Steam Boiler

Course Instructor: A N M Amanullah Tomal

Lecturer, EEE, DIU.
Courtesy: Dr. Mohammad Ilias Inam (KUET)
Boiler
A boiler is defined as "a closed vessel in which water is heated, steam or vapor is
generated, steam is superheated, or any combination thereof, under pressure or
vacuum, for use external to itself, by the direct application of energy from the
combustion of fuels, from electricity or nuclear energy."

The steam produced by boiler may used:

1. For generating power in steam engine or steam turbine.

2. At low pressure for industrial process work in cotton mills, sugar factories and
breweries etc.
3. Heating the residential and industrial buildings.
 Important term for Steam boiler
 Boiler Shell: Cylindrical shape, made of steel
plates which bent and riveted or welded
together. Boiler shell should have sufficient
capacity to contain water and steam.

 Combustion chamber: Space for burning fuel,

generally below the boiler shell.

 Grate: It is a platform, in the combustion

chamber, upon which fuel (coal or wood) is
burnt. Generally grate made of cast iron bar
which space apart so that air required for
combustion can pass through them.

 Furnace: It is the space, above the grate and

below the boiler shell, in which the fuel is
actually burnt. The furnace also called fire box.

Continue
Important term for Steam boiler
 Heating surface: It is the part of boiler surface, which is exposed to the
fire (or hot gases from the fire).

 Mountings: These are the fitting which are mounted on the boiler for its
proper functioning. They include water lever indicator, pressure gauge,
safety valve etc. It may be noted that a boiler cannot function safely
without the mountings.

 Accessories: These are the devices, which form an integral part of a

boiler, but are not mounted on it. They include super heater, economiser,
feed pump etc. It may be noted that the accessories help in controlling
and running the boiler efficiently.

 (Mountings is essential for boiler to run it safely, whereas accessories

increase boiler efficiently only and not essential for safety.)
 Essential of a good boiler
 It should produce maximum quantity of steam with the minimum fuel consumption.

 It should be economical to install, and should require little attention during operation.

 It should rapidly meet the fluctuation of load.

 It should capable of quick start.

 It should be light in weight.

 It should occupy a small space.

 The joints should be few and accessible for inspection.

 The mud and other deposits should not collect on the heating surface.
 The refractory material should be reduced to a minimum. But it should be sufficient to
secure easy ignition, and smokeless combustion of the fuel on reduced load.

 The tubes should not accumulate soot or water deposits, and should have reasonable
margin of strength to allow for wear or corrosion.

 The water and flue gas circuits should be designed to allow a maximum fluid velocity
without incurring heavy frictional losses.

 It should comply with safety regulations as laid down in the Boiler Act.

Essential of a good boiler

 Selection of a steam boiler

The selection of type and size of a steam boiler depends upon the following factors:

 The power required and the working pressure.

 The rate at which steam is to be generated.

 The geographical position of the power house.

 The fuel and water available.

 The type of fuel to be used.

 The probable permanency of the station.

 The probable load factor.

Classification of a steam boiler
Boiler classified based on the following parameters

A. According to the contents in the tube

B. According to the position of the furnace

C. According to the axis of the shell

D. According to the number of tubes

E. According to the method of circulation of water and steam

F. According to the use

G. According to the source of heat

Classification of a steam boiler
A. According to the contents in the tube:

 Fire tube or smoke tube boiler

 Water tube boiler

 Fire tube or smoke tube boiler

 In fire tube boiler, the flames and hot gases,

produced by the combustion of fuel, pass
through the tubes which are surrounded by
water.

 Heat conducted through the walls of the tube

from the hot gases to the surrounding water.
Fig: Fire tube boiler

 Examples: Lancashire boiler, Cornish boiler,

Scotch marine boiler, Locomotive boiler and
Velcon boiler.
Classification of a steam boiler

 Water tube boiler

 In water tube boiler, the water is contained

inside the tubes, which are surrounded by
flames and hot gases from outside.

 Examples: Babcock and Wilcox boiler,

Stirling boiler, La-Mount boiler, Benson
boiler and Loeffler boiler,.
Fig: Water tube boiler
Classification of a steam boiler
B. According to the position of the furnace:

 Internally fired boiler: Furnace is located inside the shell. Most of the fire tube boilers
are internally fired.

