Boiler

Introduction :A boiler is an enclosed vessel in which water is heated and circulated, either as hot water or
steam, to produce a source for either heat or power. A central heating plant may have one or more
boilers that use gas, oil, or coal as fuel. The steam generated is used to heat buildings, provide
hot water, and provide steam for cleaning, sterilizing, cooking, and laundering operations. Small
package boilers also provide steam and hot water for small buildings.
A careful study of this course can help you acquire useful knowledge of steam generation, types
of boilers pertinent to boiler operations, various fittings commonly found on boilers, and so on.
The primary objective of this chapter is to lay the foundation for you to develop skill in the
operation, maintenance, and repair of boilers.

1: Failure and causes :Main steam line failure.

The pipes have seen bulged. It indicates that the pipe had not been able to withstand the service
pressure under the present steam conditions. There can be material composition problem.
The steam temperature had gone up to 520 deg C. The steam temperature had gone up beyond
design temperature on many occasions. This is due to the high amount of fines in coal.
It has seen that the secondary air was increased to 100% to control steam temperature.
The stress values of pipe come down by 30% on higher temperature and this can lead to bulging
of pipes.

Remedy and maintenance :The bed height and furnace refractory height is adjusted to increase the heat absorption and thus
the steam temperature excursion has resolved. In fact at many plants, the design temperature
limits are not known to operating team.

2: failure and causes :Observations of Failure

1. The failed portions of the plates were seen to be bulging towards the axis of the furnace. Scale

was seen underneath the plates on water side. The extent of scales for the first failure was not
known. However this time the scaling was found to be about 0.5 mm.
2. Apart from this, the boiler showed a small layer of hardness scale over the tubes. The scale is
seen to be very high where the water is fed in to the boiler. There is definitely slipping of
hardness to boiler.
3. The boiler water TDS reports confirmed that the TDS had been as high as 10000 ppm before
first failure. After the chemical cleaning, instructions were given to operators to increase the
blow down and maintain 5000 ppm of TDS in boiler water. Even then, the water TDS was seen
to increase along with pH as reported by operators. In fact the pH booster dosage was stopped
seeing the pH going to 11. This could have been happened due to high dosage rate of anti scalant.

4. The chemical was being added through a small plastic tank with a cock for regulation. This
could result in non-uniform dosage rates. The system would be dependent on skill of the persons.
5. The burner was seen with a baffle plate inside the wind box. It was suspected that there may
not be uniform air flow in the burner. Hence a ribbon test was arranged to check the uniform
distribution of air. It was found that there was minimum air flow at the bottom portion. Ideally
such a test must be conducted by an anemometer. The baffle plate was oriented vertically and the
air distribution was checked for. An operator physically checked for distribution. This was much
better this time. Yet quantification was required. A test with anemometer was recommended.

Cause for shell plate Failures

1. The plate had failed at the same place twice. This clearly pointed out chances of flame
impingement. Incidentally on flame impingement, the scale formation would be more. On
increase in metal temperature, the plate would swell and would lead to failure.
2. There was scale present all over the boiler. It meant that there was deviation in water quality.
Yet the scale thickness was not alarmingly high. The boiler was cleaned off dislodged hardness
scales inside the boiler shell. Yet the quantity of dislodged scales which were lying outside the
boiler house was seen to be meager.
3. The feed water hardness was not monitored properly. Even when the hardness was reported to
be 24 & 44, Nalco representative had certified that all the water parameters were OK. His signed
report was available.

Remedy and maintenance :The following were advised to the plant engineers:
1. The furnace shell repair was not done to satisfactory level. Hence it was advised to carry out
radiography test. But this could delay the boiler starting as there were procedures in bringing the
radioactive source. Hence it was arranged to have an ultrasonic test. The local company did that
at site and certified that the weldment did not have cracks.
2. The furnace shell was covered with 65 mm thick refractory brick layer to protect the weakened
plate. Also this would prevent the flame impingement, if it was there earlier.
3. Furnace shell is considered to be most vulnerable part of the boiler. For safety reasons,
procedures should be followed. Manufacturer only should attend to such failure. Tube
replacement is a different matter and it can be attended by a boiler repairer.

