Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.

4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

STEAM GENERATOR Control

Steam is an important medium of producing mechanical energy. Steam has the advantage that,
it can be raised from water which is available in abundance it does not react much with the
materials of the equipment of power plant and is stable at the temperature required in the plant.
Steam is used to drive steam engines, steam turbines etc. Steam power station is most suitable
where coal is available in abundance.
Thermal electrical power generation is one of the major methods. Out of total power
developed in India about 60% is thermal. For a thermal power plant the range of pressure may
vary from 10 kg/cm2 to super critical pressures and the range of temperature may be from
250°C to 650°C.

Essentials of Steam Power Plant Equipment

A steam power plant must have following equipment :
(a) A furnace to burn the fuel.
(b) Steam generator or boiler containing water. Heat generated in the furnace is
utilized to convert water into steam.
(c) Main power unit such as an engine or turbine to use the heat energy of steam
and perform work.
(d) Piping system to convey steam and water.
In addition to the above equipment the plant requires various auxiliaries and accessories
depending upon the availability of water, fuel and the service for which the plant is intended.
The flow sheet of a thermal power plant consists of the following four main circuits :
(a) Feed water and steam flow circuit.
(b) Coal and ash circuit.
(c) Air and gas circuit.
(d) Cooling water circuit.
A steam power plant using steam as working substance works basically on Rankine cycle.
Steam is generated in a boiler, expanded in the prime mover and condensed in the
condenser and fed into the boiler again.
The different types of systems and components used in steam power plant are as
follows :
(a) High pressure boiler
(b) Prime mover

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

(c) Condensers and cooling towers

(d) Coal handling system
(e) Ash and dust handling system
(f) Draught system
(g) Feed water purification plant
(h) Pumping system
(i) Air preheater, economizer, super heater, feed heaters.
Figure 1 shows a schematic arrangement of equipment of a steam power station. Coal received
in coal storage yard of power station is transferred in the furnace by coal handling unit. Heat
produced due to burning of coal is utilized in converting water contained in boiler drum into
steam at suitable pressure and temperature. The steam generated is passed through the
superheater. Superheated steam then flows through the turbine. After doing work in the
turbine the pressure of steam is reduced. Steam leaving the turbine passes through the
condenser which is maintained the low pressure of steam at the exhaust of turbine. Steam
pressure in the condenser depends upon flow rate and temperature of cooling water and on
effectiveness of air removal equipment. Water circulating through the condenser may be taken
from the various sources such as river, lake or sea. If sufficient quantity of water is not
available the hot water coming out of the condenser may be cooled in cooling towers and
circulated again through the condenser. Bled steam taken from the turbine at suitable
extraction points is sent to low pressure and high pressure water heaters.

Figure 1 : Steam Power Plant

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

Air taken from the atmosphere is first passed through the air pre-heater, where it is heated
by flue gases. The hot air then passes through the furnace. The flue gases after passing over
boiler and superheater tubes, flow through the dust collector and then through economiser,
air pre-heater and finally they are exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney.
Steam condensing system consists of the following :
(a) Condenser
(b) Cooling water
(c) Cooling tower
(d) Hot well
(e) Condenser cooling water pump
(f) Condensate air extraction pump
(g) Air extraction pump
(h) Boiler feed pump
(i) Make up water pump.

Classification
Boiler is an apparatus to produce steam. Thermal energy released by combustion of fuel is
transferred to water, which vaporizes and gets converted into steam at the desired temperature
and pressure.
The steam produced is used for :
(a) Producing mechanical work by expanding it in steam engine or steam turbine.
(b) Heating the residential and industrial buildings.
(c) Performing certain processes in the sugar mills, chemical and textile
industries.
Boiler is a closed vessel in which water is converted into steam by the application of heat.
Usually boilers are coal or oil fired.

A boiler should fulfill the following requirements :

(a) Safety : The boiler should be safe under operating conditions.
(b) Accessibility : The various parts of the boiler should be accessible for repair
and maintenance.
(c) Capacity : The boiler should be capable of supplying steam according to the
requirements.
(d) Efficiency : To permit efficient operation, the boiler should be able to absorb a

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

maximum amount of heat produced due to burning of fuel in the furnace.

