Factors affecting Boiler Performance

Boiler Performance Characterisation

Combustion / Thermal Efficiency - Conversion of chemical heat in fuel to production of steam adequate Time / Temperature / Turbulence Auxiliary Power Consumption The total power being consumed by ID, FD, PA fans and the mills.

Effect of Boiler side Parameters (Approx.)

OFF Design/Optimum Conditions Parameter Excess Air (O2) Exit Gas Temp Unburnt Carbon Coal moisture Boiler Efficiency Deviation per % per oC per % per % per % Effect on Heat Rate 7.4 Kcal/kWh 1.2 Kcal/kWh 10-15 Kcal/kWh 2-3 Kcal/kWh 25 Kcal/kWh

Boiler Control Volume

Factors affecting Boiler efficiency include

Design Coal Quality Mill Performance - PF Fineness Burner-to-burner PF balance Excess Air Level Boiler Air Ingress AH Performance Furnace / Convective section Cleanliness Quality of Overhauls Water Chemistry, boiler loading, insulation etc.

Efficiency Vs HHV of Coal Assumptions

Exit Gas Temp - Constt. Fuel Moisture - Constt Fuel Hydrogen - Constt Excess Air - 20 % GCV - 3700 kal/kg

The Coal
Proximate Analysis, Ultimate Analysis, Calorific Value, Ash Constituents, Ash Fusion Temperatures, FC/VM ratio, Hard Grove Index, YGP (Yeer Geer Price) Index Typical Proximate Coal Analysis - Fixed Carbon - 32.4 %, Volatile matter - 21.6 %, Moisture 16.0 %, Ash 30.0 %, GCV 4050 kcal/kg +ve aspects - Low Sulfur, Low chlorine, Low iron content and High Ash fusion temp -ve aspects - High ash, moisture, high silica / alumina ratio, low calorific value, high electrical resistivity of ash,

Problem

Coal Composition Different bases of representation

As fired basis Air dry basis Dry basis Dry & Ash free basis Ultimate Proximate Ash A Coke C FC H O N S VM Volatile Mi M M

Coal characteristics decide the heat release rates, furnace wall conditions and consequently the furnace heat transfer Deterioration in Coal quality affects boiler capability to operate at rated parameters. Change in coal quality affects capacity, efficiency and combustion stability. Increase in moisture affects mill drying, tempering air requirement, gas velocities, ESP & Boiler efficiency. Ash quality / quantity affects boiler erosion, mill wear, slagging and fouling propensity, ash handling system, sprays, sootblowing requirements etc. Change in coal characteristics affects mill wear parts life & throughput of Pulverizers.

PF fineness
Typical recommended value of pulverised fuel fineness through 200 mesh Sieve is 70% and 1% retention on 50 mesh sieve. Fineness is expressed as the percentage pass through a 200-mesh screen (74m). Coarseness is expressed as the percentage retained on a 50-mesh screen (297m). Screen mesh indicates the number of openings per linear inch.

Excessive PF fineness would cause

Reduction in mill capacity Increased mill component wear Increased mill and fan power combustion Excessive PF fineness may not necessarily result in improved combustion

Burner Imbalance
Mill discharge pipes offer different resistance to the flows due to unequal lengths and different geometry layouts. Fixed orifices are put in shorter pipes to balance velocities / dirty air flow / coal flows. The sizes of the orifices are specified by equipment supplier.

B 2

E 3

Mills

Boiler
1 4

Control Room

Burner Imbalance
Primary Air Flow Coal Flow Dirty air flow distribution should be with in +/5.0% of the average of fuel pipes Coal distribution should be with in +/-10% of the average of fuel pipes Balanced Clean air flows do not necessarily result in balanced Dirty air flows.

Burner Balance
Balanced PF flows are an essential pre-requisite to an optimized combustion. Usually the imbalance gets camouflaged by additional excess air, thereby losing out on boiler efficiency and operating flexibility.

Excess Air
Low excess air operation can lead to unstable combustion (furnace puffs) increased slagging of waterwalls and SH sections Loss in boiler efficiency due to increased CO / unburnt combustibles High excess air operation can lead to Increased boiler losses High SH / RH temperatures Higher component erosion

Boiler Air Ingress

Cold air leaks into the boiler from openings in the furnace and convective pass and through open observation doors. Some of the boiler leakage air aids the combustion process; some air that leaks into the boiler in the low temperature zones causes only a dilution of the flue gas. This portion of air appears as a difference in O2 level between the furnace exit and oxygen analysers at economizer exit. Actual oxygen in the furnace could be much less. Also, boiler casing and ducting air ingress affects ID fans power consumption and margins in a major way.

