Air To Fuel Ratio Control

Air to fuel ratio control

FICCI – June 2006 - Bangalore
Boiler House Division

The Next Hour and a half
• Boiler Efficiency
• Combustion basics
• Traditional control systems
• Oxygen trim control
• Oxygen measurement
• Ensuring optimum efficiency
• Boiler Efficiency improvement packages
Cost of operation–Oil fuels

Cost of operation-Solid fuel

Operating costs
• Capacity Oil Gas Coal
• 1 TPH 110L 60L 35L

• 5 TPH 690L 300L 172L
• 10 TPH 1350L 600L 345L
• Cost of fuel Rs 22/kg Rs 9/Nm3 Rs 2/kg

• Hours of operation 8000 8000 8000

Estimated savings
• Capacity Oil Gas Coal
• 1 TPH 5L 2.2L 1.5L

• 5 TPH 25L 11L 7.5L
• 10 TPH 50L 22L 15L
• Improvement 80 to 83 79 to 82 70 to 73
• Cost of fuel Rs 22/kg Rs 9/Nm3 Rs 2/kg
• Hours of operation 8000 8000 8000
Boiler Efficiency
• Boiler efficiency depends on both, the heat
generation and heat utilization process.
• Heat generation covers the combustion

process itself
• Heat utilization coves heat transfer from
combustion to water and other operational
losses like radiation and blowdown.

Boiler Efficiency-Losses
• Heat generation
– Stack loss
– Enthalpy loss
• Heat Utilization
– Radiation loss
– Blowdown loss

Losses – Typical values

Boiler Efficiency-Methods
• Direct Efficiency
• In-Direct Efficiency
– BS
– ASME
– IS
• Energy balance
• S:F
Controllable losses
• Stack loss
– Can be easily controlled

– One of the chief contributes to total boiler
losses
• Blowdown loss
– Automatic control helps
• Other losses: Enthalpy, Radiation, Ash

Combustion and efficiency
• Combustion is the burning of a fuel with Air leading to
release of energy. It is the process by which the Chemical
energy contained in the fuel is converted into Heat energy.

• All conventional fossil fuels whether Solid, Liquid or
gaseous contain basically carbon and/or Hydrogen which
invariably react with the oxygen in the air forming carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide or water vapor.
• The heat energy released as a result of combustion can be
utilized for heating purposes or for generation of steam in a
boiler.

Heat generation process
• In fossil fuels there are only three elements of interest:
carbon, hydrogen & sulfur.
• During combustion each reacts with oxygen to release

heat:
• C + 02 Æ CO2 + Heat
• H2 + ½ O2 Æ H20 + Heat
• S + O2 Æ SO2 + Heat
• Pure carbon, hydrogen and sulfur are rarely used as fuels.
Instead, common fuels are made up of chemical
compounds containing these elements.
Heat generation process
• CnHn + O2 + N2 Æ CO2 + H2O + N2 + Heat
(Air)
• From the above equation it can be seen that hydrocarbon

burns completely to produce water, CO2 & heat. This kind
of complete burning is known as stoichiometric
combustion.
• The heat released when the fuel burns completely is known
as heat of combustion.
• Nitrogen doesn’t play a role in combustion and appears in
the output as it is.
Excess Air
• The Minimum amount of air required for the complete
combustion of a fuel is known as “theoretical air “.
• In boilers, one always needs to supply more air than what

is required by stoichiometric calculations . The extra air,
that is needed for complete combustion, taking into
realities of combustion, over and above the stoichiometric
air is known as “ Excess air “.
• The fuel rich mixtures, or mixtures with stoichiometric or
less than stoichiometric air give incomplete combustion
that results in some quantity of undesirable carbon
monoxide in the exhaust gases and also some loss of heat
energy.
Excess Air
• Too little excess air is inefficient
because it permits unburned fuel, in the
form of combustibles, to escape up the
Real World : Com bustibles appear

even when excess air is supplied.
stack. But too much excess air is also

inefficient because it enters the burner % Flue gas concentration
at ambient temperature and leaves the

CO 2
Real world O2
stack hot, thus stealing useful heat from Theoretical
optimum
optimum
point
CO+H 2
point
the process.
• “Maximum combustion efficiency is
achieved when the correct amount of - 20 0 10 30
% Excess Air
excess air is supplied so that sum of
both unburned fuel loss and flue gas
heat loss is minimized”.

