Lecture 3 - 2 - Fire Tube Boilers

FIRE TUBE
BOILERS
Week 12-13
Gas Steam Turbines and Generators
FIRE TUBE BOILERS
 Lancashire Boiler
 Cornish Boiler
 Cochran Boiler
 Locomotive Boiler
LANCASHIRE BOILER
 Invented in 1844 by William Fairbairn
 It consists of a shell of diameter 2-3 meters
 Inside the shell, there are two fire-tubes of equal size
 Diameter of fire tubes varies from 80 cm to 100 cm
 Length of the Boiler is 7-8 meters
 The shell is filled with water to a certain level
 Steam is stored at the top
 Pressure of steam can go up to 20 bar
LANCASHIRE BOILER…
 A grate is provided at one end to burn the fuel.
 Grate is a perforated arrangement on which fuel is placed on
which fuel is placed. Air is blown from bottom to burn the
fuel.
 Ash pit is provided below the grate to collect ash
 Fire Bridge separates fuel from rest of boiler. It prevents
movement of fuel through the fire tubes.
 Flue gases move by natural convection and exit from a
chimney at other end after passing across three lengths of the
boiler.
 The boiler shell is placed in the masonry containing one
passage the bottom and two others on sides of bottom passage
 The flue gases initiate at grate by burning the fuel.
 They pass through the complete length of two tubes.
 At the rear end of boiler, a deflector is provided to direct
the flow of flue gases to bottom path.
 After passing through the bottom path, the flue gases
emerge from the front, from where they get bifurcated and
pass through the two side passages.
 After passing through the side passages, the flue gases re-
join at the rear end and finally exit through the chimney.
 All this arrangement is done to maximize heat transfer with
the water.
 The arrangement of bottom and side passages through the
masonry is done in order to maximize the heat transfer with
the water.
 85% of heat transfer take place through the fire tubes
and rest 15% through the bottom and side passages.
 The steam collected at the top is saturated steam.
 Several mountings/accessories are provided in the boiler to
perform other functions.
 A water level indicator at the side.
 Steam stop valve is provided at the top to release steam.
Features

 Water supply pipe is perforated to allow uniform
distribution of feed water.
 Area to volume ratio (A/V) for heat transfer is large. Large
A/V increases efficiency of the boiler.
 Efficiency of Lancashire boiler is 65-70%.
 Steam generation rate in this boiler is also very large. = 8000
kg/hr.
 It is a stationary, horizontal boiler with natural circulation
of flue gases.
 It has easy maintenance. A main hole is provided to in the
front for maintenance purposes.
Features…
 Sedimentation takes place with time at the bottom of boiler
shell, reducing further heat transfer. So periodically
removing sludge water/steam mixture from bottom of shell
by opening blow-off cock (a valve at the bottom of boiler
shell) is important.
 This boiler is used where large amount of steam or hot
water is required.
 Super heater and economizer can also be installed in this
boiler.
CORNISH BOILER
 It is smaller version of Lancashire boiler.
 It is older than the Lancashire boiler. It was first fabricated in
1812 by Richard Trevithick.
 It is fire-tube boiler with natural circulation with only one fire-
tube.
 The fire tube is not concentric with the shell, rather it is placed
little lower. Since the entire shell is not filled with water, rather
there is some space for steam at the top. So the fire-tube is
located such that it is almost at the centre of water body.
 Length of boiler is 4-7 meters. Diameter of shell is 1.25 - 4.7
meters.
 It also has a grate for burning fuel, a fire bridge and ash-pit.
Most of the things are same as Lancashire boiler.
CORNISH BOILER…
 The movement of flue gases is slightly different than
Lancashire boiler. This boiler is also placed in a masonry of fire-
bricks that is similar to Lancashire boiler.
 The flue gases produced at the grate move along the length of
fire-tube. At the rear end, instead of coming from the bottom,
the flue gases get bifurcated and move in the side passages to
the front.
 At front the flue gases combine again and move to the rear end
through the bottom passage and finally exit from the chimney.
 Mountings are a necessary part of each boiler. These are:
 Steam stop valve: from where steam is removed from the
boiler. It is placed at the top of shell (or steam-drum).
 Water level indicator: To see level of water in the boiler.
CORNISH BOILER…
 Safety valves: A number of safety valves are provided in the
boiler to ensure safety and avoid any accident, like burst of boiler
due to over-pressure.
CORNISH BOILER…
CORNISH BOILER…
COCHRAN BOILER
It is a vertical fire-tube boiler having a dome.
It doesn’t have any masonry work.
Its diameter is 1-2 meters. Its height varies from 3-6 meters. It
depends on amount of steam required. Whether you need a smaller
boiler or a larger one. They are available in a variety of sizes.
Pressure can go up to 20 bar.
There is a grate and an ash pit under an interior dome. Burning of
fuel takes place under the dome. The flue gases move through orifices
in the dome to left stack from where they enter fire tubes. The
number of fire tubes can be five to six.
The flue gases after passing through the fire tubes, join in the smoke
box on other side. Smoke box is connected to chimney. So the flue
gases generated by burning the fuel pass through orifices in the dome
to a common place then pass through the fire tubes towards the smoke
box and finally exit through the chimney.
COCHRAN BOILER
 Rest of the space above interior dome and around the fire tubes
is filled with water.
 Steam generated is collected in the upper dome.
 If superheated steam is required, the steam from the dome is
taken through tubes and passed across flue gases. The steam will
become superheated.
 There are certain mountings: water level indicator, smoke box,
a door in the smoke box for purpose of inspection, fusible plug.
 Fusible plug is an important mounting in almost all the boilers.
Fusible plug is provided on the tubes of the boiler (especially
fire tubes). If for some reason, water supply is interrupted, tubes
overheat, the fusible plug will melt and water will enter fire
tubes. So the boiler will get extinguished.
COCHRAN BOILER…
COCHRAN BOILER…
LOCOMOTIVE BOILER
 It is a horizontal boiler. It is externally fired.
 There is a large fire space in which fuel is burnt. The flue gases then
pass through the fire tubes in the shell.
 On other side, there is stack in which flue gases collect and finally
exit in atmosphere.
 Chimney is not required in the locomotive boiler. Stack is a
chimney of very short length to discharge the gases.
 Because steam locomotive is moving at a high velocity, the pressure
different required for flue gases to move from fire space to the stack
and exit is atmosphere, is generated by Bernoulli effect of high
speed air moving above the stack.
 Rest of the things are similar to other boilers. This boiler has a
number of fire tubes. Shell is partially filled with water and partially
with steam. Mountings are also there.
STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
LOCOMOTIVE BOILER…

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FIRE TUBE

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