Energy Engineering 18ME81

1. STEAM GENERATORS
1.0 Introduction
A steam generator, popularly known as a boiler, is a closed vessel made of
high-quality steel in which steam is generated from water by the application of heat.
The water receives heat from the hot gases formed by burning fuel through the
heating surface of the boiler. Steam is mainly required for power generation, process
heating, and space heating purposes.

What Is an Electric Steam Generator?

Electric steam generators heat water to produce steam in a single vessel under forced
pressure. A pump sends feed water to the chamber containing submerged heating
elements. Using this single pressurized chamber, incoming water is converted into
steam when heated to boil under pressure.
Steam generators are ideal for on-demand situations. They are smaller and easier to
start up compared to steam boilers and, thus, may be used as auxiliary boilers.
Generators usually do not have the same maximum capacity as fuel fired boilers, so
they are best for applications that require point of use dry steam.

What Is a Steam Boiler?

Steam boilers are large pressure vessels where water is heated to its boiling point via
complex fuel systems. Two main types of steam boilers are fire-tube and water-tube
boilers. In general, water is heated to its boiling point via the combustion of fuel
blown through multiple tubes submerged in water. The heat produced during this
process is then injected into the system as steam. Steam will then flow through pipes
to the equipment being heated.
Steam boilers are often used in comfort heating and maintaining industrial process
temperatures. As we discussed above, the most notable differences between a steam
generator and steam boiler include
 Size
 Operation
 Application
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Why Use a Steam Generator Over a Steam Boiler?

Many smaller processes that use steam do not need a large boiler. For those smaller
processes, an easily portable steam generator would be the best tool for the job. A few
of the top reasons to use an electric steam generator instead of a fuel fired steam
boiler include:
 Safety: Electric steam generators use no combustible fuel, therefore are not
subject to major failures as fuel fired boilers are. Fossil fuel fired boilers can
suffer failures from low conditions, poor water treatment, improper warm-up,
pulling a vacuum, flame impingement, severe over-firing and even outright
explosions.
 Portability: Steam generators have a smaller design that allows them to be
used when facilities have limited space. Electro-Steam’s small-scale
generators are portable and do not require extensive installation, such as boiler
rooms and long steam lines
 Energy efficiency: Electric steam generators consume no energy while idle.
When operational they only cycle when steam is needed. This is especially
helpful in warmer months when full power may not be necessary. Fuel fired
boilers require much more energy to run at full strength and, due to its larger
design and extensive piping system, cannot easily be turned off and on and
constantly burn fuel even when steam is not in demand
 Quick start: A steam generator’s compact design, single chamber, and
relatively lower water demand allow these systems to achieve rated output in
only minutes from a cold start, as opposed to boilers that can take hours. This
quick-start capability makes a steam generator ideal for emergencies and
instances where steam may not be needed for lengthy periods of time, such as
pilot plants, labs and process testing.
 Cost: Installing a steam boiler system at your facility can be time-consuming
and costly. Steam generators cost much less than a full-scale fuel fired boiler
system, so they may work better for applications that do not require high
levels of steam like those produced by boilers
Energy Engineering 18ME81