Traditional control systems
• All burners operate with more air than
required.
• Often, the most immediate way of

improving efficiency and reducing
emissions
• Reduction of oxygen by 1 % typically will
increase efficiency by 0.5 %.

What leads to variations
• Air temperature
• Fuel temperature
• Fuel pressure
• Moisture in fuel
• Loading pattern
• Changing calorific value of fuel
• Use of multiple fuels
Effect of Air temperature
Air temperature deg C - Excess air (%)
4.5 - 25.5
10 - 20.2
26.7 - 15.0
37.8 - 9.6
48.9 - 1.1

Linkage Control
• Fixed setting of
fuel and air
• No compensation
for variation
• Typical of Oil
and Gas fired
boilers
• Gear back lash
and deadband

Parallel control
• One step above the
jack shaft control
• Settings fixed for

each point of fuel
and air
• Settings can be
changed easily

Cross Limiting Control
• Based on feedback of
actual fuel and air flow
• A better system to have

• Involves more
instrumentation
• Cannot cater to fuel
composition changes

Oxygen trim control
• Control of air as per combustion
requirements
• Sounds good
• Complicated to implement
• Needs study before implementation

What is Oxygen trim control?
• Control of EXCESS air in the stack of the
boiler
• Done by sensing oxygen percentage in the

stack
• On-Line measurement of CO not necessary
• Done by independent modulation of air
damper or VFD.

Before trim control
Oxygen level versus firing rate
10.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
Oxygen level (%)
5.0
4.0
3.0
OXYLEVELBNR2A
Trend
2.0
1.0
0.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0
Firing rate (%)

After trim control
Oxygen level versus firing rate
10.0
OXYLEVELBNR1A
Poly. (OXYLEVELBNR1A)
9.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
Oxygen (%)
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0
Firing rate (%)

Basic system - Oil / Gas fired
boilers
PT
Damper
V
F Blower
Modulation
ON /OFF
Controller
Boiler
Servo
Motor Burner OL
Oil Circulation TS EffiMax

M t 4000
Plunger

Basic system - Solid fuels
PT
O2
FURNACE
TT
TT
DYNO DRIVE
Fuel
ID FAN
Primary Air
V
F Blower
D FT
EffiMax
4000

Pre-Implementation Checks
• Observe the boiler operation for 1-2 hours.
• Check if it is modulating continuously or

only in high low mode.
• Observe the average load on the boiler -
Preferably it should be above 50 % load.
• Check what the fuel/air modulation
mechanism is - Servo motor based, etc.

• Check the Oxygen values at high fire, low
fire and mid firing conditions.
• These values should be between 3-8% for

oil fired boilers, 2-5 for gas fired boilers and
5 to 12% for FBC boilers.
• Also check the CO values. Typically these
should be below 200 ppm.

• Ask the boiler operator to tune the burner
and try reducing oxygen as much as
possible with CO being below 200 ppm.

• The pay back of the system and the
improvement in efficiency will depend on
the higher oxygen measured earlier and
later.

Implementation pre-requisites
• Need to ensure that
there is a provision
for installing an
additional feed back
mechanism for
damper position
feed back.

Some considerations
• Simple PID cannot work because of the
large dead-time involved
– Dead time compensation technique is used

Step change in damper
Dead time Time
Response of Oxygen
Dead time compensation
• Basically holds the output of the PID
controller till the dead time is over
• Effectively makes the controller wait till the

response is fully over
Measure O2
Move damper
Wait for O2 change

Some more considerations
• Air damper has to respond immediately,
without waiting for the dead time to be
over, when the firing of the boiler changes

with a change in load.
• While moving, it has to replicate the curve
of Oil-Air relationship of that particular
burner

Some more considerations
• The damper has to be moved to a particular
position, normally fully open, during the
purging time of the burner

