Density Error and its Correction

in Boiler Drum Level Indication

INTRODUCTION
Boiler steam drum water level is one of
the most important power plant para-
meters to measure and control. If the
level is too low, boiler tubes will be
damaged by overheating. If the level is
too high, the superheater tubes and
the turbine may be damaged by mois-
ture or water treatment chemical car-
ryover. As boiler operating pressures
and boiler drum wall thickness have
increased, many boilers have become
smaller. This reduced boiler drum vol-
ume demands even more accurate
level control.
A variety of instruments are available
and approved by the ASME for power
boiler level indication. However, simply
specifying one or more of these instru-
ments will not guarantee that the boil-
er level will be indicated accurately.
The user must thoroughly understand
the operating principles of each instru-
ment, instrument installation require-
ments and the boiler operating
scheme.
A difference in the water density
between the level instrument and the
boiler is the major source of level error.
The purpose of this evaluation was to
1996 Yarway Corporation
Presented at the International
Society for Measurement and
Control (ISA) Conference,
October, 1995
ABSTRACT
The requirements for power boiler level indication are clearly stated in the ASME Boiler and Pressure Code Section
I, Paragraph 60.1.1. In addition to the direct reading gage glass, remote liquid level indicators of various types are
permitted under certain design conditions.
Regardless of the instrument selected, consideration must be given to the level error caused by connecting an
external device to the boiler drum. The error is inherent because the level measuring instrument is at a lower tem-
perature than the boiler.
Various mechanical and electronic solutions are available to minimize the level indication error. The purpose of
this evaluation was to determine the actual level error under various laboratory conditions for three types of water
level gages and for an electronic level gage column. Lab measurements were compared with both design theory
and field observations. All this information was then used together to improve product design, application and
installation procedures that would minimize boiler level indication error.
determine the actual level error of sev-
eral instruments under various con-
trolled laboratory conditions. These
measurements would then be com-
pared with both design theory and
field observations to develop installa-
tion requirements and an understand-
ing of specific application limitations.
LEVEL INDICATION
REQUIREMENTS
The requirements for boiler level indi-
cation are clearly stated in the ASME
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code,
Section I, Paragraph 60.1.1. A combi-
nation of gage glasses and remote
level indicators are required as follows:
Each boiler (except forced flow
steam generators with no fixed steam
and waterline, and high temperature
water boilers of the forced circulation
type that have no steam and waterline)
shall have at least one water gage
glass. (Figure 1a).
Boilers operated at pressures over
400 psi (except electric boilers of the
electrode type) shall have two water
gage glasses (Figure 1b).
Boilers with safety valves set at or
above 400 psi may operate two inde-
pendent remote level indicators
instead of one of the two required
gage glasses (Figure 1c). When both
remote level indicators are in reliable
operation, the remaining gage glass
may be shut off, but shall be main-
tained in serviceable condition. (Code
Case 2109)
REMOTE LEVEL
INDICATORS
Several devices have been developed
over the years to take advantage of
the option offered by the Boiler Code
for two independent remote level indi-
cators instead of one of the two
required gage glasses. These devices
include:
1. Differential Pressure Indicator.
These are available in both the
mechanical and electronic type
(Figure 2). Both measure the differ-
ential pressure between a refer-
ence water level and the boiler
level.
2. Electronic Water Level Gage
(Figure 3). This device measures
water level through conductivity
probes installed in a water column
connected to the boiler.
DENSITY LEVEL ERROR
Water level gages and all types of
remote level indicators are affected by
density level error. This level measure-
ment error occurs because the water
measured by the device is colder than
the boiler water, creating a density dif-
ference. This system can be explained
and modeled by a U Tube Manometer
(Figure 4).
The manometer contains fluid with
three different densities. On one side is
saturated water with boiler water den-
sity D
d
. On the other side are two flu-
ids: water in the gage with an
unknown density D
g
, and saturated
Steam with density D
s
.
A pressure balance at point A in this
system produces the following rela-
tionships:
Equation 1.
H
d
D
d
= H
g
D
g
+ H
s
D
s
Equation 2.
H
s
= H
d
- H
g
Equation 3.
H
g
=
H
d
(D
d
- D
s
)
D
g
- D
s
Equation 4.
H
d
=
H
g
(D
g
- D
s
)
D
d
- D
s
The use of these formulas to deter-
mine the actual drum water level, H
d
,
can be explained with the following
example.
Example:
Boiler operating pressure 3000 psia.
Average gage temperature is 20F
below saturated steam temperature.
H
g
, water level in the gage is 20 inch-
es above the water connection.
