Low Furnace Pressure and Boiler Operation

Low furnace pressure can cause equal damage like furnace pressurization or a explosion. Low furnace pressure leads to a situation called furnace implosion if not corrected at the right time. To correct a imploded boiler requires a very long outage and work to be carried out. Balanced draft boilers are prone to a very low pressure condition inside the furnace. This condition creates a large amount of force on the waterwalls of the furnace. The buckstays which are provided in the boiler furnace are designed to handle both high and low pressure conditions that can damage the furnace. However if the low pressure continues, and if it exceeds the limit the buckstays can withstand, then the furnace is subject to implosion. Implosion happens when a large pressure acting on the walls of the furnace from outside overcomes the very low pressure prevailing inside the furnace. This leads to a high differential pressure between the atmospheric pressure outside and the pressure inside the furnace. Some of the furnace implosions have led to replacements of the furnace walls and have caused large financial losses to the owners. It is also possible to get into a furnace implosion condition in positive pressure boilers. In fact, in balanced draft furnaces the availability of openings softens the effect to some extent when they are near breakeven points. The damage to the furnace is nearly the same if implosion happens. The reasons of furnace implosion are many.

Induced draft fan control failure is one of the common causes in a balanced draft boiler Induced draft fan vane control failure also leads to furnace low pressure condition in balanced draft furnace. Sudden load throw off leading to a large fuel cutting is another common cause of low furnace pressure in both positive and balanced draft boilers Sudden reduction in air flow Sudden tripping of one forced draft fan, leading to a large reduction in air flow

The plant responds to these conditions by a large reduction in furnace pressure and leads to unstable furnace flame conditions. Depending on the indication and the reason for the cause of the problem the boiler operator will have to respond.

Switch to induced draft fan control from auto mode to manual mode if the control system is the reason leading to low furnace pressure and take corrective action. Ask the controls engineer to rectify the fault before again turning on to the auto mode. Check the induced draft fan vane control system for proper functioning by changing the set point and finding the response. Rectify if required. Check the air flow condition and ensure the correct air flow to the boiler as per the load condition

If one of the forced draft fan has tripped then after establishing the reason for trip and correcting the same, restart the forced draft fan.

The local operator in the field invariably has to check the induced draft fan vane control if this was the reason causing the low furnace pressure. If one of the forced draft fan has tripped, then he has to make ready the fan for restart after ascertaining the reason for the trip.

Flame Failure Causes in Boiler and Operator Action

There are many causes that can contribute to boiler flame failure. Operating the boiler with unstable flame is always dangerous and can lead to boiler explosion. Tripping the boiler is the option for all boiler designers and operators. Maintaining a good flame in a boiler is the key to a good boiler performance. Unstable flame is always a threat for boiler furnace explosion, which can lead to a large outage of the boiler and economic loss. When a flame failure occurs in a boiler, the boiler desk operator and the local operators will have to act immediately and bring the boiler back on line with all safety taken in to consideration. It is always seen that the greatest number of explosions in boilers takes place during start-up and shutdown. It is during this period that the probability for unburned to accumulate in flue gas path of the boiler is very high. Hence it has become a practice of all boiler designers to interlock purging the boiler with boiler start-up. Flame failure in a boiler can be due to many reasons. The specific causes

Heavy oil or warm-up oil trip valve closing Sudden reduction in mill feeder speed to a minimum Loss of ignition energy Flame scanner trip due to poor and unstable flame Malfunctioning of flame scanner Scanner air fan trip and slag build-up Sudden coal hang-up in one or more mills Coal feeder trip Electrical supply failure Air flow below 30% of total air flow Tripping of all forced draft air fan Tripping of all induced draft air fan Very high furnace pressure

These causes lead to flame failure individually or in a few a combination. This will depend upon when the flame quality becomes unacceptable. The plant response

In many cases it is possible to see fluctuation in furnace pressure

Flickering of the flame scanner can be seen when flame quality deteriorates Tripping of the primary air fan or very low primary air header pressure is more probable to occur just before flame failure After flame failure immediately the unit trips

The boiler desk operator immediate action

The boiler desk operator will have to start boiler purge Assess the reason for flame failure Light-up the boiler after the purge is complete and local operator gives clearance

Local operator immediate action

Check furnace and report to boiler control room Check flame scanners for any possible slag accumulation Check mills and restore them for starting Check oil trip valves for proper function Make sure oil guns are in position for light up of boiler

It has to be remembered that delay in lighting up the boiler will decay the boiler pressure and temperature. Depending upon the duty of the boiler the time taken to come back on line will vary

How to Handle Very Low Primary Air Header Pressure in Boilers

The specific causes, plant response, the control room operator action required and the local operator action needed are known when primary header pressure in coal fired boiler goes very low then boiler trip can be avoided. In coal fired boiler, the primary air has two functions: one to dry and carry the pulverized coal from the pulveriser to the furnace and the other is to supply oxygen for primary combustion. There are many layouts that are used to position the primary air fans in boilers. Many boiler designers prefer the cold primary air system, where the primary air fan handles cold air. There will be two or three primary air fans which cater to all mills' requirement. The air from the fan outlet goes to an air pre-heater and then to a distribution header from where the hot air is distributed to the working mills though a regulating system. The regulating system works for a set point of mill outlet temperature. The primary air header pressure is maintained in such a way that it can carry the required pulverized coal overcoming the pressure drop in the system as well as maintaining the required velocity in coal pipes to avoid settling. Some designers go for a hot primary air system where the primary air fans handle hot air and is as many in number as the number of mills. When primary air header pressure goes below a particular value, then the boiler will be tripped due to flame failure because of high furnace disturbance. The boiler trip can be avoided if the cause for very low primary air header pressure is quickly analysed and corrective action taken both from desk operator and local operator side.

