f 1 £ ,,,.1.

I'' l [ I
•

Figure 3 The Actual Condition

of the Boiler
(In Mid-Life Crisis, Not Clearly
Understood by a Casual Observer)

Wha t ca'n be done to reduce th e perceived differences and understand the actual co ndi tion an d f Jture
capabili ties? Several trad itional methods exist which a llow us to understand the condition of t he boiler and
hel p determine what can reasonably he ex pected as future operating criteria. The type of services offered and
available in descending order of complexity are:
• BOILER AVAILABILITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (BAIP) A
thorough review of unit performance, existing physical condition and operating
techniques evaluated over a period of a pproximately one year. See Figure 4.
• CYCLI C BOILER STUDY A detailed study of the thermal and mechanical
implications of changing the basic cycling n eeds of a unit , shown in Figure 5.
e TEAM INSPECT ION SERVICE (TIS) A detailed inspection of the physical
condition of the unit, outli ned in Figu re 6.
e NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING (NOT) Limi ted inspection by qualified per-
sonnel to evaluate the condition of specific areas of concern . See Figure 7.

THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF THE BAIP PROGRAM

• Understand the overall operation of

the boiler system
• Determine the root causes of identified problems
• Develop corrective action s to eliminate these problems
• Work with the utility to improve availability/reliability

THE FOUR PHASES OF A BAIP PROGRAM

• Phase I. Program Development

• Phase 11. Unit Performance Analysis
• Phase 111. Team Inspection
• Phase IV. Analysis and Reporting

Fixure 4 Boiler Availability Improvement Program

2
Implications of Cyclic Boiler Study:

• Redesign of superheater:
Upgrade metal selection
Replace with drainable type
• Increase mechanical flexibility of boiler connections
• Increase superheater and reheater spray capacities
• Add superheater bypass system
• Add downcomer blowdown system
• Add economizer protection
• Add temperature probe to restrict gas temperatures
entering superheater during startup
• Modify equipment for turndow!l
• Consider smaller capacity pulverizers for reduced load
operation
• Add steam coil for airheater cold end protection
• Upgrade drum internals for cyclic operation
• Add pressure reducing valves for variable pressure
operation
• Add turbine bypass system
• Upgrade control system

Figure 5 Cyclic Boiler Study

The TIS is a four-part program and includes:

• Unit inspection and evaluation

• Preliminary findings-both oral and written
at the time of the plant visit
• Materials testing-off-site
• Final report findings and recommendations

The utility writes the entire scope of the TIS,

which could include:

• Inspections to determine if a boiler which has been run

below rating for years could now be brought up to its
original design specifications.

• In-depth inspection and study to determine the

feasability of upgrading the temperature, pressure and/or
capacity of a unit.

• Determinations of the work required to permanently

repa ir long-standing boiler or fuel burning problems to
which in-plant personnel were able to apply only
temporary fixes.

• Tests to establish overall unit efficiency and establish

requirements for improvement.

Figure 6 Teum lnspectinn Service

3
 Figure 10 Typical Superheater Headers

Easily estab li shed:

• Design temperature lim its of materials

• Design pressure limits of materials
• Corrosion allowance provided versus actua l
• Hydrostatic tests performed and plan ned
• Base loaded or cyclic duty
• Mechanical loads from boiler/hangers
• Mechanical loads from customer piping
• Repairs /maintenance performed on component

Difficu lt to establish:

• Number and magnitude of hot and cold starts

• Upset conditions experienced
• Percent of useful life experienced

Figure II Typical Compo nent Limitations

6

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 These tech niques have two part s- th e analytical and t he ph ysical component tes ting.
ANALYTICAL

• Establish detailed histogra ms fo r each compo nent as sho wn in Fig ures 12 and
13 to gather data w hich will a ll ow a n a na lysis o f the operating impact o n ex-
isti ng m ateria l condition s

• T ransfe r t he anal ysis techniques from Section I to Section H I o f the ASME

Boiler a nd Pressure Vessel Code to p rovide life cycle calcul a tion capabili ty

Perform deta iled fat igue ana lys is of each com ponent

PHYSTCA L CO MPONENT TESTI NG

• Verify critical dime nsions/thi c kn esses to es tabli sh cu rrent geo metr y/ in tegri ty

• Perfor m m etallurg ical examination to determin e a ny changes in m aterial

properties

• Per form NDT examinations in a reas o f concern that a rise o ut o f th e ana lytical
rev iew

The m anufacture r's expertise becomes in valu a ble integra ting the in fo rmation avail a ble o n a unit 's present
conditi nand expected future operating requirem ents. O nly the bo iler ma nufacturer brings the subtle knowled ge
of hoVI boilers designed to Section I of the AS M E code must be reviewed in mo re detail to co mplete the pic-
ture on life cycle analys is. Thi s is particularly criti cal when the utilit y is considering changing the cycle dut y
from that originally specified for t he boile r. Pi g ure 12 shows a typica l histogram developed for a base loaded
boiler Jrum. These o per ating requirements were factored into th e o ri ginall y-designed therm a l a nd mechanical
requirements . F igure 13 shows a typical hi sto gram deve loped fo r a cycling boiler drum. N ote that the ramp
ra te, frequency a nd m agnitude are substantia ll y different from t he base loaded unit. Implicit in this difference
is the requirement to review the m a teria l selectio n , nexibilit y a na lysis, hig h temperature creep a nd fa tigue
life expectancy to increase t he sophistication o f design ana lysis. As a ma nufacturer, we k now when to a ppl y
Sect ion I ASME . ANSI B31. 1, Section Ill ASME, or high temperature creep a na lysis techniq ues to the
mech an ical component des ign . In a ddition , there a re compa ra ble thermal ana lysis techniq ues th a t are used
as well as mechanica l design tools co vering the boile r compo nent s not addressed by the industry recognized codes.

In summary, Riley Sto ker Corporation has mor e th a n 70 yea rs o f design , man u fact ur ing a nd construct ion
experi ence in boilers a nd fu el system s. O ver this period o f ti me we have gro wn to beco me experts in o ur fie ld
a nd believe t hat there is an essentia l role for the Boi ler Ma nufactu rer in a ny considera ti on of the boiler life
exten sio n . Only the manufacturer can offer th e utilit y indu str y th e following unique skill s whi ch are a vaila bl e
fro m qualified boi ler design firm s which couple theo ry with p rac tical experi ence:

• Availa bility of ori ginal design calcul a tions a nd ass umptio ns

• Data base of compa ra ti ve experie nce

• Ana lytical tools spec ifi ca ll y tailo red to bo ilers

• Ability to predict which components will be a ffected by life extensio n

• Abi li ty to predict o verall unit per fo rm a nce based on desired /anticipated cha nges

• E xtensive ex perience in t he in specti o n a nd m a inte na nce o f boil er system s

• Ves ted interest in b eing represent ed by relia ble, cos t effective equipmen t

• Long- term orienta tio n to ut ility cu stom ers

The ( omp~n y re crvcs the right to make tech nical and mechan ical changes or rev isions res ulti ng fro m improve ment developed by
its rcsearcl1 an d development work, 01 ava il a bility of new materia ls in co nn ection wit h 1hc desig n of i t ~ eq ui pment , or im provement>
in ma m,facturing and co nstruction proced ures an d engineeri ng standard s.