1.1 Steam Power Plant Construction, Working, Advantages and

Disadvantages with Diagram
It is the power plant which is used to generate electricity by the use of steam turbine.
The major components of these power plants are boiler, steam turbine, condenser, and
water feed pump.
Site Selection:
The site selection of steam power plant depends upon various factors. Let’s discuss
these factors one by one
1. Cost of the land: The cost of the land which is selected for the installation
should be minimum or economical.
2. Population density of the land: The distance of the steam power plant from
the public area should be at appropriate distance. So that in case of any failure
or hazard happen in the plant, the population of the area near to the power
plant should not be affected.
3. Availability of water sources: There should be a plenty of water sources in
the selected area. Since the power plant requires a large amount of water for
the generation of steam.
4. Availability of fuel: The availability of required fuel (coal) should be there
because without fuel the plant will not work.
5. Type of land: The land which is selected for the power plant installation
should be plain enough and it is suitable for the strong foundation for the
various machinery of the plant.
6. Scope for the future demand: The size of the land should be such that it is
capable for the handling of future power demand.
7. Availability of Ash handling facility: Proper ash handling facility should be
available near the power plant to minimise the adverse effect of the ash
produced in the steam power plant
8. Availability of transportation facility: The transportation facility is must in
the installation for the power plant, because any material cannot be transported
to the power plant form its required location in lack of transport. There should
be easy availability of proper transportation facility at the selected site.
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1. Coal Storage:
It is the place where coal is stored which can be utilised when required.
2. Coal Handling:
Here the coal is converted into the pulverised form before feeding to the furnace.
A proper system is designed to transport the pulverised coal to the boiler furnace.
3. Boiler:
It converts the water into high pressure steam. It contains the furnace inside or
outside the boiler shell. The combustion of coal takes place in the furnace.
4. Air-preheater:
It is used to pre-heat the air before entering into the boiler furnace. The pre
heating of air helps in the burning of fuel to a greater extent. It takes the heat
from the burnt gases from the furnace to heat the air from the atmosphere.
5. Economizer:
As its name indicates it economizes the working of the boiler. It heats the feed
water to a specified temperature before it enters into the boiler drum. It takes the
heat from the burnt gases from the furnace to do so.
6. Turbine:
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It is the mechanical device which converts the kinetic energy of the steam to the
mechanical energy.
7. Generator:
It is coupled with the turbine rotor and converts the mechanical energy of the
turbine to the electrical energy.
8. Ash Storage:
It is used to store the ash after the burning of the coal.
9. Dust Collector:
It collects the dust particle from the burnt gases before it is released to the
chimney.
10. Condenser:
It condensate the steam that leaves out turbine. It converts the low pressure steam
to water. It is attached to the cooling tower.
11. Cooling Tower:
It is a tower which contains cold water. Cold water is circulates to the condenser
for the cooling of the residual steam from the turbine.
12. Chimney:
It is used to release the hot burnt gases or smoke from the furnace to the
environment at appropriate height. The height of the tower is very high such that
it can easily throw the smoke and exhaust gases at the appropriate height. And it
cannot affect the population living near the steam power plant.
13. Feed Water Pump:
It is used to transport the feed water to the boiler.
Working:
In the steam power plant the pulverised coal is fed into the boiler and it is burnt in
the furnace. The water present in the boiler drum changes to high pressure steam.
From the boiler the high pressure steam passed to the superheater where it is
again heated upto its dryness. This superheated steam strikes the turbine blades
with high speed and the turbine starts rotating at high speed. A generator is
attached to the rotor of the turbine and as the turbine rotates it also rotates with
the speed of the turbine. The generator converts the mechanical energy of the
turbine into electrical energy. After striking on the turbine the steam leaves the
turbine and enters into the condenser. The steam gets condensed with the help of
cold water from the cooling tower. The condensed water with the feed water
Energy Engineering 18ME81

enters into the economiser. In the economiser the feed water gets heated up
before entering into the boiler. This heating of water increases the efficiency of
the boiler. The exhaust gases from the furnace pass through the superheater,
economiser and air pre-heater. The heat of this exhaust gases is utilised in the
heating of steam in the superheater, feed water in the economiser and air in the
air pre-heater. After burning of the coal into the furnace, it is transported to ash
For better understanding, the step by step working of steam power plant is as follows
 The pulverised coal is fed into the boiler where the pulverised coal is burnt
into the furnace
 Due to heat from the furnace, the water present in the boiler drum changes to
the high pressure steam.
 From the boiler this high pressure steam is passed to the super heater where it
is again heated up to its dryness.
 After that this super heated steam strikes the turbine blades with a high speed
and the turbine blades starts rotating to at high speed. Here the stored potential
energy of the steam is gets converted into mechanical energy.
 A generator is coupled with the turbine rotor. As the turbine rotates, the
generator also rotate with same speed and mechanical energy of the turbine
gets converted into electrical energy.
 Steam after hitting the turbines blades lost its most of the energy and leaves
the turbine with low pressure steam.
 This low pressure steam enters into the condenser. Cold water circulates in the
condenser from the cooling tower. Here the low pressure wet steam is
converted into water.
 After that condensed water with the feed water passed to the economiser
where it gets heated up by the economiser. And finally the feed water enters
into the boiler by a feed water pump to repeat the cycle.
 The burnt flue gases from the furnace passes through the superheater,
economiser and air pre-heater. This heat of the flue gases is used to heat the
steam in the super heater to its dryness, to heat feed water in the economiser
before entering into the boiler and to heat air form the atmosphere in the air
pre-heater before it enters into the furnace.
 The ash from the furnace is transported to ash handling plant and finally to the
ash storage.
Energy Engineering 18ME81

