Boiler Design Fundamentals

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STEAM-GENERATOR FUNCTIONS

Evaporating water to steam at high pressure

Produce steam at exceptionally high purity
Superheat the steam in the unit to a specified

temperature, and maintain that temperature

Reheat the steam which is returned to the boiler and
maintain that reheat temperature constant
Reduce the gas temperature to a level that satisfies
the requirement for high thermal efficiency and at
the same time is suitable for processing in the
emission-control equipment downstream of the
boiler
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Types of Firing System

HORIZONTALLY FIRED SYSTEMS
Fuel is mixed with combustion air in individual burner
Coal and primary air are introduced tangentially, imparting strong

rotation within the nozzle.

Adjustable inlet vanes impart a rotation to the preheated secondary air
from the windbox
Air swirl, coupled with the flow-shaping contour of the burner throat,
establishes a recirculation pattern extending several throat diameters
into the furnace. Once the coal is ignited, the hot products of
combustion propagate back toward the nozzle to provide the ignition
energy necessary for stable combustion.
Major combustion process must take place within the recirculation
zone so the air/fuel ratio to each burner is within close tolerances.

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Flow pattern of horizontal

The burners are

located in rows,
either on the
front wall only or
on both front and
rear walls. The
latter is called
opposed firing

TANGENTIALLY FIRED
SYSTEMS
Based on the concept of a single flame envelope
Fuel and combustion air are projected from the corners of

the furnace along a line tangent to a small circle, lying in a

horizontal plane, at the center of the furnace.
Turbulence and mixing that take place along its path are
low compared to horizontally fired systems
Significance of this factor on the production of oxides of
nitrogen
Possible to vary the velocities of the air streams and change
the mixing rate of fuel and air, and control the distance
from the nozzle at which the coal ignites

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Tangentially Firing System

Provides great flexibility for

multiple-fuel firing
Fuel and air nozzles tilt in
unison to raise and lower the
flame to control furnace heat
absorption and S/H & R/H
Temp

Tangentially-Fired Furnaces
Advantages:
The efficient mixing, due to vortex, rapid contact between fuel and
air, and flames interaction, that would ensure a reliable combustion
with uniform temperature distribution.
Uniform heat flux to the furnace walls; consequently failures due to
high thermal stresses have been avoided.
The air and fuel streams can be admitted inclined either upward or
downward from the horizontal, a feature that is used to vary the
amount of heat absorbed by the furnace walls and to control the
superheater temperature.
Vortex motion at the furnace center prevents or minimizes slugging
of the furnace walls, erosion due to impingement and local overheating.
NO, in tangentially fired unit is lower than other firing types. NO,
emissions from TF boilers are about half the values from wall firing
systems.
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VERTICALLY FIRED
SYSTEMS
Used principally to fire coals with moisture and-ash-free volatile

matter between 9 and 13 percent

Require less stabilizing fuel than horizontal or tangential systems
Have more complex firing equipment and more complex operating
characteristics.
Portion of the heated combustion air is introduced around the fuel
nozzles and through adjacent auxiliary ports
High pressure jets are used to avoid, short-circuiting the fuel/air
streams to the furnace discharge
Tertiary air ports are located in a row along the front and rear walls
of the lower furnace
Firing system produces a long, looping flame in the lower furnace,
with the hot gases discharging up the center

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Flow pattern of vertical firing

LIMITS OF STEAM TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

Materials of superheater govern the practical limits

of steam temperature and pressure.

The large majority is in the 400 to 565C
temperature range
Problems do arise during sustained elevated
temperature operation because of the adverse effects
of certain fuel constituent on unit availability.

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Steam generator energy flow

 Tube diameter and thickness are of concern from the

standpoints of circulation and metal temperature.
Natural circulation boilers generally use larger
diameter tubes than circulation in once-through
boilers.
Small-diameter tubes is an advantage in highpressure boilers because the lesser tube thicknesses
required result in lower outside tube-metal
temperatures.

