The equipment used for producing steam is called Boiler or Steam

Generator.

It is also defined as “ A closed vessel in which steam is produced from

water by the combustion of fuel.”

The steam generated is used for:

● Power generation
● Heating
● Utilization in industries like chemical industries, sugar mills, etc.

PRINCIPLE

The hot gases from the furnace touch the surface of the boiler shell
and thereby steam is generated inside the shell which on further
operations can drive the turbine.

The driving of the turbine leads to the generation of electricity which

will be used for various purposes.

CLASSIFICATION OF STEAM GENERATOR

The boilers may be classified as follows:

1. Horizontal, Vertical and Inclined Boilers

2. Externally Fired and Internally Fired
3. Fire-tube boiler and Water-tube boiler.
4. Natural circulation and Forced Circulation
5. High Pressure and Low-Pressure boilers
6. Stationary and Portable boilers
7. Single tube and Multitube boilers.
1. Horizontal, Vertical, and Inclined Boilers:

● If the axis of the boiler is horizontal, then the boiler is of

horizontal type.
● If the axis of the boiler is vertical, then it is called a vertical
boiler.
● If the axis of the boiler is inclined, then it is called an inclined
boiler.

The parts of a horizontal boiler can be inspected and repaired easily.

But, it occupies more space and the vertical boiler occupies less floor
area.

2. Externally Fired and Internally Fired Boilers

● The boiler is known as an externally fired boiler if the fire is

outside the shell.

For example, Babcock and Wilcox Boiler.

● In the case of internally fired boilers, the furnace is located

inside the boiler shell.

For example, Cochran, Lancashire boiler, etc.

3. Fire-tube boiler and Water-tube boiler:

● In the fire tube boilers, the hot gases are inside the tubes and
the water surrounds the tubes.
For Example, Cochran, Lancashire boiler, etc.

● In the water tube boilers, the water is inside the tubes and hot
gases around them

For example, Babcock and Wilcox Boiler.

4. Natural circulation and Forced Circulation:

● In forced Circulation type of boilers, the circulation of water is

done by a forced pump.

For example, Lamont Boiler, Benson Boiler, etc.

● In the natural circulation type of boilers, the circulation of water

in the boiler takes place due to the natural convection currents
produced by the application of heat.

Ex: Lancashire, Babcock and Wilcox boiler.

5. High Pressure and Low-Pressure boilers:

High-Pressure Boilers:

The boilers which produce steam at pressures of 80 bar and above are
called high-pressure boilers.

For example, Babcock and Wilcox, Benson boilers.

Low-Pressure Boilers:

The boilers which produce steam at a pressure below 80 bar are called
low-pressure boilers.

For example, Cochran, Lancashire, and locomotive boilers.

6. Stationary and Portable Boilers:

● Primarily, the boilers are classified as either stationary or

mobile(marine and Locomotives)

Stationary boilers are used for power plant steam for Central station
utility power plants.

Portable Boilers:

Portable or mobile boilers include the locomotive type and other small
units for temporary usage at sites(Just as in small coal-field pits).

7. Single tube and Multi-tube Boilers:

● If a fire tube is just one, then it is called a Single tube boiler.

For example, Cornish, Simple Vertical Boiler.

● If fire tubes are more than one, they are called Multi-tube
boilers.

What are the boiler accessories?

The boiler accessories are Feed Pumps, Economizer, Superheater,

Steam Separator, and Air Preheater.

The boiler accessories are auxiliary devices which are installed either
inside or outside the boiler. The boiler accessories are used to increase
the efficiency of the boiler and for proper functioning of boiler. The
following accessories are generally used in the boiler:-

(a) Economiser

(b) Air preheater

(c) Superheater

(d) Steam trap

Fig. Relative Position of Superheater, Economiser and Air Pre-heater

Economiser

Function: The function of the economiser is to extract some heat

which is carried away by the flue gases up in the chimney or stack and
utilize it for pre-heating the feed water supplied to the boiler.

Location: It is placed in the path of the flue gases in between the exit
from the boiler and entry into air preheater/chimney

Advantages of an economiser:

(i) Increase in thermal efficiency of the boiler plant by utilizing

waste heat, saving in fuel.

(ii) Hot feed water causes increase in evaporative-capacity.

