Fire Tube Boiler

Hot gases track:

From the second path to super-heater, then to the third path.

→ Hot gases from the second path have high temperature (have low
density) and tubes diameter of the third path are smaller than that of the
second path, so flue gases tends to go up where super-heater exist.

→ Flue gases in super-heater heat steam which passes through the coil, so
it cools down and density increase passing through the third path, then to
the stack.

Why tubes diameter of the third path are smaller than that of the second
path?
→M=⍴vA
→ Flue gases going down from the super-heater have higher density, while
M (mass flow rate) is constant, so if area is constant too, velocity will
decrease so heat transfer coefficient decreases.
→ Therefor total area of third path should be < that of the second, so
velocity is kept constant and heat transfer coefficient don’t decrease.
Also decreasing velocity will lead to increasing in deposition rate of
impurities because these gases have soot.

Note that
→This front end is dry like the back one because we can see the elbow and
tubes inside.

→ Super- heater is natural circulation because it depends on change of flue

gases density from second path to it and from it to the third path.

→This boiler is three path boiler.

 Primary filter for fuel filtration.

 Fuel source is felixable because burner body angle
can be changed.
Burner
 Outlet pressure of the
secondary filter is
measured by a pressure
gauge to know if the filter
is blocked or not.

→If the pressure decreased

this mean that there is a big
pressure drop on the filter
which means that it has
blocked.

 There are two solenoid valves, as we can use one only for part load operation.

→Each one can reduce the amount of the fuel to the half, then the minimum turn-down ratio is 4:1, as we are
capable of operating one only, and reduce the mount through it to the half (1/4 of the total amount).
𝑀𝑎𝑥.𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒
→Turn-down ratio = 𝑀𝑖𝑛.𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒

 This burner used for heating heavy oils, as there is no heater.

 There are two fuel outlets, one for each solenoid valve.
 Electric motor to operate the Centrifugal blower for entering
Air.
 There is no filteration for air, there is only a net to prevent large
objects from entring the blower.
 Fuel master controls the amount of entring air according to
consumption rate of the fuel.
 Secondary air inlet: The lined circumference is bigger than the
in front disk as from this formed annulus clearance, air goes out,
not mixed with the fuel -but after burning- to complete the
combustion.
  Air goes out from these primary openings and pass through guide vanes in two directions, one axial and the
other is tangential.
→ The tangential direction is for:
1- Swirling the atomized fuel with air for good mixing.
2- To decrease axial velocity to stabilize the flame.

 Contact sensor to ensure that these two parts (shown in the image) are tightly closed for no air leakage.
→ If they weren’t closed, it sends a signal to the fuel master to shutoff fuel and air.
 Temperature sensor to measure temperature of the air, because according to its temperature, air density
changes and so do its mass, so fuel master changes the amount of passing fuel according to this air mass.
 Pilot to the blower, if the fuel amount changed, the pilot send signal to the blower to change amount of air.

Steam
 Feed pump
→ It may be positive displacement pump or multi-stage
centrifugal pump.
→ This pump is 4-stages centrifugal pump.
→ Feed water comes from water treatment unit.
 Check valve on suction side for self-priming.
 Check valve on delivery side to prevent back-flow if the
steam pressure in the shell increased due to change in load.
 Water entrance valve is from up and water is distributed through a horizontal pipe on the shell to prevent
thermal stresses.
 Generated steam line is the larger line because steam has big volume.
→ Steam generated is saturated steam which enters the super-heater to super-heated.
 Surface blowdown: there is no surface blowdown for foam or suspended solids in the boiler, as there is no a
horizontal pipe on the top side of the boiler where the red line exit in the figure (If there was a pipe where the
red line exist, then there is surface blowdown.
 Bottom blowdown: there is
bottom blowdown as shown
in the figure.
→ Blowdown should be
installed on the side of
water level indicator
installed, to let the indicator
do a fast response for
stopping blowdown when it
finished.
→ Operator must stand on
the pedal during blowdown
even the valve was open,
for safety, as if he left the
pedal for any reason,
blowingdown stops.
→ Without this pedal, contniuous blowdown will lead to explotion of the boiler due to huge thermal stresses.
→ Glass side should be from this side of the boiler not the other, so operator can see the water level while he
standing on the pedal.
 Super-heater
 Upper header
is horizontally divided,
while the lower
header is not divided.
 Steam enters
the upper half of the
upper header and
then passes through
the coil down to the
lower header as
shown by the black
line in the figure.
 Then steam fill
the lower header and
passes through the
coil up to the lower
half of the upper
header, then out
through the outlet
line as shown by the
red line in the figure,
as it was supposed to
warm the laboratory.

 Temperature indicator on the outlet line of the super-heater.

 Start-up of super-heater: during start up, there is no steam
in the super-heater, while flue gases still passes through it,
so it will be burned.
→ Super-heater may be by-pass super-heater or drainable
super-heater.
→ By-bass super-heater isolate the flues gases from super-
heater during start-up
→ Drainable super-heater: the super-heater is filled with
water initially, so during start up no thermal stresses
happen, after that when steam generated steam enters the
super-heater and water is drained out.
→ For this boiler, the two types are applied, as there are
gates below the super-heater
from inside in the arrow
direction as shown in the
figure.
Side glass
 Normal
operation: steam
and water lines
are open, so
operator can see
the level, while
drain line is
closed.
 Cleaning steam
line and side
glass: water line is
closed, while
steam and drain
lines are open, so
steam can pass
under high
pressure to clean
the steam line and side glass.
 Cleaning water side: steam line is
closed, while water and drain line are
open, so water under high pressure
can pass and clean the water line.

Cleaning Water line Cleaning steam line and side glass

 Float control: uses float to indicate water level, then a signal is
sent to the boiler master, if level was high a lead will blow on
and an alarm will be heard.

 Air vent: when filling the shell for first time are must be
vented.

 Pressure indicator: to know the boiler pressure.

 Safety valves: to relief pressure, if pressure exceeds the limit.

→ The outlet pipe is bigger than the inlet to decrease the press
drop across the valve as the steam is discharged to the
atmospheric pressure, so back pressure should be high to not
affect the valve operation.
→ Valve may be not used for long time, so operator have to
operate the spring using this lever.
 Pressure switches:
→ When boiler wanted to be operated at part load, pressure
increases, so a signal sent to the fuel master to decrease the
fuel burning.
→ When the boiler is operated at part load and wanted to be
operated at full load, pressure inside the boiler decreases, so
a signal sent to the fuel master to increase the fuel burning.