Specific causes

One of the primary air fans operating trips Starting more mills without properly loading the primary air fans and stabilizing Closing of primary air fan inlet damper by mistake or malfunction Closing of air pre-heater outlet damper due to any reason Closing of primary air fan discharge damper due to any reason

Plant response

Mills trip by control system as per the designed logic There will be a rapid drum level fall needing regulation Boiler pressure and temperature will fall due to fuel input reduction if turbine and generators do not respond to the required level. Boiler furnace pressure becomes unsteady Combustion disturbance are noticed When oil support is not available flame failure can result With flame failure the boiler will trip

Control room operator action

Reduce turbine and generator load to the required level Maintain drum level within the trip levels preferably on the higher side Open high pressure and low pressure by pass valves (HP-LP by pass) if required Cut in oil support taking care not to do so under unstable furnace Maximize oil load and reduce HP LP by pass valve opening

Local operator action

Check the tripped fan Make ready for starting the tripped fan Confirm to control room for starting the fan

High Furnace Pressure Problems in Boilers

High furnace pressure is a direct indication of a disturbance in combustion performance. The rate of change in the furnace pressure can vary very much, that is from a simple sudden surge due to fuel variations to a huge furnace explosion. Combustion in a boiler furnace is normally considered a controlled explosion, as all boilers operate at a regime where explosion pressure is the maximum. This is mainly due to the fact that it is at this regime we get the maximum efficiency of the boiler. Furnace pressure in boilers is one of the most critical and important parameter to be maintained and monitored. Furnace pressure in a balanced draft furnace is always kept negative, and in pressurized furnace it is positive. Present days designers adopt balanced draft furnace for all solid fuel fired boiler, however there are installations of pressurized furnace even in the case of solid fuel fired boilers. In the case of gas and liquid fuel, generally designers adopt pressurized

furnaces. It should be understood that the selection of pressurized or balanced draft furnace depends upon many other factors. Present day boilers have online monitoring of furnace pressure and are controlled on auto. There are also alarms and trips provided for furnace pressure to alert the operator and also to protect the boiler from very high pressure surges. In the case of furnace explosion, if the explosion process is triggered then the boiler cannot be protected by any of these devices. Only the good and safe operating procedures can prevent explosions. There are many reasons why furnace pressure goes high, and the plant responds to these changes in furnace pressure like any other boiler parameter. Specific causes

Tripping of induced draft fan Mal-operation of regulating vanes of the fans Unstable flame o Low wind box pressure o Improper burner operation o Sudden starting of mills with fuel in the mill o Sudden fuel input in to the furnace o Loss of ignition energy Gradual buildup of fouling in air pre-heaters Tripping of air pre-heater Furnace water seal broken High excess air levels Large amount of air ingress in the second pass of boiler

The causes given are all applicable for balanced draft furnace, but in the case of forced draft furnace some of the causes are not applicable. Plant response

Furnace pressure high alarm appears for corrective action by operator Furnace trip activates if pressure goes above trip limit Boiler furnace pressure surge Can lead to explosion

Immediate operator action

Check draft reading for any damper closure Check vane control mechanism of fans for any mal-operation If induced draft fan tripped, reduce load and stabilize boiler parameters Stabilize combustion if combustion is unstable Restart air pre-heater if tripped Check furnace seal and establish if broken Check induced draft fan for any mal-operation

Immediate local operator action

Check for any opening of man holes in second pass

Check air pre-heater rotation Check dampers in flue gas path for proper position Check induced draft fan fully to ensure it is in proper operating condition Check and ensure furnace bottom seal water flow Check combustion condition and inform control room of any disturbance

It is a good practice for the local operator to get clearance from the control room before making any change (unless it is a standard procedure to take corrective action by the local operator). As furnace pressure increase is one of the indications for boiler explosion boiler operating engineers and all concerned must view increase in furnace pressure very critical and take corrective action and ensure safety.

Effect of Mill Outlet Temperature on Boiler Performance

The mill outlet temperature directly impacts the dry gas loss in boiler, which is a major loss and in turn a loss of boiler performance and efficiency. Two major parameters which decide the mill capacity and performance are the hardness of the coal and the total moisture level in the coal. Pulverizing mills in boiler plants play a major role in preparing the coal for firing in a boiler. Coal, being a heterogeneous fuel, varies in its properties; the variation depends on many factors like type of origin of coal, formation, etc. Two major parameters which decide the mill capacity and performance are the hardness of the coal and the total moisture level in coal. The hardness of coal decides the amount of load required to grind and recirculate within the mill. The moisture level decides the amount of hot air required and has a direct effect on the milling capacity in many cases. To make sure the fuel is prepared to an acceptable level for combustion, the mill outlet parameters of coal is maintained within a specified range. The fineness of coal which gives the measure of pulverizing is maintained to a level of 75% though 200 mesh and less than 1 to 2% over 50 mesh. The mill outlet temperature of coal-air mixture is maintained between 65 to 90 degree centigrade in the case of low and medium volatile coal. In the case of high volatile coal, while the lower limit generally remains as 65 degree centigrade, the upper limit is restricted to a lower level depending on percentage of volatile content in coal. This is mainly done to avoid mill fire and mill explosion While all these are regarding the mill performance, the coal fineness and mill out let temperature also affect the boiler performance. The coal fineness has an effect on the combustion performance like the bottom ash percentage combustibles when the plus 50 mesh percentage goes up. It has been very well established that in the case of tangential firing system, the percentage of combustibles has a direct bearing on the plus 50 mesh percentage. However the changes in the case of 200 mesh passing though has only a very minor or no effect on the percentage of combustibles in fly ash. This is mainly because of the fact that the residence time available in a large capacity boiler and the type of burning system will be able to address this in a wide range. It is found that in tangential firing system the reduction in fineness even to a level of 65 percent through 200 mesh did not affect the combustibles. But the main change was in bottom ash combustibles due to increase in 50 mesh retention

percentage. It is to be noted that all this results in combustibles loss in boiler and the magnitude is low, however it makes a difference when we talk about finer aspects of boiler performance levels. The mill outlet temperature has a major impact on the boiler performance levels. The mill outlet temperature directly impacts the dry gas loss in boiler which is a major loss. This depends on the moisture level in coal, the higher the moisture level the quantity of hot air required in mill for the same mill load is higher. In fact in cases where moisture levels are very high the tempering air required will be zero. But in the case of moisture levels being on the lower side the quantity of tempering air keeps increasing. It is at this time the boiler operating engineers will have to decide to go to higher level of mill outlet temperature to reduce the tempering air quantity. The tempering air bypasses the air pre-heaters in boiler thus reducing the heat recovery from the flue gases leaving the boiler. This increases the boiler exit gas temperature which in turn increases the dry gas loss in boiler.

