POWERPLANT LAB

(ME 203)
Laboratory File

Delhi Technological University, Shahbad Daulatpur,

Bawana Road Delhi- 110042

Submitted by- shaikh sadi

Roll no- DTU/2k17/ME/211
Batch- MECH 4TH (R group)
 EXPERIMENT- 1
AIM- To study the working and construction details fire tube boiler.
APPARATUS- Model of different type of boilers.
THEORY-
FIRE TYBE BOILER-
In the fire tube boiler , the fuel gases pass through the tube and water surround them.
Types-
1. Cochran boiler
2. Lancashire boiler
3. Locomotive boiler

COCHRAN BOILER-
Cochran Boiler is a vertical drum axis, natural circulation, natural draft, low pressure, multi-tubular, solid fuel
fired, fire tube boiler with internally fired furnace. It is the modified form of simple vertical boiler. In this boiler, the
fire tubes are placed horizontally. The efficiency of this boiler is much better than the simple vertical boiler.
The essential consist of –
1. Boiler shell with hemispherical crown.
2. Furnance, fire box and grate.
3. Combustion chamber and flue pipes.
4. Smoke box and chimney
5. Connections for boilers mountings and assecories.
CONSTRUCTION-
1. Shell: It has a vertical axis cylindrical drum with hemispherical dome type shell at the top.

2. Grate: It is the platform on which the solid fuel is burnt.

3. Combustion Chamber: The burning of fuel takes place in the combustion chamber.

4. Fire Tubes: Cochran boiler has multi tubular fire tubes. The hot flue gases from the
combustion chamber travels to the smoke box through these fire tubes. The fire tubes helps in the
exchange of heat from the hot flue gases to the water.

5. Fire Hole: It is the hole provided to fire the fuel inside the furnace.

6. Furnace: It lies at the bottom of the boiler. Furnace is the place where all the fuel is burnt.
Without furnace the working of this boiler is not possible.

7. Chimney: The chimney is attached to the smoke box. It transfer smoke to the environment.
The size of chimney is small as compared with other boiler.

8. Fire Brick Lining. The fire brick lining is present in the combustion chamber and helps in the combustion of the
fuel.
9. Manhole: A manhole is provided for the cleaning and inspecting of the boiler from inside.
10. Flue Pipe: It is a small passage connecting the fire box and combustion chamber. The hot gases enters into
combustion chamber through the flue pipe.

Boiler mountings and assecories attached to the this boiler are:

1. Pressure Gauge: It measures the pressure of steam inside the boiler.

2. Safety Valve: It blows off the extra steam when the steam pressure inside the boiler reaches
above safety level.
3. Water level Indicator: The position of the water level in the Cochran boiler is indicated by
the water level indicator.
4. Stop Valve: Stop valve is used to transfer steam to the desired location when it is required.
Otherwise it stops the steam in the boiler.
5. Blow off Cock: It is used to blow off the settle down impurities, mud and sediments present in
the boiler water.

A Locomotive Boiler has several components. First of all it’s shell or barrel.
Generally boiler shell diameter is about 8.5m and length is about near 4m. A Steam Dome
presents at the top section of boiler. It contains the regulator for regulating the steam produced
through the steam pipe when boiler is operational.

Firing point or hole present at the rear end of the boiler. We already know that this boiler use
solid fuel in furnace. Solid fuel is inserted and ignited into the furnace by using this hole. After
that a fire box is present inside the boiler shell where the fuel is burned and generates heat. There
is a platform called Grate where solid fuel like coal is kept and burnt.

It is fire tube boiler and we already know how many fire tubes are present inside this boiler with
its types. The fire tubes in which, the hot flue gases passes. When hot flue gases passes it
exchange the heat with surrounding water. There is a smoke box and it is the only way where
smoke is passing through the air. When solid fuel burned inside the furnace it also creates some
smoke. This smokes need to exhaust in the environment by the chimney.

There is a fire brick arch placed inclined over the grate. It is responsible for preventing the entry
of the ash, burnt fuel and dust particles into the fire tubes during operation. Brick arch also
provides a way to the hot flue gases to travel a definite path before it entering in the boiler fire
tubes. There is a pipe called Steam Pipe. By this pipe generated steam passes through. There are
two steam pipes in Locomotive Boiler. First one is the main steam passing pipe. It located
between the super heater and dome. Second steam pipe is connecting the super heater exit end to
the steam engine.