Coal Handling Layout

A simple coal handling layout as shown in the figure. It consists of
1. Coal delivery
2. Coal unloading.
3. Preparation
4. Transfer
5. Outdoor storage.
6. Covered storage.
7. Inplant handling.
8. Weighing and measuring.
9. Furnace firing.
Energy Engineering 18ME81

Requirements of Coal Handling Layout

1. Low maintenance.
2. Higher reliability.
3. Should be simple and sound.
4. It should require minimum operatives.
5. Easy and smooth in operation.
6. Should supply right quality of fuel in the right time in the right quantity.
7. Should have minimum wear in running the types of equipment.
Coal Handling Methods
Following are the different coal handling methods are used:
1. Transportation by sea or river
2. Rail
3. Ropeways
4. Road
5. Pipeline
1. Transportation by Sea or River
The coal can be transported from the mines to the power stations by means of ships or
large boats through the ocean or river. The unloaded coal from the ship can be either
sent to the storage yard or directly to the conveyor system which directly to the
combustion chamber hopper.

2. Transportation by Rail
In this case, the railway is used to transport the coal from the mines directly to the
power stations, most of the thermal power stations will receive the coal from rail
transport. The coal from the railway wagon is taken to the power station and is either
delivered to the storage yard or close to the point of consumption.

3. Transportation by Ropeways
It is the most efficient method of transporting coal from the mine to the power station.
It is particularly used when the distance between the power station and mine is less
than 10 km.

The major advantage of such a system is, it supplies the coal continuously and free
from worker’s strike which is common with rain transport.
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4. Transportation by Road
The coal can be transported from mines to the power plant by means of trucks,
tippers, tractors etc., through road, but it is used only for small capacity power
stations. The major advantage of this type is that the coal can be carried directly into
the powerhouse up to the point of consumption.

5. Transportation by Pipeline
In this method, the coal in the form of slurry is directly supplied from the remote
mines to the strategically located thermal power plants through pipelining. This
method is the most efficient one. It supplies a large quantity of coal continuously
without any problem and loss. This system is costlier than all other systems but most
economical in operation.

Various Stages in Coal Handling

The various stages in coal handling are :
1. Coal Delivery
From the supply points, the coal may be delivered to the power station through rail,
road, river or sea. Plants situated near the river or sea may make use of ships or boats.
The stations which cannot make use of ships or boats may be supplied either by rail or
trucks.
If the coal mine is nearer to the plant or when the necessary railway facilities are not
available, then the coal is supplied by truck. In case rail transport is to be adopted, the
necessary siding for receiving the coal should be made near the station.
2. Unloading
The coal is unloaded by using proper unloading equipment. The use of unloading
equipment in the plant depends upon the type of out-plant handling mode as road, rail
or ship. If the coal is delivered by trucks, there is no need of unloading device as the
trucks may dump the coal to the outdoor storage. The coal is easily handled if the lift
trucks with scoop are used.
When the coal is transported by sea, the unloading is carried out by portable
conveyors, coal accelerators, coal towers, unloading bridges or by safe unloading
boats.
3. Preparation
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If the coal when delivered is in the form of lumps (not of proper size), the coal
preparation may be carried out by :
1. Breakers
2. Crushers
3. Sizers
4. Dryers
5. Magnetic separators.
4. Transfer
After preparation, the coal is transferred to the final storage point from where it is
discharged to the fixing equipment.
Following equipment are used for the transfer of coal:
1. Belt conveyors
2. Screw conveyors
3. Vee bucket elevator
4. Pivoted bucket conveyor
5. Grab bucket conveyor
6. Flight conveyor
7. Skip hoists
8. Mass flow conveyor
9. Chutes.

Belt Conveyor
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 When power is applied to a conveyor, the belt starts rotating. As the pulley
moves, the belt begins to travel in a forward direction, because of its close
contact with the pulley. Snubber idlers also help in maintaining close contact
between the pulley and belt.
 The material (to be transported) is loaded on its center of the belt with the help
of a hopper. The material travels along the belt. The belt moves forward on
troughing idlers. This permits the belt to carry more material per linear meter
without spillage. The amount of feed delivered depends on the width and
speed of the belt. At the discharge end, the material may be unloaded
manually or mechanically.
 Once the material is unloaded, the belt returns on lighter non-troughing rolls to
the point of feeding.