Effect of Low Fuel Oil Temperature on Boiler Operation

Low fuel temperature can lead to a large amount of unburned fuel accumulation in the furnace. This can result in a very high probability for furnace explosion and air pre-heater fires. Maintaining correct fuel oil temperature ensures good combustion of fuel and boiler efficiency.

Fuel Oil Temperature and Boiler Operation

Fuel oil is one of the fossil fuesl used in boilers to generate steam. The hydrocarbons in fuel oil need heating for reducing the viscosity to a favorable level for handling and firing. Depending upon the composition of the oil, the effect on performance of boiler can be judged. All oils should have a viscosity of 80 Redwood No 1 at the burner inlet to result in an effective combustion. The temperature required can be determined by doing a simple viscosity test in a laboratory. It is a good practice to check the temperature required to get 80 Redwood No 1 viscosity for each consignment of fuel oil received. The fuel oil is heated in a fuel oil heater using a condensing type heater. The heated oil is then transported though pipe line to the boiler front and distributed to each burner through a set of control, trip, and isolation valves. These pipe lines are generally insulated and heat traced using electrical heating or steam heating. The temperature of the fuel oil at the outlet of the heater is maintained in such a way to take care of the loss of heat in the piping and system so that the viscosity at the gun tip or gun inlet will be 80 Redwood No 1 and below.

When the fuel oil temperature goes down the operator will have to understand the specific causes, how the plant will respond, what he has to take as an immediate action and how the local operator must respond. Specific causes

Insufficient steam flow to fuel oil heater Temperature controller of the heater system faulty Excessive condensate in the fuel oil heater lowering heat transfer Faulty steam trap not evacuating the condensate as required Fuel oil heater can be dirty thus reducing heat transfer Too high recirculation of fuel oil from heater outlet to the tank Higher firing rate than design

Plant response

The drop in temperature of fuel oil increases the viscosity leading to poor combustion Black smoke from chimney due to unburned carbon soot carryover Oil particles carryover to air pre-heater and threat of air pre-heater fire

Immediate operator action

Check the pressure and temperature of steam at the inlet of fuel oil heater Restore the steam parameter if required Open steam trap by-pass valve to check for excessive condensate Remove excessive condensate from the heater Reduce the oil recirculation if required Reduce firing rate if needed Bring online additional fuel oil heater to ensure fuel oil temperature with the oil consumption Discontinue oil firing if fuel oil temperature does not come to the required level

Immediate local operator action

Check the fuel oil heater for all its controls and parameters Check steam pressure and temperature to the heater Check the steam trap drains and ensure proper condensate level Inform boiler control room all local findings.

Irrespective of whether fuel oil is used for load carrying or as support for fuel in a boiler, it is very important to maintain the fuel oil temperature as the amount of unburned fuel collection over a period of time can explode the boiler or lead to air pre-heater fires. Both of this lead to a long outage of the boiler and a loss of production

Over-spraying in Superheaters and Reheaters of High Capacity Boilers

Water injection in superheater and reheater of boiler is a common method adopted by boiler designers. Within designed limit spraying in superheater will not be harmful if the water quality is maintained and the nozzles of the desuperheater are not eroded. In large capacity boilers, the superheater and reheater temperature at the boiler outlet is controlled by many methods. Water spraying in both superheater and reheater is a very commonly adopted method. In using a spray water system, there are many points to be addressed as otherwise serious failures can result. The superheaters and reheater are sized in

such a way that the full steam temperatures are achieved from 60 % boiler load. This means the steam temperature will be much higher than the rated steam temperature. Hence, to control this increase, water spraying is adopted. These desuperheaters are designed in such a way that the water is split into fine particles and allowed to mix with the steam, ensuring no water particles remain as it enters the superheater. Superheater spray system The superheater spray system consists of feed water tapped after the feed pump and sent through a set of control and isolation valves to the desuperheater. This is arranged between the primary or low temperature superheater and the high temperature radiant superheater section. Some designers adopt two stage desuperheater systems. In this case the second stage of the desuperheater comes between two stages of high temperature superheaters. The control on the main-steam outlet temperature is done suitably by a feed forward and fine tune control philosophy. Over spraying in superheaters results in long term overheating failures in sections preceding the desuperheater due to the metal temperature going higher. This mainly occurs at the material transition point in the superheater section. In superheater sections immediately after the desuperheater, the water particles deposits salts when they evaporate fully and a probability for long term overheating, corrosion, and thermal fatigue failures results.

Over-spraying in Superheaters and Reheaters of High Capacity Boilers

Water injection in superheater and reheater of boiler is a common method adopted by boiler designers. Within designed limit spraying in superheater will not be harmful if the water quality is maintained and the nozzles of the desuperheater are not eroded. In large capacity boilers, the superheater and reheater temperature at the boiler outlet is controlled by many methods. Water spraying in both superheater and reheater is a very commonly adopted method. In using a spray water system, there are many points to be addressed as otherwise serious failures can result. The superheaters and reheater are sized in such a way that the full steam temperatures are achieved from 60 % boiler load. This means the steam temperature will be much higher than the rated steam temperature. Hence, to control this increase, water spraying is adopted. These desuperheaters are designed in such a way that the water is split into fine particles and allowed to mix with the steam, ensuring no water particles remain as it enters the superheater. Superheater spray system The superheater spray system consists of feed water tapped after the feed pump and sent through a set of control and isolation valves to the desuperheater. This is arranged between the primary or low temperature superheater and the high temperature radiant superheater section. Some designers adopt two stage desuperheater systems. In this case the second stage of the desuperheater comes between two stages of high temperature superheaters. The control on the main-steam outlet temperature is done suitably by a feed forward and fine tune control

philosophy. Over spraying in superheaters results in long term overheating failures in sections preceding the desuperheater due to the metal temperature going higher. This mainly occurs at the material transition point in the superheater section. In superheater sections immediately after the desuperheater, the water particles deposits salts when they evaporate fully and a probability for long term overheating, corrosion, and thermal fatigue failures results. While over spraying in superheaters, the steam flow through the preceding sections will be reduced to the extent of the span being given. This reduced flow increases the metal temperature at each point along the length of the tube in the coils. If the slope of this increase is more than the limit to which it can exceed the margin in allowable metal temperature at the transition point of the material, then it can lead to long term over heating failure. Depending upon the quality of feed water being maintained by the boiler operator and the quantity of spray the deposition inside the section of superheater just after the desuperheater will have a high probability for overheating failure, corrosion, and thermal fatigue. Reheater spray system Reheater spray is normally provided at the inlet of reheater in the cold reheat pipe. This is used in boilers only if the first control system provided could not reduce the temperature to the required level. Hence this is also called as emergency injection by many boiler designers. Using the emergency spray in reheater reduces the heat rate as the injection water is tapped before the high pressure heaters in the power generation cycle. Other effects of over spraying in reheater are the same as superheater except that of metal temperature. In reheater the overall steam flow increases with injection in all the sections and so the metal temperature gets controlled.

