FRANCIS FUENTES

BSME 4B
ME LAB
Physical Study of the Steam Generating Unit

Different types of Steam-generating unit:

Fire tube These are most often used in processes that need anywhere from 15 to 2,200 horsepower (1hp =
746 watts, or W). This type of boiler is cylindrical, with the flame in the furnace cavity itself and the
combustion gases themselves kept inside a series of tubes. These come in two basic designs: dry back and wet
back.

Water tube. In this arrangement, tubes contain steam, water or both, while the products of combustion pass
around the outside of tubes. These often have multiple sets of drums, and because they use relatively little
water, these boilers offer unusually fast steaming capabilities.

Commercial. These usually feature combinations of watertube, firetube and electric-resistance designs. They
are popular in large buildings requiring a mostly constant temperature, such as schools and libraries, office
and government buildings, airports, apartment complexes, college and other research laboratories hospitals,
and so on.

Condensing. Condensing boilers can reach thermal efficiency levels of to 98 percent, compared to 70 to 80

percent attainable using standard boiler designs. Typical efficiency levels reach about 90 percent when the
return water temperature is at 110 F or lower, and rise with decreasing water-return temperature thereafter.

Flexible water tube (flex tube). This construction is particularly resistant to "heat shock," making it a natural
option for heating uses. Flexible water tube boilers come in a wide range of fuel inputs and are well-suited for
low-pressure applications using either steam or hot water. (Not all "boilers" actually boil water!) These are
also quite easy to maintain, with easy access to their working parts from the outside.

Electric. These boilers are famously low-impact: clean, quiet, easy to install, and small in relation to their
utility. Because nothing is actually burned (that is, there is no flame to worry about), electric boilers are
marvelously simple. There are no fuels or fuel handling equipment in the mix, and hence no exhaust and no
need for associated pipes and ports. In addition, these have heating elements that are easy to replace.

Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). This is an innovative energy-recovery "heat exchanger" that
recovers heat from a stream of hot gas passing by. These create steam that can be used to drive a particular a
process or used to drive a steam turbine to power electricity generation using an electromagnet. HRSGs are
built on a foundation of three primary components – an evaporator, a superheater and an economizer.

RELATED RESEARCH
Steam generators
1. James Charles Smith, in Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors, 2022
2. J.C. Smith, in Steam Generators for Nuclear Power Plants, 2017