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1. List out the different types of feed water heater

Open Feedwater Heaters

Closed Feedwater Heaters

An open feedwater heater is basically a mixing chamber, where the steam extracted from the turbine
mixes with the water exiting the pump. In an ideal condition, the water leaves the heater as a saturated liquid
at the heater pressure.
Closed feedwater heaters are shell-and-tube type recuperators in which feedwater temperature
increases as the extracted steam condenses on the outside of the tubes carrying the feedwater. The two
streams can be at different pressures since the two streams do not mix.
2. What is the function of Deaerators
A deaerator is a device that is widely used for the removal of oxygen and other dissolved gases from
the feedwater to steam-generating boilers.
In particular, dissolved oxygen in boiler feedwaters will cause serious corrosion damage in steam
systems by attaching to the walls of metal piping and other metallic equipment and forming oxides (rust).
Dissolved carbon dioxide combines with water to form carbonic acid that causes further corrosion. Most
deaerators are designed to remove oxygen down to levels of 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm/L) or less as well as
essentially eliminating carbon dioxide What are the advantages of high pressure boilers
3. What is a Superheater
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used in steam
engines or in processes, such as steam reforming. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant,
convection, and separately fired
4. How the reheat cycle increases the efficiency
If the dryness fraction of steam leaving the turbine is less than 0.88, then, corrosion and erosion of
turbine blades occur. To avoid this situation, reheat is used.

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In the reheat cycle, the expansion of steam takes place in one (or) more-turbines. Steam is expanded
in the HP turbine first, and then it is reheated. The reheated steam is again expanded in. the LP turbine.

Due to reheating, network done increases

Heat supply increases
Thermal efficiency increases
Due to reheating, the turbine exit dryness fraction increases so moisture
decreases - so blade erosion becomes minimum - so life of the turbine will be
increased.

5.

Explain the term Regeneration?

Regeneration means heating the feed water by steam taken from the turbine. The steam is exhausted
(bled) from the turbine at several locations before exhaust and is supplied to regenerator (feed water heater)
to heat the feed water.

6. Name different methods of reheating?

(a) Gas Reheating
(b) Live - steam reheating
(c) Combined gas live steam reheater.
7.

8.

State some advantages of Regeneration cycle?

Heat supplied to boiler becomes reduced
Thermal efficiency is increased since the average temperature of heat addition to the
cycle is increased.
Due to bleeding in the turbine, erosion of turbine due to moisture is reduced
What is the purpose of air Pre heaters

An air preheater (APH) is a general term used to describe any device designed to heat air before
another process (for example, combustion in a boiler) with the primary objective of increasing the thermal
efficiency of the process. They may be used alone or to replace a recuperative heat system or to replace a
steam coil.
9. What are the Classification in Rankine Cycle
Reheat cycle
Regenerative cycle (feed water heating)
Binary vapour cycle
Reheat-regenerative cycle
10. What is a Feed water Pump
A boiler feedwater pump is a specific type of pump used to pump feedwater into a steam boiler. The
water may be freshly supplied or returning condensate produced as a result of the condensation of the steam
produced by the boiler. These pumps are normally high pressure units that take suction from a condensate
return system and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.
11. What is a Economiser,
Economizers (US and Oxford spelling), or economisers (UK), are mechanical devices intended to
reduce energy consumption, or to perform useful function such as preheating a fluid
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12. What is the purpose of separators,

A Steam separator, sometimes referred to as a moisture separator, is a device for separating water
droplets from steam. The simplest type of steam separator is the steam dome on a steam locomotive.
Stationary boilers and nuclear reactors may have more complex devices which impart a "spin" to the steam
so that water droplets are thrown outwards by centrifugal force and collected.
13. What is the function of Separator drums,
Remove the entrained water particles from the steam conveyed to the steam engine , turbine
14. What is the function of scale cleaners,

15. What is the purpose of soot blowers

The fuels caused soot deposited on the heat exchangers drastically reduces heat transfer and
significantly increase the amount of fuel .
Therefore, the cleaning of these Heat exchanger is essential , the soot blower control the build up of
soot and ash
1. Fixed position soot blower --- blow of steam on tube
2. Retractable soot blower
3.
16. What Is a Steam generators
A steam generator popularly known as boiler is a closed vessel made of high quality steel in which
steam is generated from water by the application of heat.
The water receives heat from the hot gases though the heating surfaces of the boiler. The hot gases
are formed by burning fuel, may be coal,oil or gas. Heating surface of the boiler is that part of the boiler
which is exposed to hot gases on one side and water or steam on the other side.
The steam which is collected over the water surface is taken from the boiler through super heater and
then suitable pipes for driving engines or turbines or for some industrial heating purpose. What are the
Classification in Steam generators or boiler
17. What is fire tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes
running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the
tubes by thermal conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating steam.
18. What is Water tube boiler

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A watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water
circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which
heats water in the steam-generating tubes. In smaller boilers, additional generating tubes are separate in the
furnace, while larger utility boilers rely on the water-filled tubes that make up the walls of the furnace to
generate steam.

