TKK62034 – 2 sks

UTILITAS
Dosen Pengampu :
Luthfi Kurnia Dewi, S.T., M.T.

Departemen Teknik Kimia Fakultas Teknik

Universitas Brawijaya
Boiler Blow Down

• Controls ‘total dissolved solids’ (TDS) in the

water that is boiled
• Blows off water and replaces it with feed water
• Conductivity measured as indication of TDS
levels
• Calculation of quantity blow down required:

Feed water TDS x % Make up water

Blow down (%) =
Maximum Permissible TDS in Boiler water

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Blow Down

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Blow Down

Two types of blow down

• Intermittent
• Manually operated valve reduces TDS
• Large short-term increases in feed water
• Substantial heat loss

• Continuous
• Ensures constant TDS and steam purity
• Heat lost can be recovered
• Common in high-pressure boilers

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Blow Down

Benefits
• Lower pretreatment costs
• Less make-up water consumption
• Reduced maintenance downtime
• Increased boiler life
• Lower consumption of treatment
chemicals

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

• Quality of steam depend on water

treatment to control
• Steam purity
• Deposits
• Corrosion

• Efficient heat transfer only if boiler

water is free from deposit-forming
solids

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

Deposit control
• To avoid efficiency losses and
reduced heat transfer
• Hardness salts of calcium and
magnesium
• Alkaline hardness: removed by boiling
• Non-alkaline: difficult to remove

• Silica forms hard silica scales

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

Internal water treatment

• Chemicals added to boiler to prevent scale
• Different chemicals for different water types
• Conditions:
• Feed water is low in hardness salts
• Low pressure, high TDS content is tolerated
• Small water quantities treated
• Internal treatment alone not recommended

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External water treatment:

• Removal of suspended/dissolved solids and
dissolved gases
• Pre-treatment: sedimentation and settling
• First treatment stage: removal of salts
• Processes
a) Ion exchange
b) Demineralization
c) De-aeration
d) Reverse osmoses
© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External Water Treatment

a) Ion-exchange process (softener plant)
• Water passes through bed of natural zeolite of
synthetic resin to remove hardness
• Base exchange: calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)
replaced with sodium (Na) ions
• Does not reduce TDS, blow down quantity and
alkalinity

b) Demineralization
• Complete removal of salts
• Cations in raw water replaced with hydrogen ions
© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External Water Treatment

c) De-aeration
• Dissolved corrosive gases (O2, CO2)
expelled by preheating the feed water
• Two types:
• Mechanical de-aeration: used prior to addition
of chemical oxygen scavangers
• Chemical de-aeration: removes trace oxygen

© UNEP 2006
 Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External Water Treatment

Mechanical
Vent
de-aeration
Spray
Boiler Feed
Water
Nozzles • O2 and CO2 removed by
Stea
heating feed water
m
Scrubber
Section • Economical treatment
(Trays) process

Storage
• Vacuum type can reduce
Section O2 to 0.02 mg/l
De-aerated • Pressure type can
Boiler Feed
Water
reduce O2 to 0.005 mg/l
( National Productivity Council)
© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External Water Treatment

Chemical de-aeration
• Removal of trace oxygen with scavenger
• Sodium sulphite:
• Reacts with oxygen: sodium sulphate
• Increases TDS: increased blow down
• Hydrazine
• Reacts with oxygen: nitrogen + water
• Does not increase TDS: used in high pressure
boilers
© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External Water Treatment

d) Reverse osmosis
• Osmosis
• Solutions of differing concentrations
• Separated by a semi-permeable membrane
• Water moves to the higher concentration

• Reversed osmosis
• Higher concentrated liquid pressurized
• Water moves in reversed direction

© UNEP 2006
Boiler Feed Water Treatment

External water treatment

d) Reverse osmosis
Pressure

Feed Fresh Water

Water
More
Concentrated
Solution
Concentrate Water Flow
Flow

15
Semi Permeable
Membrane © UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

1. Stack temperature control

2. Feed water preheating using
economizers
3. Combustion air pre-heating
4. Incomplete combustion minimization
5. Excess air control
6. Avoid radiation and convection heat
loss
7. Automatic blow down control
8. Reduction of scaling and soot losses
9. Reduction of boiler steam pressure
10. Variable speed control
11. Controlling boiler loading
12. Proper boiler scheduling
13. Boiler replacement
© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

1. Stack Temperature Control

• Keep as low as possible
• If >200°C then recover waste heat

2. Feed Water Preheating

Economizers
• Potential to recover heat from 200 – 300 oC flue
gases leaving a modern 3-pass shell boiler

3. Combustion Air Preheating

• If combustion air raised by 20°C = 1% improve
thermal efficiency
© UNEP 2006
 Energy Efficiency Opportunities

4. Minimize Incomplete Combustion

• Symptoms:
• Smoke, high CO levels in exit flue gas
• Causes:
• Air shortage, fuel surplus, poor fuel distribution
• Poor mixing of fuel and air
• Oil-fired boiler:
• Improper viscosity, worn tops, cabonization on
dips, deterioration of diffusers or spinner plates
• Coal-fired boiler: non-uniform coal size
© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

5. Excess Air Control

• Excess air required for complete combustion
• Optimum excess air levels varies
• 1% excess air reduction = 0.6% efficiency rise
• Portable or continuous oxygen analyzers
Fuel Kg air req./kg fuel %CO2 in flue gas in practice
Solid Fuels
Bagasse 3.3 10-12
Coal (bituminous) 10.7 10-13
Lignite 8.5 9 -13
Paddy Husk 4.5 14-15
Wood 5.7 11.13
Liquid Fuels
Furnace Oil 13.8 9-14
LSHS 14.1 19
9-14
© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

6. Radiation and Convection Heat

Loss Minimization
• Fixed heat loss from boiler shell, regardless of
boiler output
• Repairing insulation can reduce loss

7. Automatic Blow Down Control

• Sense and respond to boiler water conductivity
and pH

© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

8. Scaling Reduction
• Every 22oC increase in stack temperature = 1%
efficiency loss
• 3 mm of scale = 2.5% fuel increase

9. Reduced Boiler Steam Pressure

• Lower steam pressure
= lower saturated steam temperature
= lower flue gas temperature
• Steam generation pressure dictated by process
© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

10. Variable Speed Control for Fans,

Blowers and Pumps
• Suited for fans, blowers, pumps
• Should be considered if boiler loads are
variable

11. Control Boiler Loading

• Maximum boiler efficiency: 65-85% of rated load
• Significant efficiency loss: < 25% of rated load

© UNEP 2006
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

12. Proper Boiler Scheduling

• Optimum efficiency: 65-85% of full load
• Few boilers at high loads is more efficient than
large number at low loads

13. Boiler Replacement

Financially attractive if existing boiler is
• Old and inefficient
• Not capable of firing cheaper substitution fuel
• Over or under-sized for present requirements
• Not designed for ideal loading conditions
© UNEP 2006
to be continued…