BOILERS - CLASSIFICATION

Boilers
Boiler is an apparatus to produce steam. Thermal
energy released by combustion of fuel is used to
make steam at the desired temperature and
pressure.
The steam produced is used for:
• (i) Producing mechanical work by expanding it in
steam engine or steam turbine.
• (ii) Heating the residential and industrial buildings
• (iii) Performing certain processes in the sugar
mills, chemical and textile industries.
Simple Cross tube vertical boiler
BOILER
 CLASSIFICATION OF BOILERS

• According to what flows in the TUBE

• 1. Water tube.
• 2. Fire tube.
 Fire Tube Boilers

• The combustion gases pass inside boiler tubes, and

heat is transferred to water on the shell side.
Fire – tube Boilers
 Water Tube Boilers

• Boiler water passes

through the tubes
while the exhaust
gases remain in the
shell side, passing
over the tube
surfaces.
Water tube boiler
Pulverized fuel firing
 CLASSIFICATIONS
• Vertical or Horizontal

• Stationary(Power plant,industrial,central heating and combined power and heating

boilers.),Portable,Locomotive or Marine

• Internally Fired or Externally Fired (Lancashire and Locomotive Boilers)

• Solid,Liquid or Gas Fired

• Fire(Smoke)Tube:Water is outside the tubes while the hot gases are inside the tubes
• eg.Vertical,Cochran,Lancashire,Cornish,Locomotives,etc)

• Water Tube: Contain a large number of small tubes through which water
circulates,the fire and hot gases being outside of the tubes.eg.Babcock and Wilcox,
Stirling and High pressure Boilers etc.)
An informative site…

• https://www.myodesie.com/wiki/index/
returnEntry/id/3061
 Boiler Classification….source courtesy
https://me-mechanicalengineering.com/boilers-classification /

• 1. According to Relative Passage of water and hot

gases:
• Water Tube Boiler: A boiler in which the water flows
through some small tubes which are surrounded by
hot combustion gases, e.g., Babcock and Wilcox,
Stirling, Benson boilers, etc.
• Fire-tube Boiler: The hot combustion gases pass
through the boiler tubes, which are surrounded by
water, e.g., Lancashire, Cochran, locomotive boilers,
etc.
 According to Water Circulation Arrangement:
• Natural Circulation: Water circulates in the
boiler due to density difference of hot and
water, e.g., Babcock and Wilcox boilers,
Lancashire boilers, Cochran, locomotive
boilers, etc.
• Forced Circulation: A water pump forces the
water along its path, therefore, the steam
generation rate increases, Eg: Benson, La
Mont, Velox boilers, etc.
 According to the Use:
• Stationary Boiler: These boilers are used for
power plants or processes steam in plants.
• Portable Boiler: These are small units of mobile
and are used for temporary uses at the sites.
• Locomotive: These are specially designed
boilers. They produce steam to drive railway
engines.
• Marine Boiler: These are used on ships.
  According to Position of the Boilers:
• Horizontal, inclined or vertical boilers
 5. According to the Position of Furnace

• Internally fired: The furnace is located inside

the shell, e.g., Cochran, Lancashire boilers, etc.
• Externally fired: The furnace is located
outside the boiler shell, e.g., Babcock and
Wilcox, Stirling boilers, etc.
 6. According to Pressure of steam generated
• Low-pressure boiler: a boiler which produces steam at a pressure of 15-20
bar is called a low-pressure boiler. This steam is used for process heating.
• Medium-pressure boiler: It has a working pressure of steam from 20 bars
to 80 bars and is used for power generation or combined use of power
generation and process heating.
• High-pressure boiler: It produces steam at a pressure of more than 80
bars.
• Sub-critical boiler: If a boiler produces steam at a pressure which is less
than the critical pressure, it is called as a subcritical boiler.
• Supercritical boiler: These boilers provide steam at a pressure greater than
the critical pressure. These boilers do not have an evaporator and the
water directly flashes into steam, and thus they are called once through
boilers.
 7. According to charge in the furnace

• Pulverized fuel,
• Supercharged fuel and
• Fluidized bed combustion boilers.
 Cochran Boiler
• Vertical multitubular fire tube boiler
• Improvement over the simple vertical boiler as it provides
greater heating surface.
• Total heating surface area is about 10-25 times the grate
area
• Efficiency 70-75%
• Ranges from 1m dia.X2m high,evaporation 20kg/hr to 3m
dia X6m high,evaporation 3000kg/hr.
Cochran Boiler contd….
COCHRAN
COCHRAN
 Lancashire Boiler
• Is horizontal smoke tube boiler size range from a
shell 2m diaX6m long to 3m diaX10m long
• Working pressure range are up to 20kgf/cm2
• Ratio of heating surface to grate area is 24-30
• Efficiency is about 56% without economizer and
75% with economizer.
• Similar to Cornish boiler,in Lancashire Boiler two
flue tubes but in Cornish boiler only one flue
tubes are there.
Lancashire Boiler contd……
Fire – tube Boilers
Lancashire Boiler
Lancashire Boiler contd……
Fire – tube Boilers