Air Ingress
The difference between oxygen at furnace outlet (HVT) and economizer outlet (zirconia) was in the range of 1.0 to 2.5 % in many boilers. Apart from degradation of AH baskets performance, another reason for lower heat recovery across air heaters is boiler operation at lesser SA flows due to high air-in-leakage.

Air Ingress
Boiler operation under adverse conditions continues as in majority of units On line CO feedback is not available. All boilers need to be equipped with On line CO monitors at Eco Outlet / ID fan discharge. Air ingress across AH outlet to ID suction observed to be generally in the range of 5 to 9%. Flue gas ducts & expansion joints at Eco outlet and APH inlet / outlet inspected thoroughly during O/H Replacement of Metallic / Fabric Expansion joints in 10 years / 5 years cycle

Air Heaters
Factors affecting performance include Operating excess air levels PA/SA ratio Inlet air / gas temperature Coal moisture Air ingress levels Sootblowing No. of mills in service

Air Heaters
Factors affecting performance include PA Header Pressure High pressure results in increased AH leakage, higher ID fan loading, higher PA fan power consumption, deteriorates PF fineness & can increase mechanical erosion Upstream ash evacuation Maintenance practices Condition of heating elements, seals / seal setting, sector plates / axial seal plates, diaphragm plates, casing / enclosure, insulation

Boiler Exit Gas Temperature

Ideal flue gas temperature at stack outlet should be just above the dew point to avoid corrosion; Higher gas temperatures reduce efficiency; Possible causes of temperature deviations are Dirty heat transfer surfaces High Excess air Excessive casing air ingress Fouled/corroded/eroded Air heater baskets Non - representative measurement Contd..

Air Heaters - Exit Gas Temperatures

Factors affecting EGT include Entering air temperature - Any changes would change exit gas temperature in same direction Entering Gas Temperature - Any changes would change exit gas temperature in same direction X-ratio - An increase in X-ratio would decrease exit gas temperatures & vice versa Gas Weight - Increase in gas weight would result in higher exit gas temperatures AH leakage - An increase in AH leakage causes dilution of flue gas & a drop in As read exit gas temperatures

AUXILIARY POWER CONSUMPTION

Major auxiliaries Consuming Power in a Boiler are FD fans, PA fans, ID fans and mills. Reasons for higher APC include * * * * * Boiler air ingress Air heater air-in-leakage High PA fan outlet pressure Degree of Pulverisation Operation at higher than optimum excess air

Main Steam/ Reheated Steam Temperature

While an increase in steam temperatures is beneficial to Turbine Cycle Heat Rate, theres no benefit to boiler efficiency, infact it affects reliability adversely.

Testing Techniques & Performance Optimisation

Boiler & Air Heater Tests

Tests to be conducted under defined operating regime (O2 level / PA Header Pressure / no. of mills) at nominal load

Pre Test Stabilisation Period

Prior to the test run, equipment must be operated at steady state conditions to ensure that there is no net change in energy stored in steam generator envelope. Minimum Stabilisation Time - 1 hour

Test Duration
Should be sufficient to take care of deviations in parameters due to controls, fuel variations & other operating conditions. When point by point traverse of Flue gas ducts is done, test should be long enough o complete atleast two traverses. In case of continuous Data Acquisition System & use of composite sampling grids, shall be based on collection of representative coal & ash samples. Could be 1/2 to 2 hours in case of parametric optimisation tests or 4 hours for Acceptance Tests.

Frequency of Observations
Parameter readings to be taken at a maximum interval of 15 minutes & a preferred interval of 2 minutes or less

Measurements during a Boiler Test

Coal Sample for Proximate analysis & GCV Bottom Ash and Flyash Samples Flue Gas Composition at AH Outlet Flue Gas Temperature at AH Inlet / Outlet Primary / Secondary air temp at AH inlet / outlet Dry / Wet bulb temperatures Control Room Parameters

(All measurements / sampling to be done simultaneously)

Coal Sampling
Coal Samples are drawn from all individual running feeders from sampling ports in feeder inlet chutes Composite sample is collected from all running feeders One sample is sealed in an air tight container for total moisture determination

Flyash Sampling
Flyash is collected in several hoppers as Flue Gas goes to stack; Heavier particles fall out first due to turns in gas stream Relative distribution of ash to various hoppers is not accurately known Preferred way to collect a) a representative sample b) sample of the test period is to use High Volume Sampler probes on both sides of boiler