A blast pipe is provided above the steam engine. By this pipe the exhaust steam passes. It has an
important role during boiler operation. Generally a blast pipe is used to create the artificial draft
that pushes the smoke out through the chimney. It also creates suction pressure for the hot flue
gases. This suction pressure allows the hot flue gases to passes forward and it passes through the
boiler fire tubes.

This boiler has a Super-Heater and it superheats the steam to the desired temperature. Steam use
to super heated before it entering into the cylinder of the steam engine. Because wet steam create
is harmful for engine. There is a super heater element pipes by which the steam travels and
become superheated.

WORKING-

 In Cochran boiler first the fuel is inserted into the fire box and placed on the grate. The
fuel is ignited through the fire hole provided at the right bottom of the boiler.
 The fuel is burnt in the fire box and due to the burning of the fuel, smoke and hot flue
gases emerges out. The hot flue gases enter into the combustion chamber through flue
pipes.
 From the combustion chamber hot gases enters into the fire tubes. The fire tubes are
surrounded by water. The hot flue gases inside the tubes exchange the heat from the hot
gases to the water. Due to the exchange of heat, the temperature of the water start
increasing and it gets converted into steam. The steam produced rises upward and
collected at top of the boiler in the hemispherical dome. An anti-priming pipe is installed
at top of the boiler which separates the water from the steam and makes it dry steam. This
dry steam is then transfer to the turbines through the steam stop valve.
 The hot flue gases and smoke after exchanging heat moves to the smoke box. From the
smoke box the burnt gases and smoke is discharge to the atmosphere through the
chimney.
 Burnt fuel is transferred to the ash pit. Blow off cock is preset at left bottom of the boiler
and is used to blow of the impurities, mud and sediment from the boiler water.
 A fusible plug is also provided at top of the combustion chamber. When the temperature
of the combustion chamber crosses the permissible level, the fusible plug melts and the
water through the combustion chamber enter into the furnace of the boiler and stop the
fire. In this way a big fire accident can be prevented to take place and also protects the
boiler from damage.
 Various boiler mounting and accessories are attached to the boiler for its efficient
working.

LOCOMOTIVE BOILER-
locomotive boiler is a horizontal drum axis, multi-tubular, natural circulation, artificial draft, forced circulation,
mobile, medium pressure, solid fuel fired fire tube boiler with internally fired furnace. It is used in railway
locomotive engines and in marine. It is a mobile boiler and has high steam generation rate.
CONSTRUCTION-

1. Fire hole: It is a hole provided at the rear end of the boiler. The solid fuel is inserted and
ignited into the furnace through this hole.

2. Fire box: It is a box in which the burning of the fuel takes place.

3. Grate: Grate is a platform on which the solid fuel is kept and burnt.

4. Fire brick arch: It is a brick arch placed inclined over the grate. It prevents the entry of the
ash, dust and burnt fuel particles into the fire tubes. It provides a way to the hot flue gases to
travel a definite path before entering into the fire tubes of the boiler.

5. Boiler tubes: They are the fire tubes through which the hot flue gases passes and exchange the
heat with surrounding water.

6. Smoke box: According to its name, it is a box in which the smoke of the burnt fuel after
passing through the fire tubes gets collected. From there it is exhausted in the environment by the
chimney.

7. Blast pipe: It is pipe provided above the steam engine. The exhaust steam passes through this
blast pipe. It is used to create the artificial draft that pushes the smoke out through the chimney
and creates suction for the hot flue gases. The suction created allows the hot flue gases to move
forward through the fire tubes.

8. Steam pipe: It is a pipe through which the steam passes. We have two steam pipes; one is
main steam pipe present in between the superheater header and dome. And second one is that
which connects the superheater exit end to the steam engine.
9. Superheater: It superheats the steam to the desired temperature before entering into the
cylinder of the steam engine.

