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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

Waste Heat Recovery Power Station


Training File
Boiler structure and principle

Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd.

03.2012
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

Working principle and structure of boilers


Boiler is the heat exchanging equipments that produce steam. Chemical energy is released from
it through fuel of coal, oil or natural gas; then the energy is transferred to water through heat transfer
process, so as to change water into steam, which supply the necessary heat energy in industrial
production; besides, the steam could be changed into mechanical energy by steam motivated
machinery, or electric energy by steam turbine generator. So the main task of boilers is to effectively
convert chemical energy in fuels into heat energy of steam. Therefore, recent boilers are also called
steam generators.
Function of waste heat boiler is utilizing waste flue gas released from cement kiln to produce
superheated steam in compliance with stated temperature and pressure.
Water heater (coal economizer) is in the bottom hearth, heating the water from water supply
main tubes by flue gas, and then delivering to the steam manifold.
Steam manifold is on the top of the boiler, playing the function of water storage and steam-water
separation in the boiler steam-water circulation.
Evaporator is above the water heater (coal economizer), heating water in the evaporator into
steam-water mixture by heat released from flue gas. The steam-water mixture comes into the steam
manifold through cooling wall upper header and ascending tube.
Super heater is on the topside of the hearth, heating steam into superheated steam in compliance
with temperature requirements; the superheated steam arrives at steam turbine through main steam
tube and main steam valve.
1. Boilers and their classification
Boilers are widely used with many patterns; they are normally classified according to following
methods:
1.1 Classified by purpose
Power station boiler: mostly are boilers of large capacity and high parameters; fire room burning
is with high heat efficiency; outlet working medium is superheated steam.
Industrial boiler: being used for industrial production and heating, they are mainly boilers of low
pressure, low temperature and small capacity; mostly there is fire bed burning with rather low heat
efficiency; when the outlet working medium is steam, boilers will be called steam industrial boiler;
when outlet working medium is hot water, boilers will be called hot water boiler.
Marine boiler: used as power for ships; normally low or middle parameters are applies; mostly
are fuel boilers. Boilers are of small volume and light weight.
1.2 Classified by structure
Fire tube boiler: flue gas flows in the fire tube; boilers could be made with small capacity and low
parameter; heat efficiency is rather low but structure is simple; there are low requirements on water
quality; operation and repair is convenient.
Water tube boiler: gas and water flows in the tube; boilers could be made with small capacity&
low parameter or large capacity& high parameter. Power station boilers are all water tube boilers; the
heat efficiency is rather high but the requirements on water quality and operation level are rather
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high.
1.3 Classified by circulation method
Natural circulation drum boiler: are the boilers equipped with drums; working medium in the
evaporating heating surface is circulated through pressure difference generated from density
difference between steam-water mixture in ascending tube and water in down comer. These kinds of
boilers could only be used below critical pressure. (Critical point: 374.15, 22.13MPa. Pressure
maximum limit of the natural circulation system is 18MPa. When there is pressure higher or equal to
reaches critical pressure, density difference between water and steam is not enough to create natural
circulation).
Multiple forced circulation drum boiler: it is also called assisted circulation drum boiler. Drum
and circulating pump are provided; working medium circulation is established through working
medium density difference and circulating pump pressure in the circulation circuit. Working medium
in the evaporating heating surface is circulated through density difference between water and steamwater mixture, mainly relying on pressure head of boiler water circulating pump. This kind of boiler
could only be used under critical pressure.
Boiler of low circulation ratio: be equipped with steam-water separator and circulating pump;
working medium circulation is mainly established by circulating pump; could be used for sub critical
pressure and supercritical pressure; there is low circulation ratio at 1.25 to 2.0.
Concurrent boiler: there is no drum; water supply relies on water pump pressure; the boiler
generates steam by single passing heating surface. These boilers are applicable for high pressure and
critical pressure.
Combined circulation boiler: there are recirculation pumps. When boiler load
is low, operation is in recirculation manner; when boiler load is high, operation
is in concurrent manner; these boilers are applicable for sub critical pressure
and supercritical pressure. These boilers are developed comprehensively from
concurrent boilers and forced circulation boilers as improvement to concurrent
boilers.
1.4 Classified by boiler outlet working medium pressure
Low pressure boiler: normally pressure is lower than 1.275MPa (13kgf/cm2)
Middle pressure boiler: normally pressure is 3.825MPa (39 kgf/cm2)
High pressure boiler: normally pressure is 9.8MPa (100 kgf/cm2)
Super high pressure boiler: normally pressure is 13.73MPa (140 kgf/cm2)
Sub critical pressure boiler: normally pressure is 16.67MPa (170kgf/cm2)
Supercritical pressure boiler: pressure is higher than 22.13MPa (225.65 kgf/cm2)
Besides, boilers are classified by burning method, used fuels or energy, deslagging method and
hearth flue gas pressure, etc.
2. Parameters and technical economic index of boilers
2.1 Boiler parameters
Boiler parameters mainly refer to boiler capacity, steam pressure, steam temperature and water
supply temperature.
Capacity of industrial steam boilers is expressed by nominal evaporation capacity. Nominal
evaporation capacity shows the maximum evaporation capacity that has to be guaranteed in
continuous operation under nominal steam pressure, steam temperature, stated boiler efficiency and
water supply temperature; usually expressed in tons of evaporation capacity generated in every hour,
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and the unit is t/h .


Capacity of hot water boilers is expressed by nominal heat output, and the unit is kW (kcal /h).
Capacity of power station boilers is expressed by nominal evaporation capacity too, and the unit
is t/h.
Boiler steam pressure and temperature refer to superheated steam pressure and temperature at
super heater main valve outlet; as for boilers without super heater, boiler steam pressure and
temperature refer to saturated steam pressure and temperature at main valve outlet. Unit of pressure is
MPa (kgf /cm2) and temperature is .
Boiler water supply temperature refers to water supply temperature of the coal economizer; in
boilers without coal economizer it refers to water temperature of the inlet boiler drum with the unit as
.
2.2 Technical economic indexes of boilers
Technical economic indexes of boilers normally refer to three items as boiler thermal efficiency,
boiler cost and boiler reliability. High thermal efficiency, low cost and reliable operation shall be
guaranteed in good quality boilers.
2.2.1 Thermal efficiency of boilers
Thermal efficiency of boilers refers to effectively utilized percent in total quantity of heat
sending into boilers. Thermal efficiency of modern power station boilers is mostly above 90%.
Thermal efficiency of industrial boilers (including hot water supply) is between 55% and 87%.
2.2.2 Boiler cost
Boiler cost is usually expressed by an important economic index in cost: steel consumption rate.
The definition of steel consumption rate is the weight of steel used for boilers unit evaporation rate,
and its unit is t/h. Boiler parameter, circulation manner, combustion type and boiler part structure all
influence the steel consumption rate. Boilers with high parameter, small capacity, coal burning,
natural circulation, tubular air preheater and steel column framework have larger steel consumption
rate; Boilers applying concurrent boiler, oil or gas combustion with low parameter, large capacity,
coal burning, natural circulation, rotary air preheater and reinforced concrete framework have smaller
steel consumption rate.
Steel consumption rate of industrial boilers is around 5~6 tons steel t/h; steel consumption rate
of power station boilers is within the scope of 2.5~5 tons steel t/h. Steel consumption rate shall be
reasonably reduced on the basis of ensuring boiler safety, reliability and economic operation,
especially for consumption rate of the heatproof steel alloys.
2.2.3 Reliability of boilers
Reliability of boilers is usually measured in following three indexes.
(1) Continuous operating time= operating time between two overhauls (expressed in hour).
Accident down time
(2) Accident rate = 100%
Total operating time+ accident down time
Total operating time+ total standby time
(3) Operational availability= 100%
Statistic time total time
3. Boiler model
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Product model of boilers are formed by three parts connected with each other by short horizontal
lines. The first part is divided into three sections: boiler model (in Bopomofo symbols), combustion
type (in Bopomofo symbols) and evaporation capacity (in Arabic numerals with unit of t/h; this part
expresses heat output for hot water boilers with the unit of MW; this part expresses heating surface
for waste heat boilers with the unit of m2).
The second part shows working medium parameters; there are two sections as nominal steam
pressure and nominal steam temperature for industrial steam boilers; these two sections are separated
by bias; frequently used units are MPa and .
When steam temperature is the saturation temperature, there is no bias or second section in
models second part. As for hot water boilers, the second part is formed by three sections: nominal
pressure, leaving water temperature and entering water temperature; sections are separated by bias.
The third part shows fuel type and design sequence in two sections: the first section expresses
fuel type (in Bopomofo symbols), the second section expresses design sequence (in Arabic numerals);
there is no second section for prototype design.
4. Boiler water
Waste heat power generating generates electricity by steam pushing steam turbines; and water is
a very important medium. Clarify boiler waters general concept, boiler corrosion& its mechanism
and the requirements on steam quality. This is very necessary in understanding waste heat boilers and
heat system.
4.1 Water quality index
Different kind of foreign substances are contained in water from any source: some are water
soluble salt and gas, and some are water insoluble suspended matters. Following results could be
caused after water with foreign substances entering boiler:
(1) Scale presents on boilers heating surface;
(2) Salty sediment presents in superheater and steam turbines;
(3) Metal corrosion happens in boilers, steam turbines and other equipments.
Therefore, water supply for boilers must be pretreated to remove foreign substances to the
greatest extent.
Water supplying for boilers is called water supply; water formation may be different for power
plants with different characteristics; generally water supply is the condensate water from steam
turbine, and condensate water& additive water from heat users. Indexes that express water supply
quality are: hardness, alkalinity, oxygen content, silicate, suspended matter, iron content, copper
content and pH values, etc.
Water inside boilers water circulation system us called boiler water. Indexes of boiler water
are: alkalinity, saltness, silicate, suspended matter (sediment), and concentration of all kinds of
chromate ions, etc.
In power plants steam-water circulation system, more or less there will be loss of steam and
condensate water; added water to supplement this loss is normally treated water called additive
water. Indexes expressing additive water quality are: hardness, oxygen consumption, suspended
matter content, organic content and evaporation remains, etc.
Below is the comprehensive explanation on above water quality indexes.

