Handle Both Forced Draft Fans Trip in Running Boiler

written by: Dr V T Sathyanathan edited by: Lamar Stonecypher updated: 5/3/2010

All forced draft fan trip in a boiler will cause a boiler trip. Putting the boiler back in operation and
giving steam at the required parameter to the consumer is very important. Delay in this can cause a
very high loss to the plant.

Boilers have forced draft (FD) fans to supply air for the combustion of
fuel. In addition to this fan, there can be many other fans such as induced draft (ID), primary air fans
(PA), seal air fans, scanner air fans, etc. In these the FD, ID, and PA fans are large capacity fans,
while the others are smaller fans. In the case of a pressurized boiler, only an FD fan is present. Here
the FD fan handles the full pressure drop of the whole boiler air and flue gas system. In the case of a
balanced draft system, the ID fan evacuates the flue gas from the furnace and handles the pressure
drop in the flue gas section. The PA fan is used in the case of solid fuels to carry the fuel to the
furnace and give the primary air requirement to the fuel.
Trip in a running boiler
Any trip of major equipment in the boiler causes the boiler parameters to vary widely before it
stabilizes depending upon the action taken by the operator. Boiler tripping can also be caused if
some vital equipment trips or if some unsafe condition appears. The important factors to be
understood in a trip of equipment in a boiler are mainly four.

1.
2.
3.
4.

The specific cause of trip

The plant response to the trip
The immediate operator action required
The immediate local operator action requirement
In the case of both FD fans tripping, the boiler will go for trip as the air supply to the fuel is cut off in
full or excluding the primary air depending upon the system design. The PA fan also trip as soon as
all the FD fans trip. Depending upon whether the boiler is for a process unit or power station, the
action on the steam consumer end will vary.
The specific cause of the trip
For both FD fans to trip the main reasons can be as below.

6.6 KV supply failure

0.4 KV supply failure
Cooling water to motors failure
Plant response to the trip
The immediate plant response when both the FD fans trip will be boiler trip. The PA fans and mills
also trip.
Immediate operator action required
The boiler will have to be prepared for light up immediately. Any delay in this action within a very
short period can cause lot of problems and loss for the plant. The following will help any boiler
operator to speed up his action to bring back the boiler on line.

Check feed pump, maintain drum level

Get clearance from connected group to start equipment in
boiler

Start one ID fan, as soon as possible

Start FD fan
Maintain purge conditions
Complete purge
Introduce furnace probe
Light up boiler
Open start-up vent valve or bring to service LP / HP bypass
depending upon the consumer

Quickly start PA fan / milling system and give steam to the

consumer maintaining the required steam parameters
Maintain steam parameters and load the boiler as consumption
of steam increases
Control the water level in drum
Maintain furnace conditions
Load to maximum load as required once all parameters
stabilize
Local operator action requirement
The local operator of the boiler will have to perform a quick task of restoring things in the locale and
communicate to the boiler control room. This set of activity is carried out by the respective groups in
each area like boiler operating floor, mill area, etc. The actions required are:

See all fuel trip valves are closed

Check furnace has no flame
Check if air heaters are rotating only for regenerative air
heaters

Check fans for starting conditions and confirm to control room

Make ready the fuel oil system for light up of unit and inform
control room

Check local boiler drum level and make sure

Check and make ready feeders and mills for coal firing

Make all electrical check and clear for starting the boiler
All the said actions are broad and for general understanding only. It is required to train and educate
the operators for each design of the units. There are lot of changes taking place on the controls side
and equipment design side. This brings in a need to understand the specifics of the system that is
being handled.