Using the steam tables:
D
s
= 11.90 lbm/ft
3
D
d
= 31.94 lbm/ft
3
(Assume the
average water temperature
in the drum is 10F below
saturation)
D
g
= 33.89 lbm/ft
3
H
d
= 20 inches
(33.89 - 11.90)
31.94 - 11.90
H
d
= 22.0 inches, or a 10% error.
The factors that determine the magni-
tude of the level error are the operating
Figure 1
ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL
CODE REQUIREMENTS
2
REMOTE LEVEL INDICATORDIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE
Figure 2
ELECTRONIC WATER LEVEL GAGE
Figure 3
Mechanical Electronic
3
LEVEL GAGE AND U TUBE EQUIVALENT
Figure 4
GAGE OPERATING PRESSURE AND SUBCOOLING EFFECT ON LEVEL ERROR
Figure 5
H
d
D
d
= H
g
D
g
+ H
s
D
s
4
LEVEL GAGE WATER FLOW DYNAMICS
Figure 6
pressure, the gage subcooling, and
the boiler drum level above the gage
return connection. Figure 5 shows the
effect of operating pressure and gage
subcooling on gage error. As pressure
increases, the density of saturated liq-
uid and saturated steam converge
(Figure 5a). As gage subcooling
increases, the level error increases
(Figure 5b). As the drum level H
d
increases, the level error increases
proportionally. H
d
can be minimized by
returning the water pipe from the gage
horizontlly to the drum, and by design-
ing the drum water connection to be a
minimum distance below the lowest
gage view port.
However, a significant question
remains unanswered. What is the
average gage temperature and corre-
sponding density D
g
?
LEVEL GAGE DYNAMICS
Standard level gages and electronic
level gages connected to the boiler are
not in a static condition. If they were,
the water temperature in the gage
would be near ambient. Referring to
Figure 6, steam condenses in the sup-
ply piping and upper gage to the gage
waterline. This saturated water raises
the gage water level slightly above the
equilibrium point. The excess water
flows back into the boiler drum. The
circulation flow depends upon the
condensing steam rate and the vol-
ume in the gage and water return pip-
ing.
The condensing steam enters the
gage at the saturation temperature.
The condensate continues to cool
until it re-enters the boiler. A profile of
this temperature gradient is shown in
Figure 6.
Many level gages are connected to
the boiler with a tie bar or water col-
umn because the visibility of the gage
may be adversely affected by exces-
sive water flowing over the glass. The
tie bar short circuits the excess water
from the steam supply piping. The
only flow through the gage is from
steam condensing in the gage itself
and the gage piping.
Gages and remote level indication
devices will indicate incorrectly if boiler
pressure decreases suddenly. The
temperature of the water in the gage
or reference column is normally within
a hundred degrees of the saturation
temperature. If the boiler pressure
should decrease rapidly, the water in
the gage will flash to steam. The
steam bubbles will cause the level in
GAGE WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE
the glass to rise and will often obliter-
ate the meniscus. Indication will return
to normal when thermal equilibrium is
re-established. Systems utilizing a ref-
erence column will indicate high as
water in the reference leg flashes to
steam. Indication will return to normal
very slowly as steam condenses to
refill the reference leg. The reference
leg can also be manually filled to
establish proper indication more
quickly.
GAGE CORRECTION
OPTIONS
Every level measurement device must
be corrected in some manner to com-
pensate for density level error. A num-
ber of techniques have evolved over
the years to address each indivicual
device.
1. Differential Pressure Indicator,
mechanical type (Figure 2).The
device is installed with a tempera-
ture compensated reference col-
umn. The purpose of this equip-
ment is to heat the water in the ref-
erence leg to a value that is halfway
between saturation and ambient.
This corrects the indication if the
level is at the mid scale position,
regardless of pressure. An addi-
tional pressure sensing device is
added to correct the pointer for
water levels that are above or
below the mid scale value.
2. Differential Pressure Indicator, elec-
tronic type (Figure 2). The most
sophisticated of the devices mea-
sures the differential pressure of
the reference and variable legs with
both at ambient temperature. The
ambient temperature and the boil-
er operating pressure are also
measured. An analog or digital pro-
gram then corrects the apparent
differential for boiler water density
to indicate the boiler level.
5
Less sophisticated devices are cal-
ibrated to read correctly at only
one pressure, usually the normal
operating pressure. They will indi-
cate improperly when operated at
pressures above or below the cali-
bration pressure.
3. Water Level Gages, direct reading
and electronic type. As discussed
earlier, the primary difficulty in cal-
culating the level error for devices
of this type is to determine the
average gage water temperature
and corresponding water density.
