the downcomer tubes and the saturated
steam will continue to the superheater tubes. Thus also salts, minerals and other impurities are
separated from the steam. The purpose of this separation is to protect the inside of the
superheater tubes and turbine for impurity deposition.
The steam from the steam drum continues to the superheater, where it is heated beyond its
saturation point. After the last superheater stage the steam exits the boiler.
This type of circulation is called natural circulation, since there is no water circulation pump in
the circuit. The circulation happens by itself due to the water/steam density differences between
the downcomers and risers. [4]
Advantages and disadvantages

Natural circulation (NC) boilers have the following advantages compared to other circulation
types:
• NC boilers are more tolerant on feed water impurities than other types of water tube
boilers
• NC boilers have lower internal consumption of electricity than other water tube boiler
types.
• NC boilers have a simple construction. Therefore the investment cost is low and the
reliability of the boiler high.
• NC boilers have a wide partial load range, practically even 0-100 % have the feature to be
held in a stand-by state, which means "warm at full pressure".
• NC boilers have constant heat transfer areas independent of boiler load, since the drum
separates the three heat exchangers - economizer, evaporator and superheater - from each
other.
• NC boilers have simpler process control, due to the big volume of water/steam side,
which behaves as a "buffer" during small load rate changes.
Natural circulation boilers have the following disadvantages compared to other circulation types:

• NC boilers have a high circulation ratio (between 5 and 100), which leads up to massive
dimensions of the evaporator as the amount of water circulating in wall tubes can be up to
100 times of the mass flow of steam generated. This increases the requirement for space
and steel.
• NC boilers need large diameters (large volume) of all tubes where the water/steam
mixture flows. This is because smaller diameters in tubes would cause pressure drop and
thus higher boilers would be needed for adequate pressure difference.
• NC boilers need more accurate dimensioning as compared to other boiler types.
• NC boilers are quite slow in start-up and "stop" situations (also when the load rate
changes a lot) because of the large water/steam tube volume (about 5 times the
water/steam volume of a once through boiler).
• NC boilers are only suitable for subcritical pressure levels (practically for steam pressures
under 180 bar in the steam drum). This is due to the lack of density difference in
supercritical steam, and thus the lack of a driving force.
• NC boilers have problems with more frequently occurring tube damages, due to the
relative large diameter of the boiler tubes.
• NC boilers are sensitive to pressure variations. Sudden pressure drops or build-ups causes
increased rate of evaporation and thus the steam drum water level will also rise. This can
lead to water passing into the superheater tubes and water circulation problems that lead
to tube damages.
• NC boilers require a steam drum, which is a very expensive part of the boiler.
Natural circulation design

Introduction
The following chapters concentrate on some
design issues in natural circulation boilers:
This chapter will use graphics and photos of an

Andritz recovery boiler (Figure 7,
manufactured by Foster Wheeler), which is the
same boiler that was presented in the chapter
on chemical recovery boilers. [3]
Circulation ratio
The circulation ratio is one important variable
when designing new boiler. It is defined as the
mass rate of water fed to the steam-generating
tubes (raisers) divided by the mass rate of
generated steam. Thus, it is meaningful to
define the circulation ratio only for water tube
steam boilers with a steam drum:
m& raisers
U= (1) Figure 7: The feedwater circulation
m& feedwater
construction of the recovery boiler using
natural circulation drum [3].
The variations in circulation ratio result from
the pressure level of the boiler, therefore high-pressure boilers have low ratios and low-pressure
boilers have high ratios, respectively. Other parameters that affect the circulation ratio are the
height of the boiler, heating capacity of the boiler and tube dimension differences between riser
and downcomer tubes.
For certain natural circulation applications dimensioning the circulation ratio is very difficult.
The circulation ratio varies between 5 and 100 for natural circulation boilers. The circulation
ratio of forced circulation boilers is normally between 3 and 10. For La Mont type of boilers the
normal values are between 6 and 10, for controlled circulation boiler between 4 and 5,
respectively. Once through boilers generate the same mass rate of steam as has been fed to
boiler, thus their circulation ratio is 1.
Driving force of natural circulation

The driving force of the natural circulation is
based on the density difference between
water/steam mixture in riser and downcomer
tubes, of which the riser tubes represent the
lower density mixture and downcomer tubes
the higher density mixture. The driving
pressure can be defined as following:
∆pd = g ⋅ (H evaporator − H boiling )⋅ ( ρ dc − ρ r ) (2)
where g is the gravitational acceleration (9,81

m/s2), the heights are according to Figure 8
[m], and ρ dc − ρ r the difference in the average
density between the downcomers (dc) and
raiser (r) tubes [kg/m3], which is the most
difficult parameter to determine.
The conditions in the steam drum are such that

H2O is there as saturated water. There will be a
slight increase in water pressure because of the
hydrostatic pressure when the water travels
down in downcomer tubes. Thus, the water is Figure 8: A representation of the height
subcooled in the header (mud drum) after parameters of the driving force.
downcomer tubes. Hence, in riser tubes the
water has first to be heated up till the water has
reached the evaporation (boiling) temperature
before it can evaporate. The boiling height, i.e. the height where water has high enough
temperature to boil, can be calculated using the circulation ratio and water/steam enthalpies:
h ′′ − h ′
H boiling = ⋅ H evaporator (3)
∆h ⋅U

where h” is the enthalpy [kJ/kg] of saturated steam, and h’ enthalpy of saturated water (at the
pressure of the steam drum), U is the circulation ratio, and ∆h is the enthalpy change caused by
the rise in evaporation pressure (because of the subcooling of water in downcomer tubes).
Downcomers
Downcomer tubes have a relatively large
diameter because the entire water amount for
the evaporator flows through the downcomer
tubes before it is lead to wall tubes (riser
tubes). Normally the amount of downcomer
tubes is between one and six.
Downcomer tubes are placed outside the boiler

to prevent the water from evaporating, which
could decrease the driving force of natural
circulation (decrease average density in
downcomer tube). If downcomer tubes have to
be placed inside boiler construction, heat load
to downcomers has to be strongly restricted to
prevent downcomer tubes from water boiling.
Possible boiling in downcomer tubes
complicates circulation because the steam
bubbles travel upwards and thus increase Figure 9: Photograph of downcomers from the
pressure loss. steam drum [3].
An ideal downcomer tube is as short as

possible and the flow velocity of the water
transported is as high as possible.
Figure 9 and Figure 10 show examples of

downcomers in the chemical recovery boiler.
Figure 10: Photograph of downcomers from

the steam drum [3].

Wall tubes
Pressure loss caused by wall tubes (or risers,
evaporator tubes) of a natural circulation boiler
should be at low level because of the natural
circulation principle. Thus, vertically installed
riser tubes in natural circulation boilers have a
larger diameter than riser tubes in forced
circulation boilers.
All natural circulation boilers must have an

upwards-rising arrangement of wall tubes
because of the circulation principle. There are
variations on how sharp the rise is:
In conservative vertical furnace boilers the wall

tubes are placed in a straight vertical direction Figure 12: Photograph of the furnace wall [3].
(Figure 11 and Figure 13). In corner tube
(Eckrohr) boilers the wall tubes are arranged as
slightly rising or horizontal wall-tube banks.
This particular boiler has a furnace height of 40

m. The diameters of the water tubes are about
60 mm. The riser tubes are all welded together,
and form a gas-tight panel construction, a tube
wall. Since the boiler is a recovery boiler, the
floor barely slopes (Figure 12 and Figure 14),
in order to support the smelt, and is therefore a
different structure than coal-fired boilers
(which have a wedge-shaped floor for
collecting ash).
Figure 13: Photograph of the front furnace
wall being installed [3].
Figure 11: Photograph of water tubes [3]. Figure 14: Photograph of the furnace wall [3].

Headers
The word "header" (Figure 15) is used in boiler
technology for all collector and distributor
pipes, including the mud drum (Figure 16).
The most important design parameter for

headers is diameter. It is defined by the flow
rate and the number of tubes connected to the
header (here the number of riser tubes).
Header construction is basically a miniature

version of a simple steam drum (diameters are
smaller than the ones of steam drums).
However, in headers there are usually no
internals except the orifices in forced
circulation and once-through principle boilers.
Small diameter headers are constructed from a

tube with welded front and end plates, whereas
Figure 15: Photograph of the economizer
the big headers are made of bent steel plates in
header [3].
the same way as steam drums.
Boiling within vertical evaporator tubes
The boiling process in a vertical riser tube
begins with single-phase water flow in the
lowest part of the evaporator. Heat transfer
from the furnace produces initially some steam
bubbles.
Continuous heat transfer increases the steam

content in the mixture. In the annular boiling
state of the steam/water mixture the tube wall
is still covered by a water film, but as the Figure 16: Mud drum and collector headers
steam content increases water can be found in [3].
the tube as mist only. This state is called the
misty/drop state (Figure 17).
Heat transfer crisis
Boiling process can be considered also in heat
transfer terms. The heat flux in a furnace
generated by the combustion process is
extremely high. There is a critical value that
the heat flux can reach which results in a
sudden decrease of the heat transfer capacity of
the tube. This is called departure from nucleate
boiling (DNB), dryout, burn out, critical heat
flux or heat transfer crisis (Figure 18). Figure 17: Different types of water/steam flow
during the boiling process [1].
The phenomenon responsible for this problem
is the transition from annular boiling state to
misty/drop state. In the misty/drop state, the
boiler wall is no longer covered with water.
This dryout causes the drastic fall in the
waterside heat transfer coefficient.
Critical heat flux is dependant on operating

pressure, steam quality, type of tube, tube
diameter, flux profiles and tube inclination. For
a boiler design to be acceptable the critical heat
flux for the furnace walls must always be
greater by a margin than the heat flux
generated in the combustion chamber.
Optimization of natural circulation design
The following are some of the main methods
used for natural circulation optimisation. All
methods lead to an increase in the driving Figure 18: Dryout occurring in an evaporator
force: tube.
1. Increase furnace height or elevate

steam drum at higher level.
2. Increase density in downcomer tubes
by increasing steam separation
efficiency in the steam drum, by
pumping feedwater to the steam drum
as sub-saturated liquid or by
minimizing the axial flow in the steam
drum.
3. Decrease density in riser tubes by
increasing temperature in lower
furnace.
Special designs
There are some special applications of natural
circulation principle that are not currently
covered by this eBook, but can be found
elsewhere on the net. These specific boiler
types are:
• Natural circulation boilers with two

drums (Figure 19)
• Conservative vertical furnace boilers Figure 19: Recovery boiler utilizing two steam
• Corner tube or Eckrohr boilers drums [Andritz].

Assisted or forced circulation boilers
General
In contrast to natural circulation boilers, forced circulation is based on pump-assisted internal
water/steam circulation. The circulation pump is the main difference between natural and forced
circulation boilers. In the most common forced circulation boiler type, the La Mont boiler, the
principles of forced circulation is basically the same as for natural circulation, except for the
circulation pump.
Thanks to the circulation pump, the operation pressure level of forced circulation boiler can be
slightly higher than a natural circulation boiler, but since the steam/water separation in the steam
drum is based on the density difference between steam and water, these boilers are not either
suitable for supercritical pressures (>221 bar). Practically the maximum operation pressure for a
forced circulation boiler is 190 bar and the pressure drop in the boiler is about 2-3 bar.
Principle of forced
circulation
The water/steam circulation
begins from the feed water tank,
from where feed water is
pumped. The feedwater pump
raises the pressure of the
feedwater to the wanted boiler
pressure. In practice, the final
steam pressure is below 190 bar,
in order to keep the steam
steadily in the subcritical region.
The feed water is then preheated

in the economizer almost up to
the boiling point of the water at
the current pressure.
The steam drum is usually the Figure 20: Principle of forced/assisted circulation. Same
same kind as those used in symbols used as in Figure 6, except for the circulation pump,
natural circulation boilers. marked with an arrow.
In a forced/assisted circulation boiler, the circulation pump (Figure 20) provides the driving force
for the steam/water circulation. Since the pump forces the circulation, the evaporator tubes can
be built in almost any position. Greater pressure losses can be tolerated and therefore the
evaporator tubes in a forced circulation boiler are cheaper and have a smaller diameter
(compared to natural circulation evaporator tubes).
The saturated water flows next from the steam drum through downcomer tubes to a mud drum
(header). There are usually a couple of downcomer tubes, which are unheated and situated
outside the boiler. The headers that distribute the water to the evaporator tubes are equipped with

chokers (flow limiters) for every wall tube in order to distribute the water as evenly as possible.
The water continues to the riser tubes, where it evaporates.
The steam is separated in the steam drum and continues through the superheaters, as in natural
circulation boilers.
This type of circulation is called forced circulation, due to the existence of a water circulation
pump in the circuit. The steam/water circulation is forced by the pump and does not rely on
density differences as in natural circulation.
Flow distribution between parallel riser

tubes
Smooth flow distribution from header to riser
tubes prevents riser tubes from overheating. In
forced circulation boilers (in this context once-
through boilers and combined circulation
boilers belong to this group as well)
water/steam is pushed through evaporator
tubes with a pump. Pressure loss strongly
defines the water distribution between several
parallel-coupled tubes. The tubes with biggest
steam fraction (highest pressure loss) get thus
the least amount of water (i.e. not enough
cooling water).
It has been marked that a smooth water

Figure 21: Schematic of an orifice for water
distribution between tubes is easiest to practice
tubes
with orifices (chokes, flow limiters) situated in
inlet of each riser tube (Figure 21). They give
extra pressure loss in each tube and thus the proportional differences in flow losses between
parallel tubes become insignificant. Orifices are dimensioned separately for each riser tube to
provide a smooth distribution of flow between parallel riser tubes (evaporator tubes).
Another possibility is to place small diameter tubes as mouthpieces in each riser tube and thus
increase the pressure losses. However, tubes utilizing orifices is a more common practice.
Boilers types
La Mont boilers
The most usual type of forced circulation boilers is the La Mont type, named after an engineer
who developed this boiler type. In this type of boilers the pump forces the steam/water
circulation. The operational pressures remain below 190 bar because with higher pressures the
share of the heat of evaporation becomes too low. The wall tube direction arrangement is not
limited for the La Mont type. The pressure loss in wall tubes is 2-3 bar.

Applications for La Mont boilers:
• Customized boilers, where the boiler dimensions are determined e.g. by the building where
the boiler will be placed.
• Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and boilers equipped with separate combustion
chambers
Controlled circulation boilers

The controlled circulation principle is also known as thermal, pump-assisted circulation. It has
been developed mainly in the USA and it is one kind of modification of La Mont boiler. In this
type of boilers the pump merely assists the steam/water circulation. The benefit of controlled
circulation boilers is the less need of pumping energy because natural circulation principle is
partially used for circulation. Controlled circulation boilers are used for high subcritical
pressures up to 200 bar and usually for relatively large boilers.