Reheater Temperature Control in Boilers

Reheater temperature variation will have an impact on the cycle efficiency of the plant. Boiler designers adopt methods like divided second pass, burner tilting, water injection, gas recirculation, etc. to control reheater steam outlet temperature. Power plant cycles have the steam from the high pressure turbine reheated before it goes to the medium pressure and then to the low pressure turbine. This increases the cycle efficiency of the plant. Designers sometimes use double-reheat turbines to increase cycle efficiency. As the steam from the high pressure turbine has done work, the pressure and temperature are low. Hence the steam around 40 bar is heated to even above the main steam temperature. The temperature at the outlet of reheater will have to be maintained within a narrow band. Designers adopt many methods to achieve this depending upon the type of furnace and burner. In designs where the reheater surface is kept in a more convective region, it is possible to control the reheater temperature by simple mechanisms like increasing or reducing the flue gases flowing over the sections. As the convective heat transfer coefficient depend more on the mass flow, and in turn the velocity, this method has been adopted by designers successfully. This method is most often used in wall fired units. Here the second pass of the boiler is divided in to two parallel paths up to the economizer. The two parallel paths are so

designed to have a normal one third and two third ratio of flow area. The two third ratios of area being adopted for low temperature superheater surface and the one third flow area for the reheater surface. Dampers at the bottom of this flue gas passage are used to control the flow. A set of dampers is kept in the bigger area so that closing of these dampers will divert flue gas to the smaller area side where the reheater surface is. This increases the pickup in the reheater steam and thus the outlet temperature of the reheater is increased. Reducing the flow by opening the damper in the other parallel path will reduce the flue gas flow through the reheater section and thus reduce the reheater steam outlet temperature. Even though the logic of this design is simple, the construction and maintenance aspect suffer considerably when coal and low grade fuels are used. In models where the designer has opted to keep more of the radiant surface in the reheater heat transfer area, the method of shifting the flame is used. Such is the case for tangential fired boilers. Here the burners in the corners are tilted up or down in unison to increase the radiant heat going to the reheater surface. This also affects the superheater heat absorption. The burner tilting mechanism is so designed that all the burners in all corners tilt up or down based on the signal from the reheater outlet steam temperature. It has been the experience when low grade coal is being used for power generation keeping the burner tilt in one position for a long duration can lead to seizure of the tilting mechanism. Hence designers generally advise putting the tilt on manual and move from the maximum to minimum position once a day before bringing it back to the original required position and putting it back on auto. The third alternative is to use injection of water to de-superheat the reheater steam. This method affects the cycle efficiency of power plant. Hence this method is generally used only as an emergency system to control the reheater steam temperature during upset operation. However it is one of the simple methods and results in a good economy over the life period mainly for sliding pressure operation designs. There are other methods like Gas Recirculation, Excess Air Control, Selective Burner Operation, etc. In the case of the gas recirculation method, the flue gas is tapped from the second pass at a convenient location and re-circulated into the furnace. This changes the convective heat transfer coefficient in the boiler thus changing the absorption in the convective heat transfer surface. The amount re-circulated is sized in such a way the temperature control is achieved. Excess air control to vary steam temperature is currently not in practice as it brings down the boiler efficiency and performance. However in fractional loads this method can be useful. Selective burner operation is adopted by some designers and operating groups depending upon the furnace outlet temperature requirement. This further controls the steam temperature in reheaters. In all these methods it has to be remembered that whatever is done for reheater temperature control will also affect the superheater temperature, the effect of which the designers take care while designing the total process.

Air Pre-heater Fires in Large Capacity Boilers

The damage due to air pre-heater fire is very severe depending upon the intensity of the fire. In many cases it has made the regenerative air pre-heater elements a molten mass. The boiler availability loss will be high if a fire takes place in the air heater. Air pre-heaters are heat recovery systems used in boilers to improve boiler operating efficiency. There are two major types of air pre-heaters: the recuperative and the regenerative. For higher sizes boilers, say 350 t/hr and above, designers adopt the regenerative type. This is mainly due to the compactness of regenerative air pre-heaters for higher heat duty. In both cases, air heater fires are not uncommon in boilers, but more common in the regenerative type. When a boiler is operated with pulverized coal with a higher load, then the probability of air heater fire is low. An air pre-heater fire can happen during startup or shutdown when there is a possibility of a large volume of unburnt particles reaching the air pre-heater. This unburnt gets deposited in the air pre-heaters elements and gets ignited when the temperature rises and particles that are still burning reach this area. The plant operator will have to quickly respond to symptoms that show a tendency for air pre-heater fire to start. The possibility of detecting a fire in the air pre-heater in a boiler is very difficult from the operating parameters of boiler. However, indications of an air preheater fire can be verified from a certain parameter changing its trend suddenly. When both air and flue gas temperature leaving the air pre-heater increase suddenly with a steep gradient, then the reason for it is to be verified. The specific causes for an air pre-heater fire, the plant response, and the immediate operator response required during this are discussed. The specific causes

Heavy Unburnt Oil / soot deposits in air pre-heater due to o Poor atomization of oil being fired o Worn-out oil burner tips leading to coarser particles of oil o Low air flow through the burner leading to unburnt particles o Improper air distribution between primary, secondary etc o Wrong tip position with respect to diffuser or spinner Inadequate frequency of operation of APH Soot blowers Plugged Nozzles of APH Soot blowers Low blowing steam pressure in APH Soot blowers

Plant Response

Sharp rise in air temp at APH outlet will be noticed Increase in flue gas temperature at air pre-heater outlet

Immediate Operator Action

Trip unit on emergency Stop all fans immediately Close all dampers on the air and flue gas side

Flood APH with water through air heater water washing system or otherwise Rotate APH to avoid buckling of the air pre-heater rotor

Adopting some of the good operating practices of boiler can prevent air pre-heater fire totally during the life of the boiler.

