Boiler Efficiency

By boiler efficiency is meant the measure of ability of a boiler or steam generator to transfer the heat given it by the furnace to the water and steam. There are two methods of determining boiler efficiency 1. Indirect method 2. Direct method In indirect method, the efficiency is calculated by determining the losses in the boiler. For this, chemical analysis of the fuel and the flue gas analysis are the basis of calculation. In direct method fuel input and steam output are directly measured . FACTORS WHICH EFFECT BOILER EFFICIENCY Loss due to the heat carried away by hot flue gases. Incomplete combustion. Excess air. Heat carried away by moisture. Radiation loss. Blow- down and leakages.

Boiler Efficiency
Maintaining efficiency : The best way to analyze the problem of maintaining efficiency is to examine the major losses in efficiency, what effects them, and what can be done to control them. A typical heat balance for a pulverized coal fired utility boiler would be : Dry gas loss 5.16 % Loss due to hydrogen and moisture in the fuel 4.36 % Loss due to unburned combustible 0.50 % Loss due to radiation 0.30 % Loss due to moisture in air 0.13 % Manufacturers margin and unaccounted loss 1.50 % Overall efficiency 88.05 % Minor losses are usually lumped into one percentage figure and labeled as unaccounted for. Of these minor unaccounted for losses, the largest is the loss due to sensible heat in the ash or slag. The boiler operator has significant amount of control over the losses due to dry flue gas and unburned combustible, by adjusting boiler operation.

Boiler Efficiency
Monitoring Efficiency : Continuous monitoring of flue temperature and flue gas oxygen content by regularly calibrated recorder or indicator and by periodic checks on combustibles in the refuse will indicate if original efficiencies are being maintained. If conditions vary from the established performance base, corrective adjustments or maintenance steps should be taken. High exit-gas temperatures and high draft losses with normal excess air indicates dirty heat absorbing surfaces and need for soot blowing. High excess air normally increases exit gas temperatures and draft losses and indicate the need for adjustment to the fuel-air ratio. The high excess air may, however, be caused by excessive casing leaks, cooling air, or air heater leaks. High combustible in the refuse indicates a need for adjustments or maintenance of fuel preparation and burning equipment.

Boiler Efficiency

Boiler efficiency varies with type of fuel. Oil / Coal being best and lowest with gas. Coal properties directly affect the efficiency of the boiler Moisture in coal decreases boiler efficiency. Efficiency of boiler will change if the fuel fired is not as per the design (High FGET in Tatas unit 5 boiler is due to high moisture and high volatile matters in coal).

Boiler Efficiency
STACK LOSS Heat carried away by flue gases or stack loss is the major cause for the reduction of boiler efficiency. It is calculated as, Stack Loss Flue gas flow specific heat of flue gas x (flue gas exit temperature ambient temperature) FACTORS ON WHICH STACK LOSS IS DEPENDENT Sulpher content of fuel. (determines allowable flue gas temperature at RAPH outlet) Fouling of the furnace or air pre- heater. Excess air. Leakages into the furnace. High Burner tilt. Higher level elevations in service. Auxiliary damper positions.

Boiler Efficiency
HEAT CARRIED AWAY BY MOISTURE Heat absorbed by the moisture in flue gases constitutes a loss because, water vapour is not condensed in the boiler and thus substantial amount of latent heat (Approx..540 Kcal / kg at atmospheric pressure) is lost. There are two sources of moisture in flue gases viz. Moisture in fuel. Combustion product of hydrogen content in fuel. SOURCE OF MOISTURE IN FLUE GASES Moisture in fuels such as coal and gas. Fuels containing high hydrogen Such as natural gas generate Large amount of water vapour When burned. 2H2 + O2 2H2O i.e . 1 kg of hydrogen, when burnt, produces 9kg of water vapour . In addition to heat loss, presence of moisture promotes corrosion in presence of SO2.

LOSS

LOSS

INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION Incomplete combustion means partial burning of fuel. Part of the fuel may remain unburned or carbon in fuel may burn partially to form carbon monoxide. Causes of incomplete combustion are: Inadequate air. Improper distribution of air. Fuel not properly pulverized or atomized. Low furnace temperatures. Moisture in fuel. Low secondary air temperatures.

