STUDY OF BOILER MAINTENANCE FOR ENHANCED RELIABILITY OF SYSTEM

A REVIEW

1. Brad Buecker, Basics of Boiler and HRSG design:

Brad Buecker proposed different factors to be maintained to reduce failures or
hazards. These are:

• The material of boiler should be selected based on quality of raw water i.e. in terms
of hardness, and the fuel to be burned together with its ash contents.
• Steam condition related to its temperature and pressure.
• Proper Arrangement of boiler mountings and optimised valve location has to be
maintained.

2. Willy Vandermeer, Flame Safeguard Control in Multi- Burner Environment:

Willy Vandermeer approached the problem of flame failure in a boiler and stated the
factors like improper coal feeding, inappropriate furnace pressure and improper
primary and secondary air could lead to such failure and it would result in
accumulation of the charge which would lead to explosion on reignition. It is
suggested to install a flame loss detector to avoid such failure.

3. Anees U. Malik, Nausha Asrar, Mohammad F. Al- Ghamdi, Abdullah Hasan Hodhan,
Investigations on Failure of Boiler Tubes in SWCC Jeddah Power Plant:
Anees U. Malik analysed welded joints for cracks and pits around it and proposed that
corrosion fission penetration upto the critical depth enhanced by thermal fatigue is
one of the prime causes of it. They also stated that use of X-Ray as an efficient method
for the detection of black oxide scales on steam side and brown oxide scales on the
fire side.

4. K.K Parthiban, Fans at Work in Boilers, Venus Energy Audit System:

K.K. Parthiban analysed different problems in the fans used in boilers. He observed a
heavy vibration and noise in the FD fan and stated that an improper inlet system and
an induced swirl motion of air oppossite to fan rotation as its prime causes and
suggessted to remove the turbulence by the inlet guide vanes as a prime measure. In
the ID fan smooth flow of inlet gases was ensured so that the problem of inadequate
furnace draft was completely eliminated.
5. Rhys Thompson, Dane Wong, Boiler Induced Draft Fan Optimisation:
Rhys Thompson proposed the criteria for selection of fans which was based on the
noise produced, the application of fans, gas density, corrosion characteristics duty
location. He also suggested various factors to be reviewed timely for an effective
working which are periodic inspection, bearing lubrication, belt and coupling
alignment, fans inspection for wear.

6. Tej Bahadur, Modifications in Coal Pulverisers to Increase Availability of Coal Fired

Boilers – A Case Study:
Tej Bahadur worked on the possible causes of the failure of pulverisers used in the
plant and concluded them as wearing of the rotors, ageing of the mill, use of damaged
hammers, problem in the coal bunkers. All these factors lead to reduce the steam
generation and increases the oil consumption. The other reasons that could be
included are temperature rise clogging of oulet filters, size of particles, r.p.m. of the
bowl.

7. T. Rajkumar, V.M. Ramma Priyaa. K. Gobi, Boiler Drum Level Control by Using
WideOpen Control With Three Element Control System:
T. Rajkumar made a study on the issues related to boiler drum level and stated that a
low level in the drum could lead to the explosion and a higher water level will increase
the concentration of particles in the steam which would damage the turbine blades. It
is therefore suggested to install an electronic sensor and controller to observe the
drum level so that any disparities could be avoided.

8. S. K. Dhua, Metallurgical Investigation of Failed Boiled Water Wall Tubes Received

from a Thermal Power Station:
S K Dhua identified graphitisation as a basic cause of boiler tube failure which occurred
due to prolonged subjection of low alloy steel tube to higher temperature of about
550°C. So it was suggested that the tube material selection must be done in order to
stabilize the iron carbides so that graphitization can be reduced by addition of small
quantities of strong carbide forming elements like vanadium, tungsten, to the tube
material. S K Dhua identified different also failure mechanism of boiler tubes such as
pitting, stress corrosion cracking, creep, erosion, embrittlement and analysed one such
method which is stress rupture which he further categorized as short term
overheating and high temperature creep. In the short term overheating the thickness
 of tube wall gets reduced and scale formation on the inner walls was observed due to
which the heat transfer was reduced. Thus the author suggested proper feed water
treatment and periodic scale removal as a preventive measure to reduce the failure of
the tube

9. Flemming S. Nielsen, Modern Boiler Design, BWE Energy India:

Flemming S. Nielsen, stated that for elevated steam parameters the fine grain
austenitic material structure must be selected e.g. TP347HFG (ASME- 2159) and
TP304CuCbN (ASME- 2328). To obtain fine grain structure shot peening is also
proposed for TP304CuCbN. The author also proposed the use of alloys like 174, 263,
617, 740 in increasing the creep resistance of the bodies. . It is suggested that these
materials would reduce the chances of failure of material in compression and would
reduce the potential downtime.

10. D.H. Lister, Power Plant Materials, Thermal Power Plants Vol – 1, EOLSS Publication:
D.H. Lister analysed the corrosion problems related to the boiler and stated that
corrosion resistance in low alloy steel boiler can be obtained by alloying with elements
like manganese and chromium in less than 5% by weight and stainless steel require
chromium about 12% by weight to be alloyed with nickel where nickel would be
beneficial for high temperature applications and chromium would provide resistance
to oxidation. So it is suggested that using the proposed composition of the material
would decrease the corrosion rate of the boiler thus would enhance the lifecycle of
the component would reduce maintenance requirement.

11. A.S.M.E. Boiler Pressure Vessel Code Brochure:

ASME- Boilers and Pressure Vessel Code quoted the functioning of components in
different conditions and stated that the usage of stainless steels must be avoided in
the wetted areas of the boilers and to use ferritic steel as an alternative of it. It is
therefore suggested that the proposed action would ultimately reduce the boiler
failure chances and will enhance the reliability and reduce maintenance.
12. David N. French, Metallurgy of Power Boilers:
David N. French analysed the functioning of boiler at different temperatures and
suggested different alloys and their specification on the basis of various operating
temperatures. These are:

It is suggested that the selection of the steels based on the temperature would ensure
system safety and would reduce maintenance process to be employed.