(e) It should be simple in construction and its maintenance cost should be low.
(f) Its initial cost should be low.
(g) The boiler should have no joints exposed to flames.
(h) The boiler should be capable of quick starting and loading.
Types of Boilers
The boilers can be classified according to the following criteria.
According to flow of water and hot gases :
(a) Water tube
(b) Fire tube.
In water tube boilers, water circulates through the tubes and hot products of combustion flow
over these tubes. In fire tube boiler the hot products of combustion pass through the tubes,
which are surrounded, by water. Fire tube boilers have low initial cost, and are more
compacts. But they are more likely to explosion, water volume is large and due to poor
circulation they cannot meet quickly the change in steam demand. For the same output the
outer shell of fire tube boilers is much larger than the shell of water-tube boiler. Water tube
boilers require less weight of metal for a given size, are less liable to explosion, produce
higher pressure, are accessible and can respond quickly to change in steam demand. Tubes and
drums of water-tube boilers are smaller than that of fire-tube boilers and due to smaller size of
drum higher pressure can be used easily. Water-tube boilers require lesser floor space. The
efficiency of water-tube boilers is more.
Water tube boilers are classified as follows :

Horizontal Straight Tube Boilers

(a) Longitudinal drum
(b) Cross-drum.

Bent Tube Boilers

(a) Two drum
(b) Three drum
(c) Low head three drum
(d) Four drum.

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

Cyclone Fired Boilers

Various advantages of water tube boilers are as follows :
(a) High pressure can be obtained.
(b) Heating surface is large. Therefore steam can be generated easily.
(c) Large heating surface can be obtained by use of large number of tubes.
(d) Because of high movement of water in the tubes the rate of heat transfer
becomes large resulting into a greater efficiency.

Fire tube boilers are classified as follows :

External Furnace
(a) Horizontal return tubular
(b) Short fire box
(c) Compact.

Internal Furnace
Horizontal Tubular
(a) Short firebox
(b) Locomotive
(c) Compact
(d) Scotch.
Vertical Tubular
(a) Straight vertical shell, vertical tube
(b) Cochran (vertical shell) horizontal tube. Various
advantages of fire tube boilers are as follows :
(a) Low cost
(b) Fluctuations of steam demand can be met easily
(c) It is compact in size. According to position of furnace :
(a) Internally fired
(b) Externally fired
In internally fired boilers the grate combustion chamber are enclosed within the boiler
shell whereas in case of extremely fired boilers and furnace and grate are separated from
the boiler shell.

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

According to the position of principle axis :

(a) Vertical
(b) Horizontal
(c) Inclined. According to application :
(a) Stationary
(b) Mobile, (Marine, Locomotive). According to the
circulating water :
(a) Natural circulation
(b) Forced circulation. According to steam pressure :
(a) Low pressure
(b) Medium pressure
(c) Higher pressure.
Major Components and Their Functions
Economizer
The economizer is a feed water heater, deriving heat from the flue gases. The
justifiable cost of the economizer depends on the total gain in efficiency. In turn this
depends on the flue gas temperature leaving the boiler and the feed water inlet
temperature. A typical return bend type economizer is shown in the Figure 1.
Air Pre-heater
The flue gases coming out of the economizer is used to preheat the air before supplying
it to the combustion chamber. An increase in air temperature of
20 degrees can be achieved by this method. The pre heated air is used for
combustion and also to dry the crushed coal before pulverizing.
Soot Blowers
The fuel used in thermal power plants causes soot and this is deposited on the boiler
tubes, economizer tubes, air pre heaters, etc. This drastically reduces the amount of heat
transfer of the heat exchangers. Soot blowers control the formation of soot and reduce its
corrosive effects. The types of soot blowers are fixed type, which may be further
classified into lane type and mass type depending upon the type of spray and nozzle
used. The other type of soot blower is the retractable soot blower. The advantages are
that they are placed far away from the high temperature zone, they concentrate the
cleaning through a single large nozzle rather than many small nozzles and there is no
concern of nozzle arrangement with respect to the boiler tubes.
Condenser
The use of a condenser in a power plant is to improve the efficiency of the power plant
by decreasing the exhaust pressure of the steam below atmosphere. Another advantage
of the condenser is that the steam condensed may be recovered to provide a source of
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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