19. What is the Different between natural circulation and forced circulation boiler
In forced circulation boiler the circulation of water is done by a pump
In natural circulation boiler circulation of circulation of water by natural convention currents
produced by application of heat
20. What is a once through boiler
A boiler in which water flows, without recirculation, sequentially through the economizer, furnace
wall, and evaporating and superheating tubes.
21. Compare subcritical and supercritical Boiler
80 bar and above are called high pressure boiler or supercritical boiler
Below 80 bar are called low pressure boiler or subcritical boiler
22. What are the types of fluidized bed boiler

o Atmospheric classic Fluidized Bed Combustion System (AFBC)

o Atmospheric circulating (fast) Fluidized Bed Combustion system(CFBC)
o Pressurised Fluidized Bed Combustion System (PFBC)
23. Define dryness fraction
Wet steam consists of dry saturated steam and water particles in suspension. The dryness
fraction of steam is defined as the ratio of mass of dry saturated steam to the total mass of wet steam
containing it. It is represented by 'x'.
Drynesss fraction, x=Mass of dry steam/Total mass of wet steam
24. Sketch the Rankine cycle with T-S diagram

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25. Sketch the Reheat cycle with T-S diagram

1. Explain with neat sketch the working of modern high pressure boiler with its merits and de merits
i.La- mont boiler , ii. Benson boilers , iii. Loeffler boiler iv. Velox boiler

i.La- mont boiler

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Steamseparatordrum
The la Mont boiler consists of a steam separator drum which is placed wholly outside the
boiler setting . The drum receives a mixture of steam and water from the evaporator tubes
and feed water from the economizer. The steam is separated from water in the drum.
Circulating pump
The water from the drum is then drawn to the circulating (centrifugal) pump through the
down-comer. The pump circulates water (forced circulation) equal to 8 to 10 times the
weight of steam evaporated. This prevents the tubes from being overheated.
Distributing header
The circulating pump delivers the feed water to the distributing header with orifices at a
pressure above the drum pressure.
Evaporator
The header distributes water through orifices into the evaporator tubes acting in parallel.
Orifice in the header controls the flow of water to the evaporator tubes. Here part of the
water is evaporated and a mixture of steam and water from these tubes enters the drum.
Convection superheater
The steam produced in the boiler is nearly saturated. This steam as such should not be
used in the steam turbine. The presence of moisture in it will cause corrosion of turbine
blades, etc. to raise the temperature of steam and thereby to increase the turbine
efficiency, superheater is used.
The principle of convection superheater is similar to steam generating tubes of the boiler.
The hot flue gases at high temperature sweep over convection superheated tubes and raise
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the temperature of steam. Convection superheater thus receives heat from the flue gases
flowing from the combustion chamber, entirely by convective heat transfer. Such a
superheater may be more conveniently located since it is not necessary for it to see the
furnace.
Saturated steam from the top of the drum enters the convection superheater placed in the
path of the flue gases and is superheated.
Steam outlet
Superheated steam from the superheater passes out to the steam turbine through the
steam outlet.
Economizer
The quantity of superheated steam thus delivered to turbine is continuously made up in the
form of feed water. Feed water supplied by the feed pump is heated in the economizer on
its way to the steam separator drum.
The economizer is a device used to preheat the feed water using the hot gases leaving the
boiler. Before the gases are let off to the atmosphere, they are made to flow in a definite
passage in the economizer so that some of the heat in the hot gases, which otherwise gets
wasted, can be used to preheat the feed water. The preheated water requires only a small
amount of heat to be supplied in the boiler, resulting in some saving of the fuel burnt. This
results in an increase in the boiler efficiency.
Air preheater
Since the heat of the exit gases cannot be fully extracted through the economizer, the air
preheater is employed to recover some of the heat escaping in these gases. These exit
gases preheat the air from the blower in the air preheater. The preheated air is supplied to
the furnace for combustion.
Capacity
The capacity of la-mont boiler is about 50 Tonnes/hr of superheated steam at a pressure of
170 kgf/sq.cm. and at a temperature of 500C.