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Superheaters and reheaters

For relatively low final outlet temperatures

superheaters solely of the convection type are
generally used.
For higher temperatures, surface requirements are
Larger. superheater elements located in very high gastemperature zones.
Metallurgy: selection of materials for strength and
oxidation resistance, the use of high steam pressure
requires very thick walls in all tubing subject to steam
pressure.
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Furnace Design
The most important design criteria in large pulverized-fuel
tangentially fired furnaces are
Net heat input in W /m2 of furnace plan area (NHI/PA)
Vertical distance from the top fuel nozzle to the furnace
arch
Furnace dimensions must be adequate to establish the
necessary furnace retention time to properly burn.
And to cool the gaseous combustion products.
Gas temperature at the furnace outlet plane has to be well
below the ash-softening temperature of the lowest quality
coal burned.
Heat-absorption characteristics of the walls are
maintained using properly placed wall blowers
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Combustion Limits on Furnace Design

The lower limit of the furnace volume is dominated by the space

required for burning the fuel completely, or

to an extent less than the allowable unburned fuel loss.
To complete the fuel combustion within the furnace space, the fuel
injected into the furnace has to reside there for a time longer than
critical time.
The fuel residence time can also be estimated by the residence time of
the combustion gas produced in the furnace.

Fuel combustion time is mainly dominated by the

combustion reaction velocity and the rate at which oxygen is
supplied into the reaction zone.
The combustion reaction velocity depends on chemical
characteristics of the fuel.
Main technical factors that affect the combustion time are:
Combustion characteristics of the fuel.
Mixing characteristics.
Fluid flow characteristics of the furnace.

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IMPACT OF FUEL ONBOILER DESIGN

Three very important parametric influences on furnace
sizing are:
Fuel reactivity
Gaseous-emission limitations (particularly those
concerning oxides of nitrogen), and
Fuel-ash properties.
Ash properties particularly important for designing of
coal-fired furnaces:
Ash fusibility temperatures
Ratio of basic to acidic ash constituents
Iron/Calcium ratio
Fuel-ash content in terms of kg of ash/million joules
Ash friability
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Effect of coal rank on sizing of a

pulverized-fuel furnace
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DRY BOTTOM VRS WET BOTTOM

FURNACES
Current pulverized-coal units are of the dry-bottom

type: the ash dislodged from the furnace walls is

below the ash-melting point
In the wet-bottom design. the lower part of the flame
has to sweep the furnace floor at all loads to
maintain the fluidity of the ash.

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ADVANTAGES OF THE PENDANT PANEL

DESIGN
The support elements are out of the gas stream above the

furnace roof. Superheater and reheater are free to expand

downward. and have only simple alignment devices in the gas
stream
No relative motion between the furnace tubing and the
superheater or reheater tubes
The above support and sealing arrangement favors shop
modularization of tubes, headers, attachments and supports
Field erection, major pressure-part construction can be carried
out in several areas simultaneously.
Widely spaced panels along with steam cooled wall sections in
the upper furnace. Have high radiant-heat absorption.
resulting improved steam-temperature control range.

ADVANTAGES OF THE HORIZONTALSURFACE DESIGN

Vertical gas flow through the superheater and reheater surface

minimizes the potential for localized tube erosion in a 90

turn into the rear gas pass.
Horizontal tubing facilitates designing for drainability, which
simplifies freeze-protection procedures, boilout, and
hydrostatic testing
Large fused ash deposits that are removed by sootblowers will
usually drop through wider spaced tube sections below,
directly to the furnace bottom.
Horizontal arrangement requires that in start-up there is
adequate cooling flow through the vertical hanger tubes that
support and align the horizontal tube bundles. Thermocouples
should be used to monitor hanger-tube temperatures on startup, especially in tubes with downward flow.