good pure feed water to the boiler and reduce the water softening capacity to a
considerable extent. A condenser is one of the essential components of a power plant.
Cooling Tower
The importance of the cooling tower is felt when the cooling water from the condenser
has to be cooled. The cooling water after condensing the steam becomes hot and it has
to be cooled as it belongs to a closed system. The Cooling towers do the job of
decreasing the temperature of the cooling water after condensing the steam in the
condenser.
The type of cooling tower used in the Columbia Power Plant was an Inline Induced
Draft Cross Flow Tower. This tower provides a horizontal air flow as the water falls
down the tower in the form of small droplets. The fan centered at the top of units draws
air through two cells that are paired to a suction chamber partitioned beneath the fan.
The outstanding feature of this tower is lower air static pressure loss as there is less
resistance to air flow. The evaporation and effective cooling of air is greater when the
air outside is warmer and dryer than when it is cold and already saturated.
Superheater
The superheater consists of a superheater header and superheater elements. Steam from
the main steam pipe arrives at the saturated steam chamber of the superheater header and
is fed into the superheater elements. Superheated steam arrives back at the superheated
steam chamber of the superheater header and is fed into the steam pipe to the cylinders.
Superheated steam is more expansive.
Reheater
The reheater functions similar to the superheater in that it serves to elevate the steam
temperature. Primary steam is supplied to the high pressure turbine. After passing
through the high pressure turbine, the steam is returned to the steam generator for
reheating (in a reheater) after which it is sent to the low pressure turbine. A second
reheat cycle may also be provided.
SUPER HEATER
One of the most important accessories of a boiler is a super heater. It effects
improvement and economy in the following ways :
• The super heater increases the capacity of the plant.
• Eliminates corrosion of the steam turbine.
• Reduces steam consumption of the steam turbine.

Types of Super Heater

• Plate Super heaters.
• Pendant Super heaters.

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

• Radiant Super heaters.

• Final Super heaters.

Steam Temperature Control

The nominal control of reheat steam temperature is by tilting the burners. The super heater
steam temperature is controlled by spraying water.
Other control methods that are according to the need and design are :
(a) Excess Air Control
(b) Flue Gas Recirculation
(c) Gas by-pass Control
(d) Control of Combination Superheaters
(e) Adjustable Burner Control

Excess Air Control

The steam outlet temperature of a convection superheater may be increased at partial load by
increasing the excess air supply. The reduced gas temperature decreases the furnace heat
absorption for the same steam production. The increased gas mass flow with its increased total
heat content serves to increase the degree of superheat.

Figure 2 : Superheat control by increased excess air

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

Flue Gas Recirculation

The recirculation of some percentage of the combustion gases serves to control steam
temperature in the same manner as does an increase in excess air. By introducing the hot
gases below the combustion zone, relatively high efficiency may be maintained.

Figure 3 : Superheat Control by Flue Gas Recirculation

Gas By-pass Control

The boiler convection banks can be arranged in such a manner that portion of the gases can
be by-passed around the superheater elements. The superheater is oversized so that it will
produce the required degree of superheat at partial load conditions. As the load increases,
some of the flue gases are by-passed.

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 Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

Figure4 : Superheat Control using Flue Gas By-pass

Control of Combination Superheaters

The control of combination radiant-convection superheaters is relatively simple because of
their compensating characteristics. An increase in excess air reduces the radiant heat
transfer but increases the convection heat transfer. The reduction in excess air has the
opposite effect. Thus the combination superheaters can be operated over the entire control
range without additional equipment.

Adjustable Burner Control

With a multiple burner furnace it is possible to distribute the burners over a considerable burner
wall height. This control is obtained by selective firing. Tilt able furnace may be adjusted to shift
the position of the combustion zone.

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

Figure 5 : Superheat Control by Burner Tilt

High Pressure Boilers

In all modern power plants, high pressure boilers (> 100 bar) are universally used as they offer
the following advantages. In order to obtain efficient operation and high capacity, forced
circulation of water through boiler tubes is found helpful. Some special types of boilers
operating at super critical pressures and using forced circulations are described in this chapter.
(a) The efficiency and the capacity of the plant can be increased as reduced quantity of
steam is required for the same power generation if high pressure steam is used.
(b) The forced circulation of water through boiler tubes provides freedom in the
arrangement of furnace and water walls, in addition to the reduction in the heat exchange area.
(c) The tendency of scale formation is reduced due to high velocity of water.
(d) The danger of overheating is reduced as all the parts are uniformly heated.
(e) The differential expansion is reduced due to uniform temperature and this reduces
the possibility of gas and air leakages.
(f) Some special types of high pressure supercritical boilers are described in this
chapter.

