CASE STUDIES OF STEAM SYSTEM AUDIT IN SOME PLANTS

By K.K.Parthiban, Venus Energy Audit System

Introduction

This article outlines the outcome of auditing of steam system conducted in process Industries. The
details of modifications / improvements carried out may be of use to other boiler users. During the
audit the operating staff had exchanged all their experiences and this had resulted in benefit of their
plant.

Case 1: Steam system auditing in a process industry

Interaction & listing of the problems

A detailed interaction with various level personnel in the plant resulted in a long list of the
problems that could be addressed in order to improve the plant efficiency. The list was quite
exhaustive and it included the finer details of the problems as experienced. The studies included
both the boiler and the entire steam & condensate system of the plant. For photos refer annexure.

The problem, causes & Remedial actions

Problem Cause Remedial action

Gauge glass There was excess chemical dosage. The plant personnel were educated
thinning down. The boiler water pH used to go up on the purpose of chemical dosing.
Replacement at an 11.8. The normal pH recommended The antiscalant dosage was reduced
interval of 10 days. was 9.5 to 10.5. See photo 3 & 4. as the plant has very little make up
See photo 1. water.
On inspection of the boiler steam Proposed for baffle box in front of
drum internal, it was found that there water level gauge. Steam separator
was scope for turbulence of boiler baffles added to reduce turbulence
water at the level gauge tapping. See inside the steam drum. See figure 1.
photo 2
Excess condensate Excess chemical dosage has led to The chemical dosage was restricted
drainage at the first foaming inside the drum. See photo 6. to maintain the boiler water pH to
trap itself along the 10.5
steam line. Steam risers did not have proper Extensive modification carried out
baffles to prevent direct passage of in the drum as per figure 2.
water to drier box. See photo 5 & 7.
Frequent choking Wood containing sodium / potassium Suggestion was given for an air
of the flue tubes in deposit in the tube sheet at the first operated hose for cleaning the tube
the boiler. pass entrance. Such boilers need pre- sheet on line. This was
collection chamber & reduction flue implemented and the benefits
gas temperature to less than 650 deg C obtained. See figure 3 & photo 9
before shell. See photo 7 & 8. &10.
Air preheater Boilers when fired with high moisture Steam coil preheater is the right
choking fuels experience flue gas condensation solution. When the air is preheated
in APH tubes. Simultaneously it leads to 65 deg C, the condensation of
to ash sticking to the moist surface and water can be avoided.
leads to choking. See photo 11. But for this plant pressure jet water
 cleaning was advised.
Tubes fail periodically. It is
necessary to understand the
periodicity of replacement & plan
spare.
Outside air ingress is seen in to APH The inspection door needed
causing condensation of flue gas strengthening. Every time any
moisture. See photo 12. inspection door is opened only fresh
seal rope must be provided.
Corrosion of ducts Boilers with biomass firing need It was advised to insulate all the
insulation right up to chimney inlet to ducts up to Chimney inlet and arrest
prevent moisture condensation in the all ingress.
ducts. See photo 13 & 14.
Excess fuel Auto air vents were seen installed in Advised to close the auto air vent.
consumption the steam piping. These were not Air vents are provided only in heat
maintained. The steam was mistaken exchangers. These are again
required if there is a possibility of
as air by the operating staff. See photo
15. air trapping.
So many valves were not insulated at Valves are to be insulated with
all. See photo 16 & 17 removable pad insulation. This
brings down the radiation loss to
surrounding.
Steam loss was very high at the traps. Traps at unnecessary places were
See 18. closed down.
Wherever the traps are required and
the traps had started passing steam,
the bypass lines were cracked
optimally to bring down the loss.
Improvement in Wrong trap arrangement was seen at Right trap arrangement was given.
process several places. Traps are not located
Wrong orientation of traps was
performance. for easy inspection. See photo 19.
corrected.
Regular inspection of traps is a
must. For auditing IR camera &
ultrasonic probe come in handy. See
photo 19 & 20.

Case 2: Audit of a coal fired unit in a paper mill

The customer had requested for an audit of their plant to bring down the coal consumption. The
boiler was originally a husk fired. Later due to fuel price escalations, customer switched over to
coal firing most of the year.

The problem, causes & Remedial actions

Problem Cause Remedial action

High coal Vibratory feeder used in place of For coal feeders only rotary / drag
consumption rotary feeder. See photo 22. chain feeder to be used.
The oxygen level was so much Customer was advised about the art
hunting, ( see figure 24, 25 & 26) hat of fuel feed regulation. The CO
 the fuel did not burn in the furnace
resulting in high carbon in bed ash
itself. See photo 23.
The surface temperature audit by IR
camera proved that lot of scope exists
in reducing the heat loss to ambient.
See photo 27, 28 & 29.
Process side heat loss was also high.
In the paper industry, the drying
cylinders meant for drying the paper
was without the end radiation shields.
ppm exceeded 5000 ppm.
Insulation was advised to this
customer.
The surface temperatures between
the case with radiation shield & the
case without the shield were shown
to client. One can see the IR camera
outputs at the annexure. See photo
30 & 31.

Case 3: Audit of a biomass fired boiler in a paper mill

The customer had requested for an operational audit of their boiler to bring down the fuel
consumption and to address the dust complaint from nearby factories. The boiler was originally a
wood fired boiler. Later due to non availability of wood the boiler was converted to FBC firing
with external refractory furnace walls. The biomass fuels used include rice husk, tamarind shell,
ground nut shell, coffee husk.