Reduce number of startups of boiler to a bare minimum. Avoid operating boiler in low loads requiring oil support for a prolonged duration. It is a good practice to check oil viscosity characteristics on a periodic basis and whenever there is a change in supplier. Clean oil gun tips and lap the internals to satisfy the design requirements. Never restart the oil burners without purging during startup. Boiler startup operation must be avoided when air pre-heater soot blowers are not available. Always make it a practice to soot blow all the air pre-heaters, the non working air preheaters also must be soot blown by keeping the isolation damper marginally open to allow the soot to be blown out. During startups, low load operation, and shutting down, make it a practice to watch the trend of air and gas temperature leaving the air pre-heaters. Operate air pre-heater soot blowers regularly. Any fire detecting device provided by supplier has to be kept active and tested as and when possible.

To repair the air pre-heater damaged due to fire takes large amount of time and needs spares for replacements. Some of the spares of large air heaters will not be available off-the-shelf which can further delay the process of repair. The boiler availability loss will be high if a fire takes place in an air heater. Responding quickly to suspected air pre-heater fire immediately and taking corrective action can save a lot of money, downtime, and generation loss.

Tips to Handle Both Regenerative Air PreHeater Motors Trip

Written by: Dr V T Sathyanathan Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher Updated Jul 16, 2010

In regenerative type air heater in boiler when the electrical motor trips always the air motor start on auto. Failure of this will lead to a major breakdown of air pre-heater and loss of availability of boiler. Regenerative air pre-heaters are used in large capacity boilers due to the design's compactness. These air pre-heaters rotate at slow revolutions per minute to enable the air preheater heat transfer elements to pick up heat from flue gases and dissipate it to the combustion air. If the air pre-heater rotation stops even for a very short time, the rotor will bend and the boiler will have to be shutdown. To prevent such damage designers provide air motors to handle such a situation. In large capacity boilers there will be two regenerative air pre-heaters- one on left and the other on the right side. When both regenerative air pre-heater motors trip, the boiler control room operator and the local operator will have to handle the situation and keep the unit running.

The causes for such an occurrence, the plant response during this period, how the boiler desk operator should respond, and the local operator action are discussed. The situation can be that the air motors start on auto or fail to start. If the air motors fail to start, then the operator has no option but to trip the unit to avoid major damage to the air pre-heaters. The local operator will have to immediately organize to hand rotate the air pre-heaters. Causes for air pre-heater electrical motors trip

0.4 KV supply failure Heavy Seal rubbing leading to overload of motor High gas temperature entering the air pre-heater leading to high deflection of the rotor

Immediate plant response

Both air pre-heater motor trip alarms come on in the control room Air motor start annunciation comes Slow fall in air pre-heater air outlet temperature Slow increase in the flu gas temperature leaving air pre-heater

Immediate boiler desk operator action

Check reason for motor trip Restart electrical motor at the earliest Reduce boiler load depending upon how the air outlet temperature drops and how flue gas temperature increases

Immediate local operator action

Check for seal noise and heavy rubbing Check rotor deflection Check for correct opening of air pre-heater dampers Get electric motor to restart condition and inform desk operator

Adopting good operating practice always leads to improved availability and efficiency.

Check seal clearances at regular intervals as per OEM recommendation Maintain boiler parameters as per or close to design Check air pre-heater leakage on weekly basis and attend to reason attributing to leakage Make sure all the combustion air goes through the air pre-heater to increase the heat recovery duty Check the air pre-heater pressure drop and take corrective action Keep in mind all the operating concerns on air pre-heater o Corrosion o Plugging and cleaning of air pre-heater elements o Erosion of heat transfer elements o Fire in the air pre-heater

Importance of Boiler Water Treatment

Maintaining water quality is high on the agenda of all boiler operators. What makes it so important? Why is it all the more important in a Supercritical unit? Boiler water quality has long been an important factor in the operation of boilers. As the power plant operating pressures increase, water quality requirements also become stricter. With the current units operating at Supercritical pressures, the requirements are tough. Continuous improvements and changes in the methods of maintaining water quality, understanding the corrosion mechanisms, and the development of new chemicals have resulted in a more economical and efficient water regime management.

Four Reasons Why Boiler Water Treatment is Important

There are four main reasons why water quality is so important. Impurities in water form scales.

Water contains dissolved salts, which upon evaporation of water forms scales on the heat transfer surfaces. Scales have much lower heat transfer capacity than steel: the heat transfer coefficient of the scales is 1 kcal/m/C/hr against 15 kcal/m/C/hr for steel . This leads to overheating and failure of the boiler tubes. Scale also reduces flow area, which increases pressure drop in boiler tubes and piping. Low pH or dissolved oxygen in the water attacks the steel. This causes pitting or lowering the thickness of the steel tubes, leading to rupture of the boiler tubes. Contaminants like chlorides, a problem in seawater cooled power plants, also behave in a similar way. Flow assisted corrosion occurs in the carbon steel pipes due to the continuous removal of the protective oxide layer at high flows. Impurities carried over in the steam, causing deposits on turbine blades leading to reduced turbine efficiency, high vibrations, and blade failure. These contaminants can also cause erosion of turbine blades. Silica at higher operating pressures volatilizes and carries over to the turbine blades.

The first step is to get the make-up water to the steam cycle as pure as possible. The correct operation of the De-Mineralisation (DM) plants ensures this. The second step is to form a magnetite layer on the inside surface of the tubes which protects the metal surface from any further corrosion attacks. The third step is to maintain this magnetite layer throughout the life of the plant. If the water quality goes down, this protective layer will be destroyed and corrosion starts damaging the tubes. In a 500 MW power thermal plant around 1300 Tons of water is circulating per hour continuously in the water steam cycle through the boiler, turbine, condenser and heaters. As the water circulates, there is an increase in contaminant level and a change in water quality. This is due to many reasons like:

contact with almost 25000 m area of wetted steel in the tubes, piping and heat exchangers

the residue of chemicals added entrapped oxygen and other gases especially in the vacuum area returning condensate from traps, glands, vents and drains impurities in the DM water make-up

Major parameters that require monitoring for water treatment are:

1. 2. 3. 4. The dissolved solids. The pH of the boiler feed water. Dissolved Oxygen in the feed water entering the boiler. Silica in boiler water.

