Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

Chapter 4: Boiler Draught

4.1 Boiler Draught

Draught refers to the pressure difference created for the flow of gases
inside the boiler. Boiler unit has a requirement exhausting of combustion
products and supply of fresh air inside furnace for continuous combustion. The
combustion products gases formed during combustion should be discharged to
the environment at sufficient height to decrease the harmful effect. A chimney
or stack is generally used for carrying these combustion products from inside of
boiler to outside, i.e. draught is created by use of chimney. Draught may be
created naturally or artificially by using some external device. Draught can be
classified as below:

 Natural draught is crated due to the pressure difference without using any
positive displacement device.
 Artificial draught is created using some external assistance causing forced
displacement of gases. It can be created either by using mechanical devices or
steam. Artificial draught can be of induced type, forced type or combination of
two types.

Thus, the benefits of boiler draught are:

1. Providing and maintaining the supply of sufficient air for combustion’.

2. Exhausting of combustion products from furnace region.
3. Discharge of burnt gases to atmosphere.

The amount of draught required shall depend upon:

(a) Type of boiler.

(b) Rate of fuel burning.
(c) Rate at which combustion products are produced.
As the pressure difference is very small so draught is measured in ‘mm’ of
water.

4.2 Natural Draught

The natural draught is produced by a chimney due to the fact that the hot
gases inside the chimney are lighter than the outside cold air i.e. density
difference of hot gases inside chimney and cold atmospheric air. Thus in a
boiler unit the combustion products (hot) rise from fuel bed through chimney,
and are replaced by fresh air (cold) entering the grate. It means that amount of
draught produced by a chimney depends upon flue-gas temperature. Intensity
(44/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

of draught produced by chimney also depends upon height of chimney.

Draught produced by a taller chimney is large as the difference in weight
between the column of air inside and that of air outside increases with height.

Figure (4.1) Schematic of chimney

4.3 Height of Chimney

The amount of draught depends upon the height of chimney; therefore

its height should be producing a sufficient draught. Draught can be calculated
as follows:

ℎ 3463 𝐻 𝑖𝑛 𝑁⁄𝑚

or, ℎ 353 𝐻 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

The draught may also be expressed in terms of column of hot gases as follows:

𝐻 𝐻 1

In the same manner the velocity of flue gases through the chimney under a
static draught of 𝐻 meters, can be expressed as:

𝑉 4.43 𝐻

Where:

H: height of chimney above the fire grate in (m).

h: draught required in terms of in (mm water).
Tair: absolute Temperature of air outside the chimney in (K).
Tgas: absolute Temperature of the flue gas inside the chimney in (K).
m: mass of air actually used in kg/kg of fuel.

(45/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

m+1: mass of flue gases in kg/kg of fuel.

𝐻: Equivalent height of hot gas column to produce draught, Δp in (m).
V: velocity of flue gases through the chimney in (m/s).

Example (4.1) A chimney is 28 m in high and the temperature of hot gases in

the chimney is 320oC. The temperature of outside air is 23oC and the furnace is
supplied with 15 kg of air per kg of coal burnt. Calculate draught in mm of
water.

Solution:
given: H=28 m; Tgas=320oC=593 K; Tair=23oC=296 K; m=15 kg/kg of coal.
ℎ 353 𝐻 353 28
ℎ 15.6 𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

Example (4.2) A boiler has chimney of 30 m height to produce natural

draught of 12 mm of water column. Ambient air temperature is 27oC and boiler
furnace requires 20 kg of air per kg of fuel for complete combustion.
Determine minimum temperature of burnt gases leaving chimney.

Solution:
Given: m = 20 kg air per kg of fuel, H = 30 m, Tair = 273 + 27 = 300 K
Draught in terms of water column,
ℎ 353 𝐻 353 30
𝑇 432 𝐾

Example (4.3) Determine the height of chimney required in a boiler having

natural draught equivalent to 20 mm of water. The flue gases are at temperature
of 300oC, atmospheric air temperature is 27oC and 18 kg air per kg of fuel is
required in boiler.