4.1.1 Suspended matter content


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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

Suspended matter in water includes insoluble mineral substances (sandy soil, gravel, iron, etc.)
and organic substances (decayed plant remains and waste in industrial discharged water, etc.).
Filtrating through filter paper could help confirming the content of water suspended matter with the
unit of mg/L. Content of suspended matter sometimes could be expressed in indirect method, viz.
transparence. When there are more suspended matters, water will be more turbid with less
transparence.
4.1.2 Oxygen consumption
Organic content in water is difficult to measure directly. So oxygen consumption used to
consume these organic substances is applied to express the organic content. Organic substances are
surface active substances; if there are many organic substances in boiler water, it will be bubbly.
4.1.3 Evaporation remains
After being filtrated by filter paper, soluble mineral substances (inorganic substances) and
organic substances together in water is called evaporation remains; unit is mg/L. Since evaporation
remains are measured under 110 evaporating filtrated water, no soluble gas is included. Remained
quantity after burning evaporation remains (burning off organic substances) is called residual
minerals or saltness, equivalent to content of following substances in water:
Ca2++Mg2++Na++Cl-+SO42-+NO3-+CO32-+SiO32-+Fe2O3+Al2O3+
Quantity of evaporation remains in water is one of the important indexes that judging whether
the water could be used for boilers.
4.1.4 Reactivity worth
Water is a weak electrolyte that disintegrates into ions according to following formula:
H2O
H++OHIf concentration of hydrogen ion and hydroxide ion in water is equivalent, then water is neutral,
and pH=7. When concentration of hydrogen ion is higher than that of hydroxide ion, then it is called
acid reaction, and pH 7. If pH 7, there is alkali reaction. PH value influences waters
corrosiveness.
4.1.5 Hardness
Hardness is an important index of water. It expresses the total content of scale forming matters
in water solution---calcium and magnesium salt, such as Ca HCO3 2, Mg HCO3 2, CaCl2,
MgCl2, CaSO4, MgSO4, CaCO3, MgCO3, CaSiO3 and MgSiO3, etc. Its unit is mmol/L. These
substances could be divided into two categories: calcium salt and magnesium salt.
Total hardness of water equals to the sum of calcium hardness and magnesium hardness.
Carbonate hardness expresses the hardness of calcium and magnesium bicarbonate [Ca(HCO32
Mg HCO3 2] in water, not including calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) or magnesium carbonate
(MgCO3). When water is boiled, the salt built carbonate hardness will separate out and form
sediment:
CaHCO32= CaCO3 +H2O+CO2
MgHCO32= MgCO3+ H2O+CO2
And MgCO3+2H2O=MgOH2+CO2+ H2O
Therefore, carbonate hardness in natural water could be eliminated by heating----sedimentation
method. So carbonate hardness is also called temporary hardness.
Non-carbonate hardness is also called permanent hardness, expressing the content of noncarbonate calcium and magnesium salt in water, such as chloride (Ca Cl 2 MgCl2), sulfate
(CaSO4 MgSO4) and silicate (CaSiO3 MgSiO3), etc. When water is heated, these salts will not
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

change. So they could not be eliminated by heating----sedimentation method.


When there is hardness salt in water, there will be scale in boilers. Water with less hardness is
called soft water, and water with more hardness is called hard water. The process in which hardness
salt is eliminated in water is called softening of water.
4.1.6 Alkalinity
4.1.6.1 Total alkalinity
Total alkalinity in water expresses the total content of negative ions OH - CO32- and HCO3- in
water; the unit is mmol/L. Soluble hydroxide, carbonate and bicarbonate of alkali metals (sodium,
kalium) and alkaline-earth metals (calcium, magnesium) bring the alkalinity to water. Therefore,
alkalinity could be divided into hydroxyl alkalinity, carbonate alkalinity and bicarbonate alkalinity.
Bicarbonate [CaHCO32 MgHCO32] in water determines the bicarbonate hardness of
water and bicarbonate alkalinity in water.
4.1.6.2 Relative alkalinity
Content ratio of dissociative NaOH and dissolved solid matter in boiler water.
4.1.6.3 PH value
Index of acidity-alkalinity in boiler water; the requirement on PH value is 9.410.5.
4.1.7 Silicic acid content
Silicic acid content of water expresses the total content that converted to SiO 2 SiO32- of silicic
acid compounds in water as molecules or colloid. Silicic acid content of water for supply of high
pressure boilers shall be kept to the minimum.
4.1.8 Phosphate
In order to eliminate the remained hardness from boiler water supply to steam drum or prevent
corrosion on inner wall of steam drum, certain amount of phosphate could be added into steam drum,
so phosphate could be a control index for boiler water; the unit is mg/L.
4.1.9 Content of dissolved gas
Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide is dissolved in water. Gas content in water basically
determines the corrosiveness of water.
Dissolved oxygen: content of oxygen dissolved in boiler water; unit is mg/L.
4.1.10 Oil content
There is normally no oil in natural water, but oil could be mixed in steam condensated water or
water supply during application. Oil and salt in boiler water will form bubble layer on surface of
water level to increase steam water content and influence steam quality; therefore, oil content in
boiler water supply is regulated as well with the unit of mg/L.
4.1.11 Electrical conductivity
It is the physical quantity that expresses salt content in water; unit is s/cm. The requirement on
electrical conductivity is that it shall not be higher than 10s/cm for pure water and not higher than
500s/cm for boiler water during normal operation.
Above indexes are very important for understanding water characteristics, reasonably choosing
water treatment equipments and correctly organizing circulation of boiler water.
4.2 Scale formation
Dissolving capacity of substances in water is determined by characteristics of substances and
water temperature; under certain temperature, dissolving quantity of certain substance in water is
limited, viz. only the solubility limit could be reached for that substance. If content of that substance
keeps increasing, excess part will be precipitated as solid. Solution at solubility limit of certain
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