ii. Benson boilers

A Benson boiler is a type of Once-Through Boiler patented by Marc Benson in Germany in
1923 and incorporates recirculation characteristics

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The Benson boiler usually consists of small diameter tubes (ca. 25 mm bore) spirally wound
to form the furnace envelope. Feed water enters the bottom of the furnace at high subcritical or supercritical pressure and is evaporated to high quality in the spiral section. A
balancing header is commonly provided near the top of the furnace to alleviate any
differences in steam quality resulting from variations in heat absorption in different parallel
spiral circuits before the steam/water mixture is introduced to the open boiler pass. Here, it
is superheated in the upper parts of the furnace envelope and subsequently in pendant
tube banks. The balancing header also serves as a means of separating excess liquid when,
at low loads, the furnace flow rate exceeds the steam demand from the boiler as a whole.
As in other forms of Fossil Fuel-Fired Boilers, the flue gasses are used for reheat,
economizer and air-heating duties.

iii. Loeffler boiler

Loeffler Boiler:- This Boiler also makes use of forced circulation. Its novel Principle is the
evaporating of the feed water by means of super heated steam from the super heater, The
hot gases from the furnace being primarily used for super heating purposes.
The High pressure feed pump draws water through the economiser and deliver it into the
evaporating drum . The Steam circulating pump draws saturated steam from the
evaporating drum and passes it through radiant and convective super heaters where steam
is heated to required temp. From the super heater about one third of the super heated
steam passes to prime mover The remaining two- third passes through the water in the
evaporating drum in order to evaporate feed water.
This boiler can carry higher salt concentrations than any other type and is more compact
then indirectly heated boilers having natural circulation . These qualities fit it for land or sea
transport power generation.

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Velox boiler
When the velocity of gas exceeds the velocity of sound, the heat is transferred from the gas at a much
greater rate than the rate achieved with subsonic flow. This fact is used in the Velox Boiler to achieve the
large amount of heat transfer from the given surface area.
In the velox boiler, air is compressed to 2-5 bar pressure by an air compressor run by a gas turbine,
before supplying to the combustion chamber as shown in fig. object of this compression is to secure a
supersonic velocity of the gases passing through the combustion chamber and gas tubes. As a result of this
high rate of heat release (32 to 40 million kJ per m3of combustion chamber volume) is achieved and hence
this boiler is a very compact one. The steam generating capacity of this boiler is limited to about 100 tonnes
per hour because large power (brake power of about 4,400 kW) is required to run the air compressor at this
output.
Fuel and air are injected downwards into a vertical combustion chamber which consists of annulus gas tubes
and annulus water tubes (fire tube principle). On reaching the bottom of the combustion chamber, the
products of combustion are deflected upwards into the evaporator tubes which consist of an outer annulus
through which 10 to 20times the water evaporated is circulated at a high velocity (this prevents the
overheating of the metal walls). This way heat is transferred from gases to the water at a very high rate. The
mixture of water and steam thus formed then passes into a separator from which the separated steam passes
to the superheater and finally to the application point. The water removed from steam in the separator is
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again passed through the water tubes along with preheated feed water coming from economiser. The gases
coming out from the evaporator tubes are first passed over the superheater tubes and are then led to the gas
turbine. The power output of the gas turbine is supplied to drive the compressor,and the exhaust gases
coming out from the gas turbine are passed through the economiser before going to the atmosphere.
Advantages of Velox boiler over similar boiler are :
Very high rate of heat transfer,
Compact steam generating unit of great flexibility,
Capable of quick starting, even though the separating drum has a storage capacity of about one

eighth of the maximum hourly output,

Low excess air is required as compressed air is used and the problem of draughtis simplified,
The control is entirely automatic, and
A thermal efficiency of about 90 to 95% is maintained over a wide range of load

2.