One final consideration
• The air damper can be either
– servo motor controlled, which requires one

current output
– power cylinder controller, which requires an
I/P converter and an analog signal output
– VFD controlled, which requires an analog
signal

Features of our trim control loop
• Accepts inputs from • Has
– a bump-less A/M
– Oxygen analyzer
station
– Burner On/Off
– Dead time
– Burner firing position compensation
• Has a characterizer to • Displays
replicate the response – Oxygen value (P & S)
of a mechanical link – Damper opening (%)
• Tracking / non- • Gives outputs to
tracking set point
– Damper actuator
Trim control for solids
• Additionally it has furnace pressure control
also.
• The trim output is interlocked with the

furnace pressure such that if the furnace
pressure increases, the trim output and the
boiler pressure control are reduced.
• It should also have bed temperature
interlock.
Back to main Menu?

Oxygen measurement
Oxygen measurement using zirconia technology is

todays industry standard and is accepted as a cost

effective and reliable measuring instrument.

The Zirconium measuring
principle (is very simple
A process gas (A) with unknown oxygen (O2)-concentration flows over a
measuring probe, which is sealed against the process gas with a heated
zirconia cell (B)
The reference gas air (C) with its known and constant O2 - concentration
contacts the cell from the inside.
At high temperatures a voltage V is generated between the two surfaces of the

cell, which, at constant cell temperature, depends only on the ratio of the
oxygen concentrations (partial pressures) in A and C.
With air (oxygen content constant 20,95%) as A

reference gas the measured voltage is a direct B
measure for the oxygen concentration in the V
process gas A, as long as... C

Is very simple ,
As long as
the seal between process and reference gas is
absolutely and perfectly gas tight and therefore
any influence to the measuring results are
eliminated for ever !

Nerst equation and the gas tight
fraction line
The Nernst equation The gas tight fraction line
P1 Reference gas partial pressure P1

V = K ·T · log + C
P2 Process gas partial pressure P2
V Measured voltage
K Natural constant With a „leakproof“ fraction line
and air as reference gas all values
T Temperature, is kept constant of the Nernst equation except P2
are constant! This means
P1 Partial pressure of reference gas;
is constant, if air is used as reference gas The voltage output depends only
and mixture prevented with process gas on partial pressure P2 (process
gas) and calibration is not required
C Constant offset
Calibration ?
Other oxygen measuring methods require a two point calibration, which in
practice has been transferred to the zirconia measuring principle. This is
not necessary, as the Nernst equation is a mathematical a linear function

and with air as a known reference gas the only paramenter P1 is constant.
Therefore calibration is not required!
Only one condition must be fulfilled:
The measuring cell must have a totally gas tight seal between the
process gas side and the reference gas side.
Any leakage at the cell will cause a migration of process and reference gas
that will make regular calibrations necessary.

Design of the Oxytec Zirconia
cell with the gas tight seal
Process gas
Ion migration mV Voltage
Seal Heater
Zirconia Electrodes
Reference
Referenzluft Thermocouple
gas (air)

Key factors for the reliable gas
tight cell
Carefully selected high quality materials
Special cell sealing technology
Special manufacturing process
Mechanical design
Production, Test & Quality Control to ISO 9001

Ensuring optimum Efficiency
• How do you know correct set-points?
• Continuous study and adjustment required.

• Look at final performance parameters like
fuel consumption or direct efficiency.
• Relate them to operating conditions to find
best operating points.

Self learning logic
• Builds data base of operating conditions
• Is simple to do, but has to be done

continuously
• Compares past and present to alter
operating conditions
• Better done through computer programs

Self learning example

Self learning example

Effect of boiler loading

Effect of Oxygen variation

Boiler Efficiency range of
products
• EffiMax 1000 - Online steam to fuel ratio
meter with direct efficiency calculations.
– Measures Steam flow, Oil/gas flow, Steam

temperature and feed water temperature.
– Calculates S:F, Direct efficiency, Steam
pressure, steam and fuel totalization.
– Applications - Typically oil / gas fired boilers
below 2-3 TPH capacity.