The advantages of forced circulation (FC) boilers are:
• FC boilers can use tubes with smaller diameter than boilers based on natural circulation
due to the more efficient (pump-assisted) circulation.
• FC boilers have a wide suitability range of power plant sizes.
• An FC boiler gives also more freedom for placement of heat transfer surfaces and can be
designed in almost in any kind of position (thus forced circulation is very common in
HRSG:s, boilers in gas turbine based combined-cycle power plants).
• FC boilers have a low circulation ratio (3-10).
• Water circulation not reliable on density differences because circulation pump is taking
care of the circulation whenever the boiler is operated.
Forced circulation boilers have the following disadvantages compared to other circulation types:
• FC boilers have restrictions regarding the placement of the circulation pump, since it has
to be placed vertically below the steam drum. Otherwise the saturated water could boil
(cavitate) in the circulation pump.
• FC boilers have a higher internal electrical consumption. The circulation pump consumes
typically about 0,5-1,0 % of the electricity produced by the controlled circulation unit in
question.
• FC boilers need a higher level of water quality than boilers based on natural circulation.
• FC boilers require a mass flow rate of 1000-2000 kg/(m2s) for maximum pressure levels.
• FC boilers are only suitable for subcritical pressure levels (practically for operation
pressures under 190-200 bar). This is due to the lack of density difference in supercritical
steam, which is the principle for the operation of the steam/water seperation in the steam
drum.
• FC boilers require a circulation pump and flow limiting orifices, which increase the
capital cost of the boiler.
• FC boilers are sensitive to pressure variations. Sudden pressure drops or build-ups causes
increased rate of evaporation and thus the steam drum water level will also rise. This can

lead to water passing into the superheater tubes and water circulation problems that lead
to tube damages.
• FC boilers require control and regulation of the co-operation between the feed water
pump and circulation pump, which is difficult in controlled circulation units.
• A steam drum is required, which is a very expensive part of the boiler.
• Reliability of FC boilers is lower than that of natural circulation boilers, due to possible
clogging of orifices and failures in circulation pump operation.
Once-through boilers
General
A once-through (or universal pressure) boiler
can be simplified as a long, externally heated
tube (Figure 22). There is no internal
circulation in the boiler, thus the circulation
ratio for once-through boilers is 1.
In contrast to other water tube boiler types

(natural and controlled circulation), once- Q
through boilers do not have a steam drum.
Thus, the length of the evaporator part (where
saturated water boils into steam) is not fixed
for once through boilers.
Once-through boilers are also called universal

pressure boilers because they are applicable for
all pressures and temperatures. However, once-
through boilers are usually large sized boilers
with high subcritical or supercritical steam
pressure. A large modern power plant unit Figure 22: Simplified once-through boiler
(about 900 MWth) based on the once-through principle
design can be over 160 m high with a furnace
height of 100 m.
The once through boiler type is the only boiler type suited for supercritical pressures (nowadays
they can reach 250-300 bars). The available temperature range for once through type is currently
560-600 °C. Pressure losses can be as high as 40-50 bar.
Once-through boilers need advanced automation and control systems because of their relatively
small water/steam volume. They do not either have a buffer for capacity changes as other water
tube boiler types do.

Once-through boiler types
General
There are three main types of once through
boilers: Benson, Sulzer and Ramzin design.
Benson design
The simplest and most common design is the
Benson design (UK, 1922). In Benson boilers,
the point of complete evaporation (where all
the water has turned into steam) varies with the
capacity load of the boiler (Figure 23). The
temperature of the superheated steam is
regulated by the mass flow ratio of fuel and
water. The Benson-design is used in the
biggest power plants in Finland, e.g. Meri-Pori, Figure 23: Benson design once-through boiler.
Haapavesi and IVO Inkoo.
Sulzer design
Sulzer monotube boiler was invented in
Switzerland by Gebrüder Sulzer Gmbh. The
Sulzer boiler uses a special pressure vessel,
called Sulzer bottle, for separating water from
steam (Figure 24). The steam is free from
water after the bottle. Therefore the point of
evaporation in a Sulzer boiler is always at the
bottle, and thus constant. Originally the bottle
was used for separating impurities
(concentrated salts etc.) from the steam.
Another typical feature for Sulzer type boilers
is the controlling the water flow of each tube
outgoing from a certain header with separate Figure 24: Sulzer design once-through boiler.
orifices for each tube. The separation bottle is marked with an arrow.
Ramzin design
The Ramzin boiler is a Russian design, which
is known for the coil-like formation of the
evaporator tubes surrounding the furnace (
Figure 25). Due to the tilted and bended water
tubes the construction of Ramzin boilers is
complicated and thus expensive.
The tilted design of the furnace is nowadays

also used occasionally in Sulzer and Benson
design.
Figure 25: Ramzin once-through boiler.

Spiral wall tubes
Once-through boilers use a special design on
water tubes. These are called spiral or rifled
wall tubes (Figure 26). The rifles in the tube
increase the wall wetting, i.e. improve the
contact between the tube wall and steam/water
mixture and thus improves the internal heat
transfer coefficient. The rifled wall tube is also
more resistant against dryouts. Due to the more
complex manufacture process of spiral tubes,
the spiral wall tube is more expensive than
regular smooth wall tubes.
Smooth wall tubes are used in tilted wall tube

design (like in Ramzin boilers). Figure 26: Sketch of a spiral wall tube
Multiple pass design

In order to obtain the high mass flux necessary
for efficient tube cooling, the lower part of the
furnace can be divided into two sequential
water flow paths. These two parallel paths are
formed by altering first and second pass tubes
around the furnace.
As illustrated in the picture (Figure 27), the

water from the economizer flows up the first
pass tubes to the outlet headers, where the
water is mixed and led to downcomers. From
the downcomers the water/steam mixture is led
to the second pass tubes, from where it is
collected and mixed in the second pass header.
The water/steam mixture then flows to the
headers for the 3rd pass tubes, which the rest of
the evaporator consists of.
Figure 27: Multiple pass furnace design
Using two passes, the lower part of the furnace
has effectively twice the water mass flow of
the upper part. Thanks to the headers, the
temperature differences between individual
tubes are decreased.

Once-through (OT) boilers have the following advantages compared to other circulation types:
• OT boilers can use tubes with smaller diameter than boilers based on a steam drum due to
their lack of internal circulation.
• OT boilers have a secure external water circulation (relies on process feed water pump)

• Spiral (rifled) water wall tubes are more resistant against dryouts than smooth evaporator
tubes.
• OT boilers have a no internal circulation (circulation ratio = 1) and thus there are no
regulation or design needed for the internal circulation.
• The OT boiler is the only boiler able to operate at supercritical pressures, since there is no
density dependant steam separation needed (the Sulzer-bottle is not used for supercritical
steam values).
• OT boilers do not use a steam drum, which decreases boiler expenses.
Once-through (OT) boilers have the following disadvantages compared to other circulation
types:
• OT boilers require high level of water control, since the steam/water goes directly
through the boiler and into the turbine.
• OT boilers require complicated regulation control, due to small water/steam volume (no
buffer for capacity changes), lack of steam drum, and the fact that the fuel,air and water
mass flows are directly proportional to the power output of the boiler.
• OT boilers require a large mass flow rate of 2000-3000 kg/(m2s) in furnace wall tubes.
• Spiral wall tubes are more expensive than smooth wall tubes due to a more complicated
manufacture process.
• OT boilers have no capacity buffer, due to the lack of a steam drum and their once-
through nature.
Operation
The basic difference between once through boiler types has traditionally been the point of total
evaporation in tubing. However, supercritical pressure range operation removes this clear
difference between water and steam states, and thus both Sulzer and Benson boilers are similarly
operated in supercritical pressures.
However, the development has led to constant point of evaporation also for Benson boilers
(thanks to improved process control) and nowadays the operational behaviour of once through
boiler is very similar. Today the biggest operational differences between Benson and Sulzer
types are the control system and heat-up procedures.
Overall, all once through boilers need certain special arrangements for heat-up procedure and
low capacity operation.
Manufacture and use of once-though boilers

Benson boilers are nowadays mostly manufactured by companies that belong to the Babcock
group (Deutsche Babcock, etc.). Sulzer boilers are mostly manufactured (by license) by ABB
Combustion Engineering, Mitsubishi, EVT, Andritz, etc. Ramzin boilers can be found in Russia.
Most of the new capacity of conventional steam power plants is based on once through principle,
because it allows higher steam pressures and thus higher electricity efficiency.

A Sulzer boiler can be found e.g. at Naantali power plant in southwestern Finland (also at
Mussalo power plant). The boiler of the Meri-Pori power plant, situated in western Finland, is
based on a Benson type. Also Inkoo and Haapavesi power plants use Benson design boilers.
Combined circulation boilers
General
This boiler type is a combination of controlled
circulation boilers and once-through boilers.
Combined circulation (once-through with
superimposed recirculation) boilers can be
used for both subcritical and supercritical
steam pressure operation. Figure 28 shows a
simplified principle of the combined
circulation.
When the firing rate is between 60 and 100 %,

the boiler operates as a once-through boiler. At
lower than 60 % capacity load, combined
circulation boilers operate as forced circulation
boilers in idea to maintain adequate
water/steam flow in wall tubes.
The biggest advantage of combined circulation

type boilers is reduced demand of pump energy
because the operation mode changes depending Figure 28: Simplified principle of combined
on the capacity load. Main disadvantages are circulation.
the troublesome co-operation between feed
water pump and circulation pump and also the
high level needed for water treatment (as
needed for once through boilers).
The main manufacturer of this type of boilers is ABB Combustion Engineering and other
companies with a license from ABB CE. However, Mitsubishi is practically the only license user
company outside USA.

References
2. Ahonen, V. “Höyrytekniikka II”. Otakustantamo, Espoo. 1978
3. Recovery Boiler Operation Manual, Ahlstrom Machinery Corporation 1999, CD-rom,

Andritz.
4. Huhtinen, M., Kettunen, A., Nurmiainen, P., Pakkanen, H. ”Höyrykattilatekniikka”.

Painatuskeskus, Helsinki. 1994.

Feedwater and Steam System Components
Table of contents
Overview..............................................................................................................................................3
Steam drum ..........................................................................................................................................4
Steam drum principle .......................................................................................................................4
Steam separation ..............................................................................................................................5
Steam purity and quality ..................................................................................................................6
Impurity damages.........................................................................................................................6
Steam quality................................................................................................................................6
Steam purity .................................................................................................................................6
Continuous blowdown .....................................................................................................................6
Steam drum placement.....................................................................................................................7
Natural circulation boilers............................................................................................................7
Other aspects of steam drum design ................................................................................................7
Feedwater system.................................................................................................................................8
Feedwater tank .................................................................................................................................8
Feedwater pump ...............................................................................................................................9
Feedwater heaters.............................................................................................................................9
Steam temperature control .................................................................................................................10
Dolezahl attemperator ....................................................................................................................10
Spray water group ..........................................................................................................................11
Water atomizer types .....................................................................................................................11
References ..........................................................................................................................................12
Feedwater and Steam System Components - 2

Overview
This chapter will use graphics
and photos of an Andritz
recovery boiler (manufactured
by Foster Wheeler), which is
the same boiler that was
presented in the chapters on
recovery boilers and natural
circulation design (Figure 1).
Although this particular boiler
is based on natural circulation,
the components presented
here are common in most
boiler designs. [1]
Figure 1: The feedwater circulation components of the recovery boiler

using natural circulation. [Andritz].

Steam drum
The steam drum is a key component in natural,
forced and combined circulation boilers. The
functions of a steam drum in a subcritical
boiler are:
• Mix fresh feedwater with the circulating

boiler water.
• Supply circulating water to the
evaporator through the downcomers.
• Receive water/steam mixture from
risers.
• Separate water and steam.
• Remove impurities.
• Control water chemical balance by
chemical feed and continuous
blowdown.
• Supply saturated steam
• Store water for load changes (usually
not a significant water storage)
• Act as a reference point for feedwater
control
[2] [3] Figure 2: Steam drum in the natural

circulation process. [Andritz].
Steam drum principle

The steam drum principle is visualized in
Figure 2. Feedwater from the economizer
enters the steam drum. The water is routed
through the steam drum sparger nozzles,
directed towards the bottom of the drum and
then through the downcomers to the supply
headers.
This recovery boiler operates by natural

circulation. This means that the difference in
specific gravity between the downcoming
water and uprising water / vapor mixture in the
furnace tubes induces the water circulation.
Drum internals help to separate the steam from
the water. The larger the drum diameter, the
more efficient is the separation. The
dimensioning of a steam drum is mostly based
on previous experiences. A drawing of a steam
Figure 3: The steam drum cross-section.
drum cross-section is shown in Figure 3.
[Andritz].

Water and steam in a steam drum travel in opposite directions. The water leaves the bottom of the
drum to the downcomers and the steam exits the top of the drum to the superheaters.
Normal water level is below the centerline of the steam drum and the residence time is normally
between 5 and 20 seconds.
A basic feature for steam drum design is the load rate, which is based on previous experiences. It is
normally defined as the produced amount of steam (m3/h) divided by the volume of the steam drum
(m3). Calculated from the residence time in the steam drum, the volumetric load rate can be about
200 for a residence time of almost 20 seconds in the pressure of about 80 bar. The volumetric load
rate increases when the pressure decreases having its maximum value of about 800. As can be
thought from the units, the size of the steam drum can be calculated based on these values.
Steam separation
The steam/water separation in the steam drum
is also based on the density difference of water
and steam. It is important to have a steady and
even flow of water/steam mixture to the steam
drum. This is often realized with a manifold
(header) designed for partitioning of the flow.
There are different kinds of devices for water

separation such as plate baffles for changing
the flow direction, separators based on
centrifugal forces (cyclones) and also steam
purifiers like screen dryers (banks of screens)
and washers. . The separation is usually carried Figure 4: 3D-schematics of a steam drum and
out in several stages. Common separation separators [Andritz].
stages are primary separation, secondary
separation and drying. Figure 4 shows a
drawing of the steam drum and its steam
separators.
One typical dryer construction is a compact

package of corrugated or bent plates where the
water/steam mixture has to travel a long way
through the dryer. One other possibility is to
use wire mesh as a material for dryer. The
design of a dryer is a compromise of efficiency
and drain ability - at the same time the dryer
should survive its lifetime with no or minor
maintenance. A typical operational problem Figure 5: Steam separators enlarged (cyclone
related to steam dryers is the deposition of and demister) [Andritz].
impurities on the dryer material and especially
on the free area of the dryer (holes).
In this particular steam drum, the primary separators are cyclones (Figure 5). These enable the
rising steam/water mixture to swirl, which causes the heavier water to drop out of the cyclones and
thus let the lighter steam rise above and out of the cyclones. The steam, which is virtually free of
moisture at this point, continues on through the secondary separators (dryers), which are called
demisters. Demisters are bundles of screens that consist of many layers of tightly bundled wire

mesh. Demisters remove and capture any remaining droplets that may have passed through the
cyclones. The water that condenses from the demisters is re-circulated through the boiler’s
circulation process. [2] [3]
Steam purity and quality
Impurity damages
Impurities in steam causes deposits on the inside surface of the tubes. This impurity deposit changes
the heat transfer rate of the tubes and causes the superheater to overheat (CO3 and SO4 are most
harmful). The turbine blades are also sensitive for impurities (Na+ and K are most harmful). The
most important properties of steam regarding impurities are:
• Steam quality, Water content: percent by weight of dry steam or moisture in the mixture
• Solid contents, Steam purity: parts per million of solids impurity in the steam
Steam quality
There are salts dissolved in feedwater that need to be prevented from entering the superheater and
thereby into the turbine. Depending on the amount of dissolved salt, some impurity deposition can
occur on the inner surfaces of the turbine or on the inner surface of superheater tubes as well. Steam
cannot contain solids (due to its gaseous form), and therefore the water content of steam defines the
possible level of impurities. The water content after the evaporator (before superheaters) should be
<< 0.01 %-wt (percents by weight) to avoid impurity deposition on the inner tube surfaces. If the
boiler in question is a high subcritical-pressure or supercritical boiler, the requirements of the steam
purity are higher (measured in parts per billion).
Steam purity
The solid contents are a measure of solid particles (impurities) of the steam. The boiler water
impurity concentration, solid contents after the steam drum and moisture content after the steam
drum are directly connected: e.g. If the boiler water impurity concentration is 500 ppm and the
moisture level in the steam (after the boiler) 0,1 %, the solids content in the steam (after the boiler)
is 500 ppm * 0,1 % = 0,5 ppm.
Continuous blowdown
When water is circulated within the steam
generating circuits, large amounts are re-
circulated, steam leaves the drum and
feedwater is added to replace the exiting steam.
This causes the concentration of solid
impurities to build up.
To continuously remove the cumulative

amounts of concentrated solids, a sparger the
length of the drum is situated below the
centerline. The continuous blowdown piping is
used to blow the accumulations out of the
drum and into the "continuous blowdown
tank".
Figure 6: Blowdown piping [Andritz].