10. Super heater element pipes: These are the pipes of superheater through which the steam
travels and gets superheated.

11. Dome: It is present at the top and contains the regulator for regulating the steam produced
through the steam pipe.

12. Regulator valve: It is a valve that regulates the steam through main steam pipe for
superheating.

13. Safety valve: It is used to maintain the safe working steam pressure in locomotive boiler. It
blows off steam when the pressure of the steam increases above safety level and prevents
blasting of the boiler.

14. Superheater header: It is the head of the superheater which accepts the steam form the
steam pipe.

15. Chimney: It is used to throw out the exhaust smoke and gases to the environment. The
length of the chimney is very small in this boiler.

WORKING-
 In locomotive boiler, first the solid fuel (coal) is inserted on the grate and is ignited from
the fire hole. The burning of the fuel starts and it creates hot flue gases. A fire brick arch
is provided that makes the flow of hot flue gases to a definite path before entering into
the long tubes (fire tubes). It also prevents the entry of burnt solid fuel particles into the
fire tubes.
 The hot flue gases passes through the long fire tubes and heats the water surrounding
them. Due to the heating the water gets converted into saturated steam and gets collected
at the top.
 The saturated steam from the dome enters into the main steam pipe through the regulator
valve. The steam travels in the main steam pipe and reaches to the superheater header.
Form header, the steam enters into super heater element pipes. Here it is superheated and
then the superheated steam enters into the steam pipe of the smoke box.
 The steam form the superheater goes to the cylinder containing piston. The superheated
steam made the piston moves within the cylinder. The piston is connected to the wheels
of the steam engine and the wheels start rotating.
 The exhaust steam from the cylinder enters into the blast pipe. The burnt gases and
smoke after passing through the fire tubes enters into the smoke box. The exhaust steam
coming out from the blast pipe pushes the smoke out of the boiler through the chimney.
Here the smoke cannot escapes out form the boiler by its own, so artificial draft is created
by exhaust steam coming out from the steam engine. This artificial draft created pushes
the smoke out of the smoke box and creates suction for the hot flue gases.
LANCASHIRE BOILER-
Lancashire boiler is a horizontal drum axis, natural circulation, natural draft, two-tubular, low pressure, stationary,
fire tube boiler with furnace located internally. Its main purpose is to create steam and then this steam is used to
drive steam turbines for the power generation. It has high thermal efficiency and the it about 80 to 90 percent. It is
mostly used in locomotive engines and marines etc.

1. Safety valve: it is used to blow off the steam when the pressure of the steam inside the boiler
exceeds the working pressure.

2. Water level indicator: it indicates the level of water in the boiler. It is placed in front of the
boiler. Two water level indicators are used in the boiler.

3. Pressure gauge: The function of the pressure gauge is to indicate the pressure of the steam
inside the boiler.

4. Steam stop valve: Its function is to stop and allows the flow of steam from the boiler to the
steam pipe.

5. Feed check valve: It stops and allows the flow of water inside the boiler.

6. Blow off cock: Its function is to remove the sediments or mud periodically that is collected at
the bottom of the boiler.

7. Man hole: it is a hole provided on the boiler so that a man can easily enters inside the boiler
for the cleaning and repairing purpose.

8. Fusible plug: it is used to extinguish the fire inside the boiler when the water level inside the
boiler falls to an unsafe level and prevent explosion. It also prevents the damage that may happen
due to the explosion.
9. Grate: it is a platform which is used to burn the solid fuel.

10. Fire door: it is used to ignite the fuel present inside or outside the boiler.

11. Ash pit: it is used to collect the ash of the fuel after the fuel is burnt.

Generally this boiler consist a large drum. Its diameter can be up to 4-6m and length can be up
to 9-10m. Normally this drum consists of two fire tube and its diameter is up to 40 percent of the
diameter of the shell. For this boiler the water drum is placed over the bricks works. Where three
spaces are create between the drum and the bricks wall. First one is at bottom and second one is
in sides. When boiler is operational, then the flue gases passes through the fire tubes and side and
bottom space.

The great thing for this boiler is that, water level inside the drum is always above the side
channels of flue gases. For this reason more heat can transfer to the water. But water drum is not
completely filled with water. Boiler water drum usually half filled with water form bottom
section of drum and the upper half space is for generated steam. Generally the Furnace of this
boiler is located at one end of fire tubes which is inside the boiler.