(iii) Longer life of the boiler as this reduces the temperature
difference between different parts of the boiler

(iv) A large quantity of scale forming impurities may be removed by

precipitation due to pre-heating the feed water.

(v) Dissolved gases such as air or CO2 may also be removed by

pre-heating the feed water, reducing corrosion and pitting.

Disadvantage:

It reduces natural draft as it obstructs the passage of flue gases.

Air Preheater

Function: Like economizer, an air preheater also recovers some portion

of the waste heat of the flue/chimney gases and utilizes it for
preheating of air supplied to the combustion chamber of the boiler.

Location: Air preheater is usually placed after the economiser and

before the gases enters the chimney as shown in Fig.

Advantages of preheating of air:

(1) Waste heat from the flue gases is recovered for heating air and
causes a fuel saving of about 1.5% for each 100°C drop in gas
temperature.

(2) Inferior grades of coal can be burnt efficiently with preheated air.

(3) Less excessive air is required to burn fuel and thus cost of
producing draught will be less.
(4) Combustion can be more efficient and an intense flame can be
achieved in the furnace. This increases the evaporation rate of the
boiler.

Disadvantages:

(i) Increase in the capital and running cost of the preheater as induced
draft fan for removing gases and forced fan for forcing cold air
through the air preheater are used.

Steam superheater

Function: In superheaters, the wet or saturated dry steam is

superheated by increasing steam temperature above its saturation
temperature.

Location: The superheater is installed in the path of flue gases after

the furnace as shown in Fig . Sometimes, for bigger boilers, the
superheater may be placed in an independent fire furnace.

Advantages:

The following benefits are gained by superheating steam in

superheaters:

(1) It decreases the specific steam consumption of steam engines or

turbines.

(2) It decreases the condensation losses in the steam pipes and steam
engine cylinder.

(3) It eliminates the erosion of the turbine blades.

(4) The efficiency of the steam plant is increases.

Steam Trap

Function: The function of steam trap is to drain off partial condensed

water from steam pipes without allowing the steam to escape through
it.

Location: It is arranged in the steam pipe near the engine or the

turbine.

Types of Fuel Used in Boiler:

● Solid Fuels:

Wood, Coal, Rice Husk.

● Liquid Fuels:

LDO (Light Diesel Oil), Furnace oil.

● Gaseous Fuels:

LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas), LNG (Liquified Natural Gas), PNG (Piped
Natural Gas) can be used to carry out the combustion for a specific
purpose.

Sr. Parameters Fire-tube boilers Water-tube

No. boilers

1 Rate of steam slow quick

generation
2. Suitability for unsuitable suitable
power plants

3. Operating Limited to 24.5 x 105 Limited to 200

steam pressure N/m2 x 105 N/m2

4. Chances of Less More

explosion

5. Risk of Much more Much less

damage due to
explosion

6. Water Not very necessary as Required as

treatment minor scaling would not go scaling will lead
far enough to cause to tube-bursting
overheating and
tube-bursting

7. Floor space Much Less

required

8. Cost and More Much less

construction
problem
 9. Transportation Inconvenient due to Comparatively
large size of the shell easier

10. Skill required Less More

for efficient
operation

11. Operating cost Less High

12. Overall Upto 75% Upto 90%

efficiency

Selection of Boiler

● Floor area available

● Portable load factor
● Erection Facilities
● The fuel and water availability
● Accessibility for repair and inspection
● Comparative initial cost
● Steam generation rate
● Operating and maintenance cost

(a) Locomotive Fire tube boiler

(b) Lancashire boiler

Locomotive Boiler:

The Locomotive Boiler is a fire tube,horizontal drum axis multi-tube

boiler.

FIG.Diagram of Locomotive Boiler

It is a device that is used to create steam from water by using heat

energy.

The main function of it is to generate a high steam rate because the

grate area of this type of boiler is quite big. Also it has a number of
fire tubes for improving the steam producing rate.

In this type of boiler, the stack is used instead of a chimney and burnt
gas or flue gasses are removed by this stack.
This type of boiler is capable of producing a high steam rate and hence
it is used for railway locomotive engines and in marines.