Screw Conveyor
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It consists of an endless helicoid screw fitted to a shaft as shown in the figure. The
driving mechanism is attached to one end of the shaft and the other end of the shaft is
supported in the attached ball bearing. The screw while rotating it transfers coal from
one end to the other end.

Vee Bucket or Bucket Conveyor

In this type of elevator, steel V-shaped buckets are rigidly fastened to an endless chain
going round sprockets. The buckets are equally spaced on the chain, and receive their
load by dipping into coal pocket at the lower end of the system. The material elevated
in V-buckets is discharged either by centrifugal force at the top of the elevator or by
drawing back the buckets on the discharged side.

Grab Bucket Conveyor

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The construction of a grab bucket elevator illustrated in Fig. It consists of a crane

which can lift the coal and move circumferentially in a given location. This system is
most suitable for handling coal at the coal store yard. Thus used to load coal from the
yard to the wagon tippler, which then moves inside the plant. This elevator has the
unique advantage of operating as a crane as well as moving in all directions. This
helps in lifting the coal using the, grab bucket from the yard, change its direction,
move to the required distance and unload it onto the wagon tippler. The grab bucket
with bottom closed condition picks up the coal from the heap and when moved to the
wagon opens its split opening bottom, thereby dumping the coal onto the wagon.

Flight Conveyor

It is generally used for transfer of coal when filling of number of storage bins situated
under the conveyor is required. It consists of one or two strands of chain, to which
steel scrapers are attached. The scraper scraps the coal through a trough and the coal
is discharged in the bottom of the trough as shown in fig. Capacity of a conveyor of
this type may range from 10 to 100 tonnes per hour. It is used extensively for
conveying coal horizontally and for inclinations up to 35°
Energy Engineering 18ME81

ASH HANDLING SYSTEM

Boilers burning pulverized coal (PC) have bottom
furnaces. The large ash particles are collected under the furnace in a water-filled
ash hopper, Fly ash is collected in dust collectors with either an electrostatic
precipitator or a baghouse. A PC boiler generates approximately 80% fly ash and 20%
bottom ash. Ash must be collected and transported from various points of the plants as
shown in figure. Pyrites, which are the rejects from the pulverizers, are disposed of
with the bottom ash system. Three major factors should be considered for ash disposal
systems.

1. Plant site

2. Fuel source

3. Environmental regulation

The modern ash-handling systems are mainly classified into four groups:
1. Mechanical handling system.
2. Hydraulic system.
3. Pneumatic system.
4. Steam jet system.

1. Mechanical Ash Handling System

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 he schematic diagram of Mechanical ash handling system is shown in Figure.

This system is only used for low capacity power plants.
 The hot ash released from the boiler furnaces is allowed to fall over the belt
conveyors after cooling it through water seal.
 This cooled ash is transported through belt conveyor and falls on to the ash
bunker.
 From the ash bunkers, the ash is removed to the dumping site with the help of
trucks.
The hot ash coming out of boiler furnace is made to fall over the belt conveyor
through a water seal as shown in figure. The cooled ash falls on the belt conveyor
and it is carried continuously to the dumping site or overhead bunker. The ash is
carried to the dumping site from the ash bunker with the help of trucks. Control
valve is opened and closed manually to load the truck. The life of this system is 5
to 10 years. The maximum capacity of this system is limited to 5 tons per hour.
The major advantage of this system is low power consumption.

2. Hydraulic Ash Handling System

 This site is made for larger power plant. In this system ash from the furnace
grate falls into a system of water possessing high velocity and it carries the ash
to sumps.
 In the sumps water and ash are separated. The ash is the loaded into wagons a
tracks by means of belt conveyor or grab buckets and transferred to dumpsite.
 The materials used for troughs and sumps has to be corrosion and wear
resistant sine the ash dissolved in water forms acid.
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 The advantage of this system is that it is clean, dustless and totally enclosed. It
does not harm the men working on the system.

