Working Of A Power Plant Boiler

Boiler in a power plant has two functions:

The Combustion system converts energy in coal to Heat

Water and steam system converts the heat to steam at high pressures and temperatures

Details:
The higher the furnace temperature, the faster the steam production. The
saturated steam thus produced can then either be used immediately to produce
power via a turbine or else may be further superheated to a higher temperature;
this notably reduces suspended water content making a given volume of steam
produce more work.

Any remaining heat in the combustion gases can then either be evacuated or
made to pass through an economiser, the role of which is to warm the feed water
before it reaches the boiler



Type of Boiler(Power Generation)
According to flow of water & hot gases:
Water tube (4,500 - 20,000 kg/hour of steam)
Fire tube (8000 - 12000 kg/hour of steam)


Water vs Fire tube boilers
Fire tube boilers have low initial cost & are more compact

But they are more likely to explosion, water volume is large & due to poor
circulation they cannot meet quickly the change in steam demand

For the same output the outer shell of fire tube boilers is much larger than the
shell of water-tube boiler

Water tube boilers require less weight of metal for a given size, are less liable to
explosion, produce higher pressure, are accessible and can respond quickly to
change in steam demand

The efficiency of water-tube boilers is more.
Design of steam powerplant

Major Components & their function
Economiser

Most of the sensible heat is absorbed in the Economiser. These are a set of coils
made from steel tubes located in the tail end of a boiler. The hot gases leaving the
boiler furnace heat the water in the coils. The water temperature is slightly less
than the saturation temperature. From the economiser the water is fed to the
'drum'.

Air pre-Heating:

The hot gases coming out of the economizer is used to preheat the air
before supplying it to the combustion chamber. An increase in air
temperature of 20 degrees can be achieved by this method. The pre
heated air is used for combustion and also to dry the crushed coal before
pulverizing


Major Components & their function
Soot Blowers

The fuel used in thermal power plants causes soot and this is deposited on the
boiler tubes, economizer tubes, air pre heaters, etc. Soot blowers control the
formation of soot and reduce its corrosive effects. The advantages are that
they are placed far away from the high temperature zone, they concentrate
the cleaning through a single large nozzle rather than many small nozzles and
there is no concern of nozzle arrangement with respect to the boiler tubes.

Major Components & their function
Superheater
The superheater consists of a superheater header and superheater
elements. Steam from the main steam pipe arrives at the saturated steam
chamber of the superheater header and is fed into the superheater
elements. Superheated steam arrives back at the superheated steam
chamber of the superheater header and is fed into the steam pipe to the
cylinders. Superheated steam is more expansive.

Reheater
The reheater functions similar to the superheater in that it serves to
elevate the steam temperature. Primary steam is supplied to the high
pressure turbine. After passing through the high pressure turbine, the
steam is returned to the steam generator for reheating (in a reheater)
after which it is sent to the low pressure turbine. A second reheat cycle
may also be provided.
http://www.brighthubengineering.com/power
-plants/23879-how-does-a-power-plant-
boiler-work-water-and-steam-system/#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam-
electric_power_station