4. Burner flame shape should be checked by the suppliers service technician at the earliest.
There should not be any impingement.
5. Water softener must be checked by the supplier. Hardness test kit should be replaced.
6. Hardness levels should be checked before regeneration. This is an important aspect of the
water chemistry.
7. The water treatment chemical supplier is required to ensure that there is no deviation in water
chemistry due to the wrong dosage of chemical itself.

Evaporator
in sugar industry multi effect evaporator are used.
In the process multiple effect evaporators provide more efficiency than single effect
for production of black liquor. Multiple Effect Evaporators are more efficient than
single-stage evaporators because the energy they consume in the first effect is reused in the proceeding effects. The temperature in the steam chest is higher in the
first effect than the second effect and so on. So, in order for the steam provided by
first effect to boil off liquid in the second effect, the boiling temperature point in the
second effect must be lower. For this to happen, the second effect must be under
lower pressure than the first effect. Each proceeding effect will be at a lower
pressure than the previous effect. In some cases, the first effect may be above
atmospheric pressure so the second effect could be at atmospheric pressure.
Usually the third and later effects must be put under vacuum. In a forward feed
evaporator, the vacuum serves two purposes. The first purpose is to keep the
boiling temperature of the concentrate lower than the previous effect. The second
purpose is to move the concentrate forward to the process without the need for
pumping.

1:Failure and causes:Vacuum leaks in the evapotaor.

So many industrial processes depend on creating a stable vacuum, but system leaks
impair process efficiency and, if left unchecked, will shut it down. Finding these
leaks can be challenging in noisy plant environments and reliability
One problem here is the quality of the ultrasonic instrument which can vary
significantly from one manufacturer to another. Lesser quality detectors cannot
function well in high noise situations. They simply have difficulty differentiating a
leak sound from ambient plant noise. Since vacuum pumps already generate a lot of
background noise, rarely will an inspector perform vacuum leak inspections in a

quiet atmosphere. Another problem is lack of inspector training which really plays a
role when searching for vacuum leaks in high noise environments.
A vacuum leaks generates friction from the turbulent flow of gases being pulled
from an area of high pressure in to an area of low pressure through a restriction. A
vacuum leak pulls air into the evaporatorl so the turbulent flow is occurring inside
the evaporator.

Remedy and maintenance:The amplitude of a vacuum leak is less in comparison to a pressure leak, so proper
shielding and positioning techniques are paramount to success. As leading
manufacturers of ultrasound equipment continue to innovate, new methods for
finding vacuum leaks are resulting in more successful inspections and less
frustrating project abandonment.
One such innovation is the improvement of contact sensors. Thats right; contact
sensors can play a huge role in finding vacuum leaks. When we think of leak
detection, most of us draw our point of reference to airborne sensors only. If you
only rely on airborne sensors for leak detection you will miss potential wins. Think
about it. In a vacuum leak much of the turbulence is contained inside the vessel. A
contact sensor that is accurate, repeatable, and super sensitive within a confined
bandwidth can be a very effective tool. One area where vacuum leak detection
improves efficiency and throughput is applied to multiple effect evaporators used in
the processing of sugarcane.

2: failure and causes:Corrosion damage in the evaporator.

Due to the corrosion in the evaporator the coils of the evaporators are damage. There become the
tiny holes through which the vapors escape out from these holes. It also create disruption in the
working of the evaporator and its efficiency decreases. Formicary corrosion leaks are also
tougher to find than more common refrigerant leaks.

Remedy and maintenance:It can be avoided by reducing contaminants in the air by using less chemically
laden and hygiene products, having a controlled outside air mix in the home, and
decreasing the coil surface temperature to increase the amount of air being brought
to below the dew point for more moisture removal.