Report pertaining to the furnace Explosion caused in Boiler KTK4665 during Commissioning activity. Reg.

With reference to the above subject, I desire to inform your good self that, M/s. DCB
Power Ventures Limited.Yadwad, Gokak Taluk,.Belagavi District, informed the under signed on
1.04.2015,vide their letter cited at reference, that, they have observed flue gas eruption from the
furnace area on 28.03.2015.Hence I advised the management to cool the boiler and remove the
lagging provided on the external water wall and offer the boiler for inspection. I visited their
works on 3.04.2015 and interalia, inspected the boiler KTK-4665 whose provisional order is
valid up to 9.05.2015.
The specification of said boiler is as under:-

Boiler Working pressure

126.4 Kscg

Heating surface

4276 sq. Mtr

Generation Capacity

125 TPH

Type of Boiler

CFBC

Type of fuel

Indonesian coal with GCV- 4500Kcal/Kg

During the open survey of the boiler the following has been observed.

The boiler furnace water wall is provided with seven numbers buck stays at an elevation
of 13.7 mts, 17.1 mts, 20.3 mts, 24.16 mts, 27.4 mts, 30.6 mts and 33.8mts.

The front side water wall panel has bowed out by 100- 150 mm at middle of the furnace
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.

All the seven buck stays provided in the front side of the water wall panel at an elevation of
13.7 mts, 17.1 mts, 20.3 mts, 24.16 mts, 27.4 mts, 30.6 mts and 33.8 mts. have bowed out
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion. The maximum
bow out observed in the buck stay No 3 and 4
( Buck stay no counted from bottom).
4

The secondary air box provided near the front water wall is moved out from its position.

The left side water wall panel has bowed out by 50- 100 mm at middle of the furnace due to
the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.

All the seven buck stays provided in the left side of the water wall panel at an elevation
of 13.7 mts,17.1 mts,20.3 mts,24.16 mts,27.4 mts,30.6 mts and 33.8 mts. have bowed out
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.. The
maximum bow out observed in the buck stay No 4 ( Buckstay no counted from bottom).

The right side water wall panel has bowed out by 50-100 mm at the middle of the furnace
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.

All the seven buck stays provided in the right side of the water wall panel at an elevation
of 13.7 mts,17.1 mts,20.3 mts,24.16 mts,27.4 mts,30.6 mts and 33.8 mts. have bowed out
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.. The
maximum bow out observed in the buck stay No 4 ( buckstay No counted from
bottom).

The rear side water wall panel has bowed out by 50-100 mm at middle of the furnace
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.

10 All the seven buck stays provided in the rear side of the water wall panel at an elevation
of 13.7 mts,17.1 mts,20.3 mts,24.16 mts,27.4 mts,30.6 mts and 33.8 mts. have bowed out
due to the internal pressure created by the instantaneous furnace explosion.. The
maximum bow out observed in the buck stay No 3 and 4 ( Buck stay no counted from
bottom).
11 The secondary air box provided near the rear water wall is moved out from its position.

12 The expansion bellow connecting furnace and cyclone is damaged.

13 Water side of the boiler is free from scale and sludge.

14 The explosion doors provided on the left & right side of the furnace are opened.

It was informed by the Management, that they were carrying out pre-commissioning
activities of said boiler which started on the first week of March of this year. After the
completion of the acid cleaning of MS line, at around 6 PM on 27th March 15, the Boiler starts up
activities were commenced, to start the Steam Blowing of the Boiler. The said Boiler was lighted
up at 8:45 PM, by oil firing using both burners, which are situated at 7.35 meter elevation. After
achieving required bed temperature of above 550 deg C, coal firing was started at 2:30 AM on
28th Mar 15.
It is reported that, during the coal firing, jamming of Drag chain feeders were observed,
due to which, coal could not be fed into the boiler evenly. Operator was deployed at Drag Chain
Feeder area, for the continuous monitoring of coal feeding. At 5:48 AM on 28 th Mar 15, 1st test
blow was done at 20 Kg/cm2. At around 8 AM, Burner No 1 was taken out of operation & Burner
No 2 was taken out at around 9.30 AM on 28 th Mar 15. Subsequently 4 more blows were done at
following intervals:

2nd Blow at 6:51 AM at 28 Kg/cm2

3rd Blow at 7:46 AM at 30 Kg/cm2
4th Blow at 8:43 AM at 35 Kg/cm2
5th Blow at 10:50 AM at 40 Kg/cm2

At around 10:20 AM on 28th Mar 15, before 5th Blow, the Primary air Fan No 2 tripped,
due to some electrical problem. PA Fan was again started after resetting and the 5 th Blow was
done. After the 5th Blow, the Boiler was kept in Hot Boxed up condition, for checking of Main
Steam Line supports. At around 1:20 PM, Boiler was started again and flue gas leakage was
observed in the Primary Air plenum duct and hence the PA Fans were stopped again.