substance is called the saturated solution of that substance. In saturated solution, dissolved substance
and no dissolved substance are in equilibrium state, and at that time the concentration of the
substance is called the solubility or solubility coefficient.
As for electrolyte solution, in its saturated solution, molecules and ions of the solute are in
equilibrium state. Therefore, take CaSO4 as example, the equilibrium state is:
CaSO4 Ca2++SO42If electrolyte itself is insoluble [such as CaSO4, CaCO3, MgOH2, etc.], then under certain
temperature, in its saturated solution, product of the ion concentration equals to constant:
CaSO4= [Ca2+][SO42-]
That value expresses the dissolving capacity of electrolyte, being called solubility product.
After water entering boilers with foreign substances, the concentration of foreign substances
will increase along with the evaporation. As for insoluble electrolyte, if concentration of its ions
keeps increasing after reaching value of dissolving capacity under certain temperature, then there
will be solid sediment of that electrolyte in the solution.
In boiler water supply, substances in ion state are mainly:
Positive ion: Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+;
Negative ion: Cl-, SO42-, CO32-, OH-, HsiO3-.
Compounds of sodium ions and all negative ions: NaCl, Na 2SO4, Na2CO3, NaOH and NaHSiO3,
they are all water soluble substances.
Insoluble (little solubility) compounds are: CaSO4, CaCO3, MgCO3, CaSiO3, MgSiO3,
CaOH2 MgOH2, etc.
Another category of calcium and magnesium compounds, such as CaCl 2, MgCl2, CaHCO32,
Mg HCO3 2 and MgSO4, are provided with larger solubility. But bicarbonate of calcium and
magnesium will be decomposed when water is heated, and insoluble carbonate and dissociative
carbon dioxide will be separated out.
When there are foreign substances of different solubility in water, substances with low solubility
are easy to be deposited during condensation process (water evaporation).
There is negative solubility coefficient for insoluble calcium and magnesium compounds: when
water temperature increases, its solubility decreases; this kind of substance dose not only deposit
during water evaporation--- condensation process, but also deposit when water is heated. Because,
when water temperature increases, solubility of this kind of substance decreases and reaches
saturation state at certain temperature. If temperature keeps increasing (even not reaching boiling
point), excess substances will be separated out in crystalline state.
Therefore insoluble compounds with negative solubility could not only deposit in evaporating
tube of boilers, but also could deposit in coal economizers.
Crystalline solid of substances could form in water or on walls of heating surface; if crystalline
solid is not cohered on heating surface but floating in water or forming sediment, then it is called
feculence (sludge). If crystalline process of excess substances is carried out on heating surface and
the crystalline solid is cohered on heating surface steadily, then it is called scale. Insoluble calcium
and magnesium compounds are mostly substances that form scale.
Thermal conductivity of scale is very poor; even when scale is not thick, there will be serious
result. For example, thermal conductivity of calcium silicate (CaSiO3) scale is only 0.1 Kcal/ mh
, taking 1/400 of the thermal conductivity of steel. If scale thickness is 0.2 mm, and average heat
load of evaporating tube is q=100103 Kcal / m2h, then because of the existence of scale,
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temperature on tube wall will be increased at about 200. Under the circumstances, working
condition of the evaporation tube will be very dangerous, especially for boilers of high temperature
and high pressure.
Sticky sediment formed in boilers by substances like magnesium hydroxide and magnesium
phosphate will adhere on the heating surface and form derived scale.
To sum up, scale forming is a very complex process. During the process of scale forming, not
only Ca2+ and Mg2+, but Fe3+, Al3+, Na+ and Cu2+ also participate in.
In power plant boilers, sometimes there is scale with much magnesium oxide. If there is much
iron content in water supply or many corrosive products are brought into boilers, this may happen.
4.3 Internal corrosion of heating surface
Under the effect of exterior corrosive medium, metal gets destroyed, and this phenomenon is
called corrosion.
According to metal damage condition, corrosion could be divided into following types.
4.3.1 General corrosion (or uniform corrosion). In this kind of corrosion, all metals contacted with
corrosive medium are almost corrupted at the same degree.
4.3.2 Local corrosion (non-uniform corrosion) could be divided into following types:
4.3.2.1 Fester corrosion. It occurs in partial location on metal surface, and corrupts into the inside;
4.3.2.2 Pitting corrosion. It is similar with fester corrosion, and their difference is the corrupted area
is much smaller and depth deeper in pitting corrosion;
4.3.2.3 Intercrystalline corrosion. This kind of corrosion is of great difference with other kinds of
corrosions: corrosive medium mainly reacts on boundary of metallic crystal; under the circumstance,
metals mechanical intensity decreases, and finally causes metal embrittlement or crack between
crystals; this phenomenon is also called the caustic embrittlement of metal;
4.3.2.4 Transcrystalline corrosion. Result of the corrosion is the crack penetrating crystalline grains.
4.3.3 Selective corrosion. The characteristic of this kind of corrosion is damaging certain component
in alloys, like dezincification corrosion in turbine condenser or backheating heater brass tube.
Corrosion on metal is caused by chemical and electrochemical process on metal surface. Metal
damage, caused by direct chemical reaction of metal with molecule or atom of surrounding medium,
belongs to chemical corrosion. Metal corrosion, in water soluble substance that contains electrolyte,
belongs to electrochemical corrosion.
Steam corrosion is caused by chemical and electrochemical process on metal surface. Metal
damage, caused by direct chemical reaction of metal with molecule or atom of surrounding medium,
belongs to chemical corrosion. Metal corrosion, in water soluble substance that contains electrolyte,
belongs to electrochemical corrosion.
Steam corrosion, such as high temperature overheat steam corrosion occurs in superheater and
corrosion occurs in boiler evaporating tube when water circulation is destroyed (steam-water
stratification), can be taken as examples of chemical corrosion; this corrosion is caused by steam
oxidized iron:
3Fe+4H2O=Fe3O4+4H2
Corrosion in superheater belongs to uniform corrosion. Corrupted products form a layer of oxide
film on inner wall of tubes, and this film could stop the further development of corrosion. But after
the oxide film drops, corrosion process will speed up again.
Temperature and metals chemical components are the main factors influencing steam corrosion
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speed. When temperature rises, corrosion speeds up. Under 500, speed of steam corrosion is not
high; when temperature rises from there, corrosion speed will increase acutely. Adding certain alloy
elements in steel like molybdenum, chromium and nickel, etc. could enhance the resistant capacity;
corrosion of corrosive gases (oxygen, carbon oxide), caustic corrosion and caustic embrittlement are
all caused by electrochemical process on metal surface; so corrosion in boilers mainly belongs to
electrochemical corrosion.
According to chemical theory, electrode depolarization speeds up the corrosion process. In this
aspect, oxygen molecule and hydrogen ion play important roles.
Oxygens corrosion represents in two aspects: on one hand it is a strong depolarizer; on the other
hand, oxygen is a favorable oxidizer which reacts with corrosions first product ferrous hydroxide and
produces iron hydroxide:
4FeOH2+O2+H2O=4FeOH3
Iron hydroxide is almost insoluble in water, so it will be precipitated; it makes reaction move
towards the direction where iron ion turns into solution, and speeds up corrosion.
Hydrogen ion is also a depolarizer; in electrolyte solution with great amount of hydrogen ion
(like in acid solution), irons dissolution will be done very quickly. Hydrogen concentrations
influence on corrosion process is relative to oxygen content in water. When there is no oxygen, pH
values increase (hydrogen concentration decreases) will weaken the corrosion. When pH 7, there is
little corrosion on iron; and at the same time a layer of hard oxide film is formed and the corrosion
ease gradually; when pH=9.510, there will be no corrosion actually.
If there is oxygen in water, when pH value increases, the oxide film formed on iron surface is
rather steady, so corrosion loss of metal will decrease. But obvious local corrosion occurs in such as
case is very dangerous. Only when pH value is very high (> 10), corrosion could be stopped.
Free carbon dioxide in water will increase the hydrogen ion:
CO2+H2O H2CO3 H++HCO3Thus corrosion process will speed up, and meanwhile CO2 prevents oxide film from being
formed on iron surface.
Besides, if there is Cl- and SO42- ions in water solution, FeOH 2 protective films formation
will
be strengthened as well.
Corrosive gas corrosion occurs in coal economizers; eliminating gas from water completely is
the best method to prevent this kind of corrosion. Besides, raising the water flow speed to above 0.3
0.5 m/s in coal economizer tube could reduce corrosion. Because in this speed, separated air
bubbles will not stay on tube walls.
There may be caustic corrosion in boiler evaporation tube or steam drums. When NaOH
concentration in water is not larger than (about 13g/l), a layer of steady oxide film could be formed
on metal surface, and increase metals capacity in resisting corrosion. But this kind of steady
protective film could only be formed under low temperature. When there is high temperature (over
200), even when NaOH concentration in water is not high, metal will still be corrupted. Under
higher temperature and alkali concentration, the corrosion will be more serious.
If caustic corrosion and steam corrosion occur at the same time, then metal damage will be very
quick; when water circulation in boiler evaporation tube is poor especially when there is steam-water
layered flow, the metal surface contacting steam will be of very high temperature and alkali
concentration will be very high; so damage could be very soon.
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Caustic embrittlement of metal is the result of concurrent action by three factors:


4.3.3.1 There is local stress in metal near or higher than yield point;
4.3.3.2 There is leakage in boiler (like expanded opening or crack at reveted joints) available for deep
evaporation of boiler water;
4.3.3.3 There are corrosive substances in boiler water, especially NaOH.
When boiler water leaks from cracks and split, NaOH concentration will increase greatly
because of deep evaporation; as for metal with large stress, there will be corrosion cracks between its
crystalline grains: this is called caustic embrittlement. Therefore, in order to prevent caustic
embrittlement, there must be no excess local stress in metal, and no condensation shall happen in
NaOH of the boiler water.
In steam drum boilers, keeping boiler water under working condition of pure phosphorus pH
value could prevent NaOH from condensation in deep evaporation. Besides, keeping certain ratio
between hydroxide alkalinity and other ions in boiler water could reduce water corrosive capacity.
For example, if in the boiler water the condition is kept at Na2SO4/NaOH=45, then when water is
evaporated deeply, there will be negative solubility coefficient.
5 Boiler evaporation equipment and steam purification
Evaporation equipments are important components in boilers. Their tasks are: in certain heating
surfaces, keep absorbing heat, heat up the water supplied into boilers to saturation temperature at the
pressure, and then keep absorbing heat, evaporate the saturated water into saturated steam.
Evaporation equipments are made up of steam drum, evaporator (evaporation heating surface),
down comer, ascending tube and header. Since they are of different structure and different location in
boiler equipments, their characteristics in operation are different either. Below are the explanations.
5.1 Steam drum
5.1.1 Function of steam drum
Steam drum is the important part in evaporation equipments with following three functions:
5.1.1.1 Contain water. There is certain water capacity in steam drum, then when load changes, there
could be enough water on each heating surface to meet the requirements of evaporation;
5.1.1.2 Contain steam. Certain amount of steam and water could be stored in steam drum, so there is
certain heat storage capacity. When operation condition changes, steam changing speed could be
slowed down to help adjusting boilers.
5.1.1.3 Steam-water separation. Steam drum is a steel cylinder pressure vessel normally on top of
boilers; not being heated directly, there is favorable heat preservation on its surface. There is certain
steam space in the drum to separate steam-water mixture leaving the water in it; drops of water fall
into the water, and saturated steam without water content enters the superheater.
5.1.2 Structure of steam drum