Sampling is done to properly set the rate of blowdown based upon allowable amounts of identified
solids. A photograph of the blowdown piping in the recovery boiler is shown in Figure 6.
Steam drum placement
Natural circulation boilers

In natural circulation boilers the steam drum
should be placed as high as possible in the boiler
room because the height difference between the
water level in the steam drum and the point
where water begins its evaporation in the boiler
tubes, defines the driving force of the circuit.
The steam drum is normally placed above the
boiler. Figures 7 and 8 shows photos from the
installation process of the recovery boiler steam
drum.
For assisted/forced and controlled circulation

boilers the steam drum can be placed more
freely, because their circulation is not depending
on the place of the steam drum (pump-based Figure 7: Installation of steam drum [Andritz].
circulation). This is a reason why assisted/forced
and controlled circulation boilers have been
preferred in e.g. boiler modernizations, when the
biggest problem is usually lack of space.
Other aspects of steam drum design

Inside the steam drum there are also different
kinds of auxiliary devices for smooth operation
of the drum.
The ends of feedwater pipes are placed below the

drum water level and must be arranged so that
the cold-water flow will not touch directly the
shell of the drum to avoid thermal stresses.
The water quality is maintained on one hand by

chemical feed lines, which bring water treatment
chemicals into the drum, and on the other hand
by blowdown pipes which remove certain
portion of the drum water continuously or at
regular intervals. Figure 8: Steam drum installation [Andritz].
A dry-box can be placed before the removal pipe

for steam. It consists of a holed or cone-shaped
plate construction allowing a smooth flow
distribution to a steam dryer.

Feedwater system
This chapter describes the feedwater system
part of the power plant process prior the boiler,
i.e. between the condenser (after turbine) and
the economizer.
The feedwater system supplies proper

feedwater amount for the boiler at all loads
rates. The parameters of the feedwater are
temperature, pressure and quality. The
feedwater system supplies also spray water for
spray water groups in superheaters and
reheaters.
The feedwater system consists of a feedwater Figure 9: Feedwater system [Andritz].

tank, feedwater pump(s) and (if needed) high-
pressure water preheaters.
Feedwater tank
A boiler should have as large feedwater reserve
as is needed for safe shutdown of the boiler.
The heat absorbed by the steam boiler should
be taken into account when dimensioning the
feedwater reserve (feedwater tank). The exact
rules for the choice of feedwater reserve are
included in respective standards. The residence
time for feedwater is 20 min in most standards,
which depends on fuel and firing method. Thus
a fluidized bed boiler, which has as a large heat
storage capacity in its bed, requires a larger
feedwater tank than a gasified boiler. The
feedwater tank of the recovery boiler is shown
in Figures 9, 10 and 11. [4] Figure 10: Feedwater tank drawing
Condensate (from turbine), fully demineralized

(purified) makeup water and low-pressure
steam are the normal inputs to the feedwater
tank. All the inputs are fed to the deaerator,
which handles the gas removal and chemical
feeding of the feedwater mix before it enters
the feedwater tank.
The function of the low-pressure steam

(usually 3-6 bars) is to heat the feedwater and
remove gas (O2 and CO2). The steam-gas
mixture continues from the deaerator to a
specific condenser, where the heat from low- Figure 11: Feedwater tank transportation.
pressure steam is recovered. [2] [5]

Feedwater pump
The feedwater pumps lead feedwater from the
feedwater tank to the boiler and pressurize the
water to the boiler pressure level. Regulations
allow using only one feedwater pump for
(very) small boilers, whereas for bigger units at
least two feedwater pumps are needed. Usually
there are two similar and parallel-connected
feedwater pumps with enough individual
power to singularly supply the feedwater needs
of the boiler, in case one was damaged. A
photo of a feedwater pump being manufactured
is shown in Figure 12.
Feedwater pumps are usually over Figure 12: Feedwater pump manufacture
dimensioned in relation to mass flow rate of [Sulzer].
steam in order to have enough reserve capacity
for blowdown water and soot blowing steam Steam drum
etc. pp
Smaller feedwater pumps are always electric Hgeod

powered, while feedwater pumps for bigger
capacity may be steam powered. Feedwater tank Back-pass
Boiler
superheater
Normally the feedwater tank is placed above Hs

the feedwater pumps in the boiler room. The
difference in altitudes between feedwater Feedwater
pumps and feedwater tank is defined by a pump
parameter called NPSH (net positive suction

head). It is related to the cavitation of
feedwater pumps and it defines the minimum
altitude difference between feedwater pump Figure 13: Feedwater pump head calculation.
and feedwater tank.
The feedwater pump head [N/m2] can be calculated according to the following equation:
∆p pump = p p + ∆p flow + ρgH geod (1)
where pp is the maximum operating pressure at the steam drum, ∆pflow is the loss in the feedwater
piping and economizer, and ρgHgeod is the pressure required to overcome the height difference
between feedwater tank lower level and drum level (visualized in Figure 13). [6]
Feedwater heaters
There are two types of feedwater heaters in power plant processes: high-pressure (HP) and low-
pressure (LP) feedwater heaters. Of these, the HP feedwater heaters are situated after the
feedwater pump (before the economizer) in the power plant process. LP feedwater heaters are
situated between condenser and feedwater tank (deaerator), before the feedwater pump in the
process. High-pressure feedwater heaters are also called closed-type feedwater heaters since
fluids are not mixed in this type of heat exchanger. Normal construction of HP and LP feedwater

heaters is a shell-and-tube heat exchanger - feedwater flows inside the tubes and steam outside
the tubes (on shell side). A photo of a feedwater heater is shown in Figure 14.
In a large conventional power plant the typical

arrangement of feedwater heaters is a block of
open-type (LP) feedwater heaters and a block
of HP feedwater heaters after the feedwater
pump in the process. The typical number of LP
feedwater heaters in a large power plant is 3-4
and the number of HP feedwater heaters 3-5,
respectively.
The procedure for optimal placement of HP

feedwater heaters begins by defining the Figure 14: Feedwater heater.
enthalpy difference between feedwater pump
outlet and economizer inlet. This enthalpy
difference is then divided by the amount of HP
feedwater heaters and the result is the enthalpy
rise in every HP feedwater heater stage
Steam temperature control

Steam consumers (e.g. turbine, industrial
process) require relatively constant steam
temperatures (±5°C); therefore means of boiler
steam temperature control is required.
Steam temperature control system helps

maintaining high turbine efficiency, and
turbine material temperatures at a reasonable
level at boiler load changes. An uncontrolled
convective superheater would cause a rise in Figure 15: Attemperator on recovery boiler.
steam temperature as the steam output [Andritz].
increases.
Methods for steam temperature control are:
• Water spraying superheated steam

• Steam bypass (superheater bypass)
• Flue gas bypass
• Flue gas re-circulation
• Heat exchanger system
• Firing system adjustment
Dolezahl attemperator
The Dolezahl attemperator (or simply attemperator or de-superheater) is a steam temperature
control system that uses condensate as spray water. The location of the attemperator on the recovery
boiler is shown in Figures 1 and 15.

In a Dolezahl attemperator system saturated
steam from steam drum is lead to a condenser
that is cooled by feedwater (Figure 16).
Condensate (saturated water) continues from
condenser to spray water groups (injectors). The
injectors spray water into the steam and thus
reduce the temperature of the superheated steam.
Injectors are usually located between
superheater stages.
The main advantage of Dolezahl attemperators

is the high quality of spray water since the
impurities do not follow with the steam flow
from the steam drum. Complexity (condenser Figure 16: Dolezahl condenser on the recovery
and tubing) and thus expensiveness is the boiler [Andritz].
biggest disadvantage of Dolezahl attemperator
systems. Nowadays Dolezahl attemperators are
mostly used in special boiler applications.
Spray water group

Water spraying the steam flow is the most common method for live steam temperature control.
Main advantages of water spraying-based temperature control are the speed and effectivity of the
regulation. This makes their use possible in large-scale boilers. It can be used for reheat steam
temperature control as well, but usually reheat steam temperature control is performed by
combining water spraying with some other method (e.g. flue gas bypass).
The main function of spray water group is to reduce steam temperature by injecting water into
steam flow when needed. It is also used to prevent superheater tubes against excessive temperature
rise (too much superheating), which could lead to superheater tube damage. The sprayed water can
be feedwater (normally) or condensate (condensate steam from boiler process). The system using
condensate is called an attemperator.
Water atomizer types
The two existing types of steam coolers are categorized by their way of cooling water atomization:
• Atomizer based on pressurized water flow

• Atomization by steam flow
The atomizer principle based on pressurized water has many possibilities of water spraying
directions and nozzle types. This type of system is applicable when variations in steam flow are not
large and the temperature difference between incoming steam to be cooled and outgoing already
cooled steam is big enough.
Steam based atomizer uses steam as medium for atomization. Medium and low-pressure steam is
also used as sprayed matter in order to get more effective cooling. The atomization steam flow is
normally constant, being about 20 % of the cooling water flow.
The choice of spray water atomizer type is based on needed operation range (here needed minimum
operational load) and is usually very much case-specific.

References
2. Recovery Boiler Operation Manual, Ahlstrom Machinery Corporation 1999, CD-Rom
3. Alvarez, H. ”Energiteknik del 1” and ”Energiteknik del 2”. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

1990.
5. El-Wakil, M. M. ”Powerplant technology”. McGraw Hill, New York. 1984.
6. Huhtinen, M., Kettunen, A., Nurmiainen, P., Pakkanen, H. ”Höyrykattilatekniikka”.

Painatuskeskus, Helsinki. 1994.

Heat Exchangers in Steam Boilers
Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori
Table of contents
Heat transfer surfaces...........................................................................................................................3
Arrangement of heat transfer surfaces (furnace-equipped boiler) .......................................................4
Furnace.................................................................................................................................................6
General .............................................................................................................................................6
Membrane wall ................................................................................................................................6
Convection evaporators....................................................................................................................7
Boiler bank...................................................................................................................................7
Economizer ..........................................................................................................................................8
Superheater...........................................................................................................................................9
General .............................................................................................................................................9
Types of superheater surfaces ..........................................................................................................9
Radiation superheaters .................................................................................................................9
Convection superheaters ..............................................................................................................9
Panel superheater .......................................................................................................................10
Wing wall superheater ...............................................................................................................10
Back-pass superheater set ..........................................................................................................11
Reheater .........................................................................................................................................11
Connections of superheater elements.............................................................................................11
Air preheater ......................................................................................................................................12
Regenerative air preheaters............................................................................................................12
Recuperative air preheaters............................................................................................................13
Tubular recuperative air preheater .............................................................................................13
Plate recuperative air preheater..................................................................................................14
References ..........................................................................................................................................15
Heat Exchangers in Steam Boilers - 2

Heat transfer surfaces
The primary elements of a boiler are the heat transfer surfaces, which transfer the heat from the flue
gases to the water/steam circulation. The objective of the boiler designer is to optimize thermal
efficiency and economic investment by arranging the heat transfer surfaces and the fuel-burning
equipment.
Heat transfer surfaces in modern boilers are furnaces, evaporators, superheaters, economizers and
air preheaters. The surfaces cover the interior of the boiler from the furnace (or inlet in a HRSG) to
the boiler exhaust.
The main means of heat transfer in a furnace is radiation. Superheaters and reheaters are exposed to
convection and radiant heat, whereas convectional heat transfer predominates in air heaters and
economizers.
Flue gases exiting the boiler can be cooled down close to the dew point (t=150-200 °C). Air
preheaters and economizers recover heat from the furnace exit gases in order to reduce flue gas
outlet temperature, preheat combustion air (thus increasing efficiency) and use the heat to increase
the temperature of the incoming feed water to the boiler.
Every heating surface cannot be found in every boiler. In industrial systems where saturated steam
is needed, there are no superheaters. Superheaters are built when superheated steam is needed
(mainly at electricity generation in order to reach high efficiency and avoid droplets in the steam
turbine). Figure 1 gives and example of the physical arrangement of heat transfer surfaces in a
boiler with two-pass layout.
Superheater
(steam)
Economizer
(water)
Air preheater
Evaporator
(air)
(water/steam-
mixture)
Figure 1: Physical locations of heat transfer surfaces in a boiler with two-pass layout.

Arrangement of heat transfer surfaces (furnace-equipped
boiler)
According to the second law of
thermodynamic heat transfer HP Steam
Flue Gas
cannot occur from a lower OUT
OUT
temperature level to a higher

one. That's why the flue gas
temperature has to be higher Superheater
Economizer
Blower
than the temperature of the Feedwater

heat absorption fluid (working IN
fluid). The temperature of flue Coal

IN
Air preheater
gas leaving the furnace is 800- Furnace
Air
1400 °C and it cools down to IN
150-200 °C in the air preheater Burner

(Figure 2). The right Ash
OUT
arrangement of heat transfer

surfaces have an effect on
durability of material, fouling
of material, temperature of
Figure 2: Process drawing of the arrangement of heat transfer
steam and final temperature of
surfaces in a furnace equipped boiler
flue gas.
The evaporator is generally built into the furnace. Moving through the flue gas path in a boiler the
heating surfaces are found in the sequence shown in Figure 1: furnace, superheaters (and reheaters),
economizer and air preheater.
Table 1 presents and example of changes of stream temperatures in heat exchanger surfaces of a
boiler, where the steam pressure is about 80-90 bar.
Table 1: Typical stream temperature changes in heat exchanger surfaces of a boiler.
Boiler surface Working fluid temperature [°C] Flue gas temperature drop [°C]
Furnace 290->300 1400->1000
Superheaters 300->600 1000->600
Economizer 105->290 600->300
Air preheater 20->200 300->150
The heat transfer in the furnace results in a phase change of the working fluid (water to steam or
fluid to gas). The small water/steam temperature rise is due to the fact that the water enters the
furnace slightly sub-cooled (not saturated). These temperatures are only examples. They can be at
various levels at different types of boiler, but the heat load graph look practically the same. The heat
load graph, constructed from the table above, can be found in Figure 3.