Explain with neat sketch the working of the accessories along with location
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i. Feed water pump , ii. Economiser , iii. Air Preheater , iv. Steam separators
v. Super heater , vi. Soot blower, vii. Steam trap

What is an Economizer?
An economiser is a mechanical device which is used as a heat exchanger by preheating a fluid to reduce
energy consumption. In a steam boiler, it is a heat ex-changer device that heats up fluids or recovers residual
heat from the combustion product i.e. flue gases in thermal power plant before being released through the
chimney. Flue gases are the combustion exhaust gases produced at power plants consist of mostly nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, water vapor, soot carbon monoxide etc. Hence, the economiser in thermal power plants, is
used to economise the process of electrical power generation, as the name of the device is suggestive of. The
recovered heat is in turn used to preheat the boiler feed water, that will eventually be converted to superheated steam. Thus, saving on fuel consumption and economising the process to a large extent, as we are
essentially gathering the waste heat and applying it to, where it is required. Nowadays however, in addition
to that, the heat available in the exhaust flue gases can be economically recovered using air pre-heater which
are essential in all pulverized coal fired boiler.

As shown in the figure above, the flue gases coming out of the steam boiler furnace carry a lot
of heat. Function of economiser in thermal power plant is to recover some of the heat from
the heat carried away in the flue gases up the chimney and utilize for heating the feed water
to the boiler. It is simply a heat ex-changer with hot flue gas on shell side and water on tube
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side with extended heating surface like Fins or Gills. Economisers in thermal power plant
must be sized for the volume and temperature of flue gas, the maximum pressure drop
passed the stack, what kind of fuel is used in the boiler and how much energy needs to be
recovered.

When the water is boiled in steam boiler, the steam is produced which is then super-heated after which it is
passed to the turbines. Then the exhausted steam from turbine blades, is passed through steam condenser of
turbine in which the steam is condensed and this condensed water then is pre warmed first in feed water
heater then in it before re-feeding in boiler.
It is placed in the passage of flue gases in between the exit from the boiler and the entry to the chimney. In
this a large number of small diameter thin walled tubes are placed between two headers. The flue gases flow
outside the tubes usually in counter flow.

Process of Heat Transfer in Economizer, Evaporator and Superheater

Heat transfer to water in steam generator takes place in 3 different regimes, as shown in the figure below.
Water is at first pre-heated sensibly in the economizer in liquid phase at a certain pressure from state 4 to
state 5 (refer to the diagram below) till it becomes a saturated liquid.
It is then send to the evaporator, where this saturated liquid is boiled associating a change of phase from 5 to
6 by absorbing the latent heat of vaporization, at that particular pressure. Now this saturated vapor in state 6
is further heated in the super-heater, to bring it to state 1, i.e. in gaseous or vapor form. For unit mass of
fluid, the heat transfer equation in the 3 types of heat ex-changers are given by,
QEconomizer = h5 h4
QEvaporator = h6 h5
QSuperheater = h1 h6
Out, of these 3 major heat ex-changer components, only the economizer operates with, zero
fuel consumption, and thus it is one of the most vital and economical equipment in a thermal

power plant
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Types of Economiser
CI Gilled Tube Economiser
Round Gilled Tube Economiser
Coiled Tube Type Economiser
Horizontal Finned Tube Economiser
Types of Economisers Based on Boiler Efficiency
Non condensing Economiser
Condensing Economiser
Applications of Economiser
Advantages and Benefits of Economiser

Air Pre heater

An air preheater (APH) is a general term to describe any device designed to preheat the combustion air
used in a fuel-burning furnace for the purpose of increasing the thermal efficiency of the furnace.
In particular, this article describes the combustion air preheaters for the large fuel-burning furnaces used to
generate steam in thermal power plants. The air preheater increases the steam generator's thermal efficiency
by preheating the combustion air with heat recovered from the hot combustion flue gases
Types
Regenerative air preheaters
Rotating-plate regenerative air preheater
Stationary-plate regenerative air preheater
Tubular type
Tubular type

Tubular air preheaters may have a number of configurations:

A bundle of vertical tubes through which the flue gas flows downward (see adjacent diagram) and
exchanges heat with ambient air flowing horizontally across the exterior of the tubes. Baffles are usually
provided so that the air flows across the tubes a number of times. For example, as shown in the adjacent
diagram, the air flow across the tubes three times and is referred to as 3-pass tubular air preheater.
The same as (1) above except that the flue gas flows upward rather than downward.
A bundle of horizontal tubes through which the air flows and exchanges heat with the hot flue gas
flowing downward across the tube bundle. In some designs, there may be three separate horizontal tube
bundles one above the other. The air enters the lower tube bundle from the right-hand side, exits on the lefthand side and then enters the middle tube bundle on the left-hand side and exits on the right-hand side.
Finally, the air enters the upper tube bundle on the right-hand side and exits on the left-hand side. In
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essence, such a design is similar to the 3-pass design of (1) above except that the air is in the tubes rather
than outside the tubes.