WHY INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION IS A LOSS

Unburned fuel is obviously a loss because it releases no energy, but is paid for. Partially burned carbon releases much less energy than when burnt fully.
2C + O2 2CO + 4,400 BTU. C + O2 CO2 + 14,600 BTU. As is evident partial burning of carbon generates carbon monoxide, a toxic gas and releases much less heat and thus constitutes a huge loss.

Boiler Efficiency
LOSS DUE TO EXCESS AIR
Quantity of air supplied over and above the minimum required amount of theoretically determined air (stoichometric) is called excess air. Certain quantity of excess air needs to be supplied, because it is practically not possible for every molecule of fuel to come in contact with every molecule of oxygen supplied in the limited time the mixture remains in boiler with no excess air, resulting in improper combustion and consequent losses. However, too much excess air increases the amount of flue gases. Since, the temperature of exit gas temperature is nearly constant , increase in flue gas flow means increase in stack loss.

Performance Monitoring
Optimum HR With 1% make up Kcal/Kwh Unit 5

Performance Monitoring
Effect of various parameters on Heat Rate for 500 MW unit

Sr. No

Parameters

Increase in Heat Rate %

Increase in Kcal/KWh

1(a)

Drop in vacuum from 0.92 bar to 0.91 bar (10mbar rise in condenser back pressure)

0.4

9.6

(b) 1 Deg Cent rise in TTD of Condenser

2 3 4 5 Drop in main steam temperature by 10 Deg Cent (i.e. from 538 to 528 Deg Cent) Drop in reheat temperature by 10 Deg Cent (i.e. from 538 to 528 Deg Cent) Rise in reheat pressure drop by 1% 13% to 14%) (i.e. from

0.35
0.4 0.275 0.125 0.02 0.057

8.4
9.6 6.6 3 0.48 1.37

Rise in TTD of feed water heaters other than top heater by 1 Deg Cent

6 Rise in TTD of top heater by 1 Deg Cent

Performance Monitoring
Sr. No

Parameter

Increase in Heat Rate %

Increase in Kcal/KWh

7(a) Low pressure heater out of service (b) High pressure out of service 8 9 Decrease in initial throttle pressure by 2 bar (i.e. from 166.71 bar to 164.71 bar) Increase in steam consumption of BFPT by 10%(design 100% load 6.101 Kg/KWh) Use of 10% superheater spray Kg/Sec) (4.72

0.5 1.5 0.05 0.28 0.25 0.03 0.15 0.5 0.19 0.75

12 36 1.2 6.6 6 0.72 3.6 12 4.44 18

10 Increase in CBD opening from 5% to 10% 11

12 Use of 10% reheat spray(1.975 Kg/Sec) 13

Increase in flue gas outlet temperature by 10 Deg Cent

14 Increase in excess air by 10% 15 Rise in Make up by 1 %

Performance Monitoring
Expected Parameters At Different Loads For Unit 5 (500 MW)
Sr No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Parameter Excess Air (%) Cond Vacuum (Bar) MS Temp (C) RH Temp (C) MS spray( kg/s) RH Spray (kg/s) Make up (% of steam flow) Eco Inlet Temp(C) FGET(C) VWO 12.5 -0.910 541 541 0 0 1 250.8 144 100%MCR 12.5 -0.910 541 541 2.55 0 1 248.8 141 75%MCR 12.5 -0.910 541 541 15.72 0 1 235.1 134 60% MCR 12.5 -0.910 541 541 12.2 0 1 224.7 133

Performance Monitoring
Main Steam / Reheat temperature ( reasons)
Soot deposition on surfaces Passing of temperature control valves and bypass valves Air flow variation Burner tilt position Soot blowers operation Load variation Fuel type and Firing pattern Feed water temperature variation GR Fan loading variation Secondary combustion

Performance Monitoring
Main Steam / Reheat steam Sprays (reasons)

Furnace slagging High desuperheating temperature/ Secondary combustion Passing of temperature control valves High air flow High burner tilt positions / Excessive GR fans loading Undesirable LRSB operation Low economizer inlet temperature Unit on partial loading Fuel type and Firing pattern

Performance Monitoring
Flue Gas Exit Temperature (FGET)
Reasons Water wall , superheater & Reheater surfaces slagging Fouling in air preheater Low coal mill outlet temperature High moisture and volatile matter in coal Low Coal calorific value Air leak in furnace High excess air