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CONVECTION-PASS DESIGN
For designing a proper balance is required to maintain a

thermal head with which to transfer heat from gas to steam as

the heating-surface use is optimized and undesirably high
metal temperatures are avoided
To limit pressure-part erosion from flyash, the flue-gas
velocity must not exceed reasonable limits.
It is impractical to propose a steam generator capable of
burning any kind of coal.
Certain coals need wide transverse tube spacing to reduce the
fouling rate and possible bridging of ash deposits. This
arrangement minimizes serious fouling problems.
The transverse spacing of the convection - pass tube banks is
reduced as the gas temperature is reduced along its flow path

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Combustion : What is Coal

The molecule consists of network of

aromatic clusters that are linked and cross

linked by brides.
Most bridges are aliphatic in nature, but
may also include other atoms such as
oxygen and sulfur.
Bridges that contain oxygen as ethers are
relatively weak in nature.
A mobile phase also exists. The mobile
phase consist of smaller molecular group
t h at a re no t st ro ng ly b on de d t o th e
macromolecule.
The percentage of aromatic carbon usually
increases with coal rank.
O ther important elements, a small
fraction, in coal are sulfur and nitrogen.
They account for almost all the pollutants
formed during coal combustion.

Steps of Coal Combustion

Coal is ground to size of

between about 5 and

400 m in diameter, and
carried by the combustion
air to the furnace burners.
Combustion takes place at
temperatures from 1300C
to 1700C, depending
largely on the rank of the
coal. The steps are:

Drying
Devolatalization
Volatile Combustion
Char Burning

The drying Process

Evaporation of surface moisture and, subsequently, the

loss of inherent moisture, starts at temp of 100-110C,

complete dehydration at about 350C.
Heat is driven from the furnace environment to the
particle surface by radiation and convection.
Heat transfer in the process is influenced by the furnace
temperature, coal-particle size, particle moisture content
and particle porosity

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Volatile Matter
Volatile matter is an important parameter, providing a

rough indication of the reactivity or combustibility of a coal,

the ease of ignition, and hence the flame stability.
However, while char reactivity is one of the main
factors determining combustion efficiency, there is no
standard test for its determination;
Standard Methods do not take into account the actual
firing conditions.
Volatile matter contains both combustible and noncombustible (for example, carbon dioxide and water).
So the calorific value of volatiles can be significantly
different for coals with the same proximate volatilematter yield.
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Devolatilisation
Generally, devolatilisation starts at the particle surface and

then proceeds toward the centre.

The devolatilisation initiation temperature varies with the
type of fuel, and typically ranges from 450C to 500C for
coal particles. Heating rate also has a significant influence.
Generally, the weaker carboxyl, hydroxyl and aliphatic
bonds break up at lower temperatures, while the stronger
heterocyclic components decompose at higher temperatures
.
After the weak bonds break up, the functional groups
decompose to release gases, mainly CO2, light aliphatic
gases and some CH4 and H2O.
Devolatilisation is affected by coal rank, macerals presents,
Coal density, heating rate and the gas environment.

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Significance of Various Parameters in Proximate

Analysis

Fixed carbon
is the solid fuel left in the furnace after volatile matter is distilled off.
It consists mostly of carbon but also contains some hydrogen,
oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen not driven off with the gases. Fixed
carbon gives a rough estimate of heating value of coal
Volatile Matter
Volatile matters are the methane, hydrocarbons, hydrogen and
carbon monoxide, and incombustible gases like carbon dioxide and
nitrogen found in coal. Thus the volatile matter is an index of the
gaseous fuels present. Typical range of volatile matter is 20 to 35%.

Proportionately increases flame length, and helps in easier ignition of coal.

Sets minimum limit on the furnace height and volume.
Influences secondary air requirement and distribution aspects.
Influences secondary oil support

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Significance of Various Parameters in Proximate

Analysis (contd.)
Ash Content

Ash is an impurity that will not burn. Typical range is 5 to 40%

Reduces handling and burning capacity.

Increases handling costs.
Affects combustion efficiency and boiler efficiency

Causes clinkering and slagging

Moisture Content

Moisture in coal must be transported, handled and stored. Since it replaces

combustible matter, it decreases the heat content per kg of coal. Typical
range is 0.5 to 10%
Increases heat loss,

due to evaporation and superheating of vapour

Helps, to a limit, in binding fines
Aids radiation heat transfer

Sulphur Content

Typical range is 0.5 to 0.8% normally

Affects clinkering

and slagging tendencies

Corrodes chimney and other equipment such as air heaters and economisers
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Combustion

3 Ts of Combustion
TIME
All combustion requires sufficient Time which depends
upon type of Reaction
TEMPERATURE
Temperature must be more than ignition temperature
TURBULENCE
Proper turbulence helps in bringing the fuel and air in
intimate contact and gives them enough time to
complete reaction.