Deaerator
A deaerator is a device that is widely used for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the
feedwater to steam generating boilers. In particular, dissolved oxygen in boiler feedwaters will cause serious
corrosion damage in steam systems by attaching to the walls of metal piping and other metallic equipment
and forming oxides (rust). It also combines with any dissolved carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid that
causes further corrosion. Most deaerators are designed to remove oxygen down to levels of 7 ppb by weight
(0.0005 cm/L) or less
There are two basic types of deaerators, the tray-type and the spray-type:

The tray-type (also called the cascade-type) includes a vertical domed deaeration section mounted
on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank.
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The spray-type consists only of a horizontal (or vertical) cylindrical vessel which serves
as both the deaeration section and the boiler feedwater storage tank.

Tray-type deaerator

The typical horizontal tray-type deaerator in Figure 1 has a vertical domed deaeration section mounted
above a horizontal boiler feedwater storage vessel. Boiler feedwater enters the vertical declaration section
above the perforated trays and flows downward through the perforations. Low-pressure deaeration steam
enters the below the perforated trays and flows upward through the perforations. Some designs use various
types of packing, rather than perforated trays, to provide good contact and mixing between the steam and the
boiler feed water.
The steam strips the dissolved gas from the boiler feedwater and exits via the vent at the top of the domed
section. Some designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water entrained in the vented
gas. The vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escape with the vented gases
to provide a small and visible telltale plume of steam.
The deaerated waster flows down into the horizontal storage vessel from where it is pumped to the steam
generating boiler system. Low-pressure heating steam, which enters the horizontal vessel through a sparger
pipe in the bottom of the vessel, is provided to keep the stored boiler feedwater warm. External insulation of
the vessel is typically provided to minimize heat loss.

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Spray-type deaerator
As shown in Figure 2, the typical spray-type deaerator is a horizontal vessel which has a preheating section
(E) and a deaeration section (F). The two sections are separated by a baffle(C). Low-pressure steam enters
the vessel through a sparger in the bottom of the vessel.
The boiler feedwater is sprayed into section (E) where it is preheated by the rising steam from the sparger.
The purpose of the feedwater spray nozzle (A) and the preheat section is to heat the boiler feedwater to its
saturation temperature to facilitate stripping out the dissolved gases in the following deaeration section.
The preheated feedwater then flows into the deaeration section (F), where it is deaerated by the steam rising
from the sparger system. The gases stripped out of the water exit via the vent at the top of the vessel. Again,
some designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water entrained in the vented gas. Also
again, the vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escape with the vented
gases to provide a small and visible telltale plume of steam
The deaerated boiler feedwater is pumped from the bottom of the vessel to the steam generating boiler
system.
Steam Separator: The steam available from a boiler may be wet, dry; or superheated; but in many cases
there will be loss of heat from it during its passage through the steam pipe from the boiler to the engine
tending to produce wetness.
The use of wet steam in an engine or turbine is uneconomical besides involving some risk; hence it is usual
to endeavor to separate any water that may be present from the steam before the latter enters the engine. The
function of a steam separator is to remove the entrained water particles from the steam conveyed to the
steam engine or turbine.
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Cyclone Steam Separator

Steam enters into the separator through the inlet tangentially and creates high-speed spiral
airflow on the inner wall of the separator; condensed water and solid particles are separated
by centrifugal force, and solid particles are deposited at the bottom of the steam separator.
The separated condensed water is exhausted through the steam trap. The entire steam
separator is a closed construction, with no replaceable elements and not requiring
maintenance.
Steam flow is determined by connection diameter and pressure; larger steam separators can
be designed and manufactured according to customer requirements. The highest temperature
resistance may reach 300 .

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SOOT BLOWERS

A common application at oil, coal or multi-fuel source power plants

is retractable or rotary soot blowers, used to clean heating surfaces of boilers
fired with ash producing fuels. Several soot
blowers are usually found on each level of the bo
iler tower. Electric power generation plants will
generally have dozens of soot bl
owers in operation. Soot blow
ers function to keep combustion
particles from sticking to boiler tube banks within t
he boiler tower. The basic
principle of the soot
blower is the cleaning of heating surfaces by multiple
impacts of high pressure air, steam or water
from opposing nozzle orifices at t
he end of a translating-rotating t
ube. A traveling lance with nozzle
j
ets penetrates the narrow openings in the boiler t
ube banks to blast the tubes clean. The tubes
must be kept clean to allow optimum boiler output and efficiency.