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Figure 19-27 Internal parts of steam drum


1- downcomer; 2- water from coal economizer; 3- from Evaporator I; 4- from Evaporator II; 5- steam
outlet; 6- continuous blowdown; 7- periodic blowdown; 8- add phosphate; 9- water-level gauge
connects steam tube; 10- water-level gauge connects water tube; 11- manhole door; 12- connect
nitrogen tube; 13- connect safety valve
Figure 19-28 Steam drum connecting tube
1- periodic blowdown; 2- continuous blowdown; 3- downcomer; 4- add phosphate; 5- take samples of
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boiler water
Steam drums are cylinder containers that collect boiler water and saturated steam. In steam
drums, there are water supply devices, steam-water separating devices, agent feeding devices and
continuous blowdown devices. Outside steam drums, there are boiler water supply, downcomers,
saturated steam ascending tubes, connection tubes, emergency water drainage tubes, continuous
blowdown tubes, tube connecting socket for agent feeding devices with pressure gauges, safety
valves and water level gauges, etc. Normally middle and low pressure is applied for waste heat
boilers without setting stage evaporation devices.
In order to protect superheaters and prevent salt and other sediment from coagulating on tube
walls, only dry saturated steam could enter superheaters; therefore, purification and steam-water
separation must be carried out in steam drum. And the function of devices in steam drum is steam
purification.
5.1.2.1Steam-water splash board
When steam-water mixture enters steam drum, it will first meet the steam-water splash board
which change its flow direction; water surface could not be struck directly; drops of water fall into the
water because of collision, turning and inertia.
5.1.2.2 Underwater orifice plate
In order to prevent saturated steam that passed steam-water splash board from dashing out of the
water surface and keep placidity on water surface in steam drum, steam shall be changed its flow
direction and reduced speed through orifices on underwater orifice plate; leaving the water and
entering steam space, moisture carried by saturated steam could prevent steam-water mixture from
striking the water surface and spattering a lot of drops of water.
5.1.2.3 Screen separator
Screen separator is set at saturated steam outlet on top of internal steam drum, formed by layers
of steel wire gauzes. Through layers of steel wire gauzes, steam circuitously climbs up; drops of
water in steam will drop into the water because of flow direction change and speed reduction; steam
could leave steam drum by even flow speed and enter the saturated steam extraction tube. In AQC
boiler steam drum, steel wire gauzes are covered on outlet of downcomer; and its function is to
prevent and eliminate swirl at outlet of downcomer.
5.1.2.4 Corrugated plate separator
Corrugated plate separator is assembled by many parallel corrugated thin steel plates which keep
certain distance from each other. When steam-water mixture enters steam drum and go through crude
separation, larger drops of water have already been separated; but smaller drops of water are difficult
to be separated from steam by methods of centrifugal pull or gravity since its light weight; separation
will be with better effect by using adhesive force (adhesive power). Corrugated plate separator is
installed at steam drum saturated steam outlet of AQC boilers.
Corrugated plate separator works in this principle. When passing corrugated plate separator,
steam flows are divided into many flows of steam; because of the adhesive force, drops of water in
steam will adhere to the corrugated plate and form water film which will further paste in water
droplets; the separated water will flow down along corrugated plate and drop into the steam drum
water space, further separating steam and water.
5.1.2.5 Water supply tank
In order to prevent water entered steam drum from directly striking water level surface and keep
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steady water level, one overflow groove is equipped under the water; in that groove, there is a
seamless tube, under which 8 or 10 holes are drilled; number of holes shall be determined by water
flow at water supply tube section. Water supply is sprayed to bottom of water tank through orifices; in
the tank, water will overflow evenly after its full to stabilize water level surface. From figure of the
AQC boiler steam drum, we can see this water tube.
5.1.2.6 Continuous blowdown device
Continuous blowdown device is installed at the location with greatest salt concentration in boiler
water, viz. 100mm underwater in steam drum; continuously eliminate the dissolving salt in boiler
water, controlling the salt and alkalinity of boiler water within allowed scope of water quality
standards.
5.1.2.7 Agent feeding device
In order to eliminate remained hardness in boiler water, agent is added into boiler directly for
treatment through agent-feeding tube in steam drum by agent feeding device; keep normal alkalinity
and phosphate radical quantity in boiler water to prevent caustic embrittlement for boiler tube by
forming a layer of alkali film to resist scale in boiler tube.
5.2 Evaporator
Evaporators in coal burning boilers are called water cooling walls; in waste heat boilers, we call
them evaporators.
5.2.1 Function of evaporators
Relying on heat exchange between waste heat flowing in boiler and evaporation heating surface,
saturated water in evaporators is evaporated into steam-water mixture.
5.2.2 Type of evaporators
Since waste heat boilers apply convection evaporating heating surface, evaporators in AQC and
SP boilers are made up of convection banks; evaporators in AQC boilers apply spiral finned tube; and
SP boilers apply coiler light tube.
On arrangement of evaporators, AQC boiler evaporators saturated steam ascending tube climbs
up to steam drum along two sides of boilers; after parallel connected between top and bottom tubes
with middle two layers, they are connected separately into two ascending tube sockets; the other side
is arranged the same; purpose of this kind of arrangement is to balance the temperature of saturated
steam entering steam drum from evaporators.
5.2.3 Thermodynamic property of evaporators
Waters boiling process is a complex heat exchanging process: flue gas heats gills and tube walls
which raises temperature and make water near the internal wall raise its temperature; when
temperature is higher for certain degrees than saturation temperature, there will be steam bubbles
appearing and growing on wall surface, and then the bubbles will leave the walls and flow with water
flow; flow types of steam and water are multitudinous with different thermodynamic properties.
(I) When being heated, steam-water two-phase flow type in horizontal tube
Below is a typical figure of horizontal tube when being heated; this figure is applicable for waste
heat boilers, because its heat burden is not heavy. Now characteristics of each area in the figure are
analyzed.

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I II III IV V VI
a b
I bubble flow II plug flow III slug flow IV wavy flow V annular flow VI stratified flow
a. interval dry zone b. long term dry zone