Then low brick is present at the grates and it makes an obstacle to unburned fuel and ash to flow
in fire tubes during operation. Lancashire Boiler also consist other necessary mountings and
accessories. Those are economizer, safety valve, super heater, water gauge, pressure gauge and
some others parts. All are for the better performance of this boiler.

WORKING-
 Lancashire boiler consists of a horizontal cylindrical shell filled with water surrounding
two large fire tubes.
 The cylindrical shell is placed over a brick work which creates several channels for the
flow of hot flue gases.
 Solid fuel is provided by the fire door which then burnt over grate at the front end of each
fire tube.
 A small arc shape brick work is provided at the end of the grate to deflect the flue gases
upward and prevent the entry of burning coal and ashes into the interior part of the fire
tubes.
 The fire tubes are slightly conical at rear end to increase the velocity of hot flue gases.
 When hot flue gases are allowed to pass through the downward channel at the front end
of the fire tubes. Now these gases pass through the side channel towards the rear end of
the fire tube and finally escape out through the chimney.
 There are dampers at each side channel to regulate the air flow.
 Feed check valve is used to feed the water uniformly to boiler shell.
 Once the boiler is at quickly, water converts into steam by absorbing the heat from the
flue gases. This steam is stored at the upper portion of the boiler where anti priming pipe
separates the water from steam. Thus the steam stop valve receives the dry steam for
various purposes.
 A man hole is provided at the top and bottom of the shell to allow a man to enter into the
boiler and clean it.
 A blow off valve is provided to remove the mud that has settled down. It is also used to
clean the boiler.
 EXPERIMENT NO. 2
AIM: To study the working and construction of water tube boilers.
APPARATUS: Models of different types of boilers.
THEORY: WATER TUBE BOILERS: The tubes contain water and hot gases produced by the
combustion of fuel flow outside the tubes.

BABCOCK AND WILCOX BOILER:

It is a horizontal, externally fired, water tube, natural circulation type of stationary boiler.
CONSTRUCTION:
1. It consists of a welded steel high pressure drum mounted at the top. From each end of
drum connections are made with the uptake header and a down take header. The
headers are joined to each other by a large number of tubes which are kept inclined at
an angle of 15 degrees to the horizontal. The water tubes are straight, solid drawn steel
tubes about 10cm in diameter and are expanded into the bored holes of the headers.
Due to serpentine (sinusoidal)form of headers, the tubes are staggered and this
exposes the complete heating surface to flue gases.
2. The furnace is arranged below the uptake header. The unit has a grate for the fuel
burning, provided with a chain gate stoker. The coal is fed to the chain gate stoker
through the fire door. The chain speed is so adjusted that by the time coal reaches the
other end of the grate, its combustion has been complete. The residual ash falls into
the ashpit.
3. Baffles are provided across the water tubes to act as reflectors to the flue gases and to
provide them with gas passes.
4. At the bottom of the rear header is the mud box. The foreign matter held in suspension
in water gets collected in it and can be blown off from time to time. The access to the
interior of the boiler is provided by the doors. This is necessary to clean the tubes and
remove the soot. The draught is regulated by a damper which provided in the black
chamber.
5. For getting the superheated steam the unit is fitted with superheated tubes which are
arranged in the combustion chamber above the water tubes.
Vents are also provided for mountings and accessories such as safety valves. Pressure
gauge, water level indicator, fusible plug and feed check valve etc.
The entire assembly of water tube is hung along with the drum from the steel girder frame
by steel rods called slings in a room made of masonry bricks lined with fire bricks.
WORKING:
The boiler drum shell is filled with water through feed valve and a constant water level is
maintained up to about 2/3rd part in the shell. The water from the drum flows through
inclined tubes via down take header and then goes back into the shell in the form of water
and steam via uptake header. Obviously the circulation of water is maintained by convective
currents. The hottest water in steam rises from the tubes to the uptake header and then
through riser enters the boiler drum. The steam vapours escape through water to the upper
half of the drum. The cold water flows to the drum to the rear header and that completes
the water circuit .
 The hot combustion gases produced by burning fuel on the grate rise upwards upto the
water drum and then downwards. They again move upwards downwards between the
baffles.
Baffle plates make the hot gases move in such a way that a longer contact time is
maintained between the hot gases and inclined water tubes. During their travel, the gases
give their heat to water and steam is formed. Finally the hot gases escape to the chimney
through the smoke chamber.
The steam collected in the water drum is next led to the superheater tubes via anti-priming
pipe. Since the superheater tubes are exposed to hot gases, the steam passing through
them gets superheated. Then steam is raised from the cold boiler, the superheater should
be flooded(filled with water) to avoid its burning. The superheated steam is finally taken out
through the stop valve and supplied to the engine when needed.
CAPACITY AND UTILTIY: Evaporative capacity ranges from 20,000 to 40,000 kg/hr and
operating pressures from 11.5 to 17.5 bar are common. The steam from such boilers is
primarily used to run steam turbines and generate electric power.
MERITS: i) The unit the capacity to quickly cope with high peak loads which are generally
needed at thermal power stations.
ii) The inspection of the boiler can be carried out even when the boiler is in operation.
ii) Draught loss is minimum.
iv) The replacement of defective tubes can be made readily.
v) Further since the boiler unit (except furnace) is suspended any expansion or contraction
of the boiler has no harmful effects on the masonry work enclosing the furnace and the
boiler.