 Externally fired boiler: Furnace is arranged underneath in a brick-work setting. Water

tube steam boilers are always externally fired.

C. According to axis of shell:

 Vertical boiler: The axis of shell is vertical. Simple vertical and Cochram boiler are
vertical boiler.

 Horizontal boiler: The axis of the shell is horizontal . Example: Lancashire boiler,
Locomotive boiler and Babcock and Wilcox boiler.
Classification of a steam boiler
D. According to the number of tube:

 Single tube steam boiler: Only one fire or water tuber exist. Example: Simple Vertical
boiler and Cornish boiler.

 Multi-tubular steam boiler: More than one fire or water tube exist. Example: Lancashire
boiler, Locomotive boiler, Cochran boiler, Babcock and Wilcox boiler.

E. According to the method of circulation of water and steam:

 Natural circulation boiler: The circulation of water is by natural convection currents,

which are set up during heating of water. In most of the steam boilers, there is a natural
circulation of water.

 Forced circulation boiler: The circulation of water is forced circulation by a centrifugal

pump driven by some external power. Use of forced circulation is made in high pressure
boilers such as La-Mont boiler, Loeffler boiler and Velcon boiler.
Classification of a steam boiler
E. According to the use

 Stationary steam boiler: It called stationary boiler since it don’t move from one place to
another place. This generally used in power plant.

 Mobile steam boiler: Mobile steam boiler can move from one place to another place.
These boiler are locomotive and marine boiler.

F. According to the source of heat

 The steam boilers may also classified according to the source of heat supplied for
producing steam. These sources of heat may be achieve from the combustion of solid,
liquid or gaseous fuel, hot waste gases as by-products of other chemical process,
electrical energy or nuclear energy etc.
 Simple Vertical Boiler
 Ash pit – Ash collect  Cylindrical shell
 Grate – upon which  Steam space-steam
fuel burnt accumulate
 Feed check valve-  Manhole- big opening
regulate supply of for cleaning
water  Pressure gauge
 Fire hole – supply  Steam stop valve
fuel  Safety valve- release
 Fire box pressure after critical
 Cross box pressure
 Hand hole - cleaning  Uptake
 Fusible plug-stop fire  Chimney
at unsafe water level
 Water gauge – water
level indicator
 Simple Vertical Boiler
Working principle
 It produce steam at low pressure and in small quantities.

 In a simple vertical boiler fuel is added through the fire hole

into the grate which burn there to produce the hot gases.

 Fuel when converted into ash is collected into the ash pit.

 Hot gases rises above and pass their heat to the water in the
cross box and go out of the boiler through the chimney.

 Water heats up and steam production starts. Steam which

produce as a result of water heating is collected at the steam
space of the boiler.

 Steam is collected until a certain pressure is attain and then

steam is passed out for use like running turbine or engine.
 Simple Vertical Boiler
Application of simple vertical boiler
 Railway steam engine
 Steam wagon (steam lorry or steam waggon)
 Steam tractor 
 There are number of boats specially smaller one which uses the
simple vertical boiler to power the engine
 Steam donkeys
 Steam cranes and Steam shovels

Advantages of simple vertical boiler Disadvantages of simple vertical boiler

 low initial cost because of lesser parts
 Low maintenance cost
 Simple working principle
 Easy to install and replace
 Occupy small space on ground
 Simple vertical boiler have water level
tolerance
 Vertical design limits its working in many
places
 Because of the limited grate area steam
production is limited
 Impurities settle down at the bottom thus
prevent water from heating
 Boiler tubes must be kept short to minimise
height. As a result, much of the available
heat is lost through the chimney, as it has
too little time to heat the tubes.
 Cochran Boiler
Define: It is a multi-tubular vertical fire tube boiler having a number of horizontal fire tubes. It is the modification
of a simple vertical boiler where the heating surface has been increased by means of a number of fire tubes.

The Cochran boiler is vertical, multi

tubular, fire tube, internally fired and
natural circulation boiler.

It is suitable for small plants requiring

small quantities of steam and where the
floor area is limited.

These boilers are manufactured in 23

different sizes and are easily
transportable. The shell diameter ranges
from 0.9 m to a maximum of 2.75 m.