3. Pneumatic Ash Handling System

 The schematic diagram of a pneumatic ash handling system is shown in Figure

B.
 This system is used when the ash is required to be transported at a
considerable distance from the site. The system can handle successfully the
abrasive ash and fine dust.
 The ash from the boiler furnace falls into a crusher where large ash particles
are divided into small particles.
 A high velocity air stream created by an exhauster carries all the ash and dust
particles to primary separator which works on cyclone principle. The ash is
collected in the ash hooper.
 The air with left over ash passes through the secondary ash separator and the
air leaving this separator is passed though a filter fear removing the dust
particles.
Energy Engineering 18ME81

 Therefore the washed or clear air is only handled by the exhauster, This
system is cheap. occupies less space, removes all the ash and the ash handled
is in the dry state.
 The problem with this system is that its maintenance cost is high since the
wear of pipe lines is high due to abrasive character of ash.

Natural or thermal circulation boilers and Forced or pumped

circulation boilers

Natural (or thermal) circulation boilers

Referring to figure-1(a), in the downcomer (pipe through which flow is directed
downwards), no steam is present and the tube section A-B is not heated. Heat input
generates a steam-water mixture in section B-C, usually referred to as riser (pipe
through which flow is directed upwards). Due to the fact that the steam-water mixture
at section B-C is less dense (since it is hotter) compared to the water of section A-B,
thermosiphonic effect (gravity) will cause the water to flow donwards at segment A-B
and upwards at segment B-C towards the steam drum.
Natural versus forced circulation typical schematic
In natural or thermal circulation type boilers, the rate of circulation depends strongly
on the density difference between the unheated water and the heated steam-water
mixture. The overall circulation rate (flow) in natural circulation systems mostly
depends on the following factors:
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- Height of the boiler - Taller boilers yield a bigger pressure difference between the
heated and unheated sections and consequently produce bigger flow rates.
- Operating pressure of the boiler - Higher operating pressure produces higher
density steam as well as higher density steam-water mixtures. This tends to reduce the
overall density difference between the heated and unheated segments, as the liquid
water density remains same being independent of operating pressure. Hence higher
pressure reduces the produced steam flow rates.
- Heat input rate - Higher heat input rate helps reduce the average density in the
heated section and thereby increase the total flow rate.
Description of forced (or pumped) circulation systems:
A pump is added in the closed flow loop system indicated in the section A-B of
figure-1(b). The pressure difference created by the pump (pump head) helps control
the water flow rate. A pressure reduction device (orifice or similar) is also typically
used, as an additional control mechanism.
La Mont Boiler:
The Lamont boiler is a forced convection water tube boiler that uses a pump to
circulate water. It has an economizer to save on energy and increase efficiency, a
boiler drum, superheater, evaporator, and air preheater. The combustion chamber for a
La Mont Boiler is vertical. Water is pumped through the economizer and preheater
into the boiler drum.
The boiler drum serves as a steam separator. The pump pushes the water to a
distributor header that has nozzles to send the feed water into the evaporator tubes
located in the walls of the boiler to increase surface heating.
The water and steam go into the boiler drum, where the steam is separated and passed
to the superheater and on to the turbine. The superheater increases the temperature of
the saturated steam to prevent water droplets from entering the turbine.
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Benson Boiler:
The Benson boiler has some of the same features as the La Mont boiler without a
steam separator and works under critical pressure. It is a water tube, forced circulation
boiler, where the feed water is compressed to supercritical pressure to prevent the
formation of bubbles in the water tube. The compressed water feed increases the
density of the water such that its density and that of the steam become the same,
which reduces the latent heat in the water to zero making it easier to convert to steam.
The function of the air preheater, economizer, superheater, evaporator, and
combustion chamber are the same. Unlike the La Mont boiler, the combustion
chamber can be mounted vertically or horizontally.
Energy Engineering 18ME81

