Steam Generators

Steam Systems
Steam Systems
• The five major steam intensive industries are:
• Food processing
• Pulp and paper
• Chemicals
• Petroleum refining
• Primary metals.
• For instance, in the pulp and paper industry
• 84% of energy is consumed as steam.
• Out of which 24% is used in pulping, 20% is used for bleaching and 41% is
used for papermaking.
Energy Efficiency
• Energy costs are increasing.
• Increasing steam efficiency allows
• businesses to be competitive and
• an opportunity to save energy, water
• reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• The three forms of energy used in industrial processes are as follows.

• electricity
• direct-fired heat
• steam.
Uses of Steam
• for process heating and steam tracing
• for pressure control
• for driving mechanical equipment (such as pumps, fans and turbines,
and absorption refrigeration)
• as a source of water and heat for process reactions
• for steam jet ejectors to produce a vacuum and component
separation (such as in oil distillation)
• to generate electricity.
Advantages of steam
• low toxicity
• ease of transportability
• high efficiency
• high heat capacity
• low cost relative to other alternatives.
• Heat can be stored as sensible heat and latent heat.
• The advantage of steam is that (unlike other fluids) the majority of the
heat is stored as latent heat. Therefore it can be transferred at
constant temperature.
Sections of steam system
• pre-treatment
• steam generation
• steam distribution
• end use and
• steam recovery.
Pretreatment
• Natural waters contain many impurities that are undesirable for steam
generation.
• These are
• suspended solids
• dissolved solids
• dissolved gases.
• The presence of calcium, magnesium, silica and iron contributes to scale
formation inside the boiler.
• Dissolved gases such as oxygen react and corrode boiler internals.
• Carbonates break down to carbon dioxide and corrode condensate systems.
Pre-treatment systems
• Predominantly consist of
• filtration, ion exchange and, lately, reverse osmosis systems.
• Filtration only removes suspended solids. Ion exchange and reverse
osmosis systems remove dissolved solids.
• There are three types of ion exchange processes. These are
• water softening - accomplished with a cation exchanger
• dealkalisation - removal of bicarbonate and carbonate alkalinity together with
hardness.
• Demineralisation - removes all dissolved ions (both cations and anions)
Deaerators
• Dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide are corrosive to
carbon steel – and ammonia is corrosive to copper alloys.
• These effects are exacerbated at elevated temperatures.
• These gases and other non-condensable gases are removed to the
lowest practical level in deaerators.
• A thigh temperatures, oxygen solubility decreases. We can also use
chemical scavangers (sodium sulphite, hydrazine or carbohydrazide)
to remove traces of oxygen.
Steam Generation
• Boilers are characterised by
• their application
• configuration
• size
• quality of steam produced
• By application, boilers are classified as

• hot water boilers
• steam boilers
• power boilers.
Steam Generation
• By configuration boilers can be classified as
• firetube
• watertube
• waste heat boilers
• electric boilers
• hot water boilers
• once-through boilers.
Steam Generation
• In industry, the most common are fire tube, water tube and waste
heat boilers.
• The average capacity of these are about 10 MW.
• Electric boilers are found in commercial applications such as in hotels
and have a capacity less than 300 kW.
• Hot water boilers are designed to heat water to about 1210C and are
mainly used in hotels, schools and hospitals.
• Once-through boilers are found mainly in thermal power plants.
Important Terms
• Boiler shell - Steel plates bent into cylindrical form.
• Combustion chamber – space below the boiler shell meant for burning
fuel.
• Grate - It is a platform, in the combustion chamber, upon which fuel
(coal or wood) is burnt.
• Mountings - fittings mounted on the boiler for its proper functioning.
• water level indicator, pressure gauge, safety valve etc.
• Accessories - devices, which form an integral part of a boiler, but are not
mounted on it.
• superheater, economiser, feed pump etc.
Essentials of a Good Steam Boiler
• produce maximum quantity of steam with minimum fuel consumption.
• economical to install, and should require little attention during operation.
• rapidly meet the fluctuation of load.
• capable of quick starting and light in weight.
• occupy a small space and the joints should be few and accessible for inspection.
• Tubes should not accumulate soot or water deposits.
• should have a reasonable margin of strength to allow for wear or corrosion.
• water and flue gas circuits should be designed to allow a maximum fluid velocity
without incurring heavy frictional losses.
• comply with safety regulations as laid down in the Boilers Act.
Selection of a Steam Boiler
• power required and the working pressure.
• rate at which steam is to be generated.
• geographical position of the power house.
• fuel and water available.
• type of fuel to be used.
• probable permanency of the station.
• The probable load factor.

Steam Generators

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Steam Systems

• The three forms of energy used in industrial processes are as follows.

• By application, boilers are classified as

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