The following specifications are

related to Cochran boiler having 2.75 m
diameter shell: Height of the shell = 5.78
m, Maximum evaporative capacity =
568 kg/h of steam from cold feed when
burning 36 to 40 kg/h of coal. Heating
surface = 120 m2 , Steam pressure = 6.7
bar
 Cochran Boiler

Main parts:
Shell- It is hemispherical on the top, where space is
provided for steam.

Grate- It the place at the bottom of the furnace for coal

burnt.

Fire box-It is also dome-shaped like the shell so that the

gases can be deflected back till they are passed out through
the flue pipe to the combustion chamber.

Flue pipe – Connecting passage between fire box and

combustion chamber.

Fire tubes- A number of horizontal fire tubes are provided

to increase heating surface.

Combustion chamber-It is lined with fire bricks on the

side of the shell to prevent overheating and hot gases enter
the fire tube from the combustion chamber.

Chimney- It is provided for the exit of the flue gases to

atmosphere.

Man-hole-It is provided for inspection and repair of the

interior of the boiler shell.
 Cochran Boiler
The following mountings are fitted to the boiler:

 Pressure gauge: this indicates the pressure of the steam inside

the boiler.

 Water gauge: this indicates the water level in the boiler. The
water level in the boiler should not fall below a particular level,
otherwise the boiler will be over heated and the tubes may burn
out.

 Safety valve: the function of the safety valve is to prevent an

increase of steam pressure in the boiler above its normal working
pressure.

 Steam stop valve: it regulates the flow of steam supply to

requirements.

 Blow-off cock: it is located at the bottom of the boiler. When

the blow-off cock is opened during the running of the boiler, the
high pressure steam pushes (drains) out the impurities like mud,
sand, etc., in the water collected at the bottom.

 Fusible plug: it protects the fire tubes from burning when the
water level in the boiler falls abnormally low.
 Cochran Boiler
Construction Details

It consists of a vertical cylindrical shell having dome

shaped top where the steam space is provided.
The hemispherical shaped furnace provided at the
bottom in which the fuel is burnt on a grate.
The ash pit is provided below the grate for collecting
ash after regular intervals.
The hemispherical shape furnace without a single weld
or seam makes the furnace strongest structure under
compression and suitable to resist the intense heat
produced by the combustion of fuel.

In the furnace, a fire door and a damper is provided for

feeding coal to the grates and controlling the amount of
air entering the grate, respectively.
Adjacent to the furnace, the boiler has a fire brick lined
After horizontal fire tubes, a smoke box and a
combustion chamber which is connected to the furnace
chimney are provided for the discharge of the gases to
through a small flue pipe.
the atmosphere.
The furnace and a small flue pipe are surrounded by
The smoke box is fitted with a door for cleaning and
water on all sides. After the combustion chamber a
inspecting of fire tubes.
number of horizontal, equally spaced fire tubes are
provided.
There are connections provided on the shell at
The fire tubes are also completely surrounded by water.
appropriate places for fixing the usual boiler
After horizontal fire tubes smoke box is provided.
mounting such as pressure gauge, safety valve, feed
check valve, blow off cock, steam stop valve, and water
level indicator etc. Different accessories are also
located at their proper place.
 Cochran Boiler
Working Principle:

(i) Path of Flue gas: The hot flue gases, produced from the burning of
the fuel in furnace, rise up and enter through the small flue pipe into
the combustion chamber.

There after the hot flue gases pass through the horizontal fire tubes
and the smoke box before finally discharged to the atmosphere
through the chimney.

The flue gases during their travel from fire box to the chimney give its
heat to the surrounding water to generate steam. The path of hot flue
gas in the boiler is shown by arrows in Figure.

(ii) Path of steam flow: The feed water is supplied uniformly to the shell
controlled by a feed check valve.
When the boiler is heated, the cold water in the shell courses down
and hot water rises up between the fire tubes by natural circulation
due to convection current and the steam is generated and collected in
the steam space over the water surface of the shell.
The circulation of water in the shell is shown by arrows in Figure. The
steam collected in the steam space then passes through the
antipriming pipe where most of the water particles present in the
steam are removed.
(iii) Draft system: In this boiler the draft is produced by natural
circulation of air and gas usually done naturally with the help of a
chimney.
Important features of Cochran boiler:
 The dome shape of the furnace causes the hot
gases to deflect back and pass through the flue.
The un-burnt fuel if any will also be deflected
back.
 Spherical shape of the top of the shell and the
fire box gives higher area by volume ratio.
 It occupies comparatively less floor area and is
very compact.
 It is well suited for small capacity requirements.
 Locomotive Fire-Tube Boiler

Features and characteristics

The locomotive boiler is shown in Figure is internally fired, horizontal, multi-tubular, fire tube,
natural circulation, artificial draft, portable boiler.