After that, manhole door of right hand side of furnace was opened and found heap of
unburnt coal inside the furnace. Therefore, the bed material & unburnt coal was drained from the
furnace through bypass line of bed ash cooler by keeping ID Fan in running condition and the
unburnt coal draining operation was continued . Since only bed material was coming out from
the furnace, through left side by pass line, which was kept open, they have closed the left side
bypass line and hence the Emergency drain was also started and drained out the unburnt coal
from the furnace.

After some time, since nothing was coming out from drain lines, they have decided to
start PA fan at low RPM, so that, the material can be drained out. This was done 2 to 3 times to
drain the unburnt coal. At about 5:15 PM on 28th Mar 15, when the PA fan speed increased for
increasing wind box pressure for draining, a sudden positive pressure of above +150 MMWC
was recorded. Also it was observed that, sudden exfiltration of dust and fumes took place from
the bellow joints provided between boiler & Cyclone & also from the two explosion doors
provided in the furnace on both sides of the furnace, provided at an elevation of 32.5 Meter and
all fans got tripped in logic at the same time instant eruption of flue gas occurred in the furnace
which came out of the boiler through possible path with alarming sound.
It is reported that, this boiler is designed for coal with minimum calorific value of 3400
kcal/kg with size up to 8mm. Presently the management, for the pre commissioning of the boiler,
has outsourced the supply of crushed coal due to non readiness of the in- house coal crusher
circuit in the plant. And it is observed that, the fines percentage in the outsourced coal supplied
was on higher side. Due to more percentage of fine coal, more coal is fed in to the furnace, more
than the regulated and required quantity, as the rod gate was designed for 8mm performance
coal.
Due to more percentage of fine coal fed into the furnace, the accumulation of more
quantity of unburnt coal has taken place inside the furnace bed. Due to more quantity of coal
accumulated in the bed and also due to the compactness caused due to the fineness of coal
powder , the primary air was not sufficient to fluidize the bed. This accumulation of unburnt
coal/fine coal has resulted in distill off the volatiles inside the furnace, resulting gas Explosion
before the burner comes on. This instantaneous gas explosion has caused positive pressure build
up inside the Furnace and hence high positive pressure ie,+150 MMWC was recorded. The water
wall with seven numbers of Buck Stays all around the furnace which is subjected to high internal

pressure developed suddenly, due to the sudden instantaneous gas explosion, was unable to bear
the high internal pressure and hence has bowed out.
Furnace explosion is rare, but very severe in nature. This situation exists because furnace
is supplied with explosive accumulation. Just a minute part of those explosive charges receive
sufficient ignition energy to actually cause an explosion. The Furnace explosion requires both
sufficient explosive accumulation and sufficient energy for ignition such as hot slag and hot
furnace surfaces.
So practical means of avoiding furnace explosion is the prevention of an explosive
accumulation. The factor determining the magnitude of furnace explosion (change in
composition, mass and reaction time) are related in explosion factors
Explosion Factor = (Mass/Furnace Volume) x Composition Change/Elapsed Time) Each
Furnace has a limiting explosion factor. If the conditions create an explosion factor exceeding
this limit, a catastrophic explosion can result. Any lesser reaction will produce a furnace puff
(sudden increase is pressure i.e non destructive explosion.)or a temporary upset in furnace
pressure. To protect furnace from such incidences a safety system must ensure a minimum
reactive mass accumulation and with minimum available composition charges and with
maximum reaction time required. I am enclosing the statement of M.N.Mohan qualified Boiler
Operation Engineer and DGM(CPP) for your kind perusal.
Yours Faithfully
(K.V.Chandramouli)
Deputy director of Boilers
Belagavi division