Lancashire
Boiler
 Locomotive Boiler
• Is an internally fired multitubular fire tube boiler
LOCOMOTIVE BOILER
LOCOMOTIVE BOILER
 Advantages

• 1. Large rate of steam generation per square

metre of heating surface. To some extent this is
due to the vibration caused by the motion.
• 2. It is free from brickwork, special foundation and
chimney. This reduces the cost of installation.
• 3. It is very compact.

The pressure of the steam is limited to about 20 bar.

 Features
• 1. The evaporative capacity of this boilers is high
compared with other boilers (20,000 to 40,000kg/hr).
The operating pressure lies between 11.5 to 17.5 bar.
• 2. The draught loss is minimum compared with other
boilers.
• 3. The defective tubes can be replaced easily.
• 4. The entire boiler rests over an iron structure,
independent of brick work, so that the boiler may
expand or contract freely. The brick walls which form
the surroundings of the boiler are only to enclose the
furnace and the hot gases.
 Babcock and Wilcox water tube
Boiler
• Water tube boiler having lager pressure ranges and larger
sizes.
• Three main parts, steam and water drum,water tubes and
furnace.
BABCOCK WILCOX BOILER
 Stirling Boiler
• Example of water tube boiler where bent tube are used instead of
straight tube which are used in Babcock and Wilcox boiler
 High Pressure Boilers
• Two types- Natural circulation & Forced circulation Boilers
High Pressure Boilers contd………
• La-Mont Boiler( Forced circulation Boiler)
 Once-Through Forced Circulation
Boiler
• Does not required a steam and water drum,saving in weight
• Supercritical Pressure Boiler
• Two types- Benson and Ramzin
Ramzin Boiler
 Loeffler Boiler
• Indirect heating is combined with forced circulation
 Velox boiler
• Fire tube forced circulation Boiler
 Fire tubes Vs water tubes Boilers
• Fire tubes boilers have a large volume of
water,therefore more flexible and can meet the sudden
demand of steam without much drop of pressure.
• Fire tubes boiler is rigid and of simple mechanical
construction,so greater reliability and low in first cost.
• Fire tube boilers can be made in smallest sizes
therefore simple to fabricate and transport, occupies
less floor space but more height.
• water tubes boilers - externally fired so furnace can be
altered considerably to meet the fuel requirements.
• Water tubes boilers are more readily accessible for
cleaning,inspection and repairs,compared to the fire
tube boilers.
• Modern trend - water tube boiler due to continuous
increase in capacities and steam pressures.
 Adv. Of Water Tube Boilers
1. Generation of steam is much quicker due to small
ratio of water content to steam content. This also
helps in reaching the steaming temperature in
short time.

2. Its evaporative capacity is considerably larger and

the steam pressure range is also high-200 bar.

3. Heating surfaces are more effective as the hot

gases travel at right angles to the direction of
water flow.
4. The combustion efficiency is higher because
complete combustion of fuel is possible as the
combustion space is much larger.

5. The thermal stresses in the boiler parts are

less as different parts of the boiler remain at
uniform temperature due to quick circulation
of water.

6. The boiler can be easily transported and

erected as its different parts can be separated.
7. Damage due to the bursting of water tube is
less serious. Therefore, water tube boilers are
sometimes called safety boilers.

8. All parts of the water tube boilers are easily

accessible for cleaning, inspecting and
repairing.

9. The water tube boiler's furnace area can be

easily altered to meet the fuel requirements.
 Advantages of fire tube boilers
(i) Low cost
(ii) Fluctuations of steam demand can be met
easily
(iii) It is compact in size.
 Boiler Mountings and Accessories
• Fitting and devices which are necessary for the safety and
control are knows as boiler mountings
• Fitting or devices which are provided to increase the
efficiency of the boiler and help in the smooth working of
the plant are knows as boiler accessories.
• Fittings which are essential from the safety
point of view are as follows,
 Water level indicators
 Safety valves
 Combined high steam and low water safety valve
 Fusible plug
 Boiler Mountings and Accessories
contd….
• Fittings which are essential from the control
point of view are as follows,
 Pressure gauge
 Junction or stop valve
 Feed check valve
 Blow-off cock
 Man hole and Mud Box
• The important accessories are
 Superheater
 Economiser
 Air-preheater
 Feed pump or injector
 Characteristics of a Good Boiler