products
• EffiMax 2000 - Indirect Efficiency analyzer
with automatic blow down control.
– Measures Steam flow, temperature, stack

Oxygen, temperature, ambient temperature,
Drum TDS and feed water temperature.
– Calculates Indirect efficiency, indirect S:F, %
blowdown loss, steam and blowdown total.
– Application - 3 TPH and above oil, gas, solid
fuel fired boilers.
products
with ABCO and S:F measurement.
– Measures Steam flow, temperature, oil/gas

flow, stack Oxygen, temp., ambient temp.,
Drum TDS and feed water temperature.
– Calculates Indirect efficiency, direct S:F, %
– Application - 3 TPH and above oil and gas fired
boilers.
products
with ABCO and Oxygen trim control.
– Measures Steam flow, temp., stack Oxygen,

temp., ambient temp., Drum TDS, feed water
temp., damper feedback and boiler on/off.
– Calculates Indirect efficiency, indirect S:F, %
– Application - 3 TPH and above oil, gas, solid
fuel fired boilers.
EffiMax 2000
Touch Screen Based


EffiMax 2000, the latest Touch Screen based offering
from the EffiMax range of on-line boiler efficiency
analyzers, provides a complete monitoring and data

acquisition solution for boiler performance. The
highlight of this product is the extremely visual Human
Interface and self explanatory mimic of the boiler on the
front display. It also allows for real time / historical
trending on the display.

Boiler Efficiency Indication (%) in accordance with BS 845
based on indirect efficiency computation.
Stack Loss Indication (%),

fuel ratio control
Enthalpy Loss (%)

‘05
Radiation Loss Indication (%)

Air to Conference
Combustion Loss (%)
Steam Flow Indication (kg/h),
Steam to fuel ratio (compensated for Feedwater Temp)

Sales
Oxygen Indication (%)

A simple and cost effective package which monitors the
following parameters ON LINE through a extremely visual
human interface and self explanatory touch screen mimic with
a diagnostic report generation :-
1. All ealier features/data maintained in Touch
screen.
2. The Manager can see the graphics on PC and the

operator can see the same on the touch screen.
3. The operator too now has features like
- Real time trending.
- Customized alarms.
4. All range settings and calibration
is menu driven

Features
Blowdown loss totalization (kg), Average (kg/h)
Automatic Blowdown control
Steam and F.W. Temperature Indication - deg C

Stack Temperature Indication - deg C
All measured data displayed on a Mimic
Trending, Alarms and Data log.
Proprietary PC based software that provides graphical

trending, datalogging, diagnostics, alarms
RS 485/ Modbus output to PC

EffiMax 2000 - User Interface






Air To Fuel Ratio Control

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Air to fuel ratio control

Air to fuel ratio control

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

• 1 TPH 110L 60L 35L

• Cost of fuel Rs 22/kg Rs 9/Nm3 Rs 2/kg

Boiler House Division

• 1 TPH 5L 2.2L 1.5L

• Heat generation covers the combustion

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

– Can be easily controlled

Boiler House Division

energy contained in the fuel is converted into Heat energy.

Boiler House Division

• During combustion each reacts with oxygen to release

• From the above equation it can be seen that hydrocarbon

• In boilers, one always needs to supply more air than what

Real World : Com bustibles appear

stack. But too much excess air is also

at ambient temperature and leaves the

Boiler House Division

• Often, the most immediate way of

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

• Settings fixed for

Boiler House Division

• A better system to have

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

• Done by sensing oxygen percentage in the

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

Oil Circulation TS EffiMax

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

• Check if it is modulating continuously or

Boiler House Division

• These values should be between 3-8% for

Boiler House Division

possible with CO being below 200 ppm.

Boiler House Division

Boiler House Division

– Dead time compensation technique is used

Dead time Time

• Effectively makes the controller wait till the

Boiler House Division

over, when the firing of the boiler changes

Boiler House Division

purging time of the burner

Boiler House Division

– servo motor controlled, which requires one

Boiler House Division

• The trim output is interlocked with the

Boiler House Division

Oxygen measurement using zirconia technology is

todays industry standard and is accepted as a cost

Boiler House Division