Basic Mechanical Engineering

Boilers-Part 1

Dr. K. B. Rana
Department of Mechanical Engineering
RTU, Kota
 Important terms for Steam
Before understanding about the working of boiler which is used for steam generation,
knowledge of types of steam and related terms is essential:
• As a result of the applied heat, the water temperature
increases (Process A-B). Eventually, for a given
presssure, the boiling temperature is reached and
steam bubbles begin to form at point B. Here the
applied heat is known as “Sensible heat” that causes
an object to change temperature. Further addition of
heat after point B, produces the steam at constant
temperature. For process B-C, the applied heat is
known as “Latent heat” which is responsible for
changing the state or phase.
• Steam produced during B-C includes the water
content in it and known as Wet steam or Saturated
steam. All the water evaporated and steam is said to
be Dry steam or Superheated steam at point C. The
Dryness fraction becomes 1. Further heating during C-
D, increases the temperature of super heated steam.

Dryness fraction (x): It is the ratio of mass of steam to total mass (mass of steam Ms + mass of water
Mw).
𝑀𝑠
X= 𝑀𝑠+𝑀𝑤
For example if value of X is 0.85 that means mixture of water and vapour contains 85 % vapour and 15
% of moisture content of total mixture.
 Function of Boiler
The main function of a boiler is to generate steam by
continuous heating the water. Steam produced in a
boiler can be used for different purposes including space
heating, drying, humidification and power generation.
Note:
To run the turbine in power plant, the steam should be
Dry/Superheated steam, when its dryness fraction is
equal to 1.

Major type of Boilers:

• Fire-tube Boilers
• Water-tube Boilers
 Fire Tube Boiler
• In fire tube boiler, combustion
gases pass through inside of the
tubes that are surrounded by the
fluid (water) to be heated.
• By the heating, water converts
into steam and collected at the
upper side of boiler.
• This steam is taken out from
boiler for process use as per
requirement.
• After passing through the tubes,
flue gases escape to the
atmosphere.
Advantages Fire-tube boilers are:
Relatively inexpensive
Easy to clean
Compact in size
Easy to replace tubes
Well suited for space heating and industrial process applications

Disadvantages of fire-tube boilers include:

Not suitable for high pressure applications 250 psig and above
Limits for high capacity steam generation
 Water Tube Boiler
• In a water-tube boiler, the
water is passed through the
tubes and combustion gases
pass around the outside of the
tubes.
• By the heating, water converts
into steam and this steam is
taken out from boiler for
process use as per
requirement.
• After giving heat to the water
tubes, flue gases escape to the
atmosphere through chimney.
Advantages of Water-tube boilers are:
• Available in sizes far greater than a fire-tube design, up to
several million pounds-per-hour of steam
• Are able to handle higher pressures up to 5,000 psig
• Have the ability to reach very high temperatures

Disadvantages of the water-tube design include:

• High initial capital cost
• Cleaning is more difficult due to the design
• Physical size may be an issue
 Major classification of Steam Boilers
• Fire Tube Boilers
Cochran Boiler
Locomotive Boiler

• Water Tube Boilers

Babcock and Wilcox Boiler
Lamont Boiler (High Pressure Boiler)
Benson Boiler (High Pressure Boiler)
Cochran Boiler • By burning of the fuel in fire box, smoke
and hot flue gases emerge out. The hot
flue gases enter into the combustion
chamber through fire tubes.
• From combustion chamber, hot gases
enter into the fire tubes. The fire tubes are
surrounded by water. The hot flue gases
inside the tubes exchange the heat from
the hot gases to the water. Due to the
exchange of heat, the temperature of the
water starts increasing and it gets
converted into steam. The steam
produced rises upward and collected at
top of the boiler in the hemispherical
dome. An anti-priming pipe is installed at
top of the boiler which separates the
water from the steam and makes it dry or
super heated steam. This dry steam is
then transferred to the turbines through
the steam stop valve.
• The hot flue gases and smoke after
exchanging heat moves to the smoke box.
From the smoke box, the burnt gases and
smoke is discharged to the atmosphere
through the chimney.
Specification of Cochran boiler:
Diameter = 1-3 m. ; Height = 2-6 m.
Evaporative Capacity = 20-3800 kg of steam/hr.
For better understanding the working of Cochran boiler, Video is given below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493LPdMF1dE
 Major Mountings of Boiler & their functions
Following are the major important boiler mountings (under lined
by red color in previous diagram) for its safety purpose:
•Water Level Indicator: To indicates the level of water in boiler.
•Pressure Gauge: To indicate pressure of steam inside boiler.
•Safety Valve: To let some steam out when the pressure exceeds the
safe designed value.
•Main Steam Valve: To regulate or stop the flow of steam going out
of the boiler
•Blow-off Valve: Helps to remove the salt deposits and other
impurities accumulated in the bottom portion of boiler.
•Fusible Plug: Prevents overheating of the fire box and other parts of
boiler. In case of failure of automatic control, it will melt and create an
opening through with water and steam will be allowed to put out the
fire in the grate.
 • In the locomotive boiler, first the
Locomotive Boiler solid fuel (coal) is inserted on the
grate and is ignited from the fire hole.
The burning of the fuel starts and it
creates hot flue gases. A fire brick
arch is provided that makes the flow
of hot flue gases to a definite path
before entering into the long tubes
(fire tubes). It also prevents the entry
of burnt solid fuel particles into the
fire tubes.
• The hot flue gases pass through the
long fire tubes and heat the water
surrounding them. Due to the
heating, the water gets converted
into wet or saturated steam and gets
collected at the top.
• The saturated steam from the dome
enters into the main steam pipe
through the regulator valve. The
steam travels in the main steam pipe
and reaches to the superheater
header. Form header, the steam
enters into superheater element
pipes. Here it is superheated and
then the superheated steam enters
into the steam pipe of the smoke box.
• The steam from the super heater goes to the cylinder containing piston. The superheated steam made the
piston moves (to and fro motion) within the cylinder. The piston is connected to the wheels of the steam engine
and the wheels start rotating as indicated in the figure.
• The exhaust steam from the cylinder enters into the blast pipe. The burnt gases and smoke after passing
through the fire tubes enter into the smoke box. The exhaust steam coming out from the blast pipe pushes the
smoke out of the boiler through the chimney.
Applications:
Locomotive boilers are mostly used in railways and marines. The efficiency of this boiler is
very less. It cannot work in heavy-load conditions because this leads to the overheating of
the boiler and finally gets damage. They are also used in traction engines, steam rollers,
portable steam engines, and some other steam road vehicles.

Watch this video by using the link given below, for better understanding the working of
locomotive boiler :
https://youtu.be/9mhYnQGZJuM