1600
Flue gas stream
1400 Water/steam stream

Air stream
1200
1000
Temperature [°C]
800
600
Air preheater
400
200
Furnace
Superheater Economizer
0
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %
Share of heat load [%]
Figure 3: Example of a heat load graph for a furnace equipped boiler.

Furnace
General
The furnace is the part of the boiler where the
combustion of the fuel takes place. The main
role of the boiler furnace is to burn the fuel as
completely and stably as possible. Leaving
unburned material will decrease the heat
efficiency and increase the emissions.
Combustion must be performed in an
environmentally sustainable way. The
emissions from the furnace must be as low as
possible.
Figure 4: Inside a recovery boiler furnace
The furnace walls of a modern boiler consist of
[Andritz].
vertical tubes that function as the evaporator
part of the steam/water cycle in the boiler. The
boiler roof is usually also part of the evaporator
as well as the flue gas channel walls in the
economizer and the air preheater parts of the
boiler. Figure 4 shows a photograph from the
inside of a recovery boiler furnace.
Adequate furnace cooling is vital for the boiler.

However, when burning very wet fuels as wood
chips, some parts of the furnace should not be
cooled in order not to remove too much heat
from furnace. Thus a part of the furnace of
boilers using such fuels consists of a refractory
material, which reflects the heat of combustion
to the incoming wet fuel.
If the flue gas temperature after furnace is too

high, the smelting of ash can occur such Figure 5: Furnace temperature distribution.
problems as ash deposition on superheater
tubes. High temperature corrosion of
superheater tubes can appear as well. Figure 5 Gas tight modern tube wall
presents an example of a temperature
distribution in a two-pass boiler.
Membrane wall Insulation wool
Nowadays, the furnace is generally constructed

as a gas-tight membrane wall. The membrane
Outer wall
wall construction consists of tubes, which have
been welded together separated by a flat iron Figure 6: Modern gas-tight membrane tube wall
strip, called the membranes. The membranes construction. Unfinned wall tubes are welded
act as fins to increase the heat transfer. They together with metal strips.

also form a continuous rigid and pressure tight construction for the furnace. The most common
furnace tube used is a finned carbon steel tube that forms the membrane wall. A drawing visualizing
a typical membrane tube wall can be found in Figure 6.
Convection evaporators
In boilers with low steam pressure, the share of the heat needed for evaporation is bigger than when
considering a high-pressure boiler. Thus the furnace-wall evaporator cannot provide enough heat
for evaporation process in low-pressure boilers. Convection evaporators supply the supplementary
heat needed for complete evaporation. They are normally placed after the superheater stage in boiler
process. Convection evaporators can cause local tube overheat problems with partial loads.
Boiler bank
A boiler bank is a convection
evaporator that uses two drums: one on
the top of the evaporator tubes, and
another in the bottom. A boiler bank is
usually used in parallel with the natural
circulation based evaporator/furnace, as
in Figure 7. Boiler banks are less
common nowadays and are nowadays
typically used in low pressure and
small boilers.
Figure 7: Boiler generating bank (marked with green

colour).

Economizer
After the feedwater pump, the water has the
required pressure and temperature to enter the
boiler. The pressurized water is introduced
into the boiler through the economizers. The
economizers are heat exchangers, usually in
the form of tube packages.
The purpose of economizers is to cool down

the flue gases leaving the superheater zone,
thus increasing the boiler efficiency. The
limiting factor for cooling is the risk of low
temperature corrosion, i.e. dew point of water.
Economizers are placed after the superheater
zone in the flue gas channel. They are usually Figure 8: Economizer tube banks prior to
constructed as a package of tubes fastened on installation [Andritz].
the walls of the flue gas channel.
Flue gases are cooled down with feedwater, which gets preheated up to its saturation temperature.
In order to prevent the feedwater from boiling before it has entered the furnace/evaporator, the
temperature of the feedwater exiting the economizer is usually regulated with a safety margin below
its saturation temperature (about 10°C). The heated water is then led to the steam drum.
The economizer shown in Figure 8 consists of two long-flow, vertical sections. Each economizer
section is comprised of straight vertical finned tubes, which are connected in parallel to one another.
The tubes are connected at the top and bottom to larger headers. This kind of vertical tube packages
is typical for chemical recovery boilers. Other boilers use packages of horizontal tubes. The bundles
are placed in the second pass of the boiler, behind the superheaters. Here, the water is utilizing the
heat of the flue gases that is left from the superheaters, before the flue gases leave the boiler. The
flue gas temperature should always stay above the dew point of the gases to prevent corrosion of the
precipitators and ducts.

Superheater
General
The superheater is a heat exchanger that overheats (superheats) the saturated steam. By
superheating saturated steam, the temperature of the steam is increased beyond the temperature of
the saturated steam, and thus the efficiency of the energy production process can be raised.
Superheated steam is also used in facilities that don't produce electricity.
The benefits of using superheated steam are:
• Zero moisture content

• No condensate in steam pipes
• Higher energy production efficiency
The superheater normally consists of tubes

conducting steam, which are heated by flue
gases passing outside the tubes. The tubes are
usually connected in parallel using headers, with
steam entering from one header and exiting in
another header. There can be several superheater
units in the same boiler, as well as reheaters,
which is a superheater for heating external steam
(steam already used in a process outside the
boiler). [10]
Types of superheater surfaces

Superheaters can be divided into convection
based and radiation based superheaters.
Radiation superheaters Figure 9: Panel superheaters in production

Radiation based superheaters are used to gain [Andritz].
higher steam temperatures and the heat is mainly
transferred by radiation. These superheaters have to be placed within reach of the flame radiation.
Thus radiant superheaters are usually integrated as tubes in the boiler-walls or built as panels
hanging from the boiler roof. The radiation superheater is located in the top of the furnace, where
the main means of heat transfer is radiation.
Convection superheaters
Convection superheaters are the most common superheaters in steam boilers. Convection based
superheaters are used with relatively low steam temperature, and the heat from the flue gases is
mainly transferred by convection. They are placed after the furnace protected from the corrosive
radiation of the flames. This type of superheater can also be protected from radiation by a couple of
rows of evaporator tubes. Convection based superheaters can hang from the boiler roof or they can
be placed in the second pass of the boiler (in a two-pass design), and are called back-pass
superheaters.

Radiation
superheaters Panel
superheater
Back-pass
superheater
Wing wall Convection

superheater superheater
Figure 10: Arrangement of various types of superheater units.
Panel superheater
The panel superheater (shown in Figures 9 and
11) functions on both radiation and convention
heat transfer, depending on its location in the
boiler. It consists of tubes that are tightly
bundled in thin panel walls, which hang from
the roof in the exhaust of the furnace. The
distance between the panels is usually about
300-500 mm. The tubes are laid out according to
the inline arrangement. This kind of superheater
can be located e.g. first in the flue gas stream
after furnace in which coal with low heating
value is burned (brown coal). The panel
superheater is resistant to fouling and can Figure 11: Panel superheaters installed
withstand high heat flux. [Andritz].
Wing wall superheater

The wing wall superheater is a kind of panel superheater that extends from a furnace (Figure 10).
The bank of tubes, which are welded together, is usually built in the front wall of boiler. It has
become popular especially in CFB applications. The tube is often made of carbon steel. The wing
wall superheater receives heat mainly through radiation.

Back-pass superheater set
Convection superheaters, located in the flue gas
channel (Figure 10 and 12) where the flue gas starts
flowing downwards, are called back-pass
superheaters. In large CFB, coal and oil boilers
horizontal tube arrangements are commonly used.
Back-pass superheater tubes hang from the back-
pass roof.
Reheater
A reheater is basically a superheater that superheats
steam exiting the high-pressure stage of a turbine.
The reheated steam is then sent to the low-pressure
stage of the turbine. By reheating steam between
high-pressure and low-pressure turbine it is possible
to increase the electrical efficiency of the power Figure 12: Back-pass superheater.
plant cycle beyond 40%. The reheat cycle is used in
large power boilers since it is feasible economically T B D
only in larger power plants. Reheater design is very
much similar to superheater design because both
operate at high temperature conditions. The effect of
the reheater in a T-S diagram is plotted in Figure 13.
A C
Connections of superheater elements

Considering the steam flow, superheater elements
are usually connected in series, e.g. first convection
stage and then radiant stage. When looking in the
direction of the flue gas flow, the radiant stage is
placed before the convectional stage of the S
superheaters. The steam temperature that can be Figure 13: The reheater (line C-D) in a
reached with convection type superheaters is power plant cycle, plotted in a T-S diagram
significantly lower than that reached with radiant for steam/water.
type superheaters. Thus, boilers having high live
steam temperature use radiant type superheaters as
final superheater.
The small amount of saturated water still remaining in steam evaporates in the first superheater
section. This makes solid impurities of boiler water stick on inner surface superheater tubes and
thus decreases the heat transfer coefficient of the tubes. Superheater stages are therefore placed in
counter-current order, i.e. the first superheater stage is situated at the lowest flue gas temperature.
However, the superheater situated at the hottest spot within the boiler (normally convective
superheater) is not usually the final superheater because of the possible overheating problems. Thus,
the convective superheater is connected in forward-current order in relation to flue gas flow to
provide enough cooling for superheater tubing (Figure 14)

Superhe ated
Steam OUT
Reheated
Steam OUT
Feedwater
IN
Saturated Reheater
Steam IN IN
Reheater I
Superheater I
Reheater II
Superheater III
Superheater II
Figure 14: Connection of superheater and reheater stages.
The superheater banks are connected to

proceeding banks by interconnecting piping, i.e.
pipes connect each ends of an outlet header to
the opposite ends of the next superheater's inlet
headers, as shown in Figure 15. This cross-over
of steam flow assures even distribution of steam
circulation through the entire superheater system
and minimized temperature variations from one
side of the boiler to the other.
Air preheater
Regenerative air preheaters Figure 15: Cross-connections of superheater
In regenerative air preheaters (also called headers [Andritz].
Ljungstrom® air preheaters) no media for heat
transfer is used - they use the heat accumulation
capacity of a slowly rotating rotor for
transferring the heat. The rotor is alternately
heated in the flue gas stream and cooled in the
air stream, heat-storage being provided by the
mass of the packs consisting of closely spaced
metal sheets (Figure 16), 0.5-0.75 mm thick, Figure 16: Heat transfer surfaces of the rotor
[Alstom].

which absorb and give off heat on both sides.
The rotor is divided into pie-shaped 'baskets' of
theses metal sheets, which in turn pick up heat
from flue gases and release it into the
combustion air, as shown in the drawing in
Figure 17.
Regenerative air preheaters occupy little space;

about 1/4 or 1/6 of the space required by
recuperative air preheaters and can be produced
cheaply. Without exaggeration it can be claimed
that they have rendered possible the low flue-gas Figure 17: The heat-transfer principle of a
exit temperatures achieved today. Their reduced regenerative air preheater [Alstom].
tendency to dew point corrosion should also be
stressed, in particular where sulphur-containing
fuels are used. Moreover, any sheet metal packs
that have become corroded can be replaced
easily and quickly. They can also be cleaned
easily by playing a jet of steam over the gaps in
the packs of sheet metal.
The Ljungström air preheater has acquired

exceptional importance; since the last war it has
found wide acceptance in Europe. The
Rothmuhle is another type of regenerative air
Figure 18: A photograph of a Ljungstrom air
preheater, where the duct rotates around the
preheater [Alstom].
battery of plates, which is fixed.
The problem of regenerative air preheaters is the gas leakage from one side to another. This can
cause fires due to air leakage if flue gases contain high amount of combustibles (due to poor
combustion). A photograph of a regenerative air preheater can be found in Figure 18.
Recuperative air preheaters

In a recuperative air heater the heat from a high-temperature flowing fluid (flue gas) passes through
a heat transfer surface to cooler air. The heating medium is completely separated at all times from
the air being heated. The recuperative principle implies the transfer of heat through the separation
partition, with the cool side continuously recuperating the heat conducted from the hot side. Thus,
the advantage of recuperative air preheaters in general is the lack of leakage because the sealing is
easier to implement here than in the regenerative type. The separating surface may be composed of
tubes or plates. The rate of flow is determined by temperature differential, metal conductivity, gas
film conductivity, conductivity of soot, and ash and corrosion deposits. The cumulative effect of
these factors may be large. There are two types of recuperative heat exchangers: tubular and plate
preheaters.
Tubular recuperative air preheater

Tubular air preheater is comprised of a nest of long, straight steel or cast-iron tubes expanded into
tube sheets at both ends, and an enclosing casing provided with inlet and outlet openings. If the
tubes are placed vertically, the flue gases pass through or around them (Figure 19). If the tubes are
placed horizontally, the flue gases only pass around them (Figure 20). The design, which usually
provides a counter-flow arrangement, may consist of a single pass or multiple passes with either

splitter (parallel to tubes) or deflecting (cross-tube) baffling. Traditionally the tubes were made of
cast iron for good corrosion resistance. Thus the whole preheater was heavy and needed massive
foundations.
Flue gas
Air
Flue gas
Air
Figure 20: Two-pass (horizontal) air preheater

design.
Figure 19: Straight (vertical) air preheater
design.
Plate recuperative air preheater

A newer, alternative design is the plate-frame type recuperative air preheater. It offers the same heat
transfer capacity with reduced unit weight and size. Plate air preheater consists of a series of thin,
flat, parallel plates assembled into a series of thin, narrow compartments or passages, all suitably
cased. Flue gas and air pass through alternate spaces in counter-flow directions. The plate air
preheater may be arranged more compactly than the tubular type. Because of cleaning difficulties,
however, its use is diminishing.