LA MONT Boiler

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

A forced circulation boiler was first introduced in 1925 by La Mont. The arrangement of
water circulation and different components are shown in the figure. The feed water from hot
well is supplied to a storage and separating drum (boiler) through the economizer. Most of the
sensible heat is supplied to the feed water passing through the economizer. A pump circulates
the water at a rate 8 to 10 times the mass of steam evaporated. This water is circulated
through the evaporator tubes and the part of the vapour is separated in the separator drum. The
large quantity of water circulated (10 times that of evaporation) prevents the tubes from being
overheated.

Figure 6 : LA MONT Boiler

The centrifugal pump delivers the water to the headers at a pressure of 2.5 bar above the drum
pressure. The distribution headers distribute the water through the nozzle into the evaporator.
The steam separated in the boiler is further passed through the super-heater. Secure a uniform
flow of feed water through each of the parallel boiler circuits a choke is fitted entrance to each
circuit. These boilers have been built to generate 45 to 50 tons of superheated steam at a
pressure of 120 bars and temperature of 500°C. Recently forced circulation has been
introduced in large capacity power.

Benson Boiler
The main difficulty experienced in the La Mont boiler is the formation and attachment of
bubbles on the inner surfaces of the heating tubes. The attached bubbles reduce the heat flow
and steam generation as it offers higher thermal resistance compared to water film :
(a) If the boiler pressure was raised to critical pressure (225 atm), the steam and water

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

would have the same density and therefore the danger of bubble formation can be completely
avoided.
(b) Natural circulation boilers require expansion joints but these are not required for
Benson as the pipes are welded. The erection of Benson boiler is easier and quicker as all the
parts are welded at site and workshop job of tube expansion is altogether avoided.
(c) The transport of Benson boiler parts is easy as no drums are required and majority of
the parts are carried to the site without pre-assembly.
(d) The Benson boiler can be erected in a comparatively smaller floor area. The space
problem does not control the size of Benson boiler used.
(e) The furnace walls of the boiler can be more efficiently protected by using small
diameter and close pitched tubes.
(f) The superheater in the Benson boiler is an integral part of forced circulation system,
therefore no special starting arrangement for superheater is required.
(g) The Benson boiler can be started very quickly because of welded joints.
(h) The Benson boiler can be operated most economically by varying the temperature
and pres- sure at partial loads and overloads. The desired temperature can also be
maintained constant at any pressure.
(i) Sudden fall of demand creates circulation problems due to bubble formation in the
natural circulation boiler which never occurs in Benson boiler. This feature of insensitiveness
to load fluctuations makes it more suitable for grid power station as it has better adaptive
capacity to meet sudden load fluctuations.
(j) The blow-down losses of Benson boiler are hardly 4% of natural circulation boilers of
same capacity.
(k) Explosion hazards are not at all severe as it consists of only tubes of small diameter
and has very little storage capacity compared to drum type boiler.
During starting, the water is passed through the economizer, evaporator, superheater and back
to the feed line via starting valve.
During starting, first circulating pumps are started and then the burners are started to avoid
the overheating of evaporator and superheater tubes.

Loeffler Boiler
The major difficulty experienced in Benson boiler is the deposition of salt and sediment on the
inner surfaces of the water tubes. The deposition reduced the heat transfer and ultimately the
generating capacity. This further increased the danger of overheating the tubes due to salt
deposition as it has high thermal resistance. The difficulty was solved in Loffler boiler by
preventing the flow of water into the boiler tubes. Most of the steam is generated outside from
the feed water using part of the superheated steam coming-out from the boiler.

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

The pressure feed pump draws the water through the economizer and delivers it into the
evaporator drum. About 65% of the steam coming out of super heater is passed through the
evaporator drum in order to evaporate the feed water coming from economizer.
The steam circulating pump draws the saturated steam from the evaporator drum and is
passed through the radiant superheater and then convective superheater. About 35% of the
steam coming out from the superheater is supplied to the H.P. steam turbine. The steam
coming out from H.P. turbine is passed through reheater before supplying to L.P. turbine. The
amount of steam generated in the evaporator drum is equal to the steam tapped (65%) from
the superheater. The nozzles which distribute the superheated steam through the water into the
evaporator drum are of special design to avoid priming and noise.
This boiler can carry higher salt concentration than any other type and is more compact than
indirectly heated boilers having natural circulation. These qualities fit it for land or sea
transport power generation. Loffler boilers with generating capacity of 94.5 tones/hr and
operating at 140 bar have already been commissioned.