Figure: Flow patterns in horizontal evaporation tube

Area I: steam bubbles formed on walls will enter the water with small size. When water flow is
of low speed, since density of steam and density of water are different, bubbles tend to the upper part
of the tube; because of the small size and large quantity, they are called bubble flow. There is water
along tube wall cooling it with great safety. When water flow speeds up, waters kinetic energy may
bring the bubbles to the middle of the tube, evenly distributing steam bubble.
Area II: along with increased bubble quantity, bubbles will aggregate into a large bubble and
flow in the water flow like a steam plug; so its called plug flow. This large bubble also tends to
flow in the upper part along tubes.
Area III: on basis of plug flow, the bubble grows larger and longer like a bullet; so it is called
slug flow. There is still water layer around slug bubble to cool tube walls.
Area IV: steam joins together. Steam speeds up, lifting turbulent waves in steam-water interface;
this is called wavy flow; the wave is thrown to the top of tube wall, often providing water cooling
on top tube wall; so the interval dry zone is formed.
Area V: when steam speed is very high, steam flow will flow in the center of the tube and form
steam core; there is a layer of water film around steam core, usually thick at bottom and thin at top.
The water film is in ring shape along the tube wall, so it is called annular flow. If water film is lost
at top and long term dry zone is formed, tube walls will be damaged by overheat since lack of
cooling.
Area VI: when tube water flow and steam flow are all in slow speed, steam will flow along top of
tube and water will flow along bottom of tube because of gravity; there is no water film on steam top
boundary, and the steam-water interface is very smooth; this is called stratified flow.
Thermal (heat transmission) and waterpower (flow resistance) properties of the above six flow
patterns are different. From view of safety, it is not good if there is only stratified flow. So in
evaporator operation, stratified flow is not allowed. This problem will be explained below
gradually.
5.3 Downcomer and header
There are down comers in all natural circulation and forced circulation boilers. Function of down
comer is to send water from steam drum continuously into the header and supply to evaporator.
Structure& sectional area size of down comer and precipitation will directly influence the safe
reliability of boilers.
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Down comers one end is connected with steam drum, and the other end is connected with lower
header. In order to guarantee the reliability of water circulation, down comers are all arranged outside
of boilers after coming out of steam drum to prevent heat.
Down comers are usually led out from lowest location of the steam drum; in order to make water
flow smooth, smoothed lines with circular bead or cone are made at inlet. Devices like cross plate or
grid shall be installed at down comer inlet. Or flared tube is used as drainage tube to prevent swirl
and funnel at down comer inlet; because in that case, steam will be brought into down comer to break
the safety of water circulation.
In steam drum boilers and concurrent boilers, large circular tubes are used to connect the
evaporator tubes into several groups. Those large circular tubes are often called headers. The main
function of headers is distributing working medium to evaporator tubes (lower header), or collecting
working medium in the evaporator tubes, mixing and then distributing (upper header).
Circular headers are widely used in boilers; they are reasonably stressed and made conveniently
with rolled seamless steel tube, of which the two ends are welded with flat heads; since welding is
widely used for headers and nozzle stubs, so headers without handhole are made to enhance the
strength of headers.
Often periodical blowdown devices and expansion indicators are installed in evaporator lower
headers.
Headers are not only provided for evaporators, but also for superheaters and coal economizers.
5.4 Water circulation and steam-water separation of boilers
5.4.1 Steam-water flow condition in boiling tube
Continuous flowing process of water and steam-water mixture in boiler evaporation equipments
circulation circuit is called the water circulation of boilers. In order to make boilers work safely and
reliably, evaporation equipments normal water circulation must be guaranteed.
Temperature around the evaporating heated surface of the boiler is high, so the tube will be easy
to be damaged if the temperature of its wall is over the limiting temperature of its material. The
temperature of the tube wall depends on the flow condition of the steam-water mixture in the tube.
There are four types for the flow condition of the steam-water mixture in the vertical tube, that is,
steam bubble flow, slug flow, column-like jet flow and mist flow.
When the thermal load of the heated surface is not high, there will be less steam in the steamwater mixture, but only some steam bubble on the tube wall. Such bubble will be washed into the
center of the tube by water flow and flow up with the water. This is the steam bubble flow.
With the increase of the thermal load on the heated surface, the steam will increase and little
bubble will combine into a bigger one, taking most section of the tube. Because of the different
density, flow speed of the steam is faster than that of the water when they both flow up in the tube,
the water will produce resistance force to the bubbles and force them into slug-bubble. This is the
slug flow.
When the thermal load on the heated surface becomes bigger, the steam content increases, the
length of slug bubble becomes longer and longer while the water column between each slug bubble
becomes shorter gradually, finally, slug bubbles combine into a steam column and flow up along the
tube center. Water forms into a ring shape between the steam and tube wall and flows up. This is
column-like jet flow.
The thermal load on the heated surface go on increasing and the content of steam as well as the
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speed of the steam and water become much higher. At that time, the water film on the tube wall will
have been evaporated completely, which is called evaporation to dryness. Such flow condition is
called mist flow. There are still many little water drops in the steam flow, but since the constant water
film is damaged and the steam contacts with the wall directly, heat transmission begins to worsen and
the temperature of wall increase sharply, which is easy to make the tube wall over-heated and burn it
off.
We can see from the flow condition of above mixture that we must ensure constant flow of the
working medium, that is, ensure good water circulation, keep the water film on the inner tube wall
constant and make the steam-water mixture have certain flow speed when they flow up and prevent
the mist flow from forming in order to ensure safe and reliable work of the heated evaporating
surface.
5.4.2 Problem about worsening heat transmission for boiling tube
The work reliability of boiling tube depends on the temperature of tube wall. If the temperature
of the tube wall is over the allowable limit of the steel for such tube, the tube will possibly be
damaged. Sometimes, the wall temperature fluctuates periodically, resulting in fatigue failure of tube
because of the temperature stress.
When the steam and water flow condition in the boiling tube is bubble, slug, column or the
generally so called nucleate boiling, the inner tube wall will be washed constantly. Because the inner
wall has great heat emission coefficient to water, the temperature of tube will be little higher than that
of the working medium. Generally, the tube wall will be safe if it is 25 high.
In the steam boiler, the feed water will keep on circulating upon certain circulation route after
entering into steam drum. During flow, the water will be heated and vaporized through the
evaporating heated surface and produce steam; and the heated surface metal wall will carry away
the heat passed from hot flue gas in time by water circulation, which makes the wall temperature be
within the allowable work scope of metal so that the evaporating heated surface can work for a long
time reliably. However, if the water circulation cannot be well-organized, the circulation flow will be
bad and various accidents will even happen to hot water boiler. For example, when normal cooling
water film of the inner wall is damaged and the wall exposes to the steam directly, the wall
temperature will increase remarkably and the metal intensity will reduce greatly because of the low
coefficient of convective heat transfer from tube wall to the steam. Even explosion may happen. The
steam will be led out after the steam-water mixture which is gathered in the steam drum from each
evaporating heated surface is separated by gravity or mechanism in the steam space of the drum. If
the separation effect of steam and water is not good, the steam will contain lots of water, resulting in
salt deposit appeared on the inner wall of steam super-heater, worsening heat transmission which
makes the super-heater be burnt off and event threatening the operation of the steam turbine. It is
clear that good and bad of the water circulation for the boiler and the performance of the steam- water
separator relate with the reliability of the boiler.
5.4.3 Principle of natural water circulation
Water circulation for boiler evaporating equipment is divided into two types, natural circulation
and forced circulation. The circulation depending on density difference of working medium is natural
circulation; and circulation flow of working medium depending on pressure of water pump is called
forced circulation.
For further understanding of the natural circulation principle, we will take water circulation
circuit as an example to explain:
One circulation circuit is made of steam drum, downcomer, lower header and ascending tube.
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Evaporator absorbs heat in boiler and some water is changed into steam. The density of steam-water
mixture is small and downcomer isnt heated outside the boiler. But whats in the tube is water which
has larger working medium density, so the density difference between the mixture and the working
medium produces driving force which makes the steam-water mixture flows up along with the
ascending tube and enters into steam drum and the water in the drum flows into the lower header
through the downcomer and then, flows into the evaporator so that natural water circulation is
formed.
5.4.4 Circulation speed and ratio
5.4.4.1 Circulation speed
Circulation speed is the main parameter for indicating the reliability of natural circulation.
In the circuit of natural circulation, it is generally ruled that the water flow speed entering
ascending tube is called circulation speed because of the different flow speed of the working medium
at different places. Flowing water carries away the heat transferred from outside pipe and the steam
bubble produced. The metal wont overheat if the flow speed is high, being able to bring away the
steam bubble and carry away more heat within unit time, which keeps good cooling for the tube wall.
We can see that circulation speed is an important index for the quality of water circulation. Therefore,
it is necessary to make all ascending tubes have enough circulation speed to ensure safe and reliable
work of water circulation in the boiler.
5.4.4.2 Circulation ratio
Circulation speed only represents the quantity of water entering into the tube, but for evaporators
with different heat absorption capacity, the water quantity at the tube outlet will be different although
the circulation speed is the same. It is possible that constant water film cant be kept on the tube wall
which has bigger thermal load because of the large steam quantity, resulting in deterioration of tube
wall heat transmission. So another index for indicating the quality of water circulation is introduced
circulation ratio.
The so called circulation ratio is the ratio of circulation water quantity G which enters into the
ascending tube and the evaporating quantity D of the ascending tube, that is, the circulation water
entering into the ascending tube can be changed into steam completely by several times of
circulation, which is represented by the symbol K, that is,
k=G/D=1/x
In the formula, x rate of steam content of the ascending tube quantity, or the dryness of steamwater mixture.
k is the circulation ratio of circulation circuit. The physical significance for circulation ratio
refers to the circulation times that the water needs for being changed into steam completely in the
circulation circuit. Reciprocal of such ratio is the rate of steam content of the ascending tube, or the
dryness of steam-water mixture.
The larger the circulation ratio is, the smaller the dryness of steam-water mixture will be, and
that is, the larger the water quantity in the mixture at the ascending tube outlet will be. Under such
condition, constant water film will be kept on tube wall and water circulation is safe. On the contrary,
the smaller the circulation ratio k is, the larger the dryness x of steam-water mixture will be, that is,
the less the water quantity in the mixture at the ascending tube outlet will be, resulting in that constant
water film cant be kept on tube wall. Meanwhile, the flow speed of steam-water mixture will
increase because of so much steam. Even though there is a layer of very thin water film at the
ascending tube outlet, it is easy to be torn, resulting in deterioration of heat transmission, salt deposit
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on tube wall and overheat of metal. In order to ensure the safety and reliability of water circulation,
the circulation ratio should not be too small and the dryness of steam-water mixture should not be too
large. The smallest circulation ratio for keeping constant water film on the tube wall is called the limit
circulation ratio.
When circulation ratio is larger than the limit one, water circulation is reliable. When the
circulation ratio is smaller than the limit, natural circulation will lose the property of selfcompensation. Therefore, for safety, it is required that the lowest circulation ratio in each circulation
circuit of boiler should be no less than the limit circulation ratio.
5.4.4.3 Failures of water circulation
In the boiler operation, some abnormal or unsafe conditions may happen to natural water
circulation because of various reasons. The main failures for natural water circulation boiler include:
circulation stop, circulation backflow and delaminate between steam and water of working medium in
ascending tube, down comer carries with steam and so on.