LOEFFLER BOILER:
It is a high pressure boiler which is of water tube type and employs forced circulation.
 i) The feedwater from the hotwell is made to pass through the economiser section with
the help of a feed pump. While passing through the economiser, the feed water
gains some heat from the exhaust gases. Thereafter the feedwater is fed into the
boiler drum which is housed at any convenient point outside the furnace setting.
ii) There is a group of nozzles which receive a part of superheated steam generated in the
boiler. The nozzles pass this steam to the evaporating drum where it mixes with feed
water and generates steam. The rate of flow of feed water and superheated steam is
so maintained that after the mixing, the water evaporates into steam which has a
high dryness fraction.
iii) The steam from the evaporating drum is drawn by steam circulating pump and it is
passed to the superheater. The system has 2 superheaters : one is horizontal
convection superheater located in the path of exhaust flue gases and the other is
radiant superheater which is arranged above the furnace and receives intense heat
by radiation.
iv) About 1/3rd of the superheater steam is supplied to the steam turbine for expansion
work and the remaining 2/3rd passes back to the evaporator through a set of nozzles.
The steam gives its superheat to the water contained in the drum resulting into
additional generation of saturated steam.
v) A blower draws in cold air from the surroundings and makes it flow through the air pre
heater which is arranged in the path of exhaust flue gases. The heated air aids in
economic combustion.
It is to be noted that the Loeffler Boiler evaporates water solely through the means of
superheated steam. The furnace heat is supplied only to the economiser and superheater.
Apparently, steam is being used both as heat carrying and heat absorbing medium. Since the
evaporating tubes carry only superheated steam, the poor quality feed water has no
detrimental effect of scale formation. For this reason, these are best suited for marine
transport power generation. Further, these boilers are compact in design and have been built
up for steaming capacity of 1 lakh kg/hr and operating pressures up to 150 bar.
 BENSON BOILER:
It is a supercritical type water tube type boiler which employs forced circulation. Apparently in
such a boiler the entire process of heating, steam formation and superheating is done in a
single continuous tube. The water goes in at one end and superheated steam leaves at the
other end, and due to this aspect, this type of boiler is kniwn as mono-tube once-through
forced circulation boiler.
The essential components of Benson boiler are:
1) Economiser section
2) Radiant heating section where most of the heat is transmitted and water gets heated
almost to the critical temperature.
3) Superheating section where superheating is done to the prescribed temperature level.
The feed water is supplied by the feed pump at 225 bar pressure (higher than critical
pressure) to the economiser and next to the radiant evaporator. This evaporator receives
immense heat from the furnace and converts most of the water to steam. The evaporation
of the remaining water occurs in the convective evaporator tubes by absorbing the heat
from the exhaust flue gases. The high pressure and almost dry saturated steam finally
passes through the convective type of superheater where superheating is done to the
prescribed temperature level.
Benson Boilers have been built and commissioned to generate steam up to 500 bar
pressure, 650 degree Celsius temperature with generation rates as 1.56 lakh kg/hr.
A Benson boiler presents the following advantages:
1) At critical pressure, steam and water coexist at the same density and no bubble
formation occurs. As such, this critical pressure boiler is free from pulsations in water
circulation, and no impairment in heat transmission from flue gases to water.
2) Since the generation of steam is carried out in the evaporating tubes, the cost of drums
is eliminated.
3) Circulating pumps and down comers are dispensed.
4) The boiler is self- contained unit, its parts can be easily carried and readily assembled at
site.
5) The unit comparatively light in weight with high rate of steam generation.
6) The unit is compact and occupies less space.
7) The boiler can be put into service in 10-15 minutes depending upon its size and pressure
required.
Its disadvantages are as follows:
1) The evaporation process leaves small deposits of salts in tube and that requires frequent
washing and cleaning of tubes. To obviate the problem, the requirement is of pure feed
water. As such, the preparation of feed water becomes more important when compared
to a conventional boiler.
2) The tubes are likely to get overheated when the water supply is insufficient.
3) The construction material for the boiler and the steam turbine must be able to
withstand very high pressure and temperature.
4) The conversion zone has to be located in the region where the flue gases have a low
temperature. This is to avoid the deposition of solids and oxidation of surfaces.
5) Small storage capacity requires close coordination between steam output, feed water
and fuel input to maintain temperature at constant level.
 Experiment-3