References
1. VDI Wärmeatlas
2. (Alvarez: Energiteknik, p. 368)
3. M. Huhtinen, A. Kettunen, P. Nurminen, H. Pakkanen, Höyrykattilatekniikka, Oy Edita Ab,

Helsinki 1994, ISBN 951-37-1327-X
4. Opetusmoniste kevät 2000: Ene-47.110 Yleinen energiatekniikka, erä 1, HUT
5. Opetusmoniste kevät 2000: Ene-47.124 Höyrykattilatekniikka, erä 1, HUT
7. V. Meuronen, 4115 Höyrykattiloiden suunnittelu, Opetusmoniste 1999, LTKK, ISBN 951-

764-382-9
8. Combustion Fossil Power Systems
9. E.Vakkilainen, Steam boilers – Thermal design of boiler parts, lecture notes
10. Recovery Boiler Operation Manual, Ahlstrom Machinery Corporation 1999, CD-Rom

Boiler Calculations
Table of contents
Steam/water diagrams used in boiler calculations ...............................................................................3
Temperature-heat (T-Q) diagram.....................................................................................................3
Temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram.................................................................................................4
Pressure-enthalpy (p-h) diagram ......................................................................................................5
Enthalpy-entropy (Mollier, h-s) diagram .........................................................................................6
Determination of steam/water parameters ...........................................................................................7
Given parameters .............................................................................................................................7
Pressure losses..................................................................................................................................7
Procedure for determination of specific enthalpies and mass flow rates.........................................8
Superheaters and reheaters...............................................................................................................9
Spray water group mass flow...........................................................................................................9
Calculations of heat load................................................................................................................10
Evaporator..................................................................................................................................10
Superheater.................................................................................................................................11
Reheater .....................................................................................................................................11
Economizer ................................................................................................................................11
Air preheater ..............................................................................................................................12
Determination of boiler efficiency.....................................................................................................12
Standards........................................................................................................................................12
Major heat losses............................................................................................................................12
Heat loss with unburned combustible gases ..............................................................................12
Heat loss due to unburned solid fuel..........................................................................................13
Heat loss due to wasted heat in flue gases .................................................................................13
Heat loss due to wasted heat in ashes ........................................................................................13
Losses due to heat transfer (radiation) to the environment........................................................14
Losses of blowdown, sootblowing and atomizing steam...........................................................14
Internal power consumption...........................................................................................................14
Calculating boiler efficiency..........................................................................................................15
Direct method.............................................................................................................................15
Indirect method ..........................................................................................................................15
References ..........................................................................................................................................16
Boiler Calculations - 2
Steam/water diagrams used in boiler calculations
Temperature-heat (T-Q) diagram
The T-Q diagram is a useful tool for designing heat exchangers. It can also be used to present the
heat transfer characteristics of an existing heat exchanger or heat exchanger network. The T-Q
diagram consists of two axes: The current stream temperature on the y-axis and the amount of
heat transferred on the x-axis. Sometimes the streams are marked with arrowheads to clarify the
direction of the streams, but these are not necessary: since heat cannot move from the colder
stream to the hotter stream according to the second law of thermodynamics, the directions of the
streams are explicitly determined: The hot stream transfers its heat to the cold stream, thus the
flow direction of the hot stream is towards lower temperature and the flow direction of the cold
stream is towards higher temperatures. For the same reason, the hot stream is always above the
cold stream in the T-Q diagram (figure 1).
Figure 1: Examples of T-Q diagrams for a parallel flow heat exchanger (left), and a counter (or
cross) flow heat exchanger (middle). The hot stream is marked with red color and the cold with
blue color.
When designing or
1600
reviewing heat Flue gas stream
exchanger networks, the 1400 Water/steam stream
T-Q diagram gets useful. Air stream
The T-Q diagram is 1200
therefore applied when 1000
designing boilers;
Temperature [°C]
especially the heat 800
exchanger surface 600
arrangement can be Air preheater
clearly visualized with a 400
T-Q diagram (figure 2). 200

Furnace
Superheater Economizer
0
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %
Figure 2: Example of a T-Q diagram representing the heat surfaces

in a PCF boiler.
Temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram
The T-s diagram represents the
various phases of steam/water with
temperature as a function of the
specific entropy. It is often used to
tant
tant
v = constant
visualize steam power processes. The
p = cons
p = cons
T-s diagram is also commonly used
for displaying reversible processes
(or real processes simplified as
reversible processes), which in the T- Critical point
s diagram appear as closed curves
(loop).
The left border, up to the critical

Temperature
point, is the border where the liquid

is saturated (figure 3). That is, the p = constant
water is still liquid and contains no
t
steam. But if we go further right tan
ons
(increase the entropy), steam bubbles c
v=
uid
starts to form in the water. In other p = constant

liq
words, saturated water starts to boil
Sa
t ed
tur
when heat is added and entropy is
ra
tu
at
increased. Liquid-vapour region
e
Sa
va
d
po
X = 0,2 X = 0,9 ur
The enclosed region in the middle is
the region where water is a mixture Entropy
of vapor and liquid. Steam that
contains water in any form, either as Figure 3: Simplified T-s diagram of steam/water.
minute droplets, mist or fog, is called
wet steam. The quantity called ‘x’ in
the diagram
represents the amount (percentage by weight) of dry vapor in the wet steam mixture. This
quantity is called the quality of steam. For instance, if there is 10 % moisture in the steam, the
quality of the steam is 90 % or 0,9. The temperature of wet steam is the same as dry saturated
steam at the same pressure.
The right border, down from the critical point, is the line where steam is saturated. When steam
is heated beyond that border, steam is called superheated.
Water boils under constant temperature and pressure, so a horizontal line inside the enclosed
region represents a vaporization process in the T-s diagram. The steam/water heating process in
the boiler represented by the diagram in figure 2 can also be drawn in a T-s diagram (figure 4), if
the boiler pressure is assumed to be e.g. 10 MPa.
Figure 4: Detailed T-s diagram of the PCF boiler steam/water heating process from figure 2
(note: color of the steam/water process line is changed from blue to red).
Pressure-enthalpy (p-h) diagram

Another tool used in boiler
50 MPa
calculation is the pressure- 400 °C 500 °C 600 °C
Critical point
enthalpy diagram for 20 MPa
steam/water (figure 5). 300 °C
10 Mpa
With the p-h diagram it is
easy to visualize the partial
shares of the total heat load 200 °C
on different heat exchanger
Pressure
surfaces in the boiler: 1 MPa

uid
va p o r
drawing the steam heating

d liq
process in the boiler onto

Saturated
rate
the p-h diagram will give a

u
100 °C
Sat
horizontal line (if we 100 kPa

simplify the process and
set pressure losses to zero). 60 °C
Figure 6 shows the same
boiler steam/water process 10 kPa
from figure 4, drawn in the 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
steam/water p-h diagram. Enthalpy [kJ/kg]
Figure 5: Simplified p-h diagram for steam/water.
Figure 6: Detailed p-h diagram of the PCF boiler steam/water heating process (red line) from
figure 4.
Enthalpy-entropy (Mollier, h-s) diagram

The most frequently used tool for determining
steam properties is probably the enthalpy-
tant
tant
entropy (h-s) diagram, also called Mollier

p = cons
p = cons
T = constant
diagram (figure 7). If two properties of the
steam state are known (like pressure and
temperature), the rest of the properties for
steam (enthalpy, entropy, specific volume and
moisture content) can be read from the
diagram. A more detailed h-s diagram can be T = constant
found in figure 8. Since the diagram is very

large, the diagram is usually found as two
versions, consisting of zoomed portions of the
original: one for steam properties (figure 7)
ur
and another for water properties.

apo
X = 0,9
6
v
ted
ura
X=0
,90
Sat
Critical point Liquid-vapour region
Figure 7: Mollier (h-s) diagram, simplified

version.
Figure 8: Large-scale Mollier h-s diagram for steam.
Determination of steam/water parameters

Given parameters
Normally in a steam boiler design assignment the parameters describing the live (output) steam,
e.g. mass flow, pressure and temperature are given. If the steam boiler to be designed has a
reheat cycle, also reheat pressure and temperature are given. Reheat steam mass flow can be
given as well. These parameters are used to determine the rest of the steam/water parameters.
Pressure losses
The pressure losses in the heat exchanger units of the boiler are estimated according to the
following approximations:
• Economizer: the pressure loss is 5-10 % of the pressure of the feedwater entering the
economizer.
• Evaporator:
Once through boilers: in once-through boilers the pressure loss of the evaporator is
between 5 and 30 %.
Forced and natural circulation boilers: the pressure drop in the evaporator part of drum-
based boilers does not affect the pressure loss of the main steam/water flow through the
boiler. This means that saturated steam leaving the steam drum has the same pressure as
the feedwater entering the steam drum. The pressure loss of the evaporator has to be
overcome using the driving force (natural circulation) or circulation pump (forced
circulation).
• Superheater: the total pressure drop of all superheater packages is less than 10 % of the
pressure of the superheated steam.
• Reheater: the pressure drop in the reheater is about 5 % of the pressure of reheated steam
Pressure losses of connection tubes between different heat transfer surfaces (e.g. between
evaporator and superheater) can be neglected in these calculations.
Procedure for determination of specific enthalpies and mass flow

rates
1. The specific enthalpy of the superheated steam can be determined with an h-s diagram if both
the temperature and the pressure of the steam are known. Thus, the specific enthalpies for
live (superheated) steam and reheated steam can be calculated.
2. The total pressure loss of the superheater stages should be chosen. Thus, the pressure in
steam drum (drum-type boilers) or pressure after evaporator (once-through boilers) can be
calculated by adding the pressure loss over the superheater stages to the pressure of the
superheated steam.
3. Specific enthalpy of saturated water and steam (in the steam drum) can be read from an h-s
diagram or steam tables, as the pressure in the steam drum is known.
In once-through boilers the determination of specific enthalpy after the evaporator is based
on the temperature. The reason for this is the unclear state of supercritical steam after the
evaporator in once-through circulation. The temperature after the evaporator in once-through
boilers is typically between 400 and 450 °C.
4. For removal of salts and minerals concentrated in the steam drum, a part of the water in
steam drum is removed as blowdown water from the bottom of the steam drum. Normally the
mass flow rate of blowdown is 1-3 % of the mass flow rate of feedwater coming into steam
drum.
5. In principle, the feedwater coming into steam drum should be saturated water. To prevent the
feedwater from boiling in the transportation pipes, the temperature of the feedwater reaching
the steam drum is 15-30 °C below saturation temperature. This temperature difference is
called the approach temperature. The feedwater is then called subcooled (in contrast to
supercooled). When the temperature in the steam drum and the value of the approach
temperature are known, the temperature after the economizer can be determined. The water
pressure after the economizer can be assumed to be equal to the pressure in the steam drum
and specific enthalpy after the economizer can then be read from a h-s diagram.
In once through boilers the pressure after the economizer can be calculated by adding the
pressure loss in the evaporator to the pressure after evaporator. The temperature after the
evaporator is normally between 300 and 350 °C (can be chosen as a unique value for the
boiler). Knowing the pressure and the temperature, the specific enthalpy after the evaporator
can be defined.
6. The pressure before the economizer can be calculated by adding the pressure loss in the
economizer to the feedwater pressure after economizer. The feedwater temperature might be
stated in the boiler design assignment. If it is not given, it should be chosen from the range of
200-250 °C. The mass flow rate before the economizer is the blowdown mass flow rate
added to the mass flow rate from the steam drum to the superheaters.
Superheaters and reheaters

Reheating takes usually place in two stages.
The pressure before the reheater is the reheated t °C
steam pressure added on the pressure loss in
the reheater. The steam goes through a high-
pressure turbine before it enters the reheater. In 535
the high-pressure turbine, the specific enthalpy 505
of steam decreases according to the isentropic 475
efficiency of the turbine. Isentropic efficiency
is normally between 0,85 and 0,95. A part of 435
410
the low-pressure steam coming from high-
pressure turbine continues to the high-pressure
feedwater heater (closed-type feedwater
heater). However, the mass flow rate of 354
reheated steam is still 85-90 % of that of the
live steam.
I II III Heat load
Superheating and reahiting is often applied in
three stages having spray water groups Figure 9: An example of the heat load share of
between each other to regulate steam superheater stages.
temperature when necessary. Spray water
group dimensioning is usually based on a
steam temperature decrease of 15-40 °C by water spraying. Spray water originates normally from
the feedwater line before the economizer. Thus the pressure difference is the pressure loss of the
heat transfer surfaces between the economizer inlet and the location of the spray water nozzle.
An example of a possible heat load share between the superheater stages is shown in figure 9.
Pressure loss in superheaters can be divided into equal partial pressure losses corresponding to
each superheater stage. Pressure loss of the spray nozzles can be neglected. Temperature rise
over all superheaters can be divided into quite similar parts along the same principle.
Spray water group mass flow

Normally the mass flow rate of superheated steam (live steam) is known. Thus, mass flow rate
calculations start usually by calculating the mass flow rate of spray water to the last spray water
group (which is in this example between the second and third superheater stages). The mass flow
rates can be solved with energy and mass balance equations. With the equations below (equation
1), the mass flow rate of steam after second superheater stage and mass flow rate of spray water
to the last spray water group can be calculated. The mass flow rate of spray water to the first
spray water group can be calculated along the same procedure:
m& SHII + m& SPRAYII = m& SHIII
(1)
m& SHII ⋅ hSHII , 2 + m& SPRAYII ⋅ hSPRAY = m& SHIII ⋅ hSHIII ,1
where m& SHII is the mass flow rate of steam after second superheater stage [kg/s], m& SPRAYII the
mass flow rate of spray water to second spray water group, m& SHIII the mass flow rate of
superheated steam (live steam), hSHII , 2 the specific enthalpy of steam after second superheater
stage [kJ/kg], hSPRAY the specific enthalpy of spray water (feedwater), and hSHIII ,1 the specific
enthalpy of steam before third superheater stage. Figure 10 shows a flow chart with the symbols
visualized of the boiler arrangement used in this calculation model.
HP Steam HP Steam
OUT OUT
Reheat
IN
Flue Gas
SPRAYII SPRAYI OUT
2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
SHI SHIII RH SHII
Coal
IN ECO
EVAP 2
2
Ash
OUT Air
1 IN
APH
Feedwater
IN
Figure 10: Flow chart of the PCF boiler arrangement used in this heat load calculation model.
Calculations of heat load

