DRAUGHT SYSTEM

1. INTRODUCTION Draught is necessary to admit an amount of air into the furnace for the combustion of the fuel and to cause the flow of the products of combustion from a chimney. Thus, the two main functions of any draught system are: 1. To supply sufficient quantity of air to the furnace for the complete combustion of fuel. 2. To remove the flue gases (products of combustion) from the furnace for their exit to the atmosphere through chimney (stack). This flow of air gas through the steam generator system is achieved by creating a pressure difference between the inlet and exit of the system. Draught at any point in the air / gas passage is the difference between absolute air / gas pressure at that point and the ambient atmospheric pressure. It is +ve, if Pgas > Patm,and -ve, if P gas < Patm. Draught is designated as either natural or mechanical. Natural draught is produced thermally and the mechanical draught is produced by means of a fan or a steam jet. Steam jet is mostly used in steam locomotives. Draught is needed to overcome the resistance to flow of air and combustion gases and this resistance is contributed by ducts, chimneys, fuel beds, boiler gas passages, baffles, dampers, air preheaters, economisers, deposits of soot and dust in gas passages and the required rate of combustion. 2. NATURAL DRAUGHT The natural draught is produced by the action of chimney or stack. Its amount is dependent upon the average temperature difference between the flue gases within the chimney and the outside air and also on the height of the chimney above the level of the furnace grate. Weather conditions, boiler operating conditions and the height of the chimney have a considerable effect on the amount of natural draught. 3. MECHANCIAL DRAUGHT

This type of draught is needed when the natural draught produced by a chimney is not sufficient or where a certain draught must be maintained irrespective of weather conditions. In a large steam boiler, where economisers and air preheaters are used, the exit temperature of the flue gases is sufficiently reduced and in such cases the height of the chimney to produce a certain amount of draught may be excessive in height and cost. Under such conditions, mechanical draught is necessary. Boilers with mechanical draught do not need so high a chimney as is necessary with natural draught. It is needed sometimes to avoid the smoke, dust, cinder and ash from falling over the adjacent buildings. Mechanical draught is of two types: forced draught and induced draught. Forced draught is obtained by blowing air into air boxes under stokers or grates or through pulverised fuel burners in a closed boiler room. The purpose of the induced draught is to reduce the pressure of the gases within the boiler below that of the atmosphere. The exhaust gases are discharged into the stack under a positive pressure. Induced draught fan is located in the smoke connection between the boilers and the stack or at the base of the stack. The position of the forced draught fan and the induced fan in the system is shown in Figures 1 and 2.
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Figure 1 Draught system

Figure 2 Draught system

As noted above, the F.D. fans are placed at the air entrance to the air preheater. The total system up to the stack entrance is under positive gauge pressure. They handle cold air. So, they have many advantages as compared to I.D. fans: 1. 2. 3. 4. Lower maintenance costs. Consume less power Their load is reduced by the absence of additional gas equivalent of the fuel used. So, capital and operating costs are lower.

However, the total system is put under pressure (pressure furnace). So, the drawbacks are:
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1. Gas tight furnace construction to avoid leakage of various gases from the furnace walls. 2. Special attention must be given to the design of inspection doors, soot, blower boxes and fuel igniter openings. I.D. fans are located in the gas stream between the air-preheater and the stack, either before or after the dust collector. They discharge essentially at atmospheric pressure and place the entire system under negative pressure. Their power consumption is greater as compared to F.D. fans and they must also handle corrosive combustion gases and ash. I.D. fans are seldom used alone. When both F.D. and I.D. fans are used, the F.D. fans push atmospheric air through the air-preheater, dampers; various airducts and burners into the furnace. The I.D. fans suck the combustion gases from the furnace through the heat transfer surface (Superheaters, reheaters, economisers and gas side air preheater)and into the stack. The chimney, because of its height, adds a natural draught of its own. Such a system is called "Balanced Draught". It means that the pressure in the furnace is approximately atmospheric. Actually, it is kept at a slightly negative pressure to ensure that any leakage would be inward. The fans may be driven by variable speed motors, constant speed motors, steam turbines and in rare case by d.c. motors. Fans may be radial flow type (centrifugal) or axial flow type. The axial flow fans are used for small capacity boilers as they develop only a small static pressure. In the case of radial flow fans, the air is compressed by means of a rotor, revolving in a scroll shaped casing. Vane or blade shape for the rotor may be: straight or radial, backward curved, and forward curved. The effect of the blade shape on the resultant velocity is shown in Figure 3. It is clear from the figure that the backward curved blade form gives a higher speed than the radial type and the radial fan is usually a higher speed fan than the forward curved blade fan. For forced draught service, the backward curved blade fans are generally used since the high speed is suitable for standard motor drive. Forward curved blade fans runs at the lowest speed to develop a given pressure, these are usually selected for induced draught service to keep the centrifugal stresses small. Radial vanes are recommended for induced draught service.

Figure 3 Blade forms of fans Axial fans (with variable-pitch moving blades) maintain high efficiencies over a wider
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range of loads than constant speed centrifugal fans, but have higher capital costs. Fans used in thermal, power plants are among the largest made: capacities of 7000 m3/s and 0.15 bar static pressure are Common. Their operating life is quite long (1 TO1 1/2 YEARS). 4 FAN CONTROL

There are two common methods of controlling the output of fans: damper control and variable-speed control. With damper control, the capital cost is low, the fan drive motor is a simple constant-speed. induction ac motor. It is easily adaptable to automation and provides continuous rather than stepwise control. However, the system adds additional flow resistance resulting in increased power input. Dampers are usually provided at the exit of the fans. However, they are also sometimes used at the inlet. Dampers at the inlet consume less power, but are only effective for moderate load changes near full load. F.D. fans are usually used with outlet dampers. Variable-speed control is the most efficient method of fan control. Its power consumption is less: The types of the drives are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Variable speed steam turbine hydraulic coupling magnetic coupling variable speed d,c, motor multi-speed a.c, motor electronically adjustable motor drive.

In addition to F.D. and I.D. fans, there are other fans also in thermal power plants: 1. Primary-air Fans: They supply air to dry and transport pulverised coal to the furnace or to a storage bunker. 2. Gas-recirculating fans: They recirculate gas from a point between the economiser and air-preheater to the bottom of the furnace as part of a steam temperature. control. system. 5. LOSSES IN AIR-GAS LOOP SYSTEM AND THEIR MEASUREMENT

The losses in the air-gas loop system (draught system) is the arithmetic sum of all the draught losses in the various elements of the system (steam generator) through which the air and flue gases pass, starting from entry to the furnace to the chimney exit, as shown in Figure 4, that is where ht ht ha hg = ha + hg + hs + hv = total loss. = draught pressure loss on the air side = Sum of losses in air side air Preheater (APH), dampers, various air ducts and the furnace bed = draught pressure loss on the gas side = Sum of losses in superheater (SH), Reheater (RH), Economiser (ECO), gas side APH, gas ducts (dust collectors etc.) = head loss in stack = draught pressure loss due to the gas exit velocity from the stack.
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hs hv

V2 g 2

, V g = vel. of gas at chimney exit

Figure 4 Losses is Air-gas Loop system

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MEASUREMENT OF LOSSES

The various draught losses mentioned above are measured in units of mm of water. The instrument used is U-tube water manometer. One end of this is open to the atmosphere, while the other end is connected to the point in the Air/Gas passage, where the draught is to be measured. The difference in the water level in the two limbs of the U-tube manometer will give the draught at that point (+ ve or -ve). By knowing the draughts at different points in the air/gas passage, the various draught losses can be determined.