Drum Internals

Aim:Describe drum internals.

Outcomes:
Here is what you will be able to do when you complete each objective:
1. Describe the general principles and equipment used to separate steam
and water in a steam drum.

2. Sketch and describe a steam drum internal feedwater pipe.

3. Identify and describe a steam drum continuous blowdown line.

4. Identify and describe a steam drum internal chemical feed line.

PURPOSES OF THE BOILER STEAM DRUM

In a modern boiler, the steam drum can serve several purposes:

1. It provides a place for the storage of steam, so that load increases can
be accomplished quickly and smoothly.

2. It provides a place in which to install equipment that will separate

water out of the steam, before the steam goes to superheaters,
turbines, etc.

3. It provides a place in which equipment can be installed that will

remove impurities from the steam, thus preventing these impurities
from depositing on other surfaces, such as turbine blades.

4. It provides a place from which heavy concentrations of impurities in

the water can be removed, via the blowdown line.

5. It provides a place for the distribution of feedwater into the water

circuits of the boiler.

6. It provides a place for the introduction of water treatment chemicals

into the boiler.

The term “drum internals” is generally taken to mean all the devices
installed within the boiler steam drum. This includes various types of steam
separators, chemical feed lines, boiler feedwater lines, and continuous
blowoff lines.

SEPARATION OF STEAM AND WATER

At low pressures, the lower density steam has a strong natural tendency to rise
to, and disengage from, the water surface in the steam drum. The separation of
the water and steam in low pressure systems can be accomplished without the
aid of mechanical separators, as shown in Fig. 1.

As the pressure rises, mechanical equipment becomes necessary. The dry pipe
shown in Fig. 2 changes the direction of flow of the steam and water mixture,
and causes most of the water to drop back into the drum, allowing the relatively
dry steam to leave the drum. The dry pipe is an early form of separator that is
still found on some low pressure boilers.
 Figure 1
Steam Separation in Boiler Drum Without Baffles

AM6_fig2.gif

Figure 2
Dry Pipe

In a modern boiler drum, the separation of steam from the mixture delivered by
the riser portions of the circuit usually takes place in three steps. The primary
and secondary separation removes nearly all the water from the mixture, so that
in effect, no steam is circulated back through the circuit, see Fig. 3. The third
separation, or steam scrubbing, removes or reduces the amount of
contaminants in the steam that leaves the drum.
 Figure 3
Simple Circuit Showing Primary Steam Separation

PRIMARY SEPARATORS

At higher pressures, the steam becomes more dense and its tendency to separate
from water is not as strong. Thus, steam will be carried through the steam drum
and back into the downcomers unless means are taken to prevent such action.