When the steam parameters and mass flows have been determined, the heat load of the heat
exchanger units can be calculated. The heat load is the heat transferred by a heat exchanger
(calculated in kW).
Evaporator
The heat load of the evaporator part of the boiler can be calculated as:
φ EVAP = m& SH (h′′ − hECO 2 ) + m& BD (h′ − hECO 2 ) (2)
where m& SH is the mass flow of steam before superheater [kg/s], h ′′ the specific enthalpy of
saturated steam at steam drum pressure [kJ/kg], hECO 2 the specific enthalpy after economizer
m& BD the mass flow of blowdown water from steam drum, and h ′ the specific enthalpy of
saturated water at steam drum pressure [kg/s].
Superheater
Normally superheating takes place in three or four stages in a big boiler. This calculation
example is based on three stage superheating. The heat load of the first superheater stage is
φSHI = m& SH (hSHI , 2 − h′′) (3)
where hSHI , 2 is the specific enthalpy of steam after the first superheater stage. In the second
superheater stage the heat load added can be calculated as:
φSHII = m& SHII (hSHII , 2 − hSHII ,1 ) (4)
where m& SHII is the mass flow of steam before the second superheater [kg/s], hSHII , 2 the specific
enthalpy of steam after the second superheater stage [kJ/kg], and hSHII ,1 the specific enthalpy of
steam before the second superheater stage. Similarly, the heat load added in third superheater
stage can be calculated as:
φ SHIII = m& SHIII (hSHIII , 2 − hSHIII ,1 ) (5)
wher m& SHIII = Mass flow of steam before third superheater [kg/s], hSHIII , 2 the specific enthalpy of
steam after third superheater stage [kJ/kg], and hSHIII ,1 the specific enthalpy of steam before third
superheater stage [kJ/kg].
Reheater
The heat load of the reheater stage can be calculated as:
φ RH = m& RH (hRH 2 − hRH 1 ) (6)
where m& RH is the mass flow rate of steam in the reheater [kg/s], hRH 2 the specific enthalpy of
steam after the reheater [kJ/kg] , and hRH 1 the specific enthalpy of steam before the reheater.
Economizer
The heat load of the economizer can be calculated as:
φ ECO = m& ECO (hECO 2 − hECO1 ) (7)
where m& ECO is the mass flow rate of feedwater in the economizer [kg/s], hECO 2 the specific
enthalpy of feedwater after the economizer [kJ/kg], and hECO1 the specific enthalpy of feedwater
before the economizer.
Air preheater
In order to calculate the heat load for the air preheater, we need to know the combustion air mass
flow, the temperature of the flue gases and the incoming air. The combustion air fed into air
preheater, is taken from upper part of the boiler room. The temperature of the combustion air
before the air preheater is therefore between 25 and 40°C (in Finnish conditions). The flue gases
exiting the boiler are usually kept above 130-150 °C in order to prevent corrosion. The enthalpies
can be taken from tables:
m& AIR
φ APH = m& FUEL ⋅ ⋅ (hAPH 2 − hAPH 1 ) (8)
m& FUEL
m& AIR
where m& FUEL is the mass flow rate of fuel fed into the boiler [kg/s], the mass flow rate of
m& FUEL
combustion air divided by the mass flow rate of fuel fed into the boiler, h APH 1 the specific
enthalpy of combustion air before the air preheater [kJ/kg], and h APH 2 the specific enthalpy of
combustion air after the air preheater.
Determination of boiler efficiency

Standards
There are two main standards used for definition of boiler efficiency. Of those, the German DIN
1942 standard employs the lower heating value (LHV) of a fuel and is widely used in Europe.
The American ASME standard is based on higher heating value (HHV). However, this chapter
calculates the efficiency according to the DIN 1942 standard. [1]
It should be marked that with the DIN standard it is possible to reach boiler efficiencies over 100
%, if the condensation heat of the flue gases is recovered.
Major heat losses
Heat loss with unburned combustible gases

The typical unburned combustible gases are carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2). In large
boilers usually only carbon monoxide can be found in significant amounts in flue gases.
Assuming that flue gases contain only these two gases, the losses [kW]can be calculated as:
φ L1 = m& CO ⋅ H l ,CO + m& H ⋅ H l , H

2 2
(9)
where m& CO is the mass flow of carbon monoxide [kg/s], m& H 2 the mass flow of hydrogen,
H l ,CO the lower heating value (LHV) of carbon monoxide (10,12 MJ/kg), and H l , H 2 the lower
heating value (LHV) of hydrogen (119,5 MJ/kg). If a relevant amount of some other flue gas
compound can be found in the flue gases, it should be added to the equation.
Heat loss due to unburned solid fuel

Unburned fuel can exit the furnace as well as bottom ash or fly ash. The heating value of ashes
can be measured in a specific laboratory test. The losses [kW] of unburned solid fuels can be
calculated as:
φ L 2 = m& ubs ⋅ H l ,ubs (10)
where m& ubs is the total mass flow of unburned solid fuel (bottom ash and fly ash in total) [kg/s],
and H l ,ubs the lower heating value (LHV) of unburned solid fuel (fly ash and bottom ash in total)
[kJ/kg]. Some estimates of the losses with unburned solid fuels are presented in table 1:
Table 1: Estimates of losses with unburned solid fuel.
Boiler type Heat loss per heat input of fuel
Oil fired boiler 0,2 - 0,5 %

Coal fired boiler, dry ash removal 3%
Coal fired boiler, molten ash removal about 2 %
Grate boiler 4-6 %
Heat loss due to wasted heat in flue gases

Flue gases leave the furnace in high temperature and thus they carry significant amount of
energy away from boiler process. The heat loss due to wasted heat in flue gases is much larger
than any other loss; therefore this is the most dominating factor affecting the boiler efficiency.
To decrease flue gas losses, flue gas exit temperature should be decreased. However, the acid
dew point of flue gases restricts the flue gas temperature to about 130-150 °C for sulphur
containing fuels. The losses caused by the sensible heat of flue gases can be calculated as:
m& i
φ L 3 = m& fuel ⋅ ∑ ⋅ hi (11)
i m& fuel
where m& fuel is the fuel mass flow [kg/s], m& i the mass flow of a flue gas component, and hi the
specific enthalpy of a flue gas component (e.g. CO2) [kJ/kg].
Heat loss due to wasted heat in ashes

Ash can exit the furnace either as bottom ash from bottom of the furnace or as fly ash with flue
gases. The losses related to the sensible heat of ash can be calculated as:
φ L 4 = m& ba ⋅ c p ,ba ⋅ ∆Tba + m& fa ⋅ c p, fa ⋅ ∆T fa (12)
where m& ba is the mass flow of the bottom ash [kg/s], c p ,ba the specific heat of the bottom ash
[kJ/(kgK)], ∆Tba the temperature difference between the bottom ash temperature and the
reference temperature [°C], m& fa the mass flow of fly ash, c p , fa the specific heat of fly ash, ∆T fa
the temperature difference between the fly ash temperature and the reference temperature [°C].
Usually the reference temperature is 25 °C.
In recovery boilers the bottom ash is removed as molten ash in temperature of about 700-800 °C.
In addition, the amount of bottom ash divided by the amount of fuel is about 40 %. The loss of
sensible heat of ash is therefore of great importance in recovery boilers.
Losses due to heat transfer (radiation) to the environment

The main form of heat transfer from boiler to boiler room is radiation. It is proportional to the
outer surface area of the boiler and is usually 200-300 W/(m2K) for a well-insulated boiler
having its outer surface temperature below 55 °C. Another possibility to determine the heat
transfer losses to the environment is to use a table from the DIN 1942 standard, presented in
table 2.
Table 2: Estimations of heat transfer losses by radiation. [1]
Mass flow rate of steam [t/h]

Combustion method
10 20 40 60 80 100 200 400 600 800
Pulverized firing - 1,3 1,0 0,9 0,75 0,7 0,55 0,4 0,35 0,3
Loss [%] Grate 1,5 1,1 0,9 0,7 - - - - - -
Oil/gas fired boiler 1,3 0,9 0,7 0,6 0,55 0,4 0,3 0,25 0,2 0,2
Losses of blowdown, sootblowing and atomizing steam

Blowdown water from the steam drum and sootblowing steam (used to remove soot from heat
exchanger surfaces within the boiler) use a part of the steam produced by the boiler. This lowers
the boiler efficiency. In addition, steam is sometimes also used to atomize fuel in the burners.
The losses can be calculated as:
φ L 6 = m& bd ⋅ h′ + m& sb ⋅ hsb + m& atomizing ⋅ hatomizing (13)
m& bd is the mass flow of blowdown water [kg/s], h ′ is the specific enthalpy of saturated water
(blowdown water from steam drum) [kJ/kg], m& sb is the mass flow of sootblowing steam, hsb is
the specific enthalpy of steam used for sootblowing (when leaving the boiler), m& atomizing is the
mass flow of atomizing steam, and hatomizing the specific enthalpy of steam used for atomizing the
fuel (when leaving the boiler) [kJ/kg].
Internal power consumption

The power plant itself consumes a part of the electricity produced. This is due to the various
auxilary equipments required, like feedwater pumps, circulation pumps and air/flue gas blowers.
In forced circulation boilers the share of electricity consumed by the circulation pump is about
0,5 % of the electricity produced by the plant. The power consumption of the flue gas fan and the
air blower are 0,75 – 1 % each.. The largest power consumer is the feed water pump (about 2 %).
Normally the internal power consumption is about 5 % of the electricity produced by the power
plant. Since the power used is electrical (and taken from the grid), the internal power
consumption share is reduced from the final boiler efficiency in boiler calculations.
Calculating boiler efficiency

There are two different means of calculating the boiler efficiency: The direct method and the
indirect method.
Direct method
In the direct method, the boiler efficiency is directly defined by the exploitable heat output from
the boiler and by the fuel power of the boiler:
φoutput
η= (14)
φinput
where φ output is the exploitable heat output from boiler, and φ input the fuel power of the boiler.
The direct method can be used for steam boilers where it is possible to measure the fuel heat
input accurately.
Indirect method
Indirect method determines the efficiency of a boiler by the sum of the major losses and by the
fuel power of the boiler:
φlosses
η =1− (15)
φinput
where φ losses is the sum of the major losses within the boiler, and φ input is the fuel power of the
boiler.
The indirect method provides a better understanding of the effect of individual losses on the
boiler efficiency and is used for boilers where the fuel heat flow is difficult to measure (eg.
Biomass and peat fired steam boilers).
References
1. DIN 1942. "Abnahmeversuche an Dampferzeugern".
Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers
Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori
Table of contents
General design issues ...........................................................................................................................3
Heat transfer modes .........................................................................................................................3
Conduction ...................................................................................................................................3
Convection ...................................................................................................................................3
Radiation ......................................................................................................................................4
Pressure losses..................................................................................................................................4
Definition .....................................................................................................................................4
Gas side pressure drop for inline tube arrangement.....................................................................5
Gas side pressure drop for staggered tube arrangement ..............................................................5
Choice of tube surface......................................................................................................................6
Sizing of heat transfer surfaces ........................................................................................................6
Furnace design .....................................................................................................................................8
General design..................................................................................................................................8
Furnace strain level ..........................................................................................................................9
Tube wall design ............................................................................................................................10
Load characteristics........................................................................................................................10
Fuel type effect on furnace size .....................................................................................................10
Typical furnace outlet temperatures...............................................................................................11
Furnace air levels ...........................................................................................................................12
CFB furnace design........................................................................................................................12
BFB furnace design........................................................................................................................14
Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) design.............................................................................15
Furnace dimensioning, stirred reactor............................................................................................16
Superheater design .............................................................................................................................18
General ...........................................................................................................................................18
Design velocity ..............................................................................................................................18
Design spacing ...............................................................................................................................19
Tube arrangement ..........................................................................................................................20
Economizer design.............................................................................................................................21
General ...........................................................................................................................................21
Design method ...............................................................................................................................21
Air preheater design ...........................................................................................................................24
References ..........................................................................................................................................25
Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers - 2

General design issues
Heat transfer modes
Conduction
Conduction is the transfer of heat from one part of a body at a higher temperature to another part of
the same body at a lower temperature, or from one body at a higher temperature to another body in
physical contact with it at a lower temperature. The conduction process takes place at the molecular
level and involves the transfer of energy from the more energetic molecules to those with a lower
energy level.
Heat power [W] by conduction is:
t1 − t 2
Φ = λA (1)
s
Heat power depends on the heat transfer area (A), temperature difference (t1-t2), thermal
conductivity of material (λ) and the thickness of separating wall (s). The thermal conductivity is a
property of the material; metals conduct well heat whereas gases not. An example of thermal
conductivities in various materials is shown in table 1.
Table 1: Thermal conductivities for various materials.
Material Thermal conductivity [W/(m*K)]

Copper 370
Aluminium 210
Steel 45
Stainless steel 20
Insulations 0,03-0,1
Convection
Convection is heat transfer between a moving fluid or gas and a fixed solid. Convection can be
natural or forced: if a pump, a blower, a fan, or some similar device induces the fluid motion, the
process is called forced convection. If the fluid motion occurs as a result of the density difference
produced by the temperature difference, the process is called free or natural convection.
Heat power by convection can be calculated as:
Φ = α c A(t1 − t 2 ) (2)
The heat transfer coefficient αc varies much depending on e.g. flow velocity, type of fluid motion
and pressure. Heat transfer coefficients of liquids are much higher than those of gases, as can be
seen in the comparison presented in table 2.

Table 2: Convection heat transfer coefficients for various fluids.
2
Fluid Heat transfer coefficient [W/(m K)]
Steady water 100-500
Water flow 500-10000
Water boiling 1000-60000
Steady air 3-15
Air flow 10-100
Radiation
Radiation, or more correctly thermal radiation, is electromagnetic radiation emitted by a body by
virtue of its temperature and at the expense of its internal energy. All heated solids and liquids, as
well as some gases, emit thermal radiation.
The importance of radiation heat transfer will increase, when the temperature becomes higher.
Radiation heat transfer is the main heat transfer mode for the furnace and radiation superheaters.
Emitted heat by radiation can be calculated as:
Φ r = ε fwσA(T f4 − Tw4 ) (3)
where εfw is the view factor between the flame and the water walls:
1
ε fw = (4)
1 1
+ −1
εf εw
where εf is the emissivity of the flame (typically 0,35-0,85), εw the emissivity of the water walls
(typically 0,6), σ the Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5,6787*10-8 W/m2K4), A the effective water wall
surface (m2), Tf the average gas temperature in the furnace and Tw the average water wall surface
temperature surrounding the flame.
Radiation heat can also be expressed as
Φ = α rad A(t1 − t 2 ) (5)
where αrad is the radiation heat transfer coefficient.
Pressure losses
Definition
The difference between pressure gage readings in parts of a system operating with a positive
pressure relative to that of the atmosphere is generally called pressure drop. The pressure drop on
the gas side is equal to the friction losses, according to VDI Wärmeatlas [1]:
∆p gs = ∆p f (6)

Gas side pressure drop for inline tube arrangement
For inline tube arrangement the pressure drop coefficient for heat transfer surface with horizontal
tubes is:
∆p = n rζ r ∆p d (7)
where nr is the number of tube rows in the heat transfer unit, ∆pd dynamic pressure calculated at
the gas side using the mean temperature and the smallest area. The single row pressure drop ξr for
inline tube arrangement is calculated as
Re−1000
−
ζ r = ζ l + ζ t (1 − e 2000
) (8)
where
0.5
280π (( s l − 0.6) 2 + 0.75)
ζl = 1.6
(9)
(4s t s l − π ) s t Re
 0.94 0.6 
 (1 - ) 
sl
ζ t = 10 0.47(s t /s l -1.5)
(0.22 + 1.2  + 0.03( s t − 1)( sl − 1) (10)
 (s t - 0.85)1.3 
 
 
where ζ l is the laminar part of the pressure drop coefficient, ζ t is the turbulent part of the pressure
drop coefficient, s t is the dimensionless transverse pitch (s t = S t / d o ), s l is the dimensionless
longitudinal pitch ( s l = S l / d o ) and Re is the Reynolds number, calculated at the gas side mean
temperature and smallest area.
Gas side pressure drop for staggered tube arrangement

The single row pressure drop ζ r for staggered tubes is calculated similarly to inline tube
arrangement, with the following exceptions:
 −
Re − 200

ζ r = ζ l + ζ t 1 − e 1000 
 (11)
 