Need for Off line Grid Measurement

On Line Instruments are adequate to monitor air heater performance but not good for assessing degradation. PG tests also necessitates installation of grid in air and flue gas ducts. a) Flue gas O2 measurement at AH outlet is not available b) Single point Orsat can be misleading due to stratification in flue gas c) The grid also validates & cross checks representative ness of online feedback

Test Locations - AH Inlet & Outlet

Inlet Sampling plane to be as close to AH as possible; Outlet grid to be a little away to reduce stratification AH hopper / Manhole air ingress can influence test data
FG Expansion Bellow

Economizer APH APH Sampling Locations

FG

Sampling Ports in Flue Gas Ducts (Typical )

100mm

Sampling Point for Flue Gas Temperature & Composition

Flue Gas Duct is divided into equal cross-sectional areas and gas samples are drawn from each center

Typical problems

High Economiser / AH exit gas temperature Air ingress from furnace bottom, penthouse and second pass Boiler operation at high excess air Metal temperature excursions High Unburnt carbon in ashes Uneven Flyash Erosion Flame failures Shortfall in steam temperatures Imbalance in Left - Right steam temperatures

Air Heaters
Deterioration of Boiler efficiency and increase in auxiliary power is generally on account of Air Heater performance degradation from O/H to O/H. Major symptoms of this degradation include the following
Increased flue gas volume - Affects ESP performance Lower flue gas exit temperatures due to high air heater leakage- An erroneous boiler efficiency feedback generates complacency Lower fan margins - Limit the unit output at times Boiler operation at less than optimum excess air - Specially in units where in ID fans are running at maximum loading

Air Heater - Performance Indicators

Air-in-Leakage Gas Side Efficiency X - ratio Flue gas temperature drop Air side temperature rise Gas & Air side pressure drops (The indices are affected by changes in entering air or gas temperatures, their flow quantities and coal moisture)

AH Performance Monitoring
O2 & CO2 in FG at AH Inlet O2 & CO2 in FG at AH Outlet Temperature of gas entering / leaving air heater Temperature of air entering / leaving air heater Diff. Pressure across AH on air & gas side

(Above data is tracked to monitor AH performance)

Air Heater Leakage (%)

The leakage of the high pressure air to the low pressure flue gas is due to the Differential Pressure between fluids, increased seal clearances in hot condition, seal erosion / improper seal settings. Typically air heater starts with a

baseline leakage of 6 to 10% after an overhaul.

Increased AH leakage leads to Reduced AH efficiency Increased fan power consumption Higher gas velocities that affect ESP performance Loss of fan margins leading to inefficient operation and at times restricting unit loading

Air Heater Leakage (%)

Direct - Hot End / Cold End
(60% through radial seals + 30% through Circumferential bypass)

Air leakage occurring at the hot end of the air heater affects its thermal and hydraulic performance while cold end leakage increases fans loading.
Entrained Leakage due to entrapped air between the heating elements (depends on speed of rotation & volume of rotor air space)

Air Heater Leakage - Calculation

This leakage is assumed to occur entirely between air inlet and gas outlet; Empirical relationship using the change in concentration of O2 or CO2 in the flue gas = CO2in - CO2out * 0.9 * 100 CO2out = O2out - O2in * 0.9 * 100 (21- O2out)
= 5.7 2.8 * 90 (21-5.7) = 17.1 %

CO2 measurement is preferred due to high absolute values; In case of any measurement errors, the resultant influence on leakage calculation is small.

Gas Side Efficiency

Ratio of Gas Temperature drop across the air heater, corrected for no leakage, to the temperature head. = (Temp drop / Temperature head) * 100 where Temp drop = Tgas in -Tgas out (no leakage) Temp head = Tgasin - T air in
Gas Side Efficiency = (333.5-150.5) / (333.5-36.1) = 61.5 %

Tgas out (no leakage) = The temperature at which the gas would have left the air heater if there were no AH leakage = AL * Cpa * (Tgas out - Tair in) + Tgas out Cpg * 100
Say AH leakage 17.1%, Gas In Temp 333.5 C, Gas Out Temp 133.8 C, Air In Temp 36.1 C Tgasnl = 17.1 * (133.8 36.1) + 133.8 = 150.5 C 100

X Ratio
Ratio of heat capacity of air passing through the air heater to the heat capacity of flue gas passing through the air heater. = = Wair out * Cpa Wgas in * Cpg Tgas in - Tgas out (no leakage) Tair out - Tair in

Say AH leakage 17.1%, Gas In Temp 333.5 C, Gas Out Temp 133.8 C , Air In Temp 36.1 C, Air Out Temp 288 C X ratio = (333.5 150.5) / (288 36.1) = 0.73

Air Heaters Good Practices

AH sootblowing immediately after boiler light up. Monitoring of Lub oil of Guide & Support bearings through Quarterly wear-debris analysis. Hot water washing of air heaters after boiler shutdown - flue gas temperature ~ 180 to 150 C with draft fans in stopped condition. (Ideally pH value can verify effective cleaning) Basket drying to be ensured by running draft fans for atleast four hours after basket washing.