Air, saturated or superheat

ed steam, or water-or any
combination of these ma
y be used as the blowing
medium, and with nozzle adjus
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tment pressure up to
425 psig. Both retractable and/or rotary blowers may
be used, with the retract
able units predominating.
Some retractable soot blow
ers travel up to 25 ft. into
the boiler tube bank. A rotary lance, with right-angle
nozzles, allows highly effe
ctive cleaning patterns in
closely spaced tube banks. Where widely spaced
tube platens are used,
staggered and angled leading
and trailing edge nozzle patterns are used to
properly direct jet actions

3. what is Fluidized bed combustion ? Explain the types of fluidized bed boilers with sketches

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When an evenly distributed air or gas is passed upward through a finely divided bed of
solid particles such as sand supported on a fine mesh, the particles are undisturbed at low
velocity. As air velocity is gradually increased, a stage is reached when the individual
particles are suspended in the air stream the bed is called fluidized.
With further increase in air velocity, there is bubble formation, vigorous turbulence, rapid
mixing and formation of dense defined bed surface. The bed of solid particles exhibits the
properties of a boiling liquid and assumes the appearance of a fluid bubbling fluidized
bed.
At higher velocities, bubbles disappear, and particles are blown out of the bed. Therefore,
some amounts of particles have to be recirculated to maintain a stable system
circulating fluidised bed.
This principle of fluidisation is illustrated in Figure 6.1.
Fluidization depends largely on the particle size and the air velocity. The mean solids
velocity increases at a slower rate than does the gas velocity, as illustrated in Figure 6.2.
The difference between the mean solid velocity and mean gas velocity is called as slip
velocity. Maximum slip velocity between the solids and the gas is desirable for good heat
transfer and intimate contact.
If sand particles in a fluidized state is heated to the ignition temperatures of coal, and coal
is injected continuously into the bed, the coal will burn rapidly and bed attains a uniform
O
O
temperature. The fluidized bed combustion (FBC) takes place at about 840 C to 950 C.
Since this temperature is much below the ash fusion temperature, melting of ash and
associated problems are avoided.
The lower combustion temperature is achieved because of high coefficient of heat
transfer due to rapid mixing in the fluidized bed and effective extraction of heat from the
bed through in-bed heat transfer tubes and walls of the bed. The gas velocity is
maintained between minimum fluidisation velocity and particle entrainment velocity. This
ensures stable operation of the bed and avoids particle entrainment in the gas stream.

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Fixing, bubbling and fast fluidized beds

As the velocity of a gas flowing through a bed of particles increases, a value is reaches when the bed fluidises and bubbles form as
in a boiling liquid. At higher velocities the bubbles disappear; and the solids are rapidly blown out of the bed and must be recycled
to maintain a stable system.

Combustion process requires the three Ts that is Time, Temperature and Turbulence. In
FBC, turbulence is promoted by fluidisation. Improved mixing generates evenly distributed
heat at lower temperature. Residence time is many times greater than conventional grate

6.3 Types of Fluidised Bed Combustion Boilers

There are three basic types of fluidised bed combustion boilers:
1. Atmospheric classic Fluidised Bed Combustion System (AFBC)
2. Atmospheric circulating (fast) Fluidised Bed Combustion system(CFBC)
3. Pressurised Fluidised Bed Combustion System (PFBC).

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BCET- KARAIKAL - Department of Mechanical Engineering - MET63 POWER PLANT

ENGINEERING

6.3.1 AFBC / Bubbling Bed

In AFBC, coal is crushed to a size of 1 10 mm depending on the rank of coal, type of fuel
feed and fed into the combustion chamber. The atmospheric air, which acts as both the
fluidization air and combustion air, is delivered at a pressure and flows through the bed
after being preheated by the exhaust flue gases. The velocity of fluidising air is in the
range of 1.2 to 3.7 m /sec. The rate at which air is blown through the bed determines the
amount of fuel that can be reacted.
Almost all AFBC/ bubbling bed boilers use in-bed evaporator tubes in the bed of
limestone, sand and fuel for extracting the heat from the bed to maintain the bed
temperature. The bed depth is usually 0.9 m to 1.5 m deep and the pressure drop
averages about 1 inch of water per inch of bed depth. Very little material leaves the
bubbling bed only about 2 to 4 kg of solids are recycled per ton of fuel burned. Typical
fluidized bed combustors of this type are shown in Figures 6.3 and 6.4.

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