Loeffler Boiler:
The Loeffler boiler was developed to resolve a problem with the La Mont boiler,
which was salt and sediment buildup on the surface of the water tube and reduced
heat transfer. Like the Benson boiler, water is circulated under high pressure in the
water tube.
The Loeffler boiler has radiant and convective superheaters that work together to
distribute the steam to the turbine. The radiant superheater heats the saturated steam
using radiant energy produced by the burning fuel and is where heat transfer takes
place. The steam then passes through the convective superheater that is heated by the
flue gases, which further heats the steam before it passes on to the turbine.
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Velox Boiler:
The Velox boiler is a forced circulation water tube boiler that uses high velocity to
rapidly produce steam. The principle of the Velox boiler is built on the velocity of the
gas, which moves faster than the speed of sound and increases the rate of heat
transfer.
The Velox boiler has a gas turbine compressor that sends compressed air into the
combustion chamber, where more heat is released. The increased rate of heat release
enhances the flue gases velocity to the speed of sound. The flue gases pass from the
fire tubes at the bottom of the combustion chamber and surround water filled tubes.
Water is forced from the economizer to the circulating pump at high speed causing the
heat to transfer from the gases to the water very rapidly. The water and steam move to
the water separator and on to the superheater. As with the Loeffler boiler, the flue
gases are used to heat the superheater.
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SCHMIDT BOILER

Construction and working:

- In the primary circuit, the steam at 100 bar is produced from distilled water.
- This is generated steam is passed through a submerged heating coil, which is
located in an evaporator drum.
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-The high pressure steam in this cool possesses Sufficient thermal potential ,due
to which, a steam at 60 bar with the heat transfer rate of 10,000 KJ/ metre square-
hr degree Celsius is generated in the evaporation drum.
-The steam produce in the evaporator drum from impure water is further passed
through the superheater and then supplied to the prime mover.
-The high-pressure condensate formed in the submerged heating coil is circulated
through a low pressure feed heater on its way to raise the feed water temperature
to its saturation temperature. Therefore, only latent heat is supplied in the
evaporator drum.
-Natural circulation is used in the primary circuit, which is sufficient to achieve
the desired rate of heat transfer and to overcome the thermo-siphon head of about
2 to 10 m.
-In normal circumstances, the replenishment of distilled water in the primary
circuit is not required as every care is taken in design and construction to prevent
the leakage. However, as a safeguard against leakage, a pressure gauge and safety
valve are fitted in the circuit.

Cooling Tower
Cooling tower is an important part of power plant. The basic working principle
of cooling tower is to cool the hot water with the help of atmospheric air.
Though it is widely used in different engineering sector and other refrigeration
plant. The height of the cooling tower in thermal power plant is about 9 feet or
above from the ground level. A water store unit called pond is placed at the base
of the cooling tower. In steam power plant, cooling tower first collects hot water
from the condenser at a certain height from the ground level, after that the hot
water falls down by the radial spray. The atmospheric air which is comparatively
cool enters at the bottom of the tower. Now the hot air in the cooling tower
expose in the atmospheric air which reduces the temperature of the hot water by
partial evaporation. This cooled water is collected in the pond at the base of the
tower and pumped into the condenser for further use. Doing so, limited quantity
of water can be used again and again. It is used such type of power plant where
supply of water is limited.
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Some important factors which is essential for cooling tower to cool the water:-
1. Size and height of the cooling tower.
2. Temperature of the air.
3. Humidity of the air.
4. Arrangements of plate in the cooling tower.
5. Velocity of air entry of the cooling tower.
6. Accessibility of air to all parts of the cooling tower.

Types of cooling tower can be classified following categories.

1. According to the type of draught

2. According to the material used

According to the type of draught

According to the type of draught cooling tower is three types.

1. Natural draught cooling tower

2. Forced draught cooling tower

3. Induced draught cooling tower

Natural draught cooling tower

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Natural draft cooling towers are generally preferred in

1. Cool and humid climates (low wet-bulb temperature and high relative
humidity)
2. Heavy winter loads

Working Principle of Natural Draft Cooling Towers

The hot water that is to be cooled in the cooling tower is pumped to the top of the
cooling tower at the hot water inlet. The hot water inlet is connected to a series of
nozzles which spray this water over the fill material (provides a large contact surface
area for heat transfer). Fresh air is induced by the open structure at bottom of the
tower and then the air flows in the upward direction for direct contact heat transfer
between warm water and air. The hot water liberates heat after direct contact with
fresh air and some of the water gets evaporated and cold water gets collected at the
bottom of the tower. Warm and moist air will be discharged from the top of the tower
into the atmosphere.
Advantages of Natural Draft Cooling Towers
1. No electrical fan is installed so power saving
2. No corrosion problems
3. Maintenance is low
4. No recirculation of air occurs due to high stack outlet
Disadvantages Natural Draft Cooling Towers
5. Huge water flow required.
6. These require a large area.
7. Its performance depends on wind velocity and direction.