The problem, causes & Remedial actions

Clinker formation The fuels used have ash fusion The combustion temperatures were
in bed. temperatures as low as 750 deg C. adjusted for a lower bed
temperature.
There was clinker formation above the The biomass of fouling nature
bed on the wall due to high free board needs waterwall furnace enclosure.
temperature excursions & due to Only flue gas recycling is to be
presence of uncooled walls. done now to reduce the furnace
temperature.
ID fan capacity It was seen that the air / flue gas Ducting reengineering was advised
inadequate ducting is designed in a haphazard to bring down the draft loss.
manner. See photo 34.
It was seen that the ID fan is provided Customer was advised to remove
with a damper right at the fan inlet. the flap from the damper and to
Such obstructions bring down the fan provide multi flap damper in the
performance. See photo 33. MDC outlet duct.
Chimney failure This is a common phenomenon in The exhaust temperature at chimney
many plants. The cause is the high top should be over 110 deg C. This
moisture content in fuel & low can be improved by insulating the
exhaust temperature. gas ducting up to chimney inlet.
Dust complaint Though the ash content is less, due to Customer was advised for rotary
from adjourning improper combustion, improper ash ash feeder at all ash collection
factory. collection system combined with points. In addition unconventional
condensation of water vapor has dust traps as seen in photo 32 & 33
caused carbon particulate. were added.
Furnace is not provided with over-fire Customer was advised to
air arrangement. High volatile fuels incorporate secondary air system.
 need a good turbulence above the bed,
particularly in over bed feed system.
This is required to burn off the
unburnt gases.
Frequent boiler The feed pump suction piping is with
feed pump failure mistakes that take away the NPSH.
See photo 35, 36 & 37.
Seeing the CO values in the flue gas
at shell outlet the over-fire air has to
be adjusted.
Customer was advised to remove
the thermocouple & flow meter
immediately. If problem persists,
globe valve shall be replaced with
gate valve.

Conclusion

Generally in all the plants there remains a good scope for fuel savings & for improving the steam
generating & distributing system. There are numerous cases where plant engineers & operators
have incorporated many improvements. The users could bring out their achievements in this boiler
meet in the further years.
Photo 1: Gauge glass seen eroded. This failure Photo 2: Gauge glass located close to risers.
took place every week. This causes turbulence in water level gauge.

Figure 1:

Photo 3: Excess chemicals have led to whitish Photo 4: Rear tube sheet seen with whitish
deposit seen in the shell above the tubes. deposit. If hardness salts are present, tubes
would be seen with deposits.
Photo 5: A baffle box provided at one end of the Photo 6: Steam separator seen with foaming
drum did not have level equalizer. The steam mark indicating the drum was under turbulent
water mixture would have to climb over the box. water level.

Figure 2:

Photo 7: Risers do not have a cap. Thus the Photo 8: Inlet of the I pass tubes at shell. A view
water can go directly to the steam pipe nearby. after cleaning. Old deposits could be seen.
Figure 3:

Photo 9: Compressor lined up for ash deposit Photo 10: Cleaning ports in the inspection door.
removal. Compressed air line is taken out of port.

Photo 11: Fresh air ingress to APH causes gas Photo 12: Improper APH inspection door
condensation leading to corrosion & choking. seating leads to cold ingress.
Photo 13: Shell intermittent hopper (not Photo 14: MDC cones seen coated with
insulated?)with improper flange seating condensed ash deposits. Insulation is advised.
allowing air ingress.

Photo 15: Unnecessary air vent in main steam

line. At high points, only a vent is required for Photo 16:Uninsulated valves result in heat loss.
air release during hydrotest.

Photo 17: Uninsulated valves result in heat loss. Photo 18: Steam seen gushing out of trap. There
were traps downstream & hence this was closed.
 Photo 20: Auditing equipment – Infrared camera
Photo 19: In accessible traps – not suited for
– for identifying defective trap, bearings &
regular check.
electrical panels.

Photo 21: Energy audit equipment – ultrasonic Photo 22: Vibratory feeder being used for coal
probe for various application feeding in an FBC boiler. Boiler designed for
husk.

Photo 23: Unburnt coal seen in the bed ash
itself. It is not practically adjust required coal
feed rate with vibratory feeder. The LOI ranged
to 2% in this case.
Photo 24: The Oxygen analyzer is provided to
ensure Oxygen is available for combustion. If
load is varying then the minimum Oxygen has
to be 3.5%.
.
 Photo 26
Photo 25

Photo 27: Uninsulated areas in a bi-drum boiler Photo 28: Almost at all sealbox the temperatures
run over the stipulated ambient + 20 deg C. Max
temperature is 197 deg C.

Photo 30: In a paper industry, the drying

Photo 29: Close to the bottom drum, in the cylinders are not covered by many. This one is
finned area, temperature is seen to be maximum without a cover. We may see the peak
of 202 deg C. temperature is 154 deg C.
 Photo 32: Ideas to reduce dust emission in small
Photo 31: This cylinder is with a cover. These boilers
drying cylinders rotate at a speed. Naturally the
convection heat loss will be predominant as
compared to radiation mode heat loss.

Photo 33: A way to reduce dust emission. Photo 34. Haphazard ducting adds up to higher
Further at all ash collection points rotary feeders draft loss. Customer had gone ahead with
added. replacement of fans.

Photo 35, 36 & 37 show the mistakes made in feed pump suction piping that the frequently the
pumps fails to pump due to cavitation. Thermocouple in the line, flow meter & globe valve in pump
suction line creates loss of NPSH.