Performance Monitoring
Flue Gas Exit Temperature (FGET) Actions: In unit 5 RAPH rotation direction reversed and partial blocking of PA duct was done during unit outage Jan-Feb 2006.Unit 6 RAPH secondary air bypass dampers were blanked. Soot blowing after analyzing various parameter is done. RAPH soot blowing done regularly twice in shift. Percentage of Oxygen is monitored before and after RAPH for identifying any leakages. Conditions of RAPH seals are checked during unit outage. Duct leakages are identified & attended. Excess air is maintained as per stack condition

Performance Monitoring
Economizer inlet temperature

Economizer feed water inlet temperature monitored. Feed water heaters TTD & DCA are monitored. Heater levels and its deviation from reference value and HP/ LP heaters drain control valve opening deviation are monitored. Heater Inlet, outlet & bypass valves maintenance done during unit outage. Unit 6 all HP heater feed water inlet / outlet damaged parting plates were repaired.

Performance Monitoring
Excess air & Air flow
Excess air set point changed with load changes. Carbon in ash monitored daily. Secondary air dampers, Fuel air dampers & aux air dampers are checked at regular intervals. Actual O2 in flue gas is compared with chemists readings. O2 probes are calibrated at regular intervals. Duct leakages are identified and attended as soon as possible.

Performance Monitoring
Coal Mill monitoring
Mill outlet temperature are kept 60C PA inlet temperature are kept 240C PA inlet under bowl temp are also monitored. Coal mill current, fuel air ratio are monitored. Mill fineness test are done regularly and vane setting done accordingly. All four Coal pipe temperature have been provided and monitor regularly. Preventive maintenance of mills are done regularly. Fuel air dampers are checked regularly.

Performance Monitoring
Soot blowing optimization

Methodology have been decided for soot blowing operation DPSBs have been made available. Soot blowing operating frequency program is made Availability of soot blowers is kept maximum

Thermal Mapping Data

Unit 6 Boiler Comparison Load Oil / No of Oil Burners Gas / No of Gas Burners Overfire damper 1/2 aux air Damper % FGET Deg C Locations 10 th floor south side window 2 10 th floor south side window 6 10 th floor south side window 8 10 th floor East side window 10 th floor West side window Avg Temp on 10th floor 8th flr east side near scaffold door 8th flr west side near scaffold door 7 th floor North side wondow 1 7 th floor North side wondow 2 7 th floor South side wondow 1 7 th floor South side wondow 2 Avg Temp on 7th floor CD 1 corner CD 3 corner Avg Temp on CD Elevation DE 1 Corner DE 2 Corner DE 3 Corner DE 4 Corner Avg Temp on DE Elevation 4 th floor North side window 1 4 th floor North side window 2 4 th floor South side window 1 4 th floor South side window 2 Avg Temp on 4th floor 1372 1315 1351 859 779 1346 1258 1268 1261 1179 820 1262 1393 1357 1308 1505 1353 1428 1379 1422 987 905 1410 1294 1266 1336 788 816 1299 1396 1332 1394 977 835 1374 26-May-06 510 MW 30.3 Kg/s, 19 Nil, 0 100% / 100% 12 142 /142 7-Mar-07 510 30.32 / 16 Nil 100%, 100% 12 15-Jan-07 510 30.77,15 Nil 100%,10% 30% 164/148 15-Dec-06 6-Sep-06 510 500 MW 30.53 Kg/s, 16 27.16 Kg/S, 16 Nil 2.18 Kg/s,3 100% each 100% / 0% 28 12 164 / 147 148 / 142 2-Aug-06 510 MW 23.27 Kg/s, 16 6.12 Kg/s, 4 100 / 0 % 14 148 / 145

1436 1419 1403 1446 1426 1142 1165 1288 1352 1273 1191

789 1430 1375 1343 1234 1360

1538 1494 1515 1575 1531 1353 1287 1461 Handle was very hot 1338 1402 1169 1330 1297 1462

1560 1528 1547 1524 1540 1380 1457 1548 1458 1507 1546 1534 1315 1237 1400

1488 1452 1401 1442 1446 1305 1100 1325 1271 1154 1317

1504 1505 1508 1500 1504 door hard to open 1214 1385 1282 1304 1315 1266 1280 1218 1227

1446 1374