SCHMIDT-HARTMANN Boiler
The operation of the boiler is similar to an electric transformer. Two pressures are used to
affect an interchange of energy. In the primary circuit, the steam at 100 bar is produced from
distilled water. This steam is passed through a submerged heating coil which is located in an
evaporator drum. The high pressure steam in this coil possesses sufficient thermal potential
and steam at 60 bars with a heat transfer rate of
2.5 kW/m2-°C is generated in the evaporator drum. The steam produced in the evporator
drums from impure water is further passed through the superheater and then supplied to the
prime-mover. The high pressure condensate formed in the sub- merged heating coil is
circulated through a low pressure feed heater on its way to raise the feed water temperature to
its saturation temperature. Therefore, only latent heat is supplied in the evaporator drum.
Natural circulation is used in the primary circuit and this is sufficient to effect the desired rate
of heat transfer and to overcome the thermo-siphon head of about 2 m to 10 m. In normal
circumstances, the replenishment of distilled water in the primary circuit is not required as
every care is taken in design and construction to prevent leakage. But as a safeguard against
leakage, a pressure gauge and safety valve are fitted in the circuit.

VELOX-Boiler

When the gas velocity exceeds the sound-velocity, the heat is transferred from the gas at a
much higher rate than rates achieved with sub-sonic flow. The advantages of this theory are
taken to obtain the large heat transfer from a smaller surface area in this boiler. Air is
compressed to 2.5 bars with the help of a compressor run by gas turbine before supplying to
the combustion chamber to get the supersonic velocity of the gases passing through the
combustion chamber and gas tubes and high heat release rates. The burned gases in the

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
4th year Inst. Akeel M. A. Morad

combustion chamber are passed through the annulus of the tubes. The heat is transferred from
gases to water while passing through the annulus to generate the steam. The mixture of water
and steam thus formed then passes into a separator which is so designed that the mixture
enters with a spiral flow. The centrifugal force thus produced causes the heavier water
particles to be thrown outward on the walls. This effect separates the steam from water. The
separated steam is further passed to superheater and then supplied to the prime-mover. The
water removed from steam in the separator is again passed into the water tubes with the help
of a pump.
The gases coming out from the annulus at the top are further passed over the superheater
where its heat is used-for superheating the steam. The gases coming out of superheater are
used to run a gas turbine as they carry sufficient kinetic energy. The power output of the gas
turbine is used to run the air-compressor. The exhaust gases coming out from the gas turbine
are passed through the economizer to utilize the remaining heat of the gases. The extra power
required to run the compressor is supplied with the help of electric.

Reference Standards

British standards, BS845 : 1987

The British Standard BS845: 1987 describes the methods and conditions under which a boiler
should be tested to determine its efficiency. For the testing to be done, the boiler should be
operated under steady load conditions (generally full load) for a period of one hour after which
readings would be taken during the next hour of steady operation to enable the efficiency to be
calculated.
The efficiency of a boiler is quoted as the % of useful heat available, expressed as a percentage
of the total energy potentially available by burning the fuel. This is expressed on the basis of
gross calorific value (GCV).
This deals with the complete heat balance and it has two parts :
(a) Part one deals with standard boilers, where the indirect method is
specified.
(b) Part two deals with complex plant where there are many channels of
heat flow. In this case, both the direct and indirect methods are applicable, in whole or in part.

ASME Standard : PTC-4-1 Power Test Code for Steam Generating Units
This consists of
(c) Part One : Direct method (also called as Input -output method).
(d) Part Two : Indirect method (also called as Heat loss method)

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Power Plant Eng. Fuel and Energy Deprt.
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IS 8753 : Indian Standard for Boiler Efficiency Testing

Most standards for computation of boiler efficiency, including IS 8753 and BS845 are designed
for spot measurement of boiler efficiency. Invariably, all these standards do not include blow
down as a loss in the efficiency determination process.
Basically Boiler efficiency can be tested by the following methods :
The Direct Method
Where the energy gain of the working fluid (water and steam) is compared with the energy content
of the boiler fuel.
The Indirect Method
Where the efficiency is the difference between the losses and the energy input.

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