Types of Boilers and types of Hydrostatic Test

A boiler is a device for heating water and generating steam above atmospheric pressure. The boiler consists of a compartment where the fuel is burned and a compartment where water can be evaporated into steam. The steam produced by the boiler my be supplied to steam engines or turbines for power generation,indusrial process work, heating installations and hot water supply etc.

Boiler Components

- Super Heater One of the most important accessories of a boiler is a super heater. It affects improvement and economy in the following ways. The super heater increases the capacity of the plant. Eliminates corrosion of the steam turbine. Reduces steam consumption of the steam turbine

Economiser
This is feed-water heaters in which the heat from waste gases is recovered to raise the temperature of feed-water supplied to the boiler. They offer the following advantages: Fuel economy Longer life of the boiler Increase in steaming capacity Finned Tube Economisers C.I. Gilled Tube Economisers Plain Tube Coil Economisers

Water Wall Tube

These are tubes in the Boiler where water is evaporated to steam and are also called Steam Generating Tubes. These Tubes also form the Walls of the Boiler and are hence called Water Walls or Water Wall Panels. These Tubes have very complicated shapes to allow Inspection openings and burner throats and fabrication require intricate binding on CNC programmable bending Machines and checking on 3D layouts

Waste Heat Boilers

Studded tubes are used in reheaters in refineries and in the Fluidised Bed of an FBC Boiler. The tubes are securely welded with studs to increase the surface area for better heat-transfer. Tube weld can give very closely studded tubes in High Alloy Steels using Automatic Stud Welders. The studs are welded both by an Automatic Drawn Arc Process and by Resistance Welding. On Alloy Steel Pipes Studded with Carbon or Alloy or Stainless Steel Studs both Pre & Post weld heating is carried out on line using state of the art technique.

Finned Tubes
T-Fins: Helical Straight strip wound on the tube are mechanically secured. The tubes are required grade of steel, the fins are aluminium for maximum tube-wall temperature of 121 deg C (250 deg F) and mild service conditions. L- Fins: Helical strip bent to L-shape are mechanically secured to the tube with the outer surface of the tube totally enclosed with fins, for full fin contact and protection of tube from chemical action of the gas for maximum tube-wall temperature of 177 deg C (350 deg F) and moderate service conditions. G- Fins: Helical straight strip wound into pre-cut grooves on the outer wall of the tube, fin and groove lips mechanically closed for maximum tube-wall temperature of 371 deg C (700 deg F) and extreme working conditions.

Studded Tubes
These are used in Refinery Services and Fluidised Beds Boiler Coils.

Longitudinally Finned Tubes

Longitudinally welded Finned Tubes are used in low capacity Boilers.

Major Applications of Finned Tubes

Process liquid cooling, Water cooling in chemical, petroleum, petrochemical and similar uses, Condensing, etc. Heating of air by steam in tubes. Air conditioning and refrigeration industries, Metallurgical industries for cooling of quenching oil.

Headers
Headers form an important part of all types of boilers. Steam from the generating tubes is collected in headers which are therefore always under pressure. This pressure may vary from 300 psi to 2000 psi. Since headers are always under pressure, the utmost care is taken by us while fabricating them. Depending on the generating capacity of the boiler the header sizes fabricated by us vary from 100 mm to 600 mm NB. The stubs of various sizes are very carefully welded to the main body of the header to provide the desired openings from the header. Bevelling and weld preparation of stubs duly tack-welded to the main body of the header are first shown to Chief Inspector of Boilers for his approval and once again the stubs fully welded with main body are shown to Chief Inspector of Boilers under hydraulic pressure, varying from 1000 to 3000 psi as required by the specifications. The headers are stamped by Chief Inspector of Boilers before they leave our manufacturing plant. We also weld skubolets and weldolets in place of stubs.

Heat Exchanger
U Tube heat exchangers which are used in fertilizer plants, petrochemical and power project complexes.

Fuel
The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood, coal, oil, or natural gas. Electric steam boilers use resistance- or immersion-type heating elements. Nuclear fission is also used as a heat source for generating steam. Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) use the heat rejected from other processes such as gas turbines.

Classification of Boilers
Boiler classification can be based on many factors like usage, fuel fired, fuel firing system, type of arrangement etc

1. Horizontal, Vertical or Inclined Boiler.

If the axis of the boiler is horizontal,the boiler is called horizontal, if the axis is vertical, it is called verticalboiler and if the axis is inclined it is called as inclined boiler.The parts of horizontal boiler is can be inspected and repaired easily but it occupies more space.The vertical boiler occupies less floor area.

2. Fire Tube and Water Tube

In the fire boilers, the hot gases are inside the tubes and the water surrounds the tubes. Examples: Cochran, Lancashire and Locomotive boilers. In the water tube boilers, the water is inside the tubes and hot gases surround them. Examples: Babcock and Wilcox, Stirling, Yarrow boiler etc.

3. Externally Fired and Internally Fired

The boiler is known as externally fired if the fire is outside the shell. Examples: Babcock and Wilcox boiler,Stirling boiler etc. In case of internally fired boilers, the furnace is located inside the shell. Examples: Cochran, Lancashire boiler etc.