Air Heaters
Baskets cleaning with HP water jet cleaning during Overhauls after removal from position Heating elements to be covered with templates during maintenance of air heaters. Gaps between diaphragms & baskets to be closed for better heat recovery & lower erosion rate at edges. Ensuring healthiness of flushing apparatus of Eco & AH ash hoppers

Boiler Performance Boiler Efficiency

The % of heat input to the boiler absorbed by the working fluid (Typically 85-88%)

Boiler Efficiency
Boiler Efficiency can be determined by a) Direct method or Input / Output method b) Indirect method or Loss method

Boiler Efficiency
Direct method or Input / Output method measures the heat absorbed by water & steam & compares it with the total energy input based on HHV of fuel. Direct method is based on fuel flow, GCV, steam flow pressure & temperature measurements. For coal fired boilers, its difficult to accurately measure coal flow and heating value on real time basis. Another problem with direct method is that the extent and nature of the individual components losses is not quantified.

Boiler Efficiency
Indirect method or Loss method For utility boilers efficiency is generally calculated by heat loss method wherein the component losses are calculated and subtracted from 100. Boiler Efficiency = 100 - Losses in %

Indirect or Loss method

In Heat Loss method the unit of heat input is the higher heating value per kg of fuel. Heat losses from various sources are summed & expressed per kg of fuel fired. Efficiency = 100 (L/Hf) * 100 L losses Hf heat input

Indirect or Loss method

This method also requires accurate determination of heating value, but since the total losses make a relatively small portion of the total heat input (~ 13 %), an error in measurement does not appreciably affect the efficiency calculations.

In addition to being more accurate for field testing, the heat loss method identifies exactly where the heat losses are occurring.

Boiler Efficiency
Commonly used standards for boiler performance testing are ASME PTC 4 (1998) BS 2885 (1974) IS: 8753: 1977 DIN standards

arameters required for computing Boiler Efficiency

AH flue gas outlet O2 / CO2 / CO AH flue gas inlet and outlet temp C Primary / Secondary air temp at AH inlet / outlet C Total Airflow / Secondary Air Flow t/hr Dry/Wet bulb temperatures C Ambient pressure bar a Proximate Analysis & GCV of Coal kcal / kg Combustibles in Bottom Ash and Flyash

Boiler Losses Typical values Dry Gas Loss 5.21 Unburnt Loss 0.63 Hydrogen Loss 4.22 Moisture in Fuel Loss 2.00 Moisture in Air Loss 0.19 Carbon Monoxide Loss 0.11 Radiation/Unaccounted Loss 1.00 Boiler Efficiency 86.63

Dry Gas Loss (Controllable)

This is the heat carried away by flue gas at AH outlet Its a function of flue gas quantity and the temperature difference between air heater exit gas temperature and FD fan inlet air temperature Typically 20 C increase in exit gas temperature ~ 1% reduction in boiler efficiency.

Dry Gas Loss

Sensible Heat of flue gas (Sh)

Sh = Mass of dry flue gas X Sp. Heat X (Tfg Tair)

Dry Flue Gas Loss % = (Sh / GCV of Fuel) * 100

Unburnt Carbon Loss (Controllable)

Loss due to Unburnt Carbon = U * CVc * 100 / GCV of Coal CVc CV of Carbon 8077.8 kcal/kg

U =

Carbon in ash / kg of coal * C (Carbon in coal) 100 - C

= Ash 100

Influencing Factors - Unburnt Carbon Loss

Type of mills and firing system Furnace size Coal FC/VM ratio, coal reactivity Burners design / condition PF fineness (Pulveriser problems) Insufficient excess air in combustion zone Air damper / register settings Burner balance / worn orifices Primary Air Flow / Pressure

Computation - Moisture Loss

Total Moisture Loss = (9H+M) * Sw / GCV of Coal Sw Sensible Heat of water vapour = 1.88 (Tgo 25) + 2442 + 4.2 (25 - Trai)
The moisture in flue gases (along with Sulphur in fuel) limits the temperature to which the flue gases may be cooled due to corrosion considerations in the cold end of air heater, gas ducts etc.

THANKS