Forced Draft Cooling Tower

A forced draft cooling tower operates using centrifugal fans to push ‘force’ ambient
air through the tower at a low level, helping to remove the heat generated within a
production/system process.
The warm air then flows up through the tower, picking up heat from the water flowing
in the opposite direction through the ‘fill’ before being ejected through the top of the
tower. Force draft towers generally will only use the counterflow design, as can be
seen below.
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In such a cooling tower, the fan is used to circulate air. When a power plant
operates at peak load, it requires a large amount of cold water. To rotate the fan, it
uses a motor with a speed of about 1000 rpm. The working principle is similar to the
natural draft cooling tower, the only difference being that the fan is placed on the
cooling tower here. If the fan is mounted on the top of the tower, an induced draft is
called the cooling tower, which is most popular for installation of very large capacity
and requires a large capacity of the fan. So, the forced draft cooling tower has a
horizontal shaft for the fan and is placed under the tower, and the induced draft
cooling tower has a vertical shaft and is placed on top of the cooling tower.
Advantage of forced draft cooling tower
 Easy to replace and swap like for like
 Able to overcome static pressure on ducting if used to route the rejected heat
from the tower
 Moving parts are not within the hot humid air stream, helping prolong the life
of the equipment
 Maintenance of the fans are generally easier for removing as are installed at
low level within the tower.
 Lower noise level [for centrifugal fans, axial fans usually higher]
Disadvantages of a forced draft cooling tower
 A forced draft cooling tower consumes more power/energy than an Induced
type tower.
 Can cause issues with recirculation of hot air back into the tower as the
expelled air ‘drifts’ away and not pushed, like with an induced tower.
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 Only can have counter flow meaning maintenance of the internal parts of the
tower is more restricted.
Induced draught cooling tower

An induced draft tower is a type of mechanical draft tower which has one or
more fans, located at the top of the tower, that draw air upwards against the
downward flow of water passing around the wooden decking or packing. Since the
airflow is counter to the water flow, the coolest water at the bottom is in contact with
the driest air while the warmest water at the top is in contact with the moist air,
resulting in increased heat transfer efficiency. Induced draft tower comes in square or
round shape and the distribution of water may be done either by static branch system
or by the sprinkler.
At induced draft cooling towers, the incoming cooling water is injected
throughout the cooling tower with a spray distribution header. The spray is directed
downwards to baffles for maximizing the time of contact of water with air.
Maximizing heat exchange surface area is accomplished through the ‘cooling water
fill’, made of PVC, wood, metal or other material. Air enters the interior of cooling
tower through properly designed ‘louvers’. Air is drawn through the baffled area by
big fans and causes the cooling of water. In order to avoid the entrapment of water
droplets in the leaving air stream, special device called ‘drift eliminators’ are used.
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Advantages of Induced Draft Cooling Tower

The induced draft tower generally offers the most effective and economical solution
to most of cooling needs. Its numerous advantages are as follows:
 flexibility
 cost effectiveness
 easy installation and maintenance
 Low noise level
 constant airflow regardless of ambient air temperature
 adaptability to any water flow
 flexibility of operation by shutting some cells
 adaptability to high thermal performance
 compatibility with all types of structure – wood, FRP, concrete, steel
 compatibility with all types of heat exchange surfaces from splash grids to
high performance film
 Ability to provide excellent protection against icing of the mechanical
components.

INTRODUCTION TO COOLING PONDS:

It is sometimes advisable not to locate a power plant where condensing water
facilities in the usual form of river are not available. In such cases, the choice goes to
spray pond or cooling towers. The spray cooling pond is one of the simplest methods
of cooling the condenser water although it is not efficient. The following principles
must be adopted for the design of cooling ponds.
1. The long dimension should be placed broad side to the prevailing wind.
2. Spray nozzles should be placed 1 to 2 meters above the water surface to obtain
maximum cooling.
3. The nozzle arrangement should be such that there is no interference between the
different sprays produced.
4. The distributing pipes may be spaced 6 to 7 m apart.
5. A sufficient space (15 to 20 meters) should be allowed between the last nozzle and
the edge of the pond to prevent excessive spray loss.
6. The pressure of 1.5 bar should be used at nozzles for better atomization of water.
7. A surface area of 2.5 to 3 m2 per liter flow of water per second should be provided.
Energy Engineering 18ME81

Types of Cooling Ponds

1. Natural System
2. Directed Flow System
3. Single Deck System

Natural System:
Figure shows a non-directed flow natural cooling pond. In natural flow system, water
coming out from the condenser is just allowed to flow into the pond. This system is
rarely used now-a-days.