Water Steam Circuit- Sub Critical vs Super Critcal

Differences in a Supercritical Unit

The Water Steam circuit in a Supercritical unit is different from that of a sub-critical unit. This makes the water quality requirement more stringent in a Supercritical unit. In a subcritical unit, water steam separation takes place in the drum. Any contaminants remain in the water. As their concentration level increases, continuous blow down removes these. The drum, water walls, and down comers act as a reservoir and an internal circulation circuit and help in concentrating and removal.

In supercritical once-through boilers this is not possible, which means any contaminants will adhere to the tubes or caries out through the steam. To prevent this, purity of the water entering should be very good. This makes it mandatory to have a full condensate polishing unit before the water enters the heating sections.

PH control is by the addition of chemicals like Tri-Sodium Phosphate in the boiler water or the caustic treatment. This helps in maintaining the pH levels in the range of 9.0, slightly alkaline. The chemical reactions result in the formation of salts, which increases the dissolved solids level. In subcritical unit, blow down removes this.

This is not possible in supercritical units. So an all volatile treatment (AVT) is used. This method uses amines whose reaction products are volatile, leaving behind no solids. This passes along with steam and removal takes place in the de-aerator or polishing systems. AVT is also the new method in subcritical drum type units. Super critical units also use the oxygenated treatment (OT) system, which involves injecting a known quantity of oxygen in the feed water. This helps in maintaining the magnetite or hematite layer, which provides the barrier to prevent any further corrosion in the piping and tubes.

During start-ups and at lower loads where the water chemistry regimes are fluctuating, boiler water control is by the AVT method.

. Dissolved oxygen removal is in the deaerator where at saturation temperatures oxygen stripping is easier. Addition of hydrazine at the deaertaor outlet also removes the dissolved oxygen if any in the feed water.

Supercritical units also use deaerators. But some plants using only OT operate without a deaerator.

Silica control can is by blow down in a subcritical unit.

In Supercritical units the only way is to ensure very low Silica in incoming DM water and good removal in the condensate polishing unit.

As the thermal plant operating pressures increase and become supercritical, water chemistry management also becomes critical. Along with adopting the correct water treatment method, a high quality DM plant and precision analytical instruments for monitoring online water chemistry is a must to eliminate outages of the plant.

Understanding the Boiler Furnace Wall Construction

Learn about the various types of designs of boiler furnace wall and find out the differences between them in the article inside.

Introduction
Boiler furnace is that part of the boiler where the temperature of the system reaches the highest. The furnace produces the necessary heat required by burning the fuel oil inside its small closed chamber. Because of the fuel combustion the internal temperature goes extremely high and for this reason it is necessary that the walls of the furnace are stacked with proper high temperature withstanding material. In this article we will go through the basic furnace walls designs used in constructing a boiler. The type of material used in the the furnace walls of the boilers is known as refractory material. The refractory acts as both an insulating material and a protective layer for preventing the external walls of the boiler from getting damage. However, the problem with using refractory material in the furnace walls is that due to high temperature and pressure the material tends to come out of its position, especially from vertical walls. Reinstalling these refractory material becomes a tedious and cumbersome job. Due to these reasons all the modern boilers use furnace walls having designs other than refractory materials.

Understanding Flame Quality in Tangential Firing Boilers

In a tangential coal fired boiler, the furnace act as a single burner and so it is required to look at and understand the quality of the flame. It is necessary to start from the control room of the boiler, then go to the mill, furnace, bottom ash and fly ash areas and study all in detail. Understanding the quality of flame in any boiler furnace is very important in tuning the boiler to the optimal level of performance. The aspects of combustion tuning involve looking at the boiler furnace and making sure the quality of flame is acceptable and good.The gas and oil fired boilers do not pose much problem in establishing a good flame in the furnace. The available instruments like flame scanners, CO monitors and oxygen indicators, along with the exit gas temperature, give a good indication to perceive if the quality of the flame is good. In coal fired boilers and mainly in tangential fired boilers, the furnace acts as a single burner, so it is required to look at the flame and understand the quality of the flame. It is necessary to start from the control room of boiler then go to the mill area, to the furnace, and then to the bottom ash and fly ash area to fully make sure of combustion quality in furnace. The control room of the boiler

Look at the load at which the boiler is operating, availability of support fuel, SH & RH parameter Look at the number of mills operating Note the load, air flow, and outlet temperature on each mill Check the oxygen level at Eco / APH outlet Check the furnace pressure, scanner performance- watch for a few minutes for any fluctuations Look at the coal proximate analysis within 8 hours- if not available then at the max 24 hrs Check the PC fineness reading of each running mill if available Keep a note of those mills which have plus 50 more than 2% and minus 200 below 65%

Bowl mills o Check each spring loading by feeling the bumping of the pressure spring shaft o Regular bump indicate the springs are loaded - how much cannot be estimated by feel - low minus 200 & or mill reject can be an indicator o Watch for any abnormal sound o Check the level of mill reject - look for coal in rejects - if nil or very low then ok o Look at classifier vane position check if they are equal in each mill. Close further to improve fineness - if needed Ball mills o Check for ball noise in the mill area - high noise indicates low coal levels or low speed o Check the mill speed and by-pass air o Check classifier settings o Look for any gear box noise

Uses Of A Boiler Water Level Gauge

Written by: infomarine Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher Updated Aug 20, 2009 Related Guides: Steam

It is extremely important to maintain the right level of water in the boiler to prevent accidents and damage to internal parts of the boiler. Water level gauges are used to fill the right amount of water inside the boiler and also to continuously monitor the water level.

Need for water level gauges

We have been studying about boilers and various types of boilers in the past few articles. The most important aspect of a boiler starting procedure and operation process is to maintain an appropriate water level inside the boiler. Changes in the level of water inside the boiler causes detrimental effects on the boiler's internal parts and structure.For e.g., if the water level inside the boiler is too high, the water might overflow and cause harm to the equipments specifically designed for accepting only steam. If the water level is too low , the excessive heat inside the boiler may damage the heat transfer surfaces, rendering permanent damage. This could be very dangerous situation not only for the ship's engine room but for the entire ship as well which could be carrying lots of passengers if it is a cruise liner, or any other type of cargo. It is for this reason , that boiler water level transmitters and gauges are used to keep a constant watch on the water level inside the boiler drum.