It is so designed that it is capable of meeting the sudden and fluctuating demands of steam which
may be imposed on it because of variation of power and speed.

The steam pressure ranges from 12.6 bar to 21 bar and the capacity varies from 900 to 4000 kg per
hour.

It is mainly used in locomotives though it may also be used for stationary power service where semi-
portability is desired.
 Locomotive Fire-Tube Boiler

Construction

It consists of a cylindrical steel shell or barrel with a rectangular

fire-box/furnace at the back end and a small smoke box at the front
end.

The fire-box has a combustion chamber with fire grate at the

bottom.

The fire box is water cooled on all the three sides except the
bottom.

A fire door is provided in the fire box through which coal is

introduced into the grates.
The fire brick arch in the fire box is provided to deflect the flames
and hot flue gases upwards so that they come in close contact with
the heating surface of the fire box.
Ash pit is provided under the grate for depositing the ash.
The horizontal fire tubes are placed longitudinally inside the
shell through which the hot gases pass from the furnace to the
smoke box.
A short chimney is provided on the smoke box to discharge
hot gases from the smoke box into the atmosphere.
The height of the chimney is kept low so that when the
locomotive is passing through a tunnel or under a bridge, the
chimney does not strike against the top. Moreover, a high
chimney is likely to create unbalancing and friction while the
engine is in motion.
The steam dome is located at the centre of the shell from
which steam is supplied to superhaeters to steam engine.

These tubes are always immersed in water. Some of these tubes
are of larger diameter and others of smaller diameter.
The superheater tubes of small diameter are placed inside the
fire-tubes of larger diameter.
A smoke box door in front of the smoke box gives access to fire
tubes for cleaning, inspection and repairing of the boiler.
The function of dome is to increase the steam release
capacity and to increase the distance of steam from water line
which reduces priming.
The various mountings and accessories such as feed check
valve, safety valve, whistle etc., are attached to the boiler.
 Locomotive Fire-Tube Boiler

Working principle

(i) Path of Flue gas: The hot gaseous products from fire box

pass through the series of fire tubes and pass out to the smoke box
from where they go out into the atmosphere through a short chimney.

In this boiler the flue gas complete its path only in one pass.
During the travel of hot gases from the grate to the chimney, they
give heat to the water and generate steam.
(ii) Path of steam flow: The water is pumped into the boiler and
heated through heating surface of the boiler until steam is produced.
The steam so generated is collected over the water surface in the
steam dome. The dry saturated steam from steam dome is then
supplied to the steam engine by turning lever fitted in the cab.
 (iii) Draft system:
Because the chimney is short, the draft produced by
natural circulation is not possible so the artificial draft has
to the created to drive out the burnt gases.
The artificial draft is created by either motion of steam
engine on rails or periodic rush of spent steam from the
steam engine or a blower is mounted at the inlet of the
chimney.

In order to get superheated steam, the steam from steam dome is

directed into the superaheaters tubes through the superheater header
with the help of a regulator and lever arrangement.

The superheated steam thus formed is supplied to the steam engine

by a superheater exit pipe attached to the superheater exit header.
 Locomotive Fire-Tube Boiler

Weaknesses 
Advantages 
•Corrosion in the water legs,
•The compactness, •not capable of meeting very high overloads,
•high steaming capacity, •joint leakages,
•mobility  •sluggishness of water circulation 
•limited maximum steam pressure of 20 bars are
•low cost of installation.
the weaknesses in this boiler.
 Babcock Wilcox Water-Tube Boiler

Features and characteristics

This boiler is a stationary, longitudinal drum,

externally fired, natural circulation, water tube
boiler.

It is suitable for all types of fuels.

Evaporative capacity in this boiler ranges form

1800 to 40,000 kg/h.