Solution:

Given: m = 18 kg air per kg of fuel, h = 20 mm, Tair = 300K, Tgas = 573 K

Draught in terms of water column,
ℎ 353 𝐻

20 353 𝐻
𝐻 38 𝑚
Example (4.4) A boiler is equipped with a chimney of 30 m height. The flue
gases which pass through the chimney are at temperature of 288oC, whereas the
(46/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

atmospheric temperature is 21oC. If the air flow through the combustion

chamber is 18 kg/kg of fuel burnt. Find (1) the theoretical draught produced in
mm of water and in height of hot gases column, and (2) velocity of the flue
gases passing through the chimney, if 50% of the theoretical draught is lost in
friction at the grate and passage.

Solution:
given: H=30 m; T2=288oC=561 K; T1=21oC=294 K; m=18 kg/kg of fuel.
(1) The theoretical draught
1 𝑚 1 1 18 1
ℎ 353 𝐻 353 30
𝑇 𝑚 𝑇 294 18 561
ℎ 16.1 𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝑚 𝑇 18 561
𝐻 𝐻 1 30 1
𝑚 1 𝑇 18 1 294
𝐻 24.2 𝑚
(2) velocity of the flue gases: since 50% of the therotical drught is lost in
friction, therefore net draught available,
𝐻 24.2 0.5 12.1 𝑚
Velocity of flue gases passing through the chimney,
𝑉 4.43 𝐻 4.43√12.1 15.4 𝑚/𝑠

4.4 Conditions for maximum discharge through the Chimney

For the maximum discharge the flue gases temperature (Tgas) should be slightly
more than twice the atmospheric temperature (Tair).

𝑇 2 𝑇

𝐻 𝐻

And ℎ in mm of water

Example (4.5) A chimney is 30 m high and the temperarure of atmosphere is

12oC. Calculate the draught produced in mm of water under the conditions of
maximum discharge. If the air flow through the combustion chamber is 18
kg/kg of fuel burnt, find the temperature of hot gases.

Solution:
given: H=30 m: Tair=12+273=285 K
for the maximum discharge; ℎ 18.6 𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

(47/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

𝑇 2 𝑇 2 285 602 𝐾

4.5 Efficiency of Chimney

It is defined as the ratio of “energy with unit mass of gas in natural

draught” to “the extra heat carried by same mass of gas due to high temperature
in natural draught as compared to that in artificial draught”. The value of the
efficiency of chimney is less than 1%.
.
𝜂

Where:

Tartifical: Temperature of flue gases in chimney with artificial draught in K.

Cp: specific heat of flue gases in kj/kg.K; taken 𝐶 1.005 𝑘𝑗⁄𝑘𝑔. 𝐾

Example (4.6) In a chimney of height 50 m, temperature of flue gases with

natural draught is 367oC. The temperature of the waste gases by using artificial
draught is 127oC. The temperature of the outside air is 27oC. If air supplied is
19 kg/kg of fuel burnt, determine the efficiency of chimney. Assume Cp=1.005
kj/kg.K for flue gases.

Solution:
given: H=50 m; Tgas=367=640 K; Tatrificial=127=400 K; Tair=27=300 K; m=19
kg/kg of fuel; Cp=1.005 kj/kg.K

𝐻 𝐻 1 50 1 51.33 𝑚
9.81 𝐻 9.81 51.33
𝜂
1000 𝐶 𝑇 𝑇 1000 1.005 640 400
𝜂 0.0021 0.21%

Example (4.7) A boiler may have waste gases leaving the installation when
artificial draught is used at 150oC. The natural draught chimney is of 60 m
height. The hot gases within chimney are at temperature of 300oC and air
requirement is 19 kg per kg of fuel burnt. The atmospheric air is at 17oC
temperature and mean specific heat of hot gases is 1.0032 kJ/kg.K. The
calorific value of fuel burnt is 32604 kJ/kg. Determine (i) the draught produced
in mm of water, (ii) the efficiency of chimney, (iii) the extra heat carried away
by flue gases per kg of fuel.

(48/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

Solution:
given;
Given: Tgas = 300 + 273 = 573 K, Tair = 17 + 273 = 290 K, Tartifical = 150 +
273=423 K, H = 60 m, m = 19 kg
air per kg of fuel, Tg, a = 423 K
Draught in mm of water column
ℎ 353 𝐻 353 60 34.13 𝑚𝑚
𝑚 𝑇 19 573
𝐻 𝐻 1 60 1 52.62 𝑚
𝑚 1 𝑇 19 1 290
. . .
𝜂
.

𝜂 0.00343 0.343%
𝐸𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 mass of flue gases
𝐶, 𝑇 𝑇
𝐸𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑚 1 𝐶,
𝑇 𝑇
19 1 1.0023 573 423 3009.6 𝑘𝑗⁄𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

4.6. Power Required Driving a Fan

The power required to drive the fan that used to supply air to the furnace
of the boiler (forced draught) or, the power that required delivering air to the
chimney (induced draught). Figure (4.2) explain the types of mechanical
draught.

 Forced draught: It is the arrangement in which high pressure air is

delivered to the furnace so as to force flue gases out through stack. Air
under pressure may be fed to stokers or grate for which a fan/blower is
put at the bottom of furnace. Due to pressurized air, the pressure inside
furnace becomes more than atmospheric pressure. It is obvious from
here that the fan in case of forced draught shall handle fresh
atmospheric air.

𝑃 , in Watts

 Induced draught: Induced draught is the one in which the suction

created on furnace side draws flue gases and throws them out through
small chimney/stack. Fan is located at base of chimney in induced
draught so as to reduce pressure at fuel bed below atmospheric pressure.
The fan in induced draught shall handle hot flue gases. Power required
(49/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

to drive the fan/blower in case of induced draught is less than that in

case of forced draught fan.

𝑃 , in Watts

Where:

𝑃 , : power required to drive the fan due to forced draught.

𝑃 , : power required to drive the fan due to induced draught.

𝑚 : mass of fuel in (kg/min).

𝜂 : mechanical efficiency of the fan.

Figure (4.2) Types of Mechanical Draught.

Example (4.8) Determine the capacity of motor required for running induced
draught fan and forced draught fan required for maintaining draught of 50 mm
of water column. Consider hot gases to leave boiler at 300oC, coal being burnt
per hour at the rate of 2000 kg/hr, air supplied at the rate of 19 kg/kg of coal,
ambient air temperature of 27oC and mechanical efficiency as 90%.

Solution:
Given: h=50 mm; Tgas=300+273=573 K; mf=2000/60 kg/min.; m=19 kg/kg of
fuel; Tair=27+273=300 K; ɳf=0.9
For forced draught, the capacity of the motor is;

𝑃 , 4.885 𝑘𝑤
.
For induced draught, the capacity of the motor is;

𝑃 , 9.331 𝑘𝑤
.

(50/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

Example (4.9) A boiler fitted with a forced draught fan has the following
particulars; mass of air required=20 kg/ kg of fuel; mass of fuel used=1500
kg/h; temperature of outside air=42oC; temperature of chimney gas=168oC;
draught pressure=40 mm of water. Efficiency of the fan=70%.
Determine the power required to drive the fan, if the boiler is equipped with
induced draught fan, instead of forced fan, what will be the power required to
drive it.

Solution:
Given: h=40 mm; Tgas=168+273=441 K; mf=1500/60 kg/min.; m=20 kg/kg of
fuel; Tair=42+273=315 K; ɳf=0.7
For forced draught, the capacity of the motor is;

𝑃 , 4.166 𝑘𝑤
.
For induced draught, the capacity of the motor is;

𝑃 , .
5.832 𝑘𝑤

4.7. Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Draught

In the recent years the artificial draught becomes the dominated type. It is
widely used in larger boiler plants.

Advantages:

1. It is more economical.
2. It is better in control for the working conditions.
3. It produces more draught.
4. The rate of combustion with forced draught is high.
5. The rate of draught isn't great affected by atmospheric temperature.
6. It reduces the amount of smoke.
7. It reduces the height of chimney.
8. It increases efficiency of plant.
9. It reduces the quantity of fuel required.

Disadvantages:

1. It is initial coast is high.

2. It is running coast is high.
3. It is maintenance coast is high.

4.8. Comparison between Forced Draught and Induced Draught.

(51/140)
Power Plant Lectures 4th Year

Table (4.1) Comparison between Forced Draught and Induced

Draught

Forced Draught Induced Draught

The fan is placed before the fire

1 The fan is placed after the fire grate.
grate.

The pressure inside the furnace is The pressure inside the furnace is
2
above the atmospheric pressure. below the atmospheric pressure.

Consumed less power as the fan Consumed more power as the fan
3
handled cold air. handled flue gases.

Leakage dangerous in the boiler There is no leakage dangerous in the

4
furnace is high. boiler furnace.

(52/140)