Construction of Locomotive Boiler

A locomotive boiler is consists of the following parts:

● Ash pan
● Firebox
● Blow off Valve
● Water level Indicator
● Pressure Gauge
● main Hole
● Regulator
● Boiler Tubes
● Smoke Box
Firebox

The firebox is the area where the fuel is burned, producing heat to
boil the water in the boiler

Ash pit

Ash pit is a tray fitted below a grate in which ashes can be collected
and removed.

Blow off Valve

The function of a blow-off valve is to discharge mud and other

sediments. It can also be used to the drain-off boiler water.

Water level indicator

This is an instrument which is used in the boiler to indicate the level of

water.

Pressure gauge

This is also an instrument that shows the reading of the Boiler

pressure.

Manhole

The manhole is like an entrance where people enter the boiler and
change the parts if necessary and or if it is damaged.

Regulator

The regulator is a valve that regulates the steam through the main
steam pipe for superheating.
Boiler Tubes

Fire tubes through which the hot flue gases pass and exchange the
heat with the surrounding water.

Smoke Box

Smoke Box is a box in which the smoke of the burnt fuel after passing
through the fire tubes gets collected and From there it is exhausted in
the environment by the chimney.

Working of Locomotive Boiler:

Using a grate we insert the fuel into the boiler and then provide the
fire to ignite the fuel.

When fuel starts burning the hot flue gases are produced. And these
hot flue gases are passed through the tubes continuously until the
surrounding water gets heated.

So the water changes its phase into saturated steam.

This saturated steam can also be used or else further heated in a

superheater for superheating.

Advantages of Locomotive Boiler:

● This is portable which means the Locomotive Boiler can displace

whenever required.
● It is capable of meeting sudden and fluctuating demands of
steam.
 ● This is a cost-effective boiler.
● This Boiler has a high steam generation rate.
● It is compact in size.

Disadvantages of Locomotive Boiler:

● It faces the problems of corrosion and scale formation.

● Unable to work under heavy load conditions because of
overheating problems.

Applications of Locomotive Boiler:

● Locomotive boilers are mostly used in railways and marines.

● This boiler is also used in steam rollers, portable engines, and
some other steam road vehicles.

Lancashire Boiler

Principle of Lancashire Boiler:

This boiler works on the basic principle of heat exchanger. It is

basically a shell and tube type heat exchanger in which the flue gases
flow through the tubes and the water flows through the shell.

The heat is transferred from flue gases to the water through

convection. It is a natural circulation boiler which uses natural current
to flow the water inside the boiler.
Construction & Working

Flue gases pass through the fire tubes and side and bottom space.

The drum is half filled with water and the upper half space for steam.
The Furnace is located at one end of the fire tubes inside the boiler.

The fuel is burned at the grate. The water is pumped into the shell
through the economizer which increases the temperature of water.
Now the shell is half filled with water. The fire tube is fully immersed
into the water.

Flue gases first passes through the fire tube from one end to another.

These fire tubes transfer 80-90% of total heat to the water.

The backward flue gases passes from the bottom passage where it
transfers 8-10% heat to water.

The brick is the lower conductor of heat, so it works as a heat

insulator. The steam produced in the drum shell is taken out from the
upper side where it flows through the super heater if required.

Advantage

1. This boiler is easy to clean and inspect.

2. It is more reliable and can generate a large amount of steam.

3. It required less maintenance.

4. This boiler is a natural circulation boiler so lower electricity

consumption than other boilers.

5. It can easily operate.

Disadvantages

1. This boiler required more floor space.

2. This boiler has a leakage problem.

3. It requires more time to generate steam.

COMPARISON BETWEEN WATER-TUBE AND FIRE-TUBE

Advantages of water-tube boilers over fire-tube boilers

1. Water-tube boilers generate steam of high pressure which has

become a present day demand.

2. The water is divided into small portions, and therefore, water-tube

boilers raise steam quickly.

3. The heating surface of water-tube boilers is much more effective

than an equivalent area of surface in ordinary tubular boilers.

4.The arrangement of water-tube boilers is such that it forms a

flexible construction.

5.An accident to any one tube or fitting does not produce the
destruction of the whole boiler. Hence, water-tube boilers are
sometimes called safety boilers.

Disadvantages of water-tube boilers as compared with fire-tube

boilers

1. They are less suitable for use with impure and dirty water.

2. They require more expert attention. The cost is relatively high.

3. They are somewhat more difficult to inspect.

STEAM PROPERTIES
Steam, which is gaseous form of pure water, is an excellent working

medium in various thermodynamic systems because of its following

properties:

1) It can carry large quantities of heat

2) It is produced from water which is cheap and readily

available

3) It can be used for heating purposes after its duty as a

working agent is completed.