1. The boiler should have maximum steam

generation rate with minimum fuel consumption.
2. It can be started or stopped quickly.
3. Its initial cost, running and maintenance cost
should not be high.
4. Its erection time should be less, and its parts
should be easily dismantable.
5. The boiler should have positive controls and
safety apparatus.
6. It should have a high rate of heat transfer and
better combustion efficiency.
7. It should be able to accommodate the load
variation.
8. It should occupy less floor space.
9. It should be trouble free and require less
attention and less maintenance.
10.It should be free from manufacturing defects.
11.Mud should not get deposited on the heating
surface. Soot or scale should not be deposited
on the tubes.
12.All parts of the boiler should be accessible for
cleaning and inspection.
13.It should conform to Indian Indian Boilers
Regulations Acts.
https://me-mechanicalengineering.com/characteristics-of-good-boiler/
• WATER LEVEL INDICATOR
Pressure Gauge.

This indicates the pressure of the

steam in the boiler.
Steam Stop Valve.

It regulates the flow of steam

supply outside. The steam from the
boiler first enters into an ant-
priming pipe where most of the
water particles associated with
steam are removed
Safety Valve.

The function of the safety valve is

to prevent the increase of steam
pressure in the holler above its
design pressure.
Feed Check Valve.

The high pressure feed water is

supplied to the boiler through this
valve. This valve opens towards
the boiler only and feeds the
water to the boiler.
• Blow-off Cock.

• The water supplied to the boiler

always contains impurities like
mud, sand and, salt Due to
heating, these are deposited at
the bottom of the boiler, they
have to be removed using blow
off cock.
• Air Pre-heater
 Boiler performance
• 1) Evaporative capacity

can be expressed in terms of:

a) kg of steam/hr

b) kg of steam/hr/m2 of heating surface

c) kg of steam/kg of fuel fired

 Boiler efficiency
• Ratio of heat actually utilized in the generator
to the heat supplied by the fuel.

Efficiency= mw(h-hf)/C
Where C is the calorific value
 Steam chart….
• 2257.92 kJ of energy is required to
evaporate 1 kg of water at 100 oC into 1 kg of
steam at 100 oC. Therefore(at 0 bar g )absolute
1 bar) the specific enthalpy of vaporation
is 2257.19 kJ/kg.
• See table here
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/saturated-
steam-properties-d_457.html
• Bar gauge (barg) is the pressure gauge
reading.
• Bar absolute (bara) is barg + atmospheric
pressure (in most cases 1 bar higher than
barg).
 EQUIVALENT FACTOR OF Boiler
EVAPORATION EVAPORATION (Fe) Efficiency

=ma(h-hf)/2257 =h-hf/2257 =ma(h-hf)/C

A parameter for It is a ratio of It is a ratio of

boiler heat added to 1kg heat supplied for
performance of water at the 1kg of steam
defined as the operating generation to the
amount of water condition to heat total heat released
evaporated. added to 1kg of by burning coal.
water at 100 C to
(ma = mass of steam (C = calorific value of
convert it into coal burnt)
generated per kg of coal
burnt) 100 C steam.
 Enthalpy of final steam
final steam being dry saturated
h = hf + hfg = hg 

final steam being wet

.
h = hf + x   hfg 

final steam being superheated

h = hg + cp sup.steam . (Tsup - Tsat)
 Latest in boiler technology…
• http://www.energy.siemens.com/mx/pool/hq
/power-generation/power-plants/steam-powe
r-plant-solutions/benson%20boiler/Supercritic
al_Boiler_Technology_for_Future_Market_Co
nditions.pdf
• http://www.psa.mhps.com/supportingdocs/fo
rbus/hpsa/technical_papers/CG2004.pdf
• http://www.thermalenergysystems.com/
brazil09.pdf
 How is air pressure measured
• https://www.reference.com/science/air-
pressure-measured-8f19492e6ef943dd?
qo=contentSimilarQuestions
 India to start building ultra supercritical thermal
plant in 2019 Dec 2, 2017
• https://
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/india-to-start-building-ultra-supercriti
cal-thermal-plant-in-2019/articleshow/61886681.cms

•  plant will generate 800 MW at an operating

temperature of 710 deg C and at a 310 bar
steam pressure. No other power plants in the
world run with such numbers," he said. "The
plant will come up in one of the NTPC power
plants and is expected to be in place by 2024.