Defective Boiler Circulation | Persistent Furnace Tube Failures 6/6/20, 4(45 PM

Home About Us Services

Case Studies Contact Us

HOME / DEFECTIVE BOILER CIRCULATION FURNACE TUBE FAILURES

CASE STUDY

Defective Boiler
Circulation | Persistent
Furnace Tube Failures
PLANT LOCATION Asia

FACILITY DESCRIPTION Steelworks Boiler

BOILER TYPE Bi Drum – Natural Circulation – Firing Pulverized Coal

BOILER CAPACITY 600,000 [lbm/hr]

STEAM CONDITIONS 900 [psi] @ 900 [°F]

Conditions:

A 600,000 [lbm/hr] high pressure pulverized coal boiler operating at a steelworks experienced persistent
furnace wall tube blistering within 6 months of being @rst commissioned. After 3 months some of the
blistered tubes began to fail causing frequent forced plant outages and expensive production losses. The
boiler manufacturer blamed poor water treatment, pointing to the presence of a thin scale detected on the
inside surface of the tube within the zone of the failures. A new water treatment chemical supplier was
engaged but despite an intense focus on optimizing water chemistry over an additional 12-month period the

http://www.designboiler.com/defective-boiler-circulation-persistent-furnace-tube-failures/ Page 1 of 3
Defective Boiler Circulation | Persistent Furnace Tube Failures 6/6/20, 4(45 PM

problem persisted.

Design Boiler was engaged to determine the cause of these

failures and recommend a solution. The @rst step was to
undertake a circulation analysis of the boiler. Design Boiler’s
software was able to model its thermodynamic performance
and simulate a range of operating conditions which could
allow the boiler’s circulation to be evaluated.

A major defect in the boiler’s internal circulation was identi@ed

and a number of potential recti@cation strategies, including
some which required minor recon@guration of the boiler
circulation pathways, were evaluated utilizing the computer
simulation model generated previously. These simulations
revealed a somewhat counter intuitive solution to the problem
which involved increasing the economizer heating surface to
raise the feed water temperature entering the steam drum.
This effectively reduced the pre-boiling length within the
heated furnace wall tubes which increased the overall
circulating Oow head, resulting in increased Oow and improved Furnace tube blistering & failures due to
cooling through the tubes that were previously overheating and circulation defect
failing.

After this change was implemented, the circulation problem was resolved and blistering tube failures no
longer occurred.

BOILER DESIGN & DIAG- Design Boiler © 2019 All Rights Reserved

NOSTICS: CONSULTING,
TRAINING & SOFTWARE
http://www.designboiler.com/defective-boiler-circulation-persistent-furnace-tube-failures/ Page 2 of 3
Defective Boiler Circulation | Persistent Furnace Tube Failures 6/6/20, 4(45 PM

http://www.designboiler.com/defective-boiler-circulation-persistent-furnace-tube-failures/ Page 3 of 3