Water gauges
Water gauges gives an exact indication of the water level inside the boiler and even provide a visible signal if the water level deviates from the normal working level. Moreover, it is

important that water gauges are fixed in each corner of the boiler as there might be incorrect indication due to fluctuating motion of the ship. The type of the water gauge fitted on a boiler depends on the type and working pressure of the boiler. Depending on the operating pressure of the boiler there are mainly two types of water gauges.

Round glass tube type

This type of gauges are used for boilers having a maximum working pressure of 17 bar. Construction The gauge consists of a glass tube, which is connected to the boiler shell with the help of cocks and pipes. The glass tube is contained in a protective cover known as a guard, in order to prevent accidental damage. Packing rings are fitted at the tube ends to prevent leaking and ensuring tight sealing arrangement. Isolating cocks are fitted at both steam and water lines and a drain cock is also provided at the bottom. The water gauge is usually connected directly to the boiler without any attachment in between. A ball valve at the bottom of the tube ensures shutting off of the tube in case of tube damage or water leakage.

Plate glass type

This gauge is used for boilers having working pressure above 17 bar. The gauge consists of glass plates fitted inside a metal housing. A sandwich kind of arrangement is made with glass plates and a central metal plate in between the two metal plates. Sealing is done with the help of joints placed in between the glass and metal plates. Moreover, to prevent any kind of damage to the glass and to ensure additional insulation, mica sheets are placed over the glass surface. The mica sheets also prevents the glass from breaking due to high temperature. As the glass plates are soft, extra care should be taken during tightening of the assembly. Even a slight amount of excess pressure can lead to cracked glass plates and leaking assembly. Nowadays, all the gauges are remotely monitored from the engine control room. Periodic "blowing through" of the gauges should be done to prevent any kind of blockage due to steam or impurity .

Water gauge blowing through procedure

For the blowing through procedure, as shown in the figure, the following steps should be performed :
1. Open steam cock A 2. Close water cock B, and open drain cock C 3. The pressurized steam will blow through the drain cock C, forcing any kind of impurities or blockage out.

4. Now Cock A should be closed and B should be opened, with C remaining in the open position.

The jet of water will force out any kind of remaining blockages. If the flow of the jet of water is uneven, this means that the gauge is still chocked.The whole procedure should be repeated in such cases.

Sometimes the gauge might now show correct reading when the boiler is running hot or just shut down. These effects are known as swell and shrinkage and have been dealt in another article.

Failure of Furnace Seal - Causes and Effect

Furnace seal breakage can result in unit trip either due to high furnace pressure or due to flame failure. Hence it is a good operating practice to keep a regular check and maintain the water level in the furnace bottom seal trough. Top supported balanced draft furnaces are designed with a furnace bottom seal to take care of the downward expansion of the furnace and also to seal the atmosphere from the negative pressure inside the furnace. A very simple arrangement of a water trough with seal plates dipping inside maintains this seal. The level of water in the trough is maintained by a water inlet and overflow system though a pump. Breaking of this water seal causes the induced draft fans in the boiler to become overloaded. This will result in the furnace pressure becoming positive and danger of flame licking out through the openings. There are many reasons for furnace seal breakage. In a coal fired boiler, a large clinker falling into the bottom hopper can lead to a furnace seal breakage. The large clinker fall results in an appreciable volume of steam production from the water trough of the bottom hopper which pushes out the water from the seal area. The seal water can evaporate due to make up water being low or blocked. When make-up water is inadequate, slowly the level drops and the seal breaks after the level falls below the minimum level. Due to any reason, when a sudden furnace pressure surge happens then the water gets thrown out of the trough breaking the seal. The plant will respond to the water seal breakage indicating the need for the operator to take corrective action. There will be a large furnace pressure fluctuation depending upon the load, the nature of seal breakage, the duration, etc. The induced draft fan gets overloaded due to the

change in furnace pressure and hunting. If the furnace pressure fluctuation is large, then there are good possibilities that the combustion in the furnace also gets disturbed. The boiler operator will have to restore the furnace seal water immediately. If there is a clinker fall then this has to be analyzed as to why clinkers are falling and resolved. It will be required to look into the wall blower frequency for its effectiveness and adequacy and institute regular wall blowing at the required or revised frequency levels. The combustion regime will have to be studied and tuned to an optimum level if the clinker fall is due the change in fuel quality. The local operator will have to do a regular check on the water level in the trough and take corrective action to maintain the water level. If it is noticed by the local operator that the level is fluctuating highly, then this has to be informed to the control room and investigated. It is a good practice of the local operator to check the clinker fall from the bottom most peep holes in the boiler, which are normally just above the bottom hopper level.

Boiler Penthouse Ash Accumulation

Ash accumulation the boiler penthouse is a very clear indication of deviation in operating parameters of the boiler, ID fan overloading due to air ingress in the system, and many other reasons. Ash accumulation in boiler penthouse can be caused both due to operational deviations and due to boiler performance deterioration or maintenance. The main factor which results in ash accumulation in penthouse is the positive pressure created at the top of the boiler furnace. The rate of ash accumulation depends on the amount of pressurization and the furnace roof sealing effectiveness. The upper furnace can get pressurized if the furnace vacuum maintained is not adequate. Normally it is a practice to maintain minus 10 millimeter of water column one meter below the furnace roof. This ensures that the pressure just below the furnace roof is negative which means no ash can penetrate the roof sealing and find its way to the penthouse. The pressure in the boiler furnace just below the roof can become positive when the induced draft fan get loaded fully and more of the combustion air is send to the furnace. The combustion air requirement depends on the amount of fuel being burnt to carry the load in the boiler. One should not mistake this for the weight of fuel being sent to the furnace, but it is the million calories being supplied by the fuel. This can happen when the boiler is being consciously over loaded due to any reason. The induced draft fan can get fully loaded when in such boilers the air ingress to the boiler increases above a limit. A large amount of air ingress in boilers happens at many locations, starting from furnace to induced draft fan inlet. In furnace one of the major areas is the bottom ash hopper design and the sealing system provided and maintained. The peep holes provided in the furnace at various locations to view the flame condition inside the furnace is also a source of air ingress if they are not properly closed. In the other areas of second pass, economizer outlet flue gas duct, air pre-heater, air preheater flue gas outlet duct to electrostatic precipitator, the electrostatic precipitator and the flue gas duct from electrostatic precipitator outlet to induced draft fan are locations prone for