4) It can be used purely as a heating medium in food processing

Industries because of a fast, easily controllable and hygienic

method of heating.

Wet and dry steam

Wet steam is that steam in which the whole of water has not vaporized

but the un-vapourized water is present in the form of mist/fog

suspended in completely vaporized water or steam. Due to this mist the

wet steam is visible.

However the dry steam i.e., in which the vaporization is complete is

invisible or colorless. Any steam which is completely dry and present at

saturation temperature is called dry saturated steam.

A simple arrangement of formation of steam at constant pressure is
shown in figure

A = Sensible Heat taken by Ice

B= Latent Heat of Fusion

C = Sensible Heat taken by Water

D = Latent Heat of Vaporization

E = Sensible Heat taken by Steam

hw = Specific enthalpy of water

hf = Specific enthalpy of saturated water

hfg = Latent heat of evaporation

hg = Specific enthalpy of dry saturated steam

hsup = Specific enthalpy of superheated steam

Consider 1 kg of ice at temperature -100C which is below the freezing

point. Let it be heated at constant pressure P. The temperature of ice

starts increasing until it reaches the melting temperature of ice i.e.,

00C and during this course ice absorbs its sensible heat.

On further addition of heat, ice starts melting, its temperature

remains constant at 00C and it absorbs latent heat of fusion and

converts completely into water at 00C.

On further addition of heat, the temperature of water starts rising

until it reaches the boiling temperature or saturation temperature

corresponding to pressure P. This heat is absorbed by water in sensible

heat.

If further heat is added, the temperature of this dry saturated steam

starts rising from saturation temperature and it converts into

superheated steam. This heat absorbed is again the sensible heat.

The total rise in temperature of superheated steam above the

saturation temperature is called the degree of superheat.

Specific enthalpy of unsaturated water (hw)

It is simply the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of

one kg of water from 0 ℃ to its actual temperature which is below its

saturation temperature.

It can be calculated by multiplying the actual temperature of

unsaturated water with its specific heat which is considered equal to

4.187 kJ/ kg/ K. It is denoted as hw.

Specific enthalpy of saturated water (hf)

It is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one kg

of water at 00C to its boiling point or saturation temperature

corresponding to the pressure applied. It is denoted as hf.

It can be calculated by multiplying the specific heat of water to the

total rise in temperature.

Latent heat of steam (hfg)

Latent heat of steam at a particular pressure may be defined as the

quantity of heat in kJ required to convert one kg of water at its boiling

point (saturated water) into dry saturated steam at the same pressure.

It is usually denoted by Lambda (λ) or hfg.

Specific enthalpy of dry saturated steam (hg)

It may be defined as the quantity of heat required to convert 1kg of

water at 00C into dry saturated steam at given constant pressure. It

may be denoted by hg.

It is equal to the sum of specific enthalpy of saturated water and

latent heat corresponding to given saturation pressure and

temperature. Thus

hg = hf + hfg

Specific enthalpy of superheated steam (hsup)

It is defined as the quantity of heat required to convert 1kg of water

at 00C into the superheated steam at given temperature and pressure.

It may be denoted as hsup and is equal to the sum of specific enthalpy

of dry saturated steam and product of specific heat of superheated

steam (Cs) to degree of superheat.

hsup = hg + Cs(tsup - ts )

Specific volume

The volume of a unit mass of water/steam is known as its specific

volume.

It is expressed in m³/kg .

Dryness fraction

This term refers to the quality of wet steam.

It is defined as the ratio of the weight of dry

steam actually presents to the weight of total

wet steam which contains it. It is denoted by x.

Thus

Where Wd = Weight of dry steam in 1 kg of wet steam

W = Weight of water in suspension in 1 kg of wet steam

Wetness fraction
It is the ratio of the weight of water/ moisture in suspension in a wet

steam sample to the total weight of wet steam. It is calculated by

subtracting x from 1

Advantages of superheated steam

1) The temperature of superheated steam being higher gives a high

thermal efficiency in a heat engine.

2) It has a high heat content and a high capacity of doing work.