5.4.4.3.1 Circulation stop


Circulation circuit of boiler consists of many ascending tubes which are working parallelly and
those ascending tubes share a common down comer. Pressure drop for each ascending tube is a
common value, that is, the pressure drop of down comer. Since the heat distribution in the boiler is
uneven and the heat quantity absorbed by each ascending tube is various, so the steam quantity
produced from each tube is different. The density difference for the ascending tube which is heated a
little is relative small, the dynamic pressure is small and the flow of such circulation is small, too.
When the heat absorption of the ascending tube which is heated a little is weak enough to make its
gravity pressure be close to the common pressure drop of circuit, the water almost doesnt flow in the
tube and a few of steam bubbles being produced float up slowly in water, this is the so call circulation
stop.
Upwards systems with different structure swill have different condition when circulation stop
happens to them. When water capacity of ascending tube is introduced directly into the ascending
tube, the water almost doesnt flow and steam bubbles being produced float up slowly through water
layer in the ascending tube where such stop happens to it.
When circulation stop happens, water speed for ascending tube is low, so although thermal load
at that time is lower, the tube wall will still be overheated since the heat cant be carried away.
Therefore, the tube wall is easy to be burnt off for overheat.
5.4.4.3.2 Circulation backflow
Uneven heat for parallel ascending tube wont only cause circulation stop, but also circulation
backflow. The so called circulation backflow is the flow condition that circulation speed is negative
value.
When circulation backflow happens, water flows down in the ascending tube while steam flows
up in water because of its smaller density. If water speed is higher than the speed of steam flowing up
in water, steam bubble will be taken away. If the speed of steam flowing up in water is higher than the
water speed, steam bubbles will move upwards and enter into steam drum. Both of the conditions
have no direct harm to tube wall. However, if steam speed is equal to or close to water speed, the
steam bubble will stay at one place, gather and become bigger and bigger, even take the whole section
of the tube, stop water in the steam drum from flowing into the tube and form steam locking, which is
easy to cause deterioration of heat transmission.
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5.4.4.3.3 Delaminating between steam and water


When steam-water mixture flows in horizontal or slightly inclined tube, the water will flow
underneath while steam will flow above because of different density of steam and water. A clear
interface will appear between the steam and water and such phenomenon is called delamination
between steam and water. Delamination between steam and water wont appear in vertical tube. For
horizontal or slightly inclined tubes, if the steam-water mixture in it flow very quickly and
disturbance effect is over the action of gravity, the steam and water will be well-mixed and
delamination between them wont happen. Only when the flow speed of steam-water mixture is low
and the action of gravity for steam and water is over the disturbance effect, such phenomenon will
happen. When delamination between steam and water appears, the upper wall exposes to high steam
temperature while the lower wall exposes to water with lower temperature, temperature stress will be
produced between the upper and lower walls. Meanwhile, at the interface of the steam and water,
alternating thermal stress will produce because of the fluctuation of water. Besides, steam will occupy
the whole upper wall and destroy constant water film, which is easier to make the tube wall
temperature be higher than the limited value, resulting in deterioration of heat transmission and
damage to the tube wall.
5.4.4.3.4 Down comer with steam
If working medium in the down comer of natural circulation boiler contains steam, the average
density of the working medium in the down comer will decrease and gravity pressure drop will
decrease. Meanwhile, since there is steam in the down comer, the average volume flow will increase,
the flow speed of down comer will increase and flow resistance will increase, too. Therefore, the
down comer containing steam will decrease the total pressure drop, which will be harmful to water
circulation. This will lower the speed of water circulation and increase the possibility of abnormal
flow conditions, such as circulation stop, backflow and free surface of water, etc. Reasons for down
comer carrying with steam include: self-evaporation at the down comer inlet because of flow
resistance and acceleration at water surface. Hopper-shaped whirlpool is formed above the section of
the down comer inlet, which makes the steam be absorbed into the down comer. The steam contained
in steam drum is brought into the down comer, etc.
(1) Self- evaporation at the down comer inlet
When the pressure at the downcomer inlet is lower than the saturation pressure of water, part of
water will self-evaporate and the steam arisen from such evaporation will be brought into the
downcomer. But practice proves that the steam arisen from the self- evaporation at the downcomer
inlet is quite little, so generally, it wont cause any hazard. However, during the operation of boiler,
when the steam pressure drops down sharply, the saturation temperature of water will reduce rapidly,
but the actual temperature of boiler water in the downcomer is still high and the boiler water is in the
state of overheat, the redundant heat will make part of boiler water evaporate quickly, thus making the
downcomer contain steam.
(2) Hopper-shaped whirlpool
The water in steam drum has some certain speed along with horizontal direction. The water
flows down vertically when entering into the downcomer. Since the flow direction changes suddenly,
flow speed increases, resulting in uneven flow speed around the tube mouth and different resistance
loss, which causes unbalanced pressure around the tube mouth and forces a rotary whirlpool to form
at the inlet. There is low pressure area at the center of the whirlpool, so the water surface is lower and
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forms a shape of hopper. When the bottom of the hopper is deep and even enters into the downcomer,
the steam will be absorbed into the downcomer from the center of the hopper-shaped whirlpool.
When the water lever in steam drum is too low, flow speed at the downcomer is too high, diameter of
the downcomer is too large and horizontal flow speed in the steam drum is too low, the water will
become rotary whirlpool and it will be easy to form hopper-shaped whirlpool.
(3) Water chamber with steam
In the water capacity of steam drum, there is steam more or less. When the up-floating speed of
steam is lower than the descent speed of water in steam drum, it is quite possible to bring the steam
into the downcomer. This is the most common problem among the problems that there is steam in the
downcomer. It will be easier to bring steam into the downcomer especially when the ascending tube
mouth is too close to the downcomer mouth. In order to avoid such phenomenon, separator can be
installed between the downcomer mouth and the ascending tube mouth and the former one can be
made to be lower than the later ascending one. The steam quantity carried by the downcomer has
relation with many factors, such as the water speed of the downcomer, enthalpy shortage of boiler
water as well as the form and performance of steam-water separator, etc.
5.5 Steam purification
5.5.1 Hazard from steam pollution to the thermal equipment
The boiler of the power plant will also require high steam quality besides keeping stable steam
temperature and pressure, especially that thermal equipment with high parameters and large capacity
require more strictly; otherwise, safe and economic operation of the boiler will be affected.
If the steam contains too many impurities and some of them deposit in superheater, the heat
resistance for heat transmission for the heated surface of the superheater will in increased, tube wall
will be overheated and even tube blasting will be caused. If salt deposit is at the steam turbine flow
section, the flow section for steam will be decreased and roughness of blade will be increased. Even
the molded line of blades will be changed, which increase the resistance of steam turbine and
decrease output and efficiency. Besides, the blade stress and axial thrust as well as the vibration of the
steam turbine will be increased, causing steam turbine accident. If the salt deposit is at the valve of
the steam pipe, valve failure and leakage may be caused.
Thus it can be seen that the hazard from steam pollution to the thermal equipment is great.
Therefore, in order to ensure the safe and economic operation of thermal equipments like boiler
and steam turbine, the salt content of the steam must be limited strictly.
5.5.2 Resource of the impurities in the steam
The impurities in the steam mainly come from boiler feed water. Water containing with
impurities will be evaporated and produce steam after entering into the steam drum. Since only a
small part of salt in the feed water will be brought away by steam and most of the salt will stay in the
boiler, the salt content in boiler water will be much more than that of feed water. The salt in boiler
water comes into steam by two ways: one is the mechanical carryover of steam; the other is that some
salt is dissolved by steam directly, which is called selective carryover of steam. For medium and lowpressure boiler, since the pressure of steam is low, solubility of salt in steam is relative small. This is
because that the cleanliness of steam depends on two aspects, the steam mechanical carryover and
steam insoluble salt.
5.5.2.1Mechanical carryover of steam
Mechanical carryover of the steam refers to the phenomenon that the steam carries boiler water
and makes the steam contain salt. The salt quantity being carried is decided by the water quantity
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carried by the mechanical carryover of steam and the quantity of salt contained in boiler water.
When the steam-water mixture enters into the steam drum through ascending tube, there will be
large energy of motion no matter being introduced into the steam space or into the water space and
the flow speed is high. When the steam-water mixture strikes the water surface or the devices within
steam drum, or knocks against each other and the steam bubbles run out from underwater, large
amount of boiler water will splash, which cause the steam to carry water drops. After the water drops
carried by steam enter into the steam space, the bigger ones of them will return back to water surface
because of its own action of gravity while the rest will be brought away by steam. This is the reason
why steam carrying water.
Main factors affecting the steam carrying water is the boiler load, steam pressure, steam space
height and the salt content of boiler water.
5.5.2.1.1 Effect of boiler load
When the boiler load is increased, the steam quantity produced within in unit time is increased,
which will result in the increase of steam speed and increase of the diameter and quantity of the tiny
water drops being generated, so the water content carried by steam will increase and the steam quality
will worsen.
5.5.2.1.2 Effect of steam pressure
With the increase of steam pressure, the density difference of steam and water will reduce, which
makes the separation between steam and water more difficult and increases the water carrying ability
of steam, that is, the steam will carry water drop at lower steam speed which makes the steam easier
to carry water; moreover, high pressure and high saturation temperature intensify the thermal motion
of the water molecule and reduce the attraction between each molecule, which reduces the tension at
the water surface and makes the water easier to break into tiny drops and be brought away by the
steam. Foresaid content shows that the water quantity carried away by steam is increasing with the
increase of steam. When the pressure is lower than 15MPa, the water quantity carried by the steam
will increase with the increase of the steam pressure; when the pressure is higher than 15MPa, the
humidity of steam has a trend of sharp increase with the increase of steam pressure. Therefore, highpressure boilers increase speed for steam in the steam space is faster than that of the mediumpressure boiler.
Sharp decrease of steam pressure also affects steam carrying water. This is because that relevant
saturation temperature will decrease when pressure decreases sharply. Water in evaporation tube and
steam drum as well as metal tube wall will send out heat and produce additional steam, which will
make the water in the steam drum expand and the steam going through water surface increase,
resulting in the increase of steam humidity and deterioration of steam quality.
5.5.2.1.3 Effect from the height of steam space
With the increase of the height of steam space, the water quantity carried by steam reduces
sharply. When the steam space height is over 0.6m, water quantity will change smoothly and even not
change if keeping on increasing the steam space height. This is because when the steam space height
is low, big water drop can also be brought into the steam extraction tube by the steam and increase the
water quantity carried by the steam, so the steam humidity is large. With the increase of the steam
space height, big water drops in the steam will return back to water surface by loosing its own speed
because of action of gravity when they havent reach the steam extraction tube, thus the steam
humidity reduces rapidly. However, when the steam space height is over 0.6m, since the tiny water
drops carried away by steam arent affected by the steam space height, the steam humidity changes
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slowly. When the space height is over 1m, the steam humidity almost doesnt change. Therefore, it is
unnecessary to use very large steam drum for the separation between water and steam.
When the boiler operates normally, water level will change within the scope of normal water
level 50mm because if the water level is too high, the steam space height will reduce and steam
humidity will increase. Besides, sudden increase of load or sudden decrease of pressure will cause
serious fluctuation of water level as well as increase of steam humidity. Therefore, people should pay
attention to monitor the water level during operation to prevent the steam from carrying lots of water
because of serious fluctuation of water level.

