Lecture 8

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Lecture 8: Steam Generators

Economizers
The flue gases, having passed through the main
boiler and the superheater, will still be hot. The
energy in these flue gases can be used to improve
the thermal efficiency of the boiler. To achieve this
flue gases are passed through an economizer.
The economizer is a heat exchanger through which
the feedwater is pumped. The feedwater thus
arrives in the boiler at a higher temperature than
would be the case if no economizer was fitted. Less
Fig. 8.1: A shell boiler with an economizer
energy is then required to raise the steam.
Alternatively, if the same quantity of energy is supplied, then more steam is
raised. This results in a higher efficiency. In broad terms a 10C increase in
feedwater temperature will give an efficiency improvement of 2%.
Because the economizer is on the high-pressure side of the feedpump,
feedwater temperatures in excess of 100C are possible. The boiler water
level controls should be of the 'modulating' type, (i.e. not 'on-off') to ensure a
continuous flow of feedwater through the heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger should not be so large that:
o
o

The flue gases are cooled below their dew point, as the resulting liquor
may be acidic and corrosive.
The feedwater boils in the heat exchanger.

Superheaters
Whatever type of boiler is used, steam will leave
the water at its surface and pass into the steam
space. Steam formed above the water surface in
a shell boiler is always saturated and cannot
become superheated in the boiler shell, as it is
constantly in contact with the water surface.
If superheated steam is required, the saturated
steam must pass through a superheater. This is
simply a heat exchanger where additional heat
is added to the saturated steam.

Fig. 8.2. A water tube boiler with a

superheater

In water-tube boilers, the superheater may be an additional pendant

suspended in the furnace area where the hot gases will provide the degree of
superheat required (see Figure 8.2). In other cases, for example in CHP
schemes where the gas turbine exhaust gases are relatively cool, a
separately fired superheater may be needed to provide the additional heat.

Lecture 8

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If accurate control of the degree of superheat is required, as would be the

case if the steam is to be used to drive turbines, then an attemperator
(desuperheater) is fitted. This is a device installed after the superheater,
which injects water into the superheated steam to reduce its temperature.
Type of Superheater
Convection super-heater: it is the earliest type of super-heater and it is located above or behind
banks of water tubes to protect them from direct flame or fire
Radiant Super heater: They are placed exposed to the heat source which requires the
improvement of metal temperatures.

Air Pre-heaters
They are simply heaters that heat the air before it enters the combustor,
thence result in the fuel consumption and increasing the thermal efficiency.
The fuel savings are nearly directly proportional to the air temperature rise in
the pre-heater. Typical savings are 4% for a 200 oF air temperature rise and
about 11% for a 500oF temperature rise in the pre-heater. Air pre-heater are
also a requirement for the operation of pulverized-coal furnaces to dry that
fuel.
Types of air pre-heaters.
o

Recuperative air pre-heaters: they have heat transferred directly from

the hot gases to the air across the heat exchanger. They are commonly
tubular units in shell and tube form, where the hot gases flow inside
the tubes and the forced air is around in the shell.
Regenerative air pre heaters: are those in which heat is transferred
from hot flue gases firstly to an intermediate heat storage medium
then to air. The most common type is the rotary air pre-heater known
as the Ljungstorm pre-heater

The Stack
Tall and conspicuous from a distance, stacks are used in nearly all
powerplants. The stack has two major functions:
o
o

Assist the fans in overcoming the pressure losses

Help dispersing the gas effluent into the air

The stack design is greatly affected by the metallurgical conditions, such as

the:
o
o
o

Altitude
Wind velocity
Stability conditions

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Lecture 8

The major function of the stack and it is defined as the movement of the flue
gases horizontally and vertically and their dilution by the atmosphere.
o
o

The horizontal motion is a result of the existing wind.

The vertical motion is a result from the upward motion of high-velocity
warm stack exit gases to much higher elevations, which results in a
plume rise above the actual stack. This gives the effective stack height
definition, which is given in the following equation.

The proper design of a stack depends on:

a. Local topography, such as
valleys and mountains

b. airflow pattern

c.
d. H can be calculated using different mathematical models based on
the gasses momentum and the buoyancy forces due to densities
difference between the stack gases and the atmospheric air.
e. One of the most sever hazard to dispersion is the atmospheric
inversion that occurs when the temperature of the atmosphere
increases with elevation, when there is little wind and strong stability
that results in the reduction of vertical dispersion and hence trapping
the local emissions.
f.

g. Steam Generators Control System

h. Steam generator powerplant control is a broad subject which includes instrumentation,
data processing, and control for combustion, steam flow, temperature and pressure, drum
level etc. A brief of this is studied here.

i. Feedwater and Drum-Level Control

j.

Normally the drum is kept half filled. A sight glass is used to monitor the drum level.
Water feeding and therefore steam are controlled to meet the turbine load demand. The
difference between turbine load for example high consumption and drum feedwater level
such as low water level will stimulate the drum sensor that would actuate the feedwater
sensor and respond in opening the feedwater valve wider to let more water coming.

k.
l.

This is considered too slow process and it is supplemented by sensors for feedwater and
steam. The signals from these two sensors will go to the controller and actuate the valve
in the proper direction.

m. Steam pressure control

n. It is also called boiler master. It maintains
steam pressure by adjusting fuel and
combustion airflows to get the desired
pressure. When the pressure drops the flow
increased. A steam pressure sensor acts
directly on the fuel and forced draft fans. Only
delay is allowed to maintain smoke free
combustion

are
5-s

o. Steam-Temperature Control
p. It is important to control the temperature of the power plant to keep its performance as
high as possible. Temperature fluctuation sometimes occurs due to:
o
o
o

Build up of slag or ash at the heat transfer surfaces.

Changes in load, which are the main fluctuations.
Radiant and convective super-heaters and re-heaters and their effect on the load.

q. It is the super-heaters and re-heaters that needs temperature control, as they are the main
components that respond directly to the load change. The saturated steam temperature is
already controlled by the boiler pressure
r. Attemperation
s. Attemperation is the reduction of the steam temperature by the following means:
o
o

Surface attemperation.
Direct contact attemperation (spray).

t.

Surface attemperation removes heat from the steam

means of heat exchanger, mainly shell type. Steam is
diverted from between the primary and secondary
super-heaters to the shell where it exchanges heat
with the boiling water came from the drum and then
reducing its temperature. Temperature control is
accomplishes by controlling the amount of diverted
steam. Another version occurs in the drum itself,
which should now be bigger to accommodate the new
function.

u. Direct contact attemperation occurs by mixing high

temperature steam with lower temperature coming
from the boiler or the economizer in the line between
primary and secondary super-heaters. The water used
mixing should be of very high purity to avoid deposits. Temperature is controlled by
regulating the amount of spray water to produce a flat.
v. Separately Fired super-heaters

by

for

w. A superheater with its own burner, fans, combustion chamber, controls, etc, all
independent of the gas generator, is sometimes used an may serve more than on steam
drum. The rate of firing is adjusted to yield a flat steam temperature-load curve. This
system is not generally economical for large electric generating systems and is usually
used in chemical process industry.
x. Gas Recirculation
y. The gas from some point downstream of the superheaterreheaters, mostly from the economizer outlet but sometimes
from the air preheater outlet, is recirculated back to furnace
by means of gas recirculation fan. Varying the percentage of
recirculated gas alters the heat-absorbing characteristics of
the various heat-absorbing surfaces in the steam generators
to yield the desired effect and is taking into account in the
initial design of the system.
z.