4. Forced circulation and Natural Circulation

In forced circulation type of boilers, the circulation of water is done by a forced pump. Examples: Velox,Lamomt,Benson Boiler etc. In natural circulation type of boilers, circulation of water in the boiler takes place due to natural convention currents produced by the application of heat. Examples: Lancashire, Babcock and Wilcox boiler etc.

5. Higher Pressure and Low Pressure Boilers

The boiler which produce steam at pressures of 80 bar and above are called high pressure boilers. Examples: Babcock and Wilcox, Velox,Lamomt,Benson Boiler etc. The boilers which produce steam at pressure below 80 bar are called low pressure boilers. Examples: Cochran, Cornish, Lancashire and Locomotive boiler etc.

6. Stationary and Portable

Primarily, the boilers are classified as either stationary or mobile. Stationary boilers are used for power plant steam, for central station utility power plants, for plant process steam etc. Mobile boilers or portable boilers include locomotive type, and other small units for temporary use at sites.

7. Single Tube and Multi Tube Boiler

The fire tube boilers are classified as single tube and multi-tube boilers, depending upon whether the fire tube is one or more than one. Examples: Cornish, simple vertical boiler are the single tube boiler and rest of the boilers are multi-tube boiler. *Another simple classifications of Boilers

* Fire tube boilers have almost become extinct; however this can be classified as
- Locomotive boilers, which ruled rail transportation before diesel and electric engine came. - Industrial boilers, mainly used for green projects where initial steam is required - Domestic use boilers

* Water tube boilers took over when size and capacity increased. This can be classified depending on type of circulation used to generate steam as
- Natural circulation boiler - Forced circulation boilers - Super critical pressure boilers or zero circulation boilers

* Depending on type of firing adopted in boilers they can be classified as

- Stoker fired - Pulverized coal fired - Down shot fired - Fluidized bed boilers - Cyclone fired - Chemical recovery boilers - Incinerators Of these the stokers which were predominantly used in early days of high pressure high capacity boilers are being replaced by pulverized coal fired boilers and fluidized bed boilers. Stoker boilers are still designed and used in few applications like sugar industries, etc.

* Fluidized boilers are also going through fast development and can be now sub classified as
- Bubbling fluidized bed boilers - Pressurized fluidized bed boilers - Circulating fluidized bed boilers. The higher capacity boilers are mainly circulating fluidized bed boilers due inherent limitations in bubbling bed boilers.

* Boilers can be classified based on the type of fuel used as

- Coal fired boilers - Oil fired boilers - Gas fired boilers - Multi-fuel fired - Industrial waste fired boilers - Biomass fired boilers Various types of arrangement are used by designers in designing the boiler for meeting the end requirement.

* Boilers are classified based on the arrangement as

- Top supported boilers - Bottom supported - Package boilers - Field erected boilers - Drum type boilers -Single drum -Bi drum -Three drums, but these are presently out of use - Tower type or single pass - Close coupled - Two pass boilers Boilers therefore can be classified based on firing type, fuel used, construction type, circulation type, firing system design nature, and nature of steam application. Todays steam generating systems owe their dependability and safety to more than 125 years of experience in the design, fabrication, and operation of water tube boilers.

Hydrostatic test
Hydrostatic testing is the most common procedure used to qualify newly manufactured cylinders, spheres and tubes used for the transportation of dangerous goods. Hydrostatic testing is also required periodically to re-qualify these pressure vessels for continued service. During a hydrostatic test, a pressure vessel is placed inside a closed system, usually a test jacket filled with water, and a specified internal water pressure is applied to the container inside this closed system. The applied internal pressure causes an expansion of the container being tested, and the total and permanent expansion that the container undergoes is measured. These volumetric expansion measurements, in conjunction with an internal and external visual inspection of the container, are used to determine if a pressure vessel is safe for continued use, or have suffered from degradation in its structural integrity and must be condemned. Some pressure vessels may be re-qualified by means of a proof-pressure test. This method, also known as a modified hydrostatic test, consists of subjecting a pressure vessel to a specified internal pressure and inspecting the pressurized container for leaks, bulges or other defects. This method is permitted only when the applicable regulations do not require the determination of volumetric expansion measurements.

PRESSURE VESSEL MARKINGS The manufacturers markings on a pressure vessel include information regarding the date of manufacture, the manufacturers name or registered mark, the serial number of the unit and the specification or exemption to which the container complies. For pressure vessels that have been re-qualified one or more times, additional markings indicate the date(s) of any previous hydrostatic retests and identification markings of the retest facility.
On steel cylinders, these markings are stamped into the shoulders of the cylinder. on spheres, the markings are stamped into the mounting brackets or the gauge guard, or they may be etched onto the surface of the sphere itself. The markings for fibre-wound cylinders are found on a nameplate and retest labels embedded in the epoxy of the cylinder body. The markings on low pressure cylinders are usually found on a label or nameplate.

Mansoura University Faculty of Engineering Mechanical power Engineering

Types of Boilers and types of Hydrostatic Test

Ibrahim Mustafa Saad Elbehery Section . 1