(
280π  s l − 0.6 + 0.75 
0. 5 2
)
ζl = (12)
(4st sl − π )c Re
1.6
where
c = st ; s l ≥ 2s t - 1/2
s 2 (13)
c = ( t ) 2 + s l ; s l < 2 st − 1 / 2
2

3 3
 1.2  s  s 
ζ t = 2.5 +   + 0.4 l − 1 − 0.01 t − 1
1.08      (14)
 (s t − 0.85)   st   sl 
Choice of tube surface

Surfaces used in tubular heat transfer units can be finned or unfinned (smooth surface). Heat
transfer properties can be improved using finned tubes, because the fins enlarge the tubular heat
transfer area.
The tubes in the economizer are usually finned,

because the heat transfer properties of the flue
gas side are not so good as on the water side.
Economizers are made of cast iron or steel
tubes. Cast iron tubes are easily equipped with
fins, but also steel tubes can be equipped with
fins. Finned tubes are more difficult to clean
than unfinned tubes, thus economizers with
unfinned steel tubes are used in boilers burning
fuels with a high ash content.
Figures 1-3 provide some examples on finned

steel tubes. Spiral finned tubes are often used in Figure 1: Spiral finned tubes.
heat recovery steam generators. By bending fins
heat transfer properties can also be improved.
Steel tube with aluminium fins endures better in
corrosive conditions. Compound composition
conists of a cast iron tube equipped with fins and
steel tube inside. A compound composistion
endures higher pressure.
In air preheaters finned steel tubes are not used,

since the heat transfer properties are practically
the same on both air and flue gas sides. When
cast iron tubes are used, heat transfer surfaces
are usually finned on both sides to improve the
heat transfer.
Superheaters and furnaces use unfinned tubes. Figure 2: Finned tubes.
Sizing of heat transfer surfaces

When sizing the heat transfer surface of a heat
exchanger the heat power to be transferred and
stream temperatures of inlets and outlets have to
be known. The heat power is proportional to the
area of the heat exchanger, heat transfer
coefficient and temperature difference (between
the streams):

Φ = kA∆Tlm (15)
The mean logarithmic temperature difference in

equation 15 can be calculated as:
∆Tmax − ∆Tmin
∆Tlm = (16)
∆T
ln max
∆Tmin
where ∆Tmax is the largest temperature difference

and ∆Tmin the smallest temperature difference:
Figure 3: Parallel finned tube.
∆Tmax = th1-tc2
∆Tmin = th2-tc1 (17)
where the inlet and outlet temperatures are

explained in Figure 4.
The heat surface area can be calculated from

equation 15, when temperatures and the heat
transfer coefficient have been determined, which
is the capability of the heat exchanger to transfer
heat between two fluids.
Figure 4: Heat exchanger stream descriptions

(for a cross-flow heat exchanger), used in
equation 17.

Furnace design
General design
The main parameters for the furnace sizing are furnace dimensions (height, depth, width and
configuration), furnace wall construction and desired furnace outlet temperature.
The heat transfer surface area of furnace consists of sides, base and beak, which is an "L"-formed
bending of the evaporator tubes that protect the superheaters from radiation. Most of utility and
industrial boiler furnaces have a rectangular shape. A large number of package boilers have a
cylindrical furnace. Furnace bottom for typical PCF boiler is double inclined or v-form, as shown in
Figure 5. Flat bottom is more typical for grate and fluidized bed boilers.
The ratio of height and width varies 1-5 for

boilers with two-pass layout. The larger the
boiler is, the larger is also the ratio. The largest
boilers have a width of 20 m and a height of 100
m. The fuel and vaporization efficiency
determines the size of the furnace. To be able to
dimension furnaces the overall mass balance, h A
heat balance and heat transfer must be specified.
V
The overall furnace (gas side) mass balance is
m& fg = m& air + ∑ m& fi − m& ash + m& sootb

(18) b2
b1
where the streams are described in Figure 6.
∑ m& fi is the sum of all the fuel streams into the Figure 5: Furnace dimensions. The painted
boiler and m& sootb is the sootblowing steam. The areas are the total effective furnace heat
furnace heat balance can be specified similarly: transfer area.
Φ fur = Φ net − Φ loss − Φ exit (19) m& fg
where the heat fluxes are shown in Figure 7. If

the gas side temperatures and emissivities are
known, the furnace heat flux absorbed by the
furnace walls can be expressed as
εw 4
m& air m& sootb
Φ fur = Aeff ⋅ σ ⋅ ⋅ (ε dg Tg
α dg + ε w − α dg ε w (20)
− α dg Tw ) + α c ⋅ Aeff ⋅ (Tg − Tw )
4
∑ m& fi
where Aeff is the effective heat transfer surface, m& ash

σ the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, ε w and ε dg
the emissivity of the wall and the (dusty) gas Figure 6: Fuel/flue gas side mass balance.

respectively, α dg the absorbability of the (dusty)
gas, α c the convective heat transfer coefficient, loss exit
and Tg and Tw the temperature of the gas and

wall respectively. The effect of convective term
is usually fairly small, often less than 10%.
Furnace strain level net fur
The furnace is preliminarily dimensioned with a

suitable strain level. The volume (marked with a
“V” in Figure 5) strain level is calculated as the
following:
Figure 7: Furnace heat balance.
Φ fuel
qV = (21)
b1b2 h
Table 3: Strain level effects of various fuels
where Φ pa is the heat released from the fuel in
the furnace and other variables furnace Fuel
Strain level
dimensions according to Figure 5. The strain [kW/m3]
level depends largely on different fuels. Coal 145-185
Reference values on strain levels from different Peat ~175
fuels are presented in table 3. Oil, natural gas 290-690
The area strain level is calculated as the heat

power in the furnace per base area of the furnace
(marked with an “A” in Figure 5):
Φ fuel
qF = (22)
b1b2
If the electric power of power plant is known, strain levels for the volume and base area can be
chosen from the graphs in Figure 8, and thereby the physical dimensions of the furnace can be
determined.
6 0,25
[MW/m3] [MW/m2]
5 0,20
4 0,15
3 0,10
2 0,05
0 200 400 600 MWe 0 200 400 600 MWe
Figure 8: Charts for selecting strain levels of the furnace.
The effective heat transfer surface area of the furnace, consisting of sides, base and beak, can be
calculated as following (assuming the beak adds 0,4*base area):

EPRS ≈ 2lb1 + 2lb2 (23)
The first two terms forms the effective projected radiant surface (EPRS), which is a widely used
concept.
Tube wall design

When the size of the furnace has been dimensioned, the tube size and material can be chosen and
the wall thickness can be calculated according to the SFS 3273, DIN or another applicable standard.
Then input velocity of water to furnace is chosen and number of necessary tubes is calculated.
The diameter of an evaporator tube is usually 30-80 mm and the wall thickness can be calculated
from the following equation:
du ⋅ p
s= + C1 + C 2 (24)
 σl 
2⋅ − p  ⋅ν + 2 ⋅ p
 n 
where du is the outside diameter of tube, p the design pressure, σ l the design strength, n a safety
factor (usually 1,5), ν the strength factor (usually 1,0), C1 an additional thickness, (normally 10 %
of the wall thickness) and C2 an additional thickness considering corrosion.
Load characteristics
When designing a steam-generating unit it is necessary to determine the following load
characteristics:
1. Minimum, normal and maximum load

2. Time duration of each load rate
3. Load factor
4. Nature of the load (constant or fluctuating)
The load factor is the actual energy produced by a power plant during a given period, given as a
percentage (share) of the maximum energy that could have been produced at full capacity during
the same period.
The design will determine the boiler's ability to carry a normal load at a high efficiency as well as to
meet maximum demand and rapid load changes. It will also determine the standby losses and the
rapidity with which the unit can be brought up to full steaming capacity. In smaller boiler sizes it is
possible to select a standardized unit that will meet the requirements; larger units are almost always
custom designed.
Fuel type effect on furnace size

The most important item to consider when designing a utility or large industrial steam generator is
the fuel the unit will burn. The furnace size, the equipment to prepare and burn the fuel, the amount
of heating surface and its placement, the type and size of heat recovery equipment, and the flue gas
treatment devices are all fuel dependent. The major differences among boilers that burn coal,
biomass, oil or natural gas result from the ash in combustion products.

Firing oil in the furnace produces relatively small amounts of ash. Natural gas produces no ash. For
the same power output, due to larger volumetric flue gas flow, coal-burning boilers must have
larger furnaces. The velocities of the combustion gases in the convection-based heat exchangers
must be lower, due to the high ash content of coal. Figure 9 presents an example of the relative sizes
of furnaces using three different fuels: natural gas, oil and coal. The power of the boiler is the same
in all three cases. Peat, biomass and recovery boilers are even bigger than coal fired boilers.
Coal
Natural gas
Oil
1,5*h
1,2*h
h
b2
b1 1,05*b1 1,1*b1
1,06*b2
1,12*b2
Figure 9: Boiler fuel type effect on furnace size.
Typical furnace outlet temperatures

Furnace outlet temperature is the flue gas temperature after the radiation-based heat transfer
surfaces before entering the convection-based heat transfer surfaces. The outlet temperature
depends on the characteristics of the combusted fuel. If the temperature is too high, ash layers build
up on the surface of the superheater tubes. This leads to poorer heat transfer, increased corrosion
and it can even block flow paths.
The following factors affect the choice of furnace outlet temperature:
• Ash characteristics; the control of ash behaviour at superheaters is a key design parameter
• Fuel (gas and oil have low ash content and can have higher outlet temperatures)
• Choice of superheater material
• Desired superheating temperature

Table 4 presents some typical furnace outlet temperatures:
Table 4: Typical furnace outlet temperatures on various boiler types.
Fuel type Furnace outlet temperature [°C]

Biomass, circulating fluidized bed 900 - 1000
Peat, pulverized firing 950 - 1000
Coal, high volatiles 950 - 1000
Recovery boiler 900- 1050
Biomass, fluidized bed 1050 - 1150
Natural gas 900- 1200
Oil 900- 1200
Furnace air levels

The type of fuel determines the quantity of air required for combustion. It is necessary to provide air
in excess of this quantity to assure complete combustion. The amount of this excess air is
determined by the following factors:
1. Composition, properties, and condition of fuel when fired

2. Method of burning the combustible
3. Arrangement and proportions of the grate or furnace
4. Allowable furnace temperature
5. Turbulence and thoroughness of the mixing of combustion air and volatile gases
Excess air reduces efficiency by lowering the furnace temperature and by absorbing heat that would
otherwise be available for steam production.
NOx is formed when nitrogen of air reacts with oxygen of air in high temperature, over 1400 °C.
NOx can be reduced decreasing temperature, decreasing air excess, or using low-NOx-burners. In
using low-NOx-burner air will be fed into flame in two or three phases.
CFB furnace design

When dimensioning a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) furnace the high content of sand has to be
taken into consideration. This means that the temperature profile and thus the heat transfer near to
the furnace wall differs from other types of furnaces.
The furnace of a CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boiler contains a layer of granular solids, which
have a diameter in the range of 0,1-0,3 mm. It includes sand or gravel, fresh or spent limestone and
ash. The operating velocity of the flue gas stream in a CFB boiler is 3-10 m/s. The solids move
through the furnace at much lower velocity than the gas; solids residence times in the order of
minutes are obtained. The long residence times coupled with the small particle size produce high
combustion efficiency and high SO2 removal with much lower limestone feed than in conventional
furnaces. Figure 10 shows a flow chart of a typical CFB boiler.
After the furnace flue gas moves through a cyclone (named compact separator in Figure 13), where
solids are separated from the gas and are returned to the furnace. Flue gas from the cyclone
discharge enters the convection back-pass in which the superheaters, reheaters, economizers and air

preheaters are located. A dust collector separates the fly ash before the flue gas exits the plant. The
combustion air from the fan pneumatically transports the solids for creating the circulating fluid.
Steam Outlet
Steam
Water Foster Wheeler CFB
Steam Drum
Flow Chart
Downcomer
Water
Wall
Compact Economizer
Fuel Limestone Separator
Feed Water Inlet

Air Dust Collector
heater
Combustion
Chamber
Fly Ash
Induced Draft
Secondary Air Fan Fan
compact.eng/comflow.ds4/0801/tap Bottom
Ash To Ash Silos Primary Air Fan
Figure 10: Flow chart of a CFB boiler [Foster-Wheeler].
The design of the furnace in a CFB boiler depends on:
• required velocity of gas

• time of complete combustion of fuel
• heat required for vaporization.
The amount of cyclones also has an influence on the shape of furnace. Flue gas must flow to the
cyclone fast enough (20 m/s), and the diameter of the cyclone must be below 8 m in order to get an
efficient removal of solids.
Circulating fluidized bed boilers have a number of unique features that make them more attractive
than other solid fuel fired boilers. Fuel flexibility is one of the major attractive features of CFB
boilers. A wide range of fuels can be burned in one specific boiler without any major change in the
hardware. The combustion efficiency of a CFB boiler is high. It is generally in the range of 99,5 to
97,5 %. Sulphur capture in a CFB is very efficient, due to the possibility to inject sulphur absorbing
limestone directly into the bed. A typical CFB boiler can capture 90 % of the sulphur dioxide. The
low emission of nitrogen oxides is also a major attractive feature of CFB boilers.