Operating pressures ranges from 11.5 to 17.5

bar. But the operating pressures may be as high
as 42 bar.

As it is suitable for small size thermal power

plants, it may be used for stationary or marine
purposes.
Babcock Wilcox Water-Tube Boiler

Construction

The details of a Babcock Wilcox water tube boiler is shown

in Figure.

 It consists of a steam water drum and several inclined

straight water tubes. The inclined water tubes are connected
with steam water drum with the uptake and down-take
header.

The water tubes mainly contain water and are kept

inclined at 5 to 15 degrees to promote water circulation.

The whole assembly of water tubes, headers and drum is

hang in a room made of masonry work and lined with fire
resistance fire bricks.
Below the uptake header the furnace of the boiler is
arranged.
A fire door is provided in the front brick work of furnace
through which the coal is fed to the grates where its
combustion takes place.
To have three passes of flue gas on the water tubes, two baffles are
arranged across the water tubes to act as deflectors for the flue gases.
 A chimney with damper at the inlet is provided for the exit of the gases
and to regulate the draft.
The superheating tubes are arranged above the water tubes for
producing superheated steam.

There is bridge wall deflector which deflects the A mud box is attached to the bottom of down-take header to remove
combustion gases upwards. foreign matter from the water.

As the position of water tubes and bottom of the drum is
above the furnace, the outer surface of the tubes and half of
the cylindrical surface of the steam water drum is exposed
to flue gases.
A clean outdoor is provided in the brick wall so that access to the
interior of boiler can be made to clean outside of the water tubes.
Connections for other mountings and accessories are also provided on
the steam water drum.
Babcock Wilcox Water-Tube Boiler

Working principle

(i)     Path of Flue gas: The hot gases from the furnace

first rise upwards and then go down and then rise up
again out side the water tube before it finally come out in
the atmosphere through the chimney.

The flow path of hot gases is shown by the arrows outside

the tubes. During their travel they give heat to water and
steam is formed.

(ii)   Path of steam-water circulation: Feed water is

supplied into the drum by a feed water inlet pipe.

As the water in the water tube near the uptake header

comes in contact with the hot gases at higher
 (iii) Superheater arrangement: When superheated steam is
temperature, that portion of water gets evaporated.
desired to be produced, the steam accumulated in the steam
space in the drum is allowed to enter into the superheater tubes
As a result the mixture of hot water and steam from this
via antipriming pipe. 
portion of the tube rises in the uptake header and then
arrives in the steam water drum.
The flue gases passing over the superheater tubes produce
superheated steam. The superheated steam from superheater
In the steam drum, the steam vapors escape the water
tube is then finally supplied to the work generating device
surface and collected in the upper half of the drum.
through a steam stop valve.
On other hand, the cold water flows from the drum to the
(iv) Draft system: The supply of flue gas to the air from the
water tubes through the down-take header.
grate is usually done naturally with the help of a chimney.
Thus a continuous natural cycle of water in boiler is
completed.
 Lamont Boiler
Lamont boiler is the first forced convection
boiler which is introduce in the year 1925. A
water circulating pump is used in the boiler to
circulate water inside the boiler. This pump is
driven by the steam turbine which uses steam of
boiler. It is used in power plant industries to
generate electricity.
If the water is circulate by a pump inside the
tube, the heat transfer rate from gas to the water
is increases. It is the basic principle of it.
Construction: This boiler consist various part which are as follow.
Economizer: Economizer use to preheat the water by using remaining heat of the
combustion gases. It increases the boiler efficiency. The feed water first supplied to the
economizer before entering to the boiler.
Centrifugal pump: The Lamont boiler is a force convection boiler. So a centrifugal pump is
used to circulate water inside the boiler. This pump is driven by a steam turbine. The steam
for the turbine is taken by the boiler.
Evaporator tube: The evaporator tube or can say water tubes are situated at furnace wall
which increase the heating surface of boiler. This is also at the up side and down side of the
furnace and other equipment. The main function of these tubes to evaporate water into
steam.  This also cools down the furnace wall.
Grate: The space in the furnace where the fuel is burn is called grate. It is bottom side of
furnace.
Furnace: In the Lamont boiler vertical furnace is used. The main function of Furnace is to
burn the fuel.
Super heater: The steam generated by the evaporator tube is saturated steam. If it directly
used in steam turbine can cause the corrosion. So the saturated steam sends to the super
heater where it can increase the temperature of steam.
Water steam separator drum: The steam separator is situated outside from the boiler. The
mixture of water and steam from the evaporator tube send to the steam separator where it
separate the steam and send it to super heater. The remaining water again sends to the
economizer.
Air preheater: It’s main function to preheat air before entering into furnace.
 Lamont Boiler
Working principle:

Lamont boiler is a forced circulation, internally fired water tube boiler.