5.5.2.1.4 Effect of the salt content in boiler water


Relation between steam humidity and salt content in boiler water: when the salt content in boiler
water increases in the initial scope, steam humidity almost doesnt change. When the salt content
increases to a certain value, the water quantity carried in steam will increase sharply if the salt content
in boiler water goes on increasing, thus the salt content in steam will increase greatly. The salt content
in boiler water at that time is called the threshold salt content in boiler water. The reason for having
threshold salt content in boiler water is that with the increase of the salt content in boiler water, the
steam bubbles in the steam drum increase, the foams at the water surface become thicker, so the
steam space height reduces and the water quantity carried in steam increases.
The threshold salt content in boiler water will be different under different load. The higher the
load is, the lower the threshold salt content in boiler water will be. The threshold salt content in boiler
water relates with many factors, such as steam pressure, steam space height and salt in boiler water
besides the boiler water load. There are many effect factors, so for any specific boiler, its threshold
salt content should be tested by thermal chemical test and the actual salt content in boiler water
should be lower than the threshold value.
5.5.2.2 Insoluble salt of steam
High pressure steam has different property compared with medium-low pressure steam, that is,
whether saturated steam or the overheated, they are both able to dissolve some salt. And with the
increase the pressure, the ability about dissolving salt directly will increase. Because of the increase
of pressure, the steam density will keep on increasing and the performance of steam is closing to the
performance of water. Water can dissolve salt, so steam can dissolve some salt, too. The insoluble salt
ability of steam, just like such ability of water is various depending on different kinds of salt.
According to the study, the solubility of various things in the boiler water will be different upon
the solubility of saturated steam. A notable problem is the solubility of H 2Si03 in steam. On one hand,
the higher the steam pressure of H2Si03 in boiler water, the larger the solubility will be. On the other
hand, it will deposit on the steam turbine blade after it is brought into the turbine with steam because
the pressure will decrease with the expansion work of steam in the steam turbine, and the solubility
will also decrease. The original dissolution in the steam will exceed the solubility of H 2Si03 in steam.
The part exceeding the solubility of steam will separate out from the steam in the form of solid and
deposit on the low pressure part of steam turbine. In many conditions, the H 2Si03 deposited is hard to
dissolve in water and cant be cleaned up by water or wet steam, so we can only clean it after
stopping the engine when the deposit condition is serious.
However, silicate like Na2SiO2, has low solubility in steam, so if we can change the H 2Si03 in
boiler water into silicate, then the H2Si03 content in steam will decrease. According to this, it will be
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helpful to increase the pH value in boiler water (that is, increase the alkalinity) since the hydrolysis
reaction of silicate is:
SiO32-+2H2O2OH-+H2SiO3
Increase of the OH ion density in boiler water will help changing Na 2SiO2 into SiO32- ion. The
SiO32- ion can combine with the Na + in boiler water and form Na2Sio3. This shows that the solubility
of silicic acid in steam isnt only decided by the steam pressure, but decided by the OH ion density in
boiler water, that is, the PH value in such water as well.
5.5.3 Ways for improving the steam quality
Cleanliness of steam depends on the water content mechanically carried in steam, steams direct
solution power to salt and the salt content in boiler water; therefore, besides strict treatment to the
feed water, improvement of the waters quality and fundamental decrease of the impurities brought
into the boiler, we also should take measure from following aspects on account of the specific reasons
for pollution of steam to improve the steam quality.
5.5.3.1 Steam-water separation
Install steam-water separation in steam drum and separate them. Reduce the saturated steams
mechanical carryover to water to improve the steam quality; various steam-water separators operate
based on following principle or action.
5.5.3.1.1 Gravity separation Make natural separation by the different density of steam and water.
5.5.3.1.2 Inertia separation Change the flow direction by steam-water mixture. Speed direction of
water drop and steam changes because of the inertia thus the water drop and steam is separated.
5.5.3.1.3 Centrifugal separation Separate water drop and steam by the centrifugal force produced
when steam-water mixture rotates.
5.5.3.1.4 Water film separation Steam with water drop forms water film and flows down along the
metal plate or grid to separate the water drop and steam.
Currently, the steam-water separators used in China mainly include: cyclone separator, corrugated
plate separator and perforated plate separators, etc.
5.5.3.2 Steam cleaning
Steam-water separator can only reduce the water carried by steam, that is, just reduce the salt
mechanically carried in steam, but cant solve the problem about insoluble salt in steam. The steam
cleaning cant only reduce the salt mechanically carried in steam, but also reduce the insoluble salt in
steam and improve the steam quality.
Steam cleaning refers to dissolve part of the salt in the steam which is separated mechanically
through a layer of water to clean it. By this way, the steam quality can be further improved. The salt
content in clear water is less than that in boiler water in any condition, so diffusion process will
happen as soon as the salt dissolved in steam exposes to water containing low salt, which makes the
salt diffuse into the clear water; meanwhile, this also can make the water drop carried in steam diffuse
into the clear water. Therefore, steam cleaning doesnt have effect to the solution and carryover of
steam, but also reduces mechanical carryover.
At present, the steam cleaner which is used widespreadly is penetration steam cleaner. The
device has two types, bell-type and orifice plate-type. The orifice plate cleaner has simple structure,
small resistance, large cleaning area and good cleaning effect, so its application will be widespread.
5.5.3.3 Boiler blowdown
Boiler blowdown refers to that during the boilers operation, some boiler water with large
density of salt and granulating slag is blown off. The reason why the boiler blowdown is needed is
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that the feed water entering the steam drum contains salt and the scale forming matter in boiler water
will change into granulating slag when agent-feeding treatment is taken to the boiler; besides, some
corrosive is also generated because of boiler waters corrosion against boiler metal, so there will be
soluble and insoluble impurities in boiler water. With the constant evaporation and concentration of
the boiler water, the impurities in the water will increase gradually, which makes the density of salt in
the boiler water keep on increasing and the density of granulating slag become bigger and bigger up
to effect the steam quality and safety of boiler.
Boiler blowdown is divided into regular blowdown and constant blowdown.
Regular blowdown is designed to discharge the deposit in boiler water granulating slag. So the
site of such blowdown should be at the place where the deposit gathers, that is, the part with largest
density of granulating slag lower header of evaporator. Regular blowdown quantity and times
depends on the quality of feed water. For the condensing type thermal power plant, since the feed
water is clean condensation water, the regular blowdown quantity can be reduced greatly and the
interval time for such blowdown can be prolonged.
Constant blowdown refers to discharge part of salt dissolved in boiler water constantly and keep
the salt content in boiler water and other water quality indexes in specified scope. Therefore, constant
blowdown should be led out from the part containing most salt in boiler water (generally around the
evaporating surface of steam drum). Of course, constant blowdown can also discharge some small
granulating slag.
The percentage that the blowdown quantity takes among the boiler evaporation quantity is called
rate of blowdown, that is,
p=GPS/D100%
In the formula: p rate of blowdown; GPS blowdown quantity; D evaporation capacity of
boiler.
The rate of blowdown for boiler depends on quality of feed water and boiler water. The rate of
blowdown can be reduced by decreasing the salt content in feed water and increasing the salt content
in blowdown water (boiler water). In order to ensure steam quality, the rate of blowdown cant be too
low. But increasing the rate of blowdown will increase the loss of heat and working medium, so such
rate must be restricted and it should comply with relevant regulation under different condition. For
the condensing type power plant which uses chemical desalting water as make-up water, its rate of
blowdown should not be lower than 1% and the rate for the condensing type power plant which uses
softened water as make-up water should not be higher than 2%, etc.
5.5.3.4 Water treatment in boiler
Although the make-up water is treated outside the boiler and most impurities are got rid of, there
still are a few of scale forming matters; in addition, raw water may be leaked in because the system is
not very close, which increases the hardness of feed water. Incrustation is easy to form when the
boiler water evaporates, so preventive water treatment in boiler is necessary, that is the so called
correction treatment of boiler water. Method for treatment is to add certain medicine into the boiler
and make the scale forming matter change into incoherent fluid sediment (poorly soluble compound),
which can be discharge with blowdown.
In thermal power plant, more effective trisodium phosphate soften method is adopted
widespread as the additional softening treatment for boiler water. The so called phosphating treatment
refers to send the trisodium phosphate solution into the steam drum continuously by chemical feed
pump. Calcium ion and magnesia ion in water combine with phosphate group and produce insoluble
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