The cyclone steam separator was developed to remove the steam from the
mixture of steam and water in the steam drum, and to provide the downcomers
with steam-free water. These mechanical separators are installed in single or
double rows in the steam drums as indicated in Fig. 4.

All of the steam and circulating water from the risers is collected behind a
manifold baffle and then discharged into the cyclones. The water in the mixture
will have a mass of between two (2) and twenty-five (25) times the mass of
steam in the mixture. The circulation ratio depends on the boiler design and the
firing rate of the boiler.
 Figure 4
Cyclone Separators and Steam Scrubbers
(Courtesy of Babcock and Wilcox)

The steam and water mixture swirls into the cyclones at high velocity,
producing what is called a centrifugal force that is many times greater than the
gravity separating force. This centrifugal action forces the water toward the
periphery of the cyclones. The less dense steam flows up the central portion of
the cyclones, and passes through a small corrugated scrubber at the top of the
cyclone cylinder. This is illustrated in Fig. 5.
 Figure 5
Cyclone Steam Separator
(Courtesy of Babcock and Wilcox)

The steam leaves the top of the cyclone at a velocity low enough to prevent
entrainment of water by the steam. This ensures that the steam quality is not
affected by large variations in the water to steam ratio. Directional vanes at the
bottom of the cyclone guide the water into the separator drum, utilizing the
velocity energy in the water to overcome the head of water outside the cyclone.
This prevents flooding of the cyclones, even when the water level in the steam
drum is close to the top of the cyclone. It also permits a reasonably wide
variation in the drum water level, without affecting circulation or steam quality.

The cyclone steam separator has no moving parts, and simply transforms a
small portion of the circulating force into the centrifugal force required to
separate the steam and water.
A second type of separator is the turbo separator. Referring to Fig. 6, the steam
and water mixture enters near the top of the drum and is directed, by a baffle,
down the inside wall of the drum to the turbo separator. A separating force is
created when the high velocity steam and water mixture passes through the
spinner blades. The spinner blades impart a spin to the mixture; causing the
water to flow down the outside of the separator, and the steam to pass upwards
into the secondary separator. The velocity of the steam is reduced by the time
the steam reaches the secondary separator, and therefore water is not
entrained by the steam. The turbo separator does not have a water seal, as is
the case with the cyclone separator. This type of separator has no capacity limit
and is not affected by water level changes. It is also arranged in rows, which run
the entire length of the steam drum.

Figure 6
Turbo Separators

Secondary Separators

Once the relatively slow moving steam leaves the primary separators, it passes
into the secondary separators. The secondary separators are generally rows of
closely fitted corrugated metal plates located directly above the primary
separators. These plates cause the steam to change direction many times and
the water deposited on the plates drains from the bottom of the assembly to
the water in the drum. The secondary separator also runs the length of the
boiler drum. Fig. 7 (b) shows the secondary separators above the turbo
separators and Fig 5 shows the corrugated plates above a cyclone separator.
 (a) Natural Circulation

(b) Controlled Circulation

Figure 7
Drum Internals

DRYERS

The dryers or steam scrubbers are located at the top of the drum and are the
last stage of moisture and contaminant removal before the steam leaves the
boiler drum. The dryer or scrubber is generally a wire mesh or screen that will
pick up any droplets of water and allow them to drop back to the water in the
drum. Figs. 7 and 8 show the screen or mesh dryer. Figs. 4 and 9 show
corrugated metal plate dryers with the drain pots or pipes to return the
removed water to the water below. A more complicated type scrubber is shown
in Fig. 7 (a) where perforated trays, stainless wire mesh, and wash water are
used for the removal of silica from the steam.
8
BLRS 6020
INTERNAL FEED PIPE

An internal feedwater pipe is used on most boilers. Fig. 8 shows an internal

feedwater pipe entering the boiler through the drum head, and Fig. 1 shows a
feedwater pipe that extends nearly the entire length of the steam drum. The
internal feedwater pipe is arranged so that it reduces the risk of thermal shock
and excessive turbulence by controlling the point at which the feedwater mixes
with the water in the drum. On smaller boilers, this may be accomplished by a
short feed pipe which discharges against a baffle. Larger boilers use a feedwater
pipe which runs nearly the full length of the steam drum and is perforated over
its entire length.