The fuel is burn inside the boiler and the water is circulating by a
centrifugal pump through evaporator tubes. The working of this boiler
is as follow.

A feed pump forces the water into the economizer where the
temperature of water increases. This water forced into the evaporator
tube by using a centrifugal pump driven by steam turbine. Water passes
10 - 15 times into the evaporator tube. The mixture of saturated steam
and water is formed inside the tube.

This mixture sends to the steam separator drum which is outside the
boiler. Steam from the separator sends to the super heater, where the
Advantages: saturated steam converts into superheated steam. The water again sends
to the economizer where it again passes by the evaporator tubes.
1. It can high pressure boiler.

2. It is flexible in design.
3. It can easily start.
4. It has high steam generation capacity of about 50
ton/ hour.
5. This boiler has higher heat transfer rate.
The air from the air preheater enter into the furnace where fuel burn.
The flue gases first heat the evaporator tube then passes by the super
heater. These gases from the super heater again use to preheat the air
into air preheater before exhaust into atmosphere.
The working pressure of this boiler is above 170 bar and have the steam
generation capacity of about 50000 kg/hour at temperature 773 K .
 Benson Boiler

Benson boiler is also known as super critical steam generator

which is developed by Mark Benson in the year 1922.

This boiler can generate high pressure steam, which is further

used in production of electricity and other industrial processes.

 It is a water tube boiler.

In the early stage water tube boiler used to generate steam at
the pressure up to 10MPa, which is known as sub critical boiler.

Two big problem occur in sub-critical boiler:

1. First, in sub critical boiler water form the vapor bubbles at

the tube surface, which decrease heat transfer rate, hence
decrease efficiency.

2. The second one is, the sub critical boiler used the water

steam separator drum to separate steam which make it too
complex and heavy. It cannot be easily transfer from one
station to another.

To overcome these problems, in 1922, Mark Benson invented a boiler which works above sub critical
pressure and generate steam at super critical pressure. This boiler is known as Benson boiler. This boiler
works at pressure above critical pressure, at which the water instantly convert into steam. No air bubbles
generate in this boiler. This boiler generate a high pressure steam which is used in various industrious
processes.
 Benson Boiler

Main parts:

It consist a great large tube. The water enter into the tube from one
end and steam exit from other end. No water steam separator drum
is used in this boiler. This boiler consist six basic components.

1. Feed pump

Benson boiler is the forced pumped water tube boiler. The water is
enter into the boiler at critical pressure A feed pump is used to pump
the water into boiler.

2. Air preheated

In this boiler air is preheated from before entering into combustion

chamber. It increase the efficiency of boiler.

3. Economizer:
Water from the feed pump enter into the tube which first passes
from economizer which used the combustion gases to preheat the
water which also increase efficiency of boiler.
4. Radiant Evaporator:
The water from the economizer further passes to
the radiant evaporator, which use radiant heat transfer method to
transfer heat from combustion chamber to the water. This section is
near the combustion chamber.
5. Convective Evaporator:
In the convective chamber, convection is used  to transfer heat
from the flue gases to the water. The water is
completely evaporate in this chamber.
6. Convective Super heater:
This is the last chamber of boiler. The steam passes from this
chamber, which increase the temperature of steam and
this super-heated steam taken out for the industrial work.
 Benson Boiler

Basic Principle: The Benson boiler is a water tube boiler, works on

the basic principle of critical pressure of water. The critical pressure
is the pressure at which the liquid and gas phase are at equilibrium.
The water enters in the boiler at just above the critical pressure so it
suddenly convert into steam without generating bubbles. No air
water separator drum is required. It also takes less fuel to
generate steam. This is the basic principle of Benson boiler.

Working Principle:

As we discussed this boiler works on the basic principle of critical

pressure.