Directed Flow System

In directed flow system, the hot water coming out of condenser enters the middle
channel as shown in Fig and on reaching the far end divides into two currents,
being directed by the baffle walls so as to traverse the pond several times before
uniting at the intake point. The water gets more time and passes over a more
surface, so the cooling achieved is very effective.
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Single Deck System

Double deck system

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Superheater:
Steam Superheaters in Industrial Boilers
The Steam Superheater is a coil type heat exchanger which is used to
produce superheated steam or to convert the wet steam to dry steam, generated by
a boiler.
It is different from a boiler in a way that, boiler utilizes both sensible heat as well
as latent heat to convert water into steam while superheater utilizes only sensible
heat to superheat the steam in order to increase its enthalpy.
Benefits of Superheaters in Boilers
 Increase in efficiency of the steam power plant
 Minimized erosion of turbine blade
 Less steam consumption
 Reduction of condensation loss in the boiler steam pipes
 Increases the temperature of saturated steam by removing entrained water
particles from turbines steam
Use of Superheaters in Industrial Boilers
 Superheaters are used where only dry steam is required in
a process/machines such as Turbines. Any moisture content in a steam in
such cases happens to degrade or corrode the machine thereby affecting its
average operating life. So, superheater converts low-quality steam to high
quality for end users.
 Sometimes, superheater is also needed when we need to transport steam to
far off places as there are some temperature losses during its transportation.
 Superheaters can be used in a steam engine where absolute dry steam is
needed to prevent wear and tear of engine parts.
 In case of water tube boilers, hot gases will provide the required temperature
to produce superheated steam and superheater may be an additional part of
the furnace area. In other cases, separately fired superheater may be
required because gas turbine produced gases are relatively cool.
Superheaters design generally consists of 180o coils welded through the headers
on both the sides. In a coil type designs steam is inside the coil and flue gases are
outside the coil. Shell type superheaters design generally used to superheat the
steam electrically using special heating elements stacked in a shell and the steam
flows over the heating elements.
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Economizer:
A boiler economizer (also known as an economizer) are mechanical devices
intended to reduce energy consumption or perform a useful function such as
preheating a fluid. A boiler economizer is essentially a heat exchanger that makes a
system more energy efficient by taking enthalpy in fluid streams that are hot, but not
hot enough to be used in a boiler – hence recovering more useful enthalpy and
improving the steam boiler’s efficiency.
After producing steam, flue gas comes out from the system (flue gas is the gas exiting
to the atmosphere via a flue). Some heat energy remains in the flue gas when it goes
out. If we cannot utilize this heat energy, it gets lost. Boiler economizer is a device
that uses a portion this remained energy of the flue gas to heat up inlet water (feed
water) to the boiler. Since the heat energy is given to the water before it gets fed to the
boiler, the requirement of fuel for producing steam is optimized. Because of that, we
call this device as an economizer.
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The feed water is pumped to the bottom header and this water is carried to the
top header number of vertical tubes.
 Hot flue gases are allowed to pass over the external surface of the tubes.

 The feed water which flows upward in the tubes is heated by the flue gases.

 This preheated water is supplied to the water.

 Scrappers are moved slowly moved up and down to clean the surface of the
tubes.

Air Preheater:
Air preheater in the boiler
Air preheater is one of the most important accessories in modern boilers. Air
preheater is commonly found in all modern boilers. To increase the efficiency of the
boiler accessories like air preheater is used in the boilers.
The function of air preheater in the boiler
The main function of the air preheater is to preheat the air which means the
temperature of the input air is increased. Other accessories like economizer and
superheater in a boiler do a similar function. This preheating process of air is done
before it enters the furnace. The air preheating process is done with the help of hot
flue gases.

• Hot flue gases pass through the tubes of air preheater after leaving the boiler or
economiser.

• Air and flue gases flow in opposite directions.

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• Baffles are provided in the air preheater and the air passes number of times over
the tubes.

• Heat is absorbed by the air from the flue gases.

• This preheated is supplied to the furnace to aid combustion.