air ingress to the boiler and over load the induced draft fan. The air ingress into the boiler at any location can be evaluated by doing oxygen measurement in the inlet and outlet of the sections. The percentage air ingress can be worked out from the equation (O2 outlet O2 inlet) divided by (21 O2 outlet). It is normally seen that the expansion bellows given at various locations are a cause of concern for air ingress into the system. Ash accumulation in the penthouse of the boiler can also be caused from improper combustion leading to pressurization of the furnace near the roof. It is seen that when the primary air flow in pulverized coal fired boiler is just near the settling velocity, then it can lead to coal particles settling in the coal pipe very near the burner and getting puffed into the furnace. This leads to furnace pressure oscillation enabling the ash particle to get pushed to the penthouse of the boiler. Inspection and maintenance of the furnace roof sealing is another important factor which can avoid ash ingress into the boiler penthouse.

Soot Blowers in Thermal Power Plants

Soot blowers keep the heat transfer surfaces in a boiler clean. A brief description of the working of soot blowers is given in this article. Chimney Sweeps have been legendary characters in English literature from Hans Christian Anderson to Charles Dickens. In the earlier days when houses had fireplaces, the Chimney Sweep did the function of cleaning the soot from the chimney. In the modern day boiler, the soot blower does the same function. In oil fired boilers, over a period of time the heat transfer tubes get covered by a layer of soot or fine carbon deposit. This reduces the heat transfer from the hot gases to the water and reduces the efficiency of the boiler. In coal fired boilers, the furnace area gets covered by slag which is molten ash. The ash also sticks to the heat transfer surface in the other heat transfer areas. These ash accumulations reduce heat transfer and increase the tube metal temperatures leading to failure of the tubes. . Tube cleaning is done periodically to remove the ash or soot deposits. Steam is the medium used for cleaning. The steam is taken from the boiler itself. The soot blower consists of a lance tube with a nozzle at the end. When it is operated, the lance is extended into the boiler and steam is admitted through the lance. The steam comes out as a high velocity jet through the nozzles, which cleans the ash deposited on the surface. When the lance moves into the boiler it is also rotating so that it cleans the sweeping area covered by the circular travel of the nozzle. The lance is then retracted back. There are two types of soot blowers.

One with a very long lance called the long retractable soot blowers. This is normally used to clean the ash deposit from between the coils of superheaters and economisers.

The other type is the shorter lance type called the wall blowers. These are used to clean the furnace walls. The lance extends a short distance around 200 mm from the furnace wall. The nozzle direction is such that the steam impinges on the walls cleaning the surface. During operation, the lance rotates cleaning the radial area covered by the steam from the nozzle.

The deposits on the walls are due to the chemical constituents of ash, and the amount of combustion air. If the ash contains more of Ferrous Sulphide, then the melting temperature of the ash is low which makes the ash melt and stick to the walls. A large coal fired Thermal power plant will have around two hundred soot blowers of both types arranged to cover all the area of the boiler. This will be programmed to automatically operate to a required sequence. Intelligent soot blower systems calculate the trends in the temperature increase in different sections of a boiler. The program then decides which soot blowers have to be operated and at what frequency. High-pressure water lances are also used in some units where the slagging is very heavy

Clinker Formation in Boilers of Thermal Power Plant

We must not blame poor quality coal for clinker formation and deposition in boilers. Instead we take proper precautions such as poking, flushing by providing more water in the hopper, soot blowing by injecting steam to remove soot deposits on water wall, and making our clinker grinders operational.

Introduction
Clinker formation is a serious problem in the boilers of thermal power plants which results in forced outage for very long duration and generation loss. The removal of clinkers from the water wall and hopper of boilers is very difficult because clinkers are very hard lumps due to presence of metals in them. Removal of clinkers from boiler is very difficult procedure which takes a long time and the cost involved is also very high. Pneumatic hammering is done manually to dislodge clinkers from boilers, and clinker grinders can be used in grind large pieces of clinkers into small ones.

Causes of Clinker Formation

The causes of clinker formation are low quality coal having low gross calorific value, more ash content, high mineral content, low fusion temperature of ash below 1500 C, and overfiring of the molten slag. In India the coal used for thermal power plants is often of low quality with low gross calorific value, high ash and minerals content, so the problems of clinker formation and deposition are evident in many plants. The best solution is to avoid the deposition of clinker is precaution.

Blaming poor quality coal may prove harmful for the boiler. Instead of very poor quality coal having high ash and mineral content, clinker formation may be avoided by a sincere attitude of power plant engineers.

Typical Clinker

Dealing with Clinker Removal

If great care is not taken for poking, then deposition may start, and its sudden collapse may cause injury and burns to workers. A sufficient quantity of water must be provided in the hoppers to flush molten slag and ash so they will not deposit. For flushing of molten ash, water is sprayed into the hopper by the flush pump. Soot blowing must be regularly done to avoid deposition of soot in the water wall by injecting steam at sufficient pressure and temperature to dislodge soot from the water walls tubes. Clinker grinders are provided in boilers to grind large pieces of clinkers into small ones so that choking of the exhaust hole may be avoided, but it is observed in many thermal power plants that clinker grinders are out of service due to negligence or being considered a redundant feature. Due to this negligence large pieces of clinkers can choke the exhaust hole of the hopper and accumulation of small pieces of clinkers and water starts above it. Clinker grinders must be made operational. Summary The major cause of clinker formation in a boiler is over-firing due to which ash fuses, hence firing must be properly adjusted by using the right quantity of primary and secondary air ratio in the boiler. Good quality coal having more gross calorific value, less ash content, less mineral content in the coal, and ash fusion temperature above 1500 C must be used to avoid clinker formation. Regular watch must be done on poking. Precautions may avoid clinker formation and its deposition in boilers