The water is pumped at above the critical pressure into boiler

tube. This water tube first passes through the economizer, which
increase the temperature of water.

This hot water further passes from the radiant evaporator where Advantage:

water is evaporate by radiant heat transfer. 1. The Benson boiler does not use water-steam separator drum, which
reduce the total cost of boiler.
After that the water and steam passes through the 2. This boiler can transport easily from one station to another.
convective evaporate where water is completely convert into steam. 3. It is economical and have higher efficiency.

The water pressure is above the critical pressure so the water 4. This boiler can use over the pressure above 350 bar without changing
convert into steam directly without actual boiling.   the evaporator.

The steam is further heat up and this super-heated high 5. This can be start easily and can reach its maximum load capacity
pressure steam is taken out to rotate the turbine.. within 10 minutes.
6. The high pressure avoids the bubble formation in the tubes which
increases heat transfer rate.
 Comparison Between Fire Tube and Water Tube Boiler

S.No Fire-tube boiler Water-tube boiler

1 In Fire-tube boilers hot flue gases pass through tubes In Water-tube boilers water passes through tubes and hot flue
and water surrounds them. gasses surround them.

2 These are operated at low pressures up to 20 bar. The working pressure is high enough, up to 250 bar in super
critical boilers.

The rate of steam generation and quality of steam are The rate of steam generation and quality of steam are better and
3
very low, therefore, not suitable for power generation. suitable for power generation.

4 Load fluctuations cannot be handled. Load fluctuations can be easily handled.

5 It requires more floor area for a given output. It requires less floor area for a given output

6 These are bulky and difficult to transport. These are light in weight, hence transportation is not a problem.

7 Overall efficiency is up to 75%. Overall efficiency with an economizer is up to 90%.

8 Water doesn’t circulate in a definite direction. Direction of water circulated is well defined.
The drum size is large and damage caused by bursting If any water tube is damaged, it can be easily replaced or
9
is large. repaired.
10 It requires more floor area for a given output. It requires less floor area for a given output
Simple in design, easy to erect and low maintenance
11 cost. Complex in design, difficult to erect and high maintenance cost.

12 Less skill is required for efficient operation. Skilled operators are required for operation.
The treatment of feed water is not very essential, as Treatment of feed water is very essential as small scale deposits
13 overheating due to scale formation cannot burst thick
shell. inside the tubes can cause overheating and bursting.

14 Used in process industry. Used in large power plants.

Extra
 Cochran Boiler
Normal size of a Cochran boiler:
Working of the Cochran boiler:
Shell diameter – 2.75 meters:
 Coal is fed into the grate through the fire hole and
burnt.
Height of the shell – 6 meters.
 Ash formed during burning is collected in the ashpit
provided just below the grate and then it is removed
manually.
 The host gases from the grate pass through the flue
pipe to the combustion chamber. The hot gases from
the combustion chamber flow through the horizontal
fire tubes and transfer the heat to the water by
convection.
 The flue gases coming out of fire tubes pass through
the smoke box and are exhausted to the atmosphere
through the chimney.
 Smoke box is provided with a door for cleaning the
fire tubes and smoke box.
Salient features of Cochran boiler:
 The dome shape of the furnace causes the hot gases to
deflect back and pass through the flue. The un-burnt
fuel if any will also be deflected back.
 Spherical shape of the top of the shell and the fire box
gives higher area by volume ratio.
 It occupies comparatively less floor area and is very
compact.
 It is well suited for small capacity requirements.
The following mountings are fitted to the boiler:

Pressure gauge: this indicates the pressure of the steam inside the boiler.

Water gauge: this indicates the water level in the boiler. The water level in the boiler should not fall
below a particular level, otherwise the boiler will be over heated and the tubes may burn out.

Safety valve: the function of the safety valve is to prevent an increase of steam pressure in the boiler
above its normal working pressure.

Steam stop valve: it regulates the flow of steam supply to requirements.

Blow-off cock: it is located at the bottom of the boiler. When the blow-off cock is opened during the
running of the boiler, the high pressure steam pushes (drains) out the impurities like mud, sand, etc.,
in the water collected at the bottom.

Fusible plug: it protects the fire tubes from burning when the water level in the boiler falls
abnormally low.