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The Boiler Book On Line

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION TO BOILERS
A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for combustion heat to be transferred into
water until it becomes heated water or a gas (steam). The steam or hot water under pressure is t
usable for transferring the heat to a process. Water is a useful
and cheap medium for transferring heat to a process. When
water is boiled into steam its volume increases about 1,600 times,
producing a force that is almost as explosive as gunpowder. This
causes the boiler to be an extremely dangerous item that must be
treated with utmost respect.

Boilers were used in crude fashions for several centuries but

development was slow because construction techniques were
crude and the operation was extremely dangerous. But by the
industrial revolution of the mid 1800’s boilers had become the
main source of energy to power industrial operations and
transportation. The use of water as a heat transfer medium has
many advantages. Water is relatively cheap, it can be easily
controlled, the gas in invisible, odorless, and extremely high purity.

The process of heating a liquid until it reaches it's gaseous state is

called evaporation. Heat is transferred from one body to another
by means of (1) radiation, which is the transfer of heat from a hot
body to a cold body through a conveying medium without physical contact, (2) convection, the
transfer of heat by a conveying medium, such as air or water and (3) conduction, transfer of heat
actual physical contact, molecule to molecule. The heating surface is any part of the boiler meta
that has hot gases of combustion on one side and water on the other. Any part of the boiler meta
that actually contributes to making steam is heating surface. The amount of heating surface a bo
has is expressed in square feet. The larger the amount of heating surface a boiler has the more
efficient it becomes. The measurement of the steam produced is generally in pounds of water
evaporated to steam per hour.

Gallons of water evaporated x 8.3 pounds/gallon water = Pounds of steam

In firetube boilers the term boiler horsepower is often used. A boiler horsepower is 34.5 pounds
steam. This term was coined by James Watt a Scottish inventor. The measurement of heat is in
British Thermal Units (Btu’s). A Btu is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of on
pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. When water is at 32 oF it is assumed that its heat value is
zero.

The heat required to change the temperature of a substance is called

sensible heat. In the teapot illustration to the left the 70 oF water
contains 38 Btu’s and by adding 142 Btu’s the water is brought to bo
point.

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Latent Heat
In the illustration to the left, to change the liquid (water) to its gaseous state (steam) an additional
Btu’s would be required. This quantity of heat required to change a chemical from the liquid to th
gaseous state is called latent heat.

The saturation temperature or boiling point is a function of pressure and rises when pressure
increases. When water under pressure is heated its saturation temperature rises above 212 oF. T
occurs in the boiler. In the example below the boiler is operating at a pressure of 100 psig which
gives a steam temperature of 338 oF or 1185 Btu’s.

When heat is added to saturated steam out of contact with liquid, its temperature is said to be
superheated. The temperature of superheated steam, expressed as degrees above saturation, is
referred to as the degrees of superheat.

BOILER TYPES:

Firetube Scotch Marine

Boiler

There are virtually infinite numbers of boiler designs but generally they fit into one of two categorie
(1) Firetube or as an easy way to remember "fire in tube" boilers, contain long steel tubes through
which the hot gasses from a furnace pass and around which the water to be changed to steam
circulates, and (2) Watertube or "water in tube" boilers in which the conditions are reversed with t
water passing through the tubes and the furnace for the hot gasses is made up of the water tubes
a firetube boiler the heat (gasses) from the combustion of the fuel passes through tubes and is
transferred to the water which is in a large cylindrical storage area. Common types of firetube boi
are scotch marine, firebox, HRT or horizontal return tube. Firetube boilers typically have a lower in
cost, are more fuel efficient and easier to operate but they are limited generally to capacities of

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50,000pph and pressures of 250 psig. The more common types of watertube boilers are "D" type
"A" type, "O" type, bent tube, and cast-iron sectional. All firetube boilers and most watertube boile
are packaged boilers in that they can be transported by truck, rail or barge. Large watertube boi
used in industries with large steam demands and in utilities must be completely assembled and
constructed in the field and are called field erected boilers.

Watertube Boiler D-Type

Watertube Boiler "O

Watertube Boiler "A Type" Miura Watertube Boile
Type"

Field Erected Boiler With Superheater By B&HES at Thomaston, GA

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Vertical tubeless boilers are used for small loads but really do not fit into either category as they d
not have tubes.

Boilers and pressure vessels are built under requirements of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers or ASME referred to as the "ASME Code." High pressure boilers are fired vessels fo
operation greater than 15 psig and 160oF and are built in accordance with Section I of the ASME
Code with the stamp. Vessels with design pressures below 15 psig steam and 180oF hot
water are low pressure and are built to Code Section IV. All unfired vessels are built in accordanc
with Code Section VIII, Division I . Repairs to all boilers and pressure vessels are governed b
the state boiler jurisdictions which for the US and Canada have universally adopted the National
Board of Boiler & Pressure Vessel Inspectors (National Board Code) and affixed with the
stamp.