M6_fig8.gif

Figure 8
Internal Feed Pipe

CONTINUOUS BLOWDOWN PIPE

The continuous blowdown, or blowoff, is located several centimetres below the

normal water level in the steam drum. This is where the water having the
greatest concentration of dissolved solids is found. Fig. 9 shows the location of
the continuous blowdown pipe.

As the name implies, it continuously removes a controlled amount of

concentrated water from the drum. The amount of blowdown is controlled by a
special regulating or metering valve, equipped with an indicator that shows how
much the valve is opened. The amount the valve is opened depends on the
results of periodic boiler water tests.
 Figure 9
Continuous Blowdown Pipe

CHEMICAL FEED PIPE

Chemicals which are used for the control of scale, corrosion, and sludge within
the boiler are fed into the drum by means of an internal pipe as shown in Fig.
10. The perforated chemical feed pipe extends into the drum and is positioned
to ensure rapid mixing of the chemicals with the entering feedwater.

Figure 10
Drum Internals, Including Internal Chemical Feed Pipe
 EXPERIMENT-4

AIM- SUPERHEATER, REHAEATER AND

DISUPERHEATER
SUPERHEATER
Superheaters are one of the most important accessories of birler that improve the thermal efficiency.
The superheater is a heat exchanger that overheats or superheats the saturated steam. By superheating
saturated stem, the temperature of the steam is increased beyond the temperature of the saturated
steam, and thus the efficiency of the energy production process can be raised. The benefits of using
superheated steam are zero moisture content in the cast stages of the turbines, no condensation in
steam pipes and thus increase the turbine internal efficiency.
The superheater normally consists of the tubes conducting steam, which are heated by flue gases
passing outside the tube. The tubes are usually connected in parallel using heaters, with steam entering
from one header and exiting in another header.
There can be several superheater units in the same boiler as well as reheaters, which is a superheater
for heating external stem ( steam already used in a a process outside the boiler)
Superheaters can be classified as:
1. Primary superheater:- 1st superheater where steam is heated upto some temperature.
2. Secondary superheater:- It is second stage to further increase the temperature.

Superheater commonly classified as

i. Convection based
ii. Radiation based
iii. Combined superheater

CONVECTION BASED SUPERHEATERS

Convection superheaters are the most common superheater in steam boilers. These convection
superheater are also termed as primary superheater where saturated steam from the drum is entered
and heat is absorbed by convection method. Convection based superheaters are used with relatively
low steam temperature and the steam from the flue gases is mainly transformed by convection. They
are placed after the furnace protected from the corrosive radiation of the flames. This type of
superheater can also be protected from radiation by a couple of rows of evaporation tubes. Convection
superheaters are located in the convective zone of furnace, usually ahead of economizer.
Parameters that increase the convection
 Increasing the fuel and air flow (combustion gas flow)
 Increasing the mass flow rate of the steam

RADIATION SUPERHEATERS:
From the convention SH steam goes to the radiant superheater which is placed in the radiant zone of
the furnace. Radiation SH is installed at the top of the furnace, where the heat is absorbed by
radiation. Radiation based superheaters are used to gain higher steam temperatures and the heat is
mainly transferred by radiation.
COMBINED SUPERHEATERS:
Steam leaving the radiant superheater goes to the desuperheater where highly pure water is directly
sprayed on the steam in such a quantity that the temperature of the steam after the last stage of
superheating in the pendant superheater does not exceed the rated value. The pendant SH is a
combined superheater in the sense that it receives heat partly by convention and partly by radiation.
The radiation and combined superheater together are often termed secondary superheaters.
CLASSIFICATION OF SUPERHEATERS ON THE BASIS OF MECHANICAL SUPPORT:
i. Pendant superheater
ii. Inverted superheater
iii. Horizontal superheater

Pendant superheater: It is supported from above. It is firm structural support. But the limitation of
pendant SH is that because it is hanging from surface, so steam is condensed and collected in the
bottom this slow down the steam rate.
Inverted superheater: It is supported from below. In this proper drainage of the condensed steam but