BFB furnace design
Bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boilers use a low
fluidizing velocity, so that the particles are held
mainly in a bed, which have a depth of about 1
m and a definable surface. Sand is often used to
improve bed stability, together with limestone
for SO2 absorption. As the coal particles are
combusted and become smaller, they are
elutriated with the gases, and subsequently
removed as fly ash. In-bed tubes are used to
control the bed temperature and generate steam.
The flue gases are normally cleaned using a
cyclone, and then pass through further heat
exchangers, raising steam temperature.
In the furnace (Figure 11 and Figure 12) of a

BFB boiler size of a grain of sand is about 1-3
mm and the operating velocity is 0,7-2 m/s. Fuel
is fed onto the bed mechanically. Thanks to the
large heat capacity of the bed, a BFB furnace is
able to burn very moist fuel. Moist fuel will dry
fast, when it is fed to the sand bed. Many
different kinds of fuels can be combusted in a
BFB furnace.
The temperature of a BFB furnace outlet is 700-

1000 °C, and the air factor is usually 1,1-1,4. Air Figure 11: BFB-boiler, Härnösand
is fed in several phases. The temperature of air Energi&Miljö ab [Fortum].
varies from 20 to 400 °C. The overall thermal
efficiency of a BFB boiler power plant is around
30%.
BFB furnaces with an atmospheric operational

pressure are mainly used for boilers up to about
25 MWe, although there are a few larger plants
where a BFB boiler has been used to retrofit an
existing unit. There are hundreds of small BFB
units in China.
Figure 12: Inside a BFB boiler furnace [photo

T. Rintala].

Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) design
Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) are used in power generation to recover heat from hot flue
gases (500-600 °C), usually originating from a gas turbine or diesel engine. The HRSG consists of
the same heat transfer surfaces as other boilers, except for the furnace. Since no fuel is combusted
in a HRSG, the HRSG have (instead of a furnace) convention based evaporator surfaces, where
water evaporates into steam. However, a HRSG can be equipped with a supplementary burner (as
can be seen in Figure 13) for raising the flue gas temperature. A HRSG can have a horizontal or
vertical layout, depending on the available space.
When designing a HRSG, the following issues should be considered:
• the pinch-point of the evaporator and the approach temperature of the economizer
• the pressure drop of the flue gas side of the boiler
• optimization of the heating surfaces
The pinch-point (the smallest temperature Flue Gas

OUT
difference between the two streams in a system
of heat exchangers) is found in the evaporator,
Feedwater
and is usually 6-10 °C, which can be seen in Economizer IN
Figure 14. To maximize the steam power of the
boiler, the pinch-point must be chosen as small
as possible. The approach temperature is the
temperature difference of the saturation Evaporator
temperature in the evaporator and the output of
the economizer. This is often 0-5 °C. The
pressure drop (usually 25-40 mbar) of the flue
gas side has also an effect on the efficiency of Superheater
power plant. The heat transfer of the HRSG is HP Steam
OUT
primarily convective. The flow velocity of the
flue gas has an influence on the heat transfer
coefficient. Fuel
IN
Supplementary burner
The evaporator of heat recovery boiler can be of

natural or forced circulation type. The heat
exchanger type of the evaporator can be any of Flue Gas
IN
parallel-flow, counter-flow or cross-flow. In
parallel-flow arrangement the hot and cold fluids Figure 13: Process scheme of single-pressure
move in the same direction and in counter-flow HRSG with a supplementary burner.
heat exchanger fluids move in opposite
direction.
Heating surfaces of a heat recovery steam generator are usually heat transfer packages, which
consist of spiral-finned tubes. The thickness of the fin is 1-2 mm, the height 8-16 mm and the fin
distance 3,2-8 mm. Tube sizes vary a lot.

700
Flue gas stream
Water/steam stream
600
500
400
Temperature [°C]
300
200
100
Superheater Evaporator Economizer
0
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %
Figure 14: Example of a heat load graph for a HRSG boiler.
Furnace dimensioning, stirred reactor

One of the most used furnace dimensioning methods is the stirred reactor model. The furnace is
approximated as being filled with a homogenous three-atom gas and a dust mixture at a uniform
temperature and pressure. At the furnace exit the temperature is decreased by a specified amount.
The stirred reactor furnace dimensioning process is as follows:
1. Guess initial furnace dimensions; shape, height, width, depth

2. Guess furnace exit temperature, Texit
3. Calculate heat transfer using flue gas temperature Tfg = Texit+∆T
4. Calculate furnace exit temperature from heat balance with calculated heat transfer
5. If the mode does not converge, then return to step 2
6. If the calculated furnace exit temperature differs from the desired one, return to step 1
The typical values of ∆T to use for the different types of furnaces can be seen in table 5. The stirred
reactor model is not optimal for designing a recovery boiler furnace.

Table 5: Typical values of ∆T for various types of furnaces.
Boiler type ∆T [°C]

PCF (molten), coal 200 (100-300)
PCF (dry), coal 180 (100-250)
Grate firing, coal 130 (100-180)
PCF, lignite 120 (100-150)
Oil and gas 150 (100-200)
BFB 130 (100-150)
CFB 0

Superheater design
General
The production of steam at higher temperature than the saturation temperature is called
superheating. The temperature added to the saturation temperature is called the degree of superheat.
Superheated steam has no moisture; hence it is less erosive and corrosive than wet saturated steam
carrying droplets. In order to have a sustainable turbine operation, the steam cannot contain any
moist at all.
The design procedure for a superheater can be divided into the following steps:
• Tube size and material are chosen. Wall thickness is calculated.

• Flow velocity in tube is chosen, number of tubes is calculated, tube construction and width
of heat exchanger are chosen.
• Height of heat exchanger is calculated according to the chosen flue gas velocity.
• Internal heat transfer coefficient (for the inside, water side of the tube) is calculated.
• External heat transfer coefficient (for the outside, gas side of the tube) is calculated.
• Thermal resistance of dirt layer is calculated.
• Thermal resistance/tube length is calculated.
• Conductance is calculated
• Necessary tube length is calculated.
• Necessary number of passages is calculated.
• Assumed values are iterated.
• Main dimensions are calculated.
• Inside and outside pressure losses are calculated.
• Heat exchangers are drawn to the technical drawing of boiler.
Design velocity
Superheaters transfer heat from flue gas to steam (gas phase of water). Heat transfer between two
gases is not very effective compared to heat transfer from gas to fluid. For that reason, steam must
flow fast enough (10-20 m/s) in order to give the superheater tubes enough cooling. Lower steam
pressure weakens the heat transfer rate, so with lower pressures, steam must have a greater velocity
(15-40 m/s).
When flue gas is cooled, its volume decreases. In order to keep a constant flow rate of the flue gas,
the cross-sectional flow area decreases as well. In the radiant superheater, the velocity of gas is very
small (< 5 m/s). In the convection superheater, the velocity can be quite large (15-30 m/s). The
maximum velocity depends on the fuel used. To limit pressure-part erosion from fly ash, the flue
gas velocity must not exceed certain limits. Depending upon the ash quantity and abrasiveness, the
design velocity is generally 16-18 m/s. A furnace that burns coals yielding a heavy loading of
erosive ash (usually indicated by a high silica/aluminium content) may have a design velocity of
approximately 15 m/s. Such velocities are based on the predicted average gas temperature entering
the tube section, at the maximum continuous rating of the steam generator fired at normal excess-air
percentage.

Design spacing
Superheater of boiler consists of banks of tubes. A system of tubes is located in the path of the
furnace gases in the top of furnace. Heat transfer in superheaters is based mainly on radiation, but in
the primary superheaters convection often plays a major role.
A superheater must be built so that it superheats approximately the same amount of steam from low
to high loads. This can be achieved by a proper choice of radiative and convective superheating
surfaces. Changing tube lengths between passes can control temperature differences. The outermost
tube that receives the most radiative flux should be shorter than the rest of the tubes. Proper
superheater arrangement also eliminates much of the problems with uneven or biased flue gas flow.
Figure 15 and Figure 16 shows examples of the arrangement of superheater and reheater surfaces in
the form of a process scheme.
Superheated
Steam OUT
Feedwater
IN
Saturated
Steam IN
Superheater III
Superheater II
Superheater I
Figure 15: An example of superheater block arrangements.
Superheated
Steam OUT
Reheated
Steam OUT
Feedwater
IN
Saturated Reheater
Steam IN IN
Reheater II
Superheater III
Superheater II
Reheater I
Superheater I
Figure 16: An example of superheater and reheater block arrangements.

Tube arrangement
Tubes in superheaters can be arranged according to inline or staggered arrangement (Figure 17).
Inline tube arrangement is preferred for fouling, PCF, bark and recovery boilers. Staggered
arrangement is preferred for oil, gas and heat recovery steam generator. As free space with
staggered arrangement is much smaller than with inline arrangement the reason for decreased
fouling with inline is evident. The heat transfer for a staggered arrangement is better than for an
inline arrangement.
The superheater tube diameter is

usually 30-50 mm. For convection b b
heat surfaces the dimension ‘a’
(Figure 17) is 80-200 mm and ‘b’ is
60-150 mm. For radiation heat
surfaces ‘a’ is over 500 mm and ‘b’ is Direction of gas flow
approximately the same as the external
Clear lane
a
tube diameter.
The number of tubes in the

superheater is calculated according to
the average flow velocity and volume
flow. In the convection superheater
the width of the superheater is the
same as the width of the furnace.
When the number of tubes is known,
all tubes are preliminarily placed next
to each other in the flue gas channel. If Inline Staggered
the cross-sectional area of the flue gas
pass between two tubes (dimension ‘a’ Figure 17: Inline and staggered tube arrangement.
in Figure 17) becomes too small, the
tubes have to be placed in two or more
rows.

Economizer design
General
An economizer consists of an arrangement of tubes through which the feed water is passed
immediately before entering the boiler. The combustion gases leaving the boiler convection
surfaces pass over these tubes. As the entering feed water has a lower temperature than that of the
boiler steam, the heat transfer is more effective at this point than in the convection surfaces of the
boiler. This fact has prompted the present trend in boiler design to increase the economizer surface
and proportionally decrease the evaporator heating surface. Economizers can be made of cast iron
or steel tube. Finned tubes are used, unless the flue gases origins from fuels with high ash content.
Design method
The following variables will be chosen
• Inside and outside tube diameters di and do, from which we can calculate the wall thickness:
d − di
δ = o (25)
2
• Distance of tubes in direction of flow and in side direction: s1 and s2 (named ‘a’ and ‘b’ in
Figure 17)
• The size of flue gas channel: b1 and b2
The number of tubes in one row (counter-flow) can then be calculated as:
b2
M = (26)
s2
The cross-sectional area of the flue gas channel can then be calculated from equation 27.
Afg = b1b2 – Mdob1 (27)
Holes of flow-through area combined circle are:
U = (M+1)*(2* b1-2*(s1- do)) (28)
The hydraulic diameter can then be calculated as:
4 ⋅ A fg
dh = (29)
U
Then s1/do, s2/do, C and m can be read from charts. [2]
The average flue gas temperature of the economizer is:
T fg sup + T fgeco
Tf = (30)
2

The outside convection heat transfer coefficient is calculated from the following equation (turbulent
gas flow):
α oc d h
Nu = = C ⋅ Re m ⋅ Pr 0,31
λ fg
λ fg
-> α oc = ⋅ C ⋅ Re m ⋅ Pr 0,31 (31)
dh
where λfg is the thermal conductivity of the flue gas, Pr is Prandtl number, of flue gas, αo the
outside convectional heat transfer coefficient and Re Reynolds number, which can be calculated as:
d h ⋅ w fg
Re = (32)
ν
where wfg is the flue gas velocity in the flue gas channel, dh the hydraulic diameter of the channel
(Equation 30) and ν the cinematic viscosity of flue gas.
The needed tube surface area in the economizer can then be calculated as:
G
A= (33)
k
where G is the conductance (kW/K) and k the heat transfer coefficient, which can be calculated
according to equation 35:
1 d 1 δ
= o + + + mdirt (34)
k d iα i α o  δ 
1 −  ⋅ λ
 do 
where di and do are the inside and the outside tube diameter [m] respectively, αi and αo the inside
and outside heat transfer coefficient respectively, δ the tube wall thickness, λ the thermal
conductivity and mdirt the heat transfer resistance of a tube with a dirt layer on its surface. The
outside heat transfer coefficient is the sum of the outside radiative and convective heat transfer
coefficients:
αo = αoc + αrad (35)
The surface area of one tube is:
At = π* do*b1 (36)
The number of tube rows in depth direction is:
A
N= (37)
At ⋅ M

And the depth of the economizer is:
he = N* s1 (38)

Air preheater design
The air preheater design is similar to other convective heat transfer surfaces. The tubes of air
preheaters are larger than the tubes of superheaters and economizers: the diameter is about 50-80
mm.
Wall thickness is sized according to the strength of the construction, because the pressure difference
between air and flue gases is small. The flue gas velocity in the air preheater is 10-14 m/s in the
tubular heat exchanger type, 9-13 m/s in the plate heat exchanger type, 10-11 m/s in a finned tube
heat exchanger, and 13-15 m/s if both sides of the heat exchanger are finned.
In a vertical tube heat exchanger flue gas flows inside tubes and number of tubes can be chosen
according to the flue gas velocity and volume flow. By choosing suitable tube divisions, dimensions
of horizontal cross section of heat exchanger can be calculated. Air is flowing horizontally outside
tubes. By choosing air velocity height of heat exchanger can be calculated. According thermal
sizing length of heat exchanger can be found. In horizontal tube heat exchanger air flows inside
tubes and number of tubes can be chosen according to the air velocity and volume flow.

References
1. VDI Wärmeatlas
2. (Alvarez: Energiteknik, p. 368)
3. M. Huhtinen, A. Kettunen, P. Nurminen, H. Pakkanen, Höyrykattilatekniikka, Oy Edita Ab,

Helsinki 1994, ISBN 951-37-1327-X
4. Opetusmoniste kevät 2000: Ene-47.110 Yleinen energiatekniikka, erä 1, HUT
7. V. Meuronen, 4115 Höyrykattiloiden suunnittelu, Opetusmoniste 1999, LTKK, ISBN 951-

764-382-9
8. Combustion Fossil Power Systems
9. E.Vakkilainen, Steam boilers – Thermal design of boiler parts, lecture notes

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Helsinki University of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering

Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection Publications

STEAM BOILER TECHNOLOGY

Helsinki University of Technology

© Sebastian Teir and Laboratory of Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection

Online location for the eBook: http://eny.hut.fi/boilers

• Sebastian Teir, M.Sc.(Tech.)

• Prof. Carl-Johan Fogelholm

• Esa Vakkilainen, Jaakko Pöyry

• The Basics of Steam Generation Sebastian Teir

• The History of Steam Generation Sebastian Teir

• Modern Boiler Types and Applications Sebastian Teir

• Steam/water Circulation Design Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla

• Feedwater and Steam System Components Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla

• Heat Exchangers in Steam Boilers Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori

• Boiler Calculations Sebastian Teir, Antto Kulla

• Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers Sebastian Teir, Anne Jokivuori

The Basics of Steam Generation - 2

• The cost of the produced electricity is low

Basics of boilers and boiler processes

• It is part of a type of heat engine or process

The Basics of Steam Generation - 3

Since the pressure level in the boiler should be

A simple power plant cycle

The Basics of Steam Generation - 4

efficiency that comes from the second law of

the temperature of the steam produced in the

We can plot curve by of the maximum

Although no practical heat process is fully 0,6

reversible, many processes can be calculated

Water is a useful and cheap medium to use as a 0

its volume increases about 1,600 times, Temperature [K]

producing a force that is almost as explosive as

The Basics of Steam Generation - 5

The theoretical amount of heat that can be

steam generation will be briefly reviewed 60

and vapor-liquid phase changes are 20

The Basics of Steam Generation - 6

Effect of pressure on evaporation temperature

From the diagram (Figure 7) we can se that

Figure 8: A pulverized coal fired burner in

The Basics of Steam Generation - 7

• Top-quality coal has 20% noncombustibles.

Combustion of solid fuels

The Basics of Steam Generation - 8

In fixed bed combustion, larger-sized coal is

Main types of a modern boiler

1. Turning chamber 8. Water space 16. Level control assembly

The Basics of Steam Generation - 9

A modern utility boiler is usually a water tube

Heat exchanger boiler model

In process engineering a boiler is modelled as a

For instance, the furnace, abstracted as a heat

Heat exchanger basics

The Basics of Steam Generation - 10

the same direction and in a counter flow heat

Since the heat strays from a higher temperature t1 cold stream

to a lower (according to the second law of Q

Figure 16: T-Q diagram of a counter-flow type

The Basics of Steam Generation - 11

external heating external cooling

Figure 17: Adjusted streams.

Heat recovery steam generator model