STEAM BOILER SYSTEMS:

The feedwater system provides water to the boiler and regulates it automatically to meet the
demand for steam. Valves provide access for maintenance and repair. The steam system collec
and controls the steam produced in the boiler. Steam is directed through piping to the point of use
Throughout the system steam pressure is regulated using valves and checked with steam pressu
gauges. The steam and feedwater systems share some components. The fuel system includes
equipment used to provide fuel to generate the necessary heat. The equipment required in the fu
system depends on the type of fuel used in the system. All fuels are combustible and dangerous
necessary safety standards are not followed. Fuels commonly used are nuclear fusion, electricity
the wastes of certain processes and fossil fuels. The approximate heat value of certain fossil fuel

· Natural Gas 1,000 Btu/Cubic foot

· #2 Oil 142,000btu/gallon
· #4 oil 148,000btu/gallon
· #5 oil 149,000btu/gallon
· #6 oil 152,000btu/gallon
· Coal 12,500btu/ton
· Wood (Dry) 8,000btu/ton
· Wood (Wet) 4,000btu/ton

In a fuel oil fired boiler plant, fuel oil leaves the tank through a suction line and duplex strainer
traveling then to the fuel oil pump. The fuel oil is then forced through the pump and then through
discharge line. From the discharge line some fuel oil is burned and some returned to the tank
through a regulating valve.

In a natural gas fired plant gas is supplied at a set pressure which varies depending on the gas
source. Gas systems are low pressure or high pressure. In a low pressure gas system city gas
pressure is reduced from pounds to inches of pressure by passing through a gas regulator. Throu
the regulator gas is drawn into the burner and mixed with air supplied by a blower. This mixture is
directed to the burner where it is ignited with the pilot light. In a high gas pressure system, gas
passes through the regulator and gas is reduced to the proper pressure for the burner. Some boi
have combination burners which can burn gas or fuel oil or a combination of both gas and fuel oil.

Coal fired boilers use mechanical feeders or stokers to feed fuel to the burner at a consistent rate
For example, in a chain grate stoker coal is fed through the hopper and regulated before passing
under the ignition arch. The coal continues on a conveyor which carries the ignited coal slowly
under the heating surface. Ash, slag and unburned parts or clinkers are discharged at the other si
of the conveyor.

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The draft system regulates the flow of air to and from the burner. For fuel to burn efficiently the r
amount of oxygen must be provided. Air must also be provided to direct the flow of air through th
furnace to direct the gases of combustion out of the furnace to the breaching. A forced draft sys
uses a fan to force (or push) air through the furnace. An induced draft system uses a fan to draw
(or pull) air through the furnace. A combination or balanced draft system uses forced and induce
draft fans. Gases of combustion enter the stack from the breaching and are released to the
atmosphere.

COMBUSTION:
Is the method of combining the fuel and air systems in a source of heat at sufficient temperature t
produce steam. Combustion may be defined as the rapid chemical combination of oxygen with t
combustible elements of a fuel. Only three combustible, chemical elements are of any significanc
carbon, hydrogen and sulfur. The boiler combustion furnace in which the fuel burns provides a
chamber in which the combustion reaction can be isolated and confined so that it can be controlle
In a scotch marine boiler it is referred to as a Morrison tube or in other boilers the firebox area. Th
convection surfaces are the areas to which the heat travels that is not transferred in the combus
furnace. Here additional heat is removed. The burner is the principal device for the firing of oil
and/or gas. Burners are normally located in the vertical walls of the furnace. Burners along with
furnaces in which they are installed, are designed to burn the fuel properly.

STEAM TO WATER CYCLE:

In a steam heating system steam leaves the main steam line and enters the main steam header.
From the main header piping directs the steam to branch lines. Branch lines feed steam through
riser to the steam heating equipment. At the heating equipment heat is transferred to the building
space. As the steam releases heat to the building space and is cools it turns back to water or
condensate. The condensate is separated from the steam by a steam trap. The steam trap allow
condensate to pass but not the steam. The condensate passes through the condensate return lin
and is collected and directed back to the boiler to repeat the steam to water process.

Referring back to the teapot example, after repeated use it began to acquire a "buildup" of solids
from the water. The same separation of solids in the water occurs in the boiler but since it is
operating continuously and at higher temperatures this "buildup" can occur very rapidly. When th
occurs the heat transfer can not be achieved as readily which requires more fuel to produce the
steam. If continued unchecked damage to the metals in the boiler shell and tubes will result.

Pretreatment equipment such as softeners, de-mineralizes, etc. are used to remove as much of th
dissolved solids as possible before they get to the boiler. To remove the solids that continue to th
boiler chemicals are added to react with the solids creating a sludge. This sludge is then periodic
removed by opening valves from the bottom of the boiler and relieving it to the drain. This proces
called blowdown.

Waterside problems can also shorten boiler life from corrosion brought on by the oxygen content
the feedwater. Pretreatment for the removal of oxygen is performed in a deaerator but here again
the removal is not complete and chemical additions are made to aid in improving the oxygen remo
process.

The water supplied to the boiler that is converted into steam is called feedwater. The two source
feedwater are: (1) Condensate. or condensed steam returned from the processes and (2) Makeu
water (usually city water) which must come from outside the boiler room and plant processes. Fo
higher boiler efficiencies the feedwater can be heated, usually by economizers.

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1-888-BOILER-E

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