calcium phosphate and magnesium phosphate, and then, being deposited from water. The softening
formula is:
3CaHCO32+2Na3PO4=Ca3PO42+6NaHCO2
3MgCl2+2Na3PO4=Mg3PO42+6NaCl
X-ray analysis shows, Ca3 PO4 2 is also a kind of scale deposit agent. But if the alkalinity in
boiler water is high enough, Ca3 PO4 2 will change into [Ca10PO4 6 OH 2]. It is incoherent
sediment and easy to be removed by blowdown. Thus it can be seen that proper alkalinity should be
kept in boiler water when taking phosphate correction treatment.
In order to keep the boiler water often in the state without scale sediment, we should always
keep proper excess quantity of the trisodium phosphate in boiler water. During operation, the
phosphate group in boiler water should be often monitored and controlled to avoid the formation of
incrustation.
6 Superheater
The superheater is to heat the saturated steam to be superheated steam. In order to increase the
thermal circulation rate, the initial parameters (temperature and pressure) of the steam must be
increased. The pressure can be increase technically, but the increase of temperature is restricted by the
heat-resistance temperature of steels. The pressure and temperature of the steam must be increased
compatibly, if the pressure is increased more than that of the temperature, humidity will be increased
at the last stage of the steam turbine. When the humidity at the last stage of the steam turbine exceeds
10%~12%, the moisture will washout the blades and produces over thrust, which will impact the safe
and economical operation of the steam turbine. So, the initial parameters of all boilers are matched
well.
When the boiler is running, if the steam temperature somehow drops suddenly, the operator will
immediately reduce the load until it is reduced to zero. If the steam temperature is too low, the
humidity at the last stage of the steam turbine will exceed the allowable value, while by reducing or
cutting off steam intake can weak or eliminate the possible bad consequences.
During the operation, the steam temperature may be affected by some factors and the
temperature of superheater tubes in parallel cant be the same, so some tubes may be overheated. The
overheated tubes will have weakened strength, which will reduce its service life or even cause burst
of the tube in short time. Over temperature of steam not only affects the safety of the superheater, but
also impacts the safe operation of the steam turbine, so the steam temperature fluctuation will remain
at 5%. In order to maintain stable steam temperature, the superheater is required to have good steam
temperature performance.
6.1 Compositions and types
The superheaters always work in bad environment, generally arranged in the area with high
temperature exhaust gas and the steam running in its tubes is also the working medium with the
highest temperature for the heating surfaces. Low steam density will result in bad absorption of heat
and bad cooling effect to the tube wall; poor water quality or steam with salt will form salt deposit in
the superheater and the bad heat-transfer capability of salt deposit will cause the tube to be
overheated.
Convection superheater as used in boilers of power plant that consumes solid fuel, is arranged in
horizontal flue and absorbs heat through heat convection and the steam temperature will increase with
the load rising.
Superheaters used in waste heat boilers for cement waste heat generation are always arranged at
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

the exhaust gas inlet side. For vertical boilers, the superheaters of AQC boiler and SP boiler are
horizontally arranged at the top of the boiler, i.e. the exhaust gas inlet side, and absorb heat through
heat convection.

6.2 Convection superheaters


Convection superheaters are washed out by high-temperature smoke and absorb convection of
heat from smoke. Convection superheaters are composed of coiler made of seamless steel tubes and
two steam headers. The superheated tubes are connected with the headers by welded joint.
How many coilers shall be paralleled in the superheaters depends on the flow rate of steam. The
higher the flow speed of steam is, the better heat convection effect will be achieved and the metal
tubes can be cooled better and the pressure drop of steam will be increased; the cooling of tube wall
will also be affected by steam density. The higher the density is, the better the cooling effect will be,
however there will be larger resistance loss
The convection superheater can be divided into vertical type and horizontal type by the
arrangement of coilers in them. In vertical type, the superheaters of AQC boiler and SP boiler are
horizontally arrange.
6.3 Thermal deviation
6.3.1 Definition of thermal deviation
Saturated steam comes into the paralleled tubes of the superheater to be heated. The temperature
of the inlet steam is the same, and if each tube receives the same quantity of steam, the temperature of
steam at the outlet of the superheater shall be the same without any deviation. Actually, such ideal
situation will never exist because it is impossible to make so many tubes to be even heated or keep
the same steam flow. Practice shows that the flue and smoke flow rate is uneven so the heat received
by each tube is not the same; further more, the shape, size, inner resistance factor and the connection
position with the header of each tube are different, resulting in different steam flow in them. Some
tubes are strongly heated while the steam flow in them is less, so such tubes will have higher steam
temperature at the outlet. For middle and small boilers, the temperature of steam in coilers can as high
as 50 or more. This phenomenon of uneven heat absorb in superheaters is called thermal deviation.
The tubes that absorbed more heat than the average absorbed heat are called deviation tubes. Thermal
deviation is an important factor that impacts the safe operation of the superheater. During operation,
some tubes will be heated to a temperature very close to the allowable temperature for the tube metal,
if the thermal deviation is too high, the tube will be over heated resulting in superheater fault. So, we
must pay attention to the thermal deviation from design and operation.
6.3.2 Reasons for thermal deviation
6.3.2.1 Uneven flow at working medium side
The flow for those paralleled coilers between any two headers depends on the flow resistance of
the tube itself and the pressure difference between the two ends. When the pressure difference on one
tube is changed, the flow is higher when the pressure difference is higher, vice versa. Even if the
pressure difference on the paralleled tubes keeps the same, the length, bending and roughness is
different, which make the flow resistance different, larger resistance with less flow and less resistance
with larger flow. Besides, the connection way of paralleled tubes and the headers at inlet and outlet
will also affect the pressure difference between the two ends of the tubes.
6.3.2.2 Uneven flow at the flue gas side
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Waste Heat Recovery Power Station Training File

When the boiler is working, with the various factors from operation and structure, the thermal
load between the paralleled coilers may be greatly different because of the uneven flue gas flow rate
and temperature. Take cement waste heat boiler as an example, the flue gas temperature at the inlet is
higher and the temperature is getting lower as closer to the outlet during the heat convection. It is
obvious that the heat in the boiler is uneven.
Uneven distribution of flue gas speed is another important factor for uneven heat distribution.
The fumes flow unevenly along the flue because the resistance in the superheater is uneven. If the
resistance is lower, the flow will be fast and the coilers can absorb more heat. Where there is large
gap, small resistance and high flue gas speed in the superheater is called flue gas passage. When the
tubes are not strictly installed as required or the structure is not reasonable, or the distance between
coilers or gap between superheaters and flue walls is too large, flue gas passage may be formed to
make the near coilers absorb more heat.
6.3.3 Method for relieving thermal deviation
6.3.3.1 Measures taking by at the steam side
6.3.3.1.1 Grading can reduce the deviation of the heated surface. Lead the steam from many parallel
coilers into the same header and the thermal deviation of this grade can be removed or relieved after
being mixed.
6.3.3.1.2 The steam of superheater flows alternately from left to right, that is, remove the steam which
flow on the left at the last grade to the right when entering into the next grade to reduce the thermal
deviation of the two sides.
6.3.3.1.3 The two sides and center of the convection superheater is divided into two grades and take
alternation, that is, form the places where have low flue gas temperature at the two sides into one
grade and places with high flue gas temperature into another grade, then the steam between the two
grade alternates once so that the thermal deviation can be reduced greatly.
6.3.3.2 Measures taking at the flue gas side
6.3.3.2.1 Flue gas speed and temperature in boiler should be designed to distribute evenly;
6.3.3.2.2 Avoid forming flue gas passage along the width of flue gas channel;
6.3.3.2.3 Clean up dust and residues on the heated surface in time.

7 Flue gas system


There are two outlets from flue gas, one flue is to enter into the waste heat boiler and discharged
into air through chimney and the other is to enter into by-pass and discharged into air. Louver valve is
installed in each flue. The louver valve on the main flue is called boiler inlet flue gas valve while that
on the by-pass is the by-pass louver valve. Each louver valve is used cooperatively. When the waste
heat boiler doesnt work, we should turn on the by-pass louver valve and turn off the boiler inlet one.
In order to regulate the boiler duty of the waste heat boiler, splash boards for the boiler inlet
louver valve and the by-pass one can be partly open or shut.
Expansion joints are installed on main flue and the by-pass flue. This is because the flue will
extend after being heated, which generates thermal stress to their supports. Expansion joints can
absorb the extension of the flues and reduce the thermal stress.

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