When this is calculated or mea-
sured, then the gage glass is phys-
ically installed in a lower position to
compensate for this error. Steam
heated level gages are available
that significantly reduce the density
error. But these may be especially
susceptible to boiler pressure tran-
sients. The electronic gage can be
corrected by locating each probe
individually to correct for the error
at that level.
DENSITY LEVEL ERROR
TEST PROGRAM AND
TEST RESULTS
A test apparatus was constructed in
the Yarway Test Lab, shown in Figure
7, to measure the level error and gage
temperature of various gages under a
variety of conditions. Probes of the
same type used in the electronic gage
were installed with 1/2" spacing in a
reference level column. The water in
the reference column was maintained
within 10F of saturation temperature.
The level was maintained at a known
point by throttling control valve V
1
. The
gage under test was connected to the
reference column with typical piping
and valves.
Tests on various devices were per-
formed with a variety of connecting
pipe sizes, pipe lengths, operating
pressures and insulation conditions.
Since most of this information is pro-
prietary in nature, only general charac-
teristics will be discussed.
Figure 8 shows the level error and
temperature gradient for a typical
gage as a function of operating pres-
sure. As expected, the level error
increases with operating pressure.
However, the temperature difference
between saturation and the water out-
let remained relatively constant. This is
because the steam condensing rate
increases significantly as pressure
increases. Performance graphs were
developed for each gage and configu-
ration evaluated. Performance
changes related to installation are
summarized in Table I.
Figure 8 shows the effect of connect-
ing a standard level gage to an elec-
tronic level gage in two different man-
ners. In the first case the gage lower
connection is attached 4" above the
water return connection. In the sec-
ond case it is attached at the same
height as the water return connection.
Connection in the second manner
causes minimal change to the normal
temperature profile of the electronic
water gage.
WATER LEVEL GAGE TEST SETUP
Figure 7
6
Configuration Gage Temperature Level Error
Gage Insulated Increases Decreases
* Steam supply pipe diameter larger Increases Decreases
* Steam supply pipe length longer Increases Decreases
Gage water level lower Increases Decreases
* Only applies to the electronic gage column since all standard gages were tested with a tie bar installed.
TYPICAL GAGE LEVEL ERROR AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
Figure 8
GAGE CONNECTION EFFECT ON ELECTRONIC LEVEL GAGE PERFORMANCE
7
TABLE I
180 6M 396 Printed in U.S.A.
CONCLUSIONS
The water level gage glass has been
used for many years to indicate boiler
water level and it is required by the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Code. A number of supplementary
indicators are available that provide
convenient remote indication and level
control. All of these devices are sub-
ject to indication error because the
water measured is external to the
drum and is not at the same density
as the boiler drum water.
A number of techniques have been
developed for each indicating device
to address this problem. The elec-
tronic dp indicator can be adjusted by
an analog or digital program. The
mechanical dp indicator uses a tem-
perature compensated reference
chamber with a pressure compensa-
tion device. The standard level gage
and the electronic level gage can be
corrected by measuring or calculating
the average gage water temperature
and installing the gage in the proper
location.
Testing confirms that the gage tem-
perature is affected by a large number
of conditions: steam supply and return
pipe size, length and configuration;
insulation, ambient conditions and
water level. Maintaining the gage
water temperature very close to the
saturation temperature will have an
adverse effect on indication if the pres-
sure drops suddenly. However, if the
gage temperature is significantly less
than the boiler water temperature, the
level error will be significant at high
pressure.
The best compromise is to deter-
mine the average gage temperature
and the gage level error that will exist
under certain boiler operating condi-
tions. Then, the gage installation posi-
tion can be corrected accordingly. For
the electronic level gage, probes can
be located individually to indicate
properly. For the visual level gage,
repositioning the unit can compensate
for the density error. It is vital that the
gage installation follow the manufac-
turers specifications. Only then will the
level device indicate accurately and
perform as designed and tested.
REFERENCES
Williams, James
Methods of Obtaining Accurate
Boiler Water Level Indication,
ASME Power Division Winter Annual
Meeting, New York, NY, December,
1960
Spencer, J. D.
Design Considerations for an
Electronic Water Gage, Fossil
Power Systems Technical Publica-
tion 1988.
Boiler Drum Level Indication in High
Pressure Boilers, Yarway Technical
Publication, November, 1992
Spencer, J. D.
Density Error Considerations for
Steam Drum Water Gage Systems,
Nova Scotia Power Corp., Nova
Scotia, Canada, June 1991.
Boiler Drum Pressure Correction,
Rosemount application data sheet
3084, August 1990.
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