Erfan Bensaeed Khashayar Amir Hosseini

erfanbensaeed@gmail.com Khashayar.amir.mc@gmail.com
bachelor of mechanical engineering bachelor of mechanical engineering
 Different Types of Boilers and Applications
What are boilers?
Boilers are designed to use the chemical energy in fuel to raise the energy content of water so that it can
be used for heating and power applications. Many fossil and non-fossil fuels are fired in boilers, but the
most common types of fuel include coal, oil, and natural gas. Some boilers are only capable of producing
hot water, while others are designed to produce steam. This article describes types of boilers and their
applications (Figure1).

Figure1: Steam-boiler and its components. [1]

How boilers are classified?

There are three common ways to divide boilers:

Passage through boiler tubes: Boilers are commonly subdivided into water-tube or fire-
tube units. These designations reflect the way the water and combustion gases are designed to
pass through the unit. There are some other boilers which are not included in water-tube or
fire-tube category. (Figure-2) [2].
 Figure-2: Fire-Tube boiler vs Water-Tube boilers.

Nature of fuel source used: Boilers are sometimes classified by their heat sources. For
example, boilers are often referred to as oil-fired, gas-fired, coal-fired, or solid fuel-fired
boilers. Coal-fired boilers can be further divided based on the equipment used to fire the boiler.
The three major coal-fired boiler subclasses are pulverized-coal (PC) fired, stoker-fired, and
fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) boilers. [2]

Method of fabrication: Boilers are occasionally distinguished by their method of fabrication.

Packaged boilers are assembled in a factory, mounted on a skid, and transported to the site as
one package ready for hookup to auxiliary piping. Shop-assembled boilers are built up from a
number of individual pieces or subassemblies. After these parts are aligned, connected, and
tested, the entire unit is shipped to the site in one piece. Field-erected boilers are too large to
transport as an entire assembly. They are constructed at the site from a series of individual
components. Sometimes these components require special transportation and lifting
considerations because of their size and weight. [2]
Note that these groups of boilers are not separated. Those are just three different ways to
describe boilers. There are also more ways of classification which are not much common
(Figure-3).
 Figure-3: Boilers Classification.

Fire-tube boilers:
Types:
Fire-tube boilers are subdivided into three groups. Horizontal return tubular (HRT) boilers
typically have horizontal, self-contained fire-tubes with a separate combustion chamber.
Scotch, Scotch marine, or shell boilers have the fire-tubes and combustion chamber housed
within the same shell. Firebox boilers have a water-jacketed firebox and employ, at most, three
passes of combustion gases [3].

How fire-tube boilers work?

The tubes are arranged so that hot combustion gases flow through the tubes. As hot gases flow
through the tubes, they heat the water that surrounds the tubes. The water is confined by the
outer shell of the boiler. Most modern fire-tube boilers have cylindrical outer shells with a small
round combustion chamber located inside the bottom of the shell. Depending on the
construction details, these boilers have tubes configured in either one, two, three, or four pass
arrangements. Because the design of fire-tube boilers is simple, they are easy to construct in a
shop and can be shipped fully assembled as a package unit.
These boilers contain long steel tubes through which the hot gases from the furnace pass and
around which the hot gases from the furnace pass and around which the water circulates [2]
(Figure-4) [2].

Figure-4: Fire-Tube boiler. [4]

Application of fire-tubes boilers:

Fire-tube boilers have the advantage of being easy to install and operate. They are widely used
in small installations to heat buildings and to provide power for factory processes. Fire-tube
boilers are also used in steam locomotives (Figure4-1) [5].

Figure4-1: Locomotive fire tube boiler schematic.

Water-tube boilers:
Types:

Water-tube boilers are assorted by their heat sources. oil-fired, natural gas-fired and Coal-fired.
Biomass and other solid fuels such as municipal solid waste (MSW), tire-derived fuel (TDF), and
RDF could be used as fuel too. Designs of water-tube boilers that burn these fuels can be
significantly different. Oil-fired and natural gas water-tube boilers are subdivided into three
classes based on the geometry of the tubes.

Coal-fired water-tube boilers are classified into three major categories: stoker-fired units, PC-
fired units, and FBC boilers. [2]

How water-tube boilers work?

Water-tube boilers are designed to circulate hot combustion gases around the outside of a
large number of water-filled tubes. The tubes extend between an upper header, called a steam
drum, and one or more lower headers or drums. In older designs, the tubes are either straight
or bent into simple shapes. Newer boilers have tubes with complex and diverse bends (Figure-
5) [5].

Figure-5: Water-Tube boiler. [4]

Application of water-tubes boilers:

Water-tube boilers can generate saturated or superheated steam, which is useful
for applications such as steam turbine power generation. In addition, these boilers are
commonly used in process industries, including chemicals , refining, and pulp and paper
manufacturing (Figure 5-1).

Figure5-1: Water-tube boiler diagram used on CHP plant.

References

[1] "ural-power.info," Ural-Power, November 2018. [Online]. Available: https://ural-power.info.

[2] E. Tawil, "Boiler Classification and Application," Continuing Education and Development. NY, vol.
10980, p. 28, 2013.

[3] Anonymous, "mechanical field experience," 10 02 2016. [Online]. Available:

http://mechanicalfieldexperience.blogspot.com/2016/02/types-of-boilers.html.

[4] S. o. t. t. p. o. i. boiler, "researchgate," [Online]. Available: www.researchgate.net/figure/Fire-tube-

boilers_fig1_263878729. [Accessed 10 July 2021].

[5] T. E. o. E. Britannica, 20 7 1998. [Online]. Available:

https://www.britannica.com/technology/boiler#ref96434.