Air for combustion

Stoichiometric Combustion
The amount of air required for complete combustion of the fuel

depends on the elemental constituents of the fuel that is Carbon,

Hydrogen, and Sulphur etc. This amount of air is called stoichiometric
air , Say a fuel has the following composition

Constituents
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Sulphur
H2O`
Ash

% By weight
85.9
12
0.7
0.5
0.5
0.35
0.05

Calculation for Requirement of Theoretical Amount

of Air

Element Molecular
Weight kg /
kg mole
C
12
O2
32
H2
S
N2
CO2
SO2
H2O

2
32
28
44
64
18

C
12

C
H2

+
+

O2
1/2O 2

CO2
H2O

O2

SO 2

+
+

O2
32

CO 2
44

12 kg of carbon requires 32 kg of oxygen to form

44 kg of carbon dioxide therefore 1 kg of carbon
requires 32/12 kg i.e 2.67 kg of oxygen
(85.9) C + (85.9 x 2.67) O2
229.07 kg of oxygen

315.25 CO2

Calculation for Requirement of

Theoretical Amount of Air (contd.)

2H2
4

+
+

O2
32

2H2O
36

4 kg of hydrogen requires 32 kg of oxygen to form 36 kg of water,

therefore 1 kg of hydrogen requires 32/4 kg i.e 8 kg of oxygen
(12) H2 + (12 x 8) O2
96 kg of oxygen

(12 x 9 ) H2O

Calculation for Requirement

of Theoretical Amount of Air (contd.)

S
32

+
+

O2
32

SO2
64

32 kg of sulphur requires 32 kg of oxygen to form 64 kg of

sulphur dioxide, therefore 1 kg of sulphur requires 32/32 kg i.e 1
kg of oxygen
(0.5) S + (0.5 x 1) O 2
0.5 kg of oxygen

1.0 SO 2

Calculation for Requirement of

Theoretical Amount of Air (contd.)
Total Oxygen required

= 229.07+96+0.5
= 325.57 kg

Oxygen already present in

100 kg fuel (given)

= 0.7 kg

Additional Oxygen Required

= 325.57 - 0.7
= 324.87 kg

Therefore quantity of dry air reqd.

(air contains 23% oxygen by wt.)

= (324.87) / 0.23
= 1412.45 kg of air

Theoretical Air required

= (1412.45) / 100
= 14.12 kg of air/ kg of fuel

Optimizing Excess Air and Combustion

In practice, mixing is never perfect, a certain

amount of excess air is needed to complete

combustion and ensure that release of the entire
heat contained in fuel oil.
If too much air than what is required for
completing combustion were allowed to enter,
additional heat would be lost in heating the surplus air to
the chimney temperature. This would result
in increased stack losses.
Less air would lead to the incomplete combustion
and smoke. Hence, there is an optimum excess air
level for each type of fuel.
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PULVERIZING PROPERTIES OF COAL

58
GRINDABILlTY.-measures the ease

of pulverization. It should not be

confused with hardness of coal. It is
affected by Moisture in the Coal.
MOISTURE: comprised of
equilibrium moisture and surface or
free moisture. Surface moisture
adversely affects both pulverizer
performance and the combustion
process. The surface moisture
produces agglomeration of the fines
in the pulverizing zone, and reduces
pulverizer drying capacity because of
the inability to remove the fines
efficiently and as quickly as they are
produced.
Sufficient hot air at adequate
temperature is necessary in the
Milling System

COAL-ASH SLAGGING AND DEPOSITION

Parameters for Coal ash Behaviour
ash-fusibility

temperatures
base/acid ratio
iron/calcium ratio
silica/alumina ratio
iron/dolomite ratio
dolomite percentage
ferric percentage

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