Boilerhouse Safety

Objective

Safety in the boiler house

Because of the potential for catastrophic failure and loss of life, a safe system of work and
checks must be employed with steam boilers and distribution systems.

These will comprise daily, weekly, and, legislatively, annual checks.

Daily & weekly checks

Water level
Boiler safety checks where all water level controls are tested.

This involves the isolation of the controls from the boiler contents and draining the
chamber which should result in the relevant alarms sounding and the boiler going to
lock out. Lock out is the condition whereby, if the water level does drop below the lower
limit the burner will shut down. This removes the risk of the burner firing an empty
boiler that would cause catastrophic shell failure and possible loss of life.

It is also important that the boiler is not too full. If there is too much water in the boiler a
high level probe should alarm and stop water from being pumped in. If the water level
is too high then some of it may be carried over into the steam mains. This is known as
priming or carryover. It can contaminate the mains because solids are carried over and
it will cause water hammer. As a backup, some boilers are fitted with conductivity
probes to detect any water at an early stage.

Flame test failure

This test is performed by removing the sensor that monitors the fuel flame in the
combustion chamber. The removal should result in the fuel supply automatically
shutting off. If the fuel did not shut off on flame failure, it would result in fuel continuing
to be delivered to the boiler. As can be imagined, having a quantity of un-burnt fuel in a
boiler presents a very real risk of explosion with consequential damage to boiler,
buildings and people. Both of the foregoing tests are required by legislation and must
be recorded.

Blow down
Boiler gauge glasses should be blown down (drained) to remove any sediment build up
and then checked for accuracy.

To remove sediment and maintain the required TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level each
boiler should have its contents blown down for both efficiency and safety requirements.

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 The amount of blow down can be calculated from the guidelines shown below

Boiler Blowdown
How much do you blowdown?

The following provides a simple checklist for estimating the quantity of blowdown, if not
already known:

If the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level of the boiler feed water (made up of both
condensate return and make-up) can be obtained, the required percentage of blowdown
may be calculated as follows:

Sf  100  ( Sb  Sf )
%age blowdown = Sf x100 divided by (Sb-Sf)

Where: Sf = TDS level of feedwater in ppm.

Sb = Desired TDS level in boiler in ppm.

For existing plants, the present blowdown method may consist of blowing down, say, 1
inch from the gauge glass at regular intervals. This may be converted to a volume by
estimating the water surface area of the boiler (width x length), and multiplying this with the
frequency of blowdown, to give an equivalent continuous blowdown flow rate. Remember
that this will be related to the current average steam generation rate.

Alternatively, the existing blowdown method may consist of opening the bottom blowdown
valve for a given time at certain intervals. For the standard full-bore valve the flow rate is
controlled by the length and bore of the blowdown line, and the boiler pressure. Graphs
are available to estimate the flow rate when the valve is open – and from the figure
obtained, an equivalent continuous blowdown flow rate can be calculated. Again, this will
be related to average steam generation rate.

Fuel temperature
In oil fired boilers, fuel temperature should also be monitored, as this will affect both
flow rate and combustion efficiency. In oil and gas boilers, fuel pressure should also be
regularly monitored, again to ensure proper combustion efficiency. Excessively low fuel
pressure may also cause the boiler to lock out.

Less frequent checks

On a less frequent basis fan filters should be checked for cleanliness. Excessive dirt on
the filter creates a large pressure drop over the filter thus reducing air flow and adversely
affecting combustion efficiency

Annual checks

Under existing (European) legislation each boiler plant has to be shut down, opened up,
cleaned and thoroughly inspected by an independent boiler inspector every year. The
Inspector is normally an employee of the Company’s Insurance Company. The inspection

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generally lasts only a few hours but normally take about a week to prepare for. Once
completed the Inspector will issue a report and if all is in order the boiler will be rebuilt and
slowly brought up to temperature and pressure. Once at this condition the Boiler Inspector
will return to test the safety valves. This test is carried out under strict control because to
test the valves the normal boiler maximum pressure limit controls need to be by-passed to
allow the safety valve blow off setting to be achieved. Once the Boiler Inspector is
satisfied, a second certificate will be issued which allows the boiler to be operated for
another year.

Operational Safety

Start up
When returning the boiler from a cold or shut down condition to normal operating pressure
and temperature, it is essential that this is achieved slowly to allow the boiler to heat up
uniformly and thus reduce any thermally induced stresses in the boiler components.
Normally bringing a boiler up to temperature can take up to 48 hours. Typically, for the first
few hours, firing rates will be in the order of 30 seconds in each half hour, with the firing
frequency increasing as the boiler warms up.

Just as the boiler needs time to come to temperature so too does the distribution system.
At shut down, any steam in the pipework will have condensed creating a volume of
condensate in the line and will have also created a vacuum which will have drawn air into
the system. Both of these need to be eliminated before normal operation can be resumed.
It is normal to have all isolating valves in the system closed during shut down. Dependent
on the size of the pipework and valve a small by-pass line may be installed. When
returning the system to normal temperature either the by-pass line should be opened or
the isolating valve just cracked open to allow a small quantity of steam to circulate. At this
time all condensate drains should be opened to allow ejection of the accumulated
condensate. Once all condensate has been ejected, the drains should be closed.

Condensate can also form at weekends or periods of low usage. It may be appropriate to
fit temperature sensitive drain valves that open when the temperature falls below a set
figure, say 70oC.

The reason for ejecting condensate is that because of its density, in relation to the steam,
and the velocity with which it would travel, it would create a condition known as water
hammer that can damage system fittings and equipment.

It is also essential, more from an efficiency and process aspect, to eliminate any air in the
system. Air normally enters the system during shut down when a vacuum is created by the
condensing steam. Although small in volume it will effect the operation of the process plant
in that it will exert its own partial pressure and will therefore form part of the total steam
pressure. The effect of this will be that the steam pressure is lower than that indicated on
the pressure gauge with the effect of lower heat energy being available. In addition, the
thermal resistance of air is considerable as a layer of air only 1 micron thick is equivalent
to:

25 microns of water,

2mm layer of iron, or

17mm layer of copper.

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Air vents for steam systems are no more than thermostatic steam traps that will open
when the temperature drops to a predetermined set point. This then allows the air to
escape. Air vents are normally fitted above condensate drains.

Safety Valves

Boilers are potentially dangerous

because of their size and high
operating pressure.

The most catastrophic event is if a

boiler explodes due to excessive
steam pressure. For this reason all
boilers must be fitted with a final
line of defence; the safety valve.

The most common is the spring loaded safety valve.

The steam from the boiler is held back by a spring that seals the valve seat. The spring is
designed to compress at a specific pressure. If the steam below the valve seat reached
that pressure it starts to compress the spring. The valve begins to open. This release
excess pressure. Once the pressure has dropped to a safe level, the spring closes the
valve. There is usually a lever that enables a manual release of pressure.

Steam itself, is of course extremely dangerous for 2 main reasons:

 It is very hot

 It is under very high pressure.

High pressure steam in a fine jet from a leaking joint or pipe is often invisible. It may even
be powerful enough to actually sever human limbs

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Chemicals used for water treatment are often corrosive. Full protective clothing should be
worn.
Fuel oils are harmful to the skin. Full protective clothing should be worn
Boiler houses are noisy. Wear hearing protectors

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