A boiler is an enclosed vessel in which water is heated and circulated, either as hot water or steam, to

produce a source for either heat or power.

Types of Boiler
There are mainly two types of boiler water tube boiler and fire tube boiler.
In fire tube boiler, there are numbers of tubes through which hot gases are passed and
water surrounds these tubes. Water tube boiler is reverse of the fire tube boiler. In
water tube boiler the water is heated inside tubes and hot gasses surround these
tubes.These are the main two types of boiler but each of the types can be sub divided
into many which we will discuss later.
Fire Tube Boiler
As it indicated from the name, the fire tube boiler consists of numbers of tubes
through which hot gasses are passed. These hot gas tubes are immersed into water, in
a closed vessel. Actually in fire tube boiler one closed vessel or shell contains water,

through which hot tubes are passed. These fire tubes or hot gas tubes heated up the
water and convert the water into steam and the steam remains in same vessel. As the
water and steam both are in same vessel a fire tube boiler cannot produce steam at
very high pressure. Generally it can produce maximum 17.5 kg/cm 2 and with a
capacity of 9 Metric Ton of steam per hour.
Types of Fire Tube Boiler

There are different types of fire tube boiler likewise, external furnace and internal
furnace fire tube boiler. External furnace boiler can be again categorized into three
different types1) Horizontal Return Tubular Boiler.
2) Short Fire Box Boiler.
3) Compact Boiler.
Again, internal furnace fire tube boiler has also two main categories such as horizontal
tubular and vertical tubular fire tube boiler.
Normally horizontal return fire tube boiler is used in thermal power plant of low
capacity. It consists of a horizontal drum into which there are numbers of horizontal
tubes. These tubes are submerged in water. The fuel (normally coal) burnt below these
horizontal drum and the combustible gasses move to the rear from where they enter
into fire tubes and travel towards the front into the smoke box. During this travel of
gasses in tubes, they transfer their heat into the water and steam bubbles come up. As
steam is produced, the pressure of the boiler developed, in that closed vessel.
Advantages of Fire Tube Boiler

1) It is quite compact in construction.

2) Fluctuation of steam demand can be met easily.
3) It is also quite cheap.
Disadvantages of Fire Tube Boiler

1) As the water required for operation of the boiler is quite large, it requires long time
for rising steam at desired pressure.
2) As the water and steam are in same vessel the very high pressure of steam is not
possible.
3) The steam received from fire tube boiler is not very dry.

A water tube boiler is such kind of boiler where the water is heated inside tubes and

the hot gasses surround them.

This is the basic
definition of water tube boiler. Actually this boiler is just opposite of fire tube boiler
where hot gasses are passed through tubes which are surrounded by water.
Types of Water Tube Boiler

There are many types of water tube boilers, such as

1) Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler.
2) Bent Tube Boiler.
3) Cyclone Fired Boiler.
Horizontal Straight Tube Boiler again can be sub - divided into two different types,
i) Longitudinal Drum Water Tube Boiler.
ii) Cross Drum Water Tube Boiler.
Bent Tube Boiler also can be sub divided into four different types,
i) Two Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
ii) Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
iii) Low Head Three Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
iv) Four Drum Bent Tube Boiler.
Advantages of Water Tube Boiler

There are many advantages of water tube boiler due to which these types of boiler are
essentially used in large thermal power plant.
1) Larger heating surface can be achieved by using more numbers of water tubes.
2) Due to convectional flow, movement of water is much faster than that of fire tube
boiler, hence rate of heat transfer is high which results into higher efficiency.
3) Very high pressure in order of 140 kg/cm2 can be obtained smoothly.
Disadvantages of Water Tube Boiler

1) The main disadvantage of water tube boiler is that it is not compact in construction.
2) Its cost is not cheap.
3) Size is a difficulty for transportation and construction.

How Boilers Work

Both gas and oil fired boilers use controlled combustion of the fuel to heat water.
The key boiler
components involved in this process are the burner, combustion chamber, heat
exchanger, and controls.
The burner mixes the fuel and oxygen together and, with the assistance of an
ignition device, provides a
platform for combustion. This combustion takes place in the combustion chamber,
and the heat that it
generates is transferred to the water through the heat exchanger. Controls regulate
the ignition, burner
firing rate, fuel supply, air supply, exhaust draft, water temperature, steam
pressure, and boiler
pressure.
Hot water produced by a boiler is pumped through pipes and delivered to
equipment throughout the
building, which can include hot water coils in air handling units, service hot water
heating equipment,
and terminal units. Steam boilers produce steam that flows through pipes from
areas of high pressure
to areas of low pressure, unaided by an external energy source such as a pump.
Steam utilized for
heating can be directly utilized by steam using equipment or can provide heat
through a heat exchanger
that supplies hot water to the equipment.

Safety Issues
All combustion equipment must be operated properly to prevent dangerous
conditions or disasters from
occurring, causing personal injury and property loss. The basic cause of boiler
explosions is ignition of a
combustible gas that has accumulated within the boiler. This situation could arise in
a number of ways,

for example fuel, air, or ignition is interrupted for some reason, the flame
extinguishes, and combustible
gas accumulates and is reignited. Another example is when a number of
unsuccessful attempts at
ignition occur without the appropriate purging of accumulated combustible gas.

There is a tremendous amount of stored energy within a boiler. The state change of
superheated water
from a hot liquid to a vapor (steam) releases an enormous amount of energy. For
example, 1 ft3
of water will expand to 1600 ft3 when it turns to steam. Therefore, if you could
capture all the energy released when a 30 gallon home hot water tank flashes into
explosive failure at 332F, you would have enough force to send the average car
(weighing 2,500 lbs) to a height of nearly 125 feet. This is equivalent to more than
the height of a 14 story apartment building, starting with a lift off velocity of 85
miles per hour! (5).
Boiler safety is a key objective of the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Inspectors. This
organization reports and tracks boiler safety and the number of incidents related to
boilers and pressure
vessels each year. Their work has found that the number one incident category
resulting in injury was
poor maintenance and operator error (5). This stresses the importance of proper
maintenance and
operator training.
Boilers must be inspected regularly based on manufacturers recommendations.
Pressure vessel
integrity, checking of safety relief valves, water cutoff devices and proper float
operation, gauges and
water level indicators should all be inspected. The boilers fuel and burner system
requires proper
inspection and maintenance to ensure efficient operation, heat transfer and correct
flame detection.

Saturated steam is water vapor in the condition in which it is

generated from water with which it is in contact. Or it is steam which
is at the maximum pressure and density possible at its temperature.
If any change be made in the temperature or pressure of steam,
there will be a corresponding change in its condition. If the pressure
be increased or the temperature decreased, a portion of the steam
will be condensed. If the temperature be increased or the pressure
decreased, a portion of the water with which the steam is in contact
will be evaporated into steam. Steam will remain saturated just so
long as it is of the same pressure and temperature as the water with
which it can remain in contact without a gain or loss of heat.
Moreover, saturated steam cannot have its temperature lowered
without a lowering of its pressure, any loss of heat being made up
by the latent heat of such portion as will be condensed. Nor can the
temperature of saturated steam be increased except when
accompanied by a corresponding increase in pressure, any added
heat being expended in the evaporation into steam of a portion of
the water with which it is in contact.
Most thermodynamics substances such as gases and vapours are often referred as P-V-T
substances. An ideal gas obeys the equation of state that relates the pressure, specific volume or
density, and absolute temperature with mass of molecule and the gas constant, R. However, real gas
does not absolutely obey the equation of state. A few modifications on the ideal gas equation of state
allow its application in the properties of real gas. When energy is added within water, the increasing
of activities among the molecules caused the increase in the number of molecule escape from the
surface until an equilibrium state is reached. The state of equilibrium depends on the pressure
between the water surface and steam. The lower the pressure, the easier the molecules leaving the
water surface and thus less energy is required to achieve the state of equilibrium (boiling point). The
temperature where equilibrium occurs at a given pressure level is called saturated temperature. The
pressure where equilibrium occurs at a given temperature is called saturated pressure. Marcet Boiler
is used to investigate the relationship between the pressure and temperature of saturated steam in
equilibrium with water at all temperature. The conducted experiment provides us a clear image on
the progressing in between pressure, time and temperature. As time increased, the increased
temperature energized the molecules of the water and thus, pressure became higher until the state
of equilibrium.

team Power station Basics

Introduction: Steam/Thermal Power station

A steam/thermal power station uses heat energy generated from burning coal to produce electrical
energy. This type of power station is widely used around the world.
This power station uses the Rankine cycle. This is the cycle of the steam produced in the boiler, then
taken to the Steam turbine (prime mover). From the turbine the steam is cooled back to water in
the Condenser, the resulting water is fed back into the boiler to repeat the cycle.
Because of the abundance of fuel (coal), this kind of power station can be used to produce large
amounts of electrical energy. In most countries these power stations are used as base load power
stations. This is because steam power stations are slow to start and can not be used to cater for
peak loads that generally occur for a short duration.
These power stations (together with nuclear power stations) are kept running very close to full
efficiency for 24 hours a day (unless they are being maintained). They have typical life of 30 to 40
years (although most governments have reduced this number to 35 years).

Pros & Cons: what this power station presents

Advantages

Disadvantages

Cheap coal is used

Air pollution from smoke fumes

Can be installed anywhere near fuel & water

Costs more to run compared with other types of power

supply

stations

Requires less construction space

Cost for Generation is less

Future generations will have to learn to depend less and less on this type of electricity generating
power station, due to a fast increasing depletion of fuels (coal and oil). As other types of power
stations become more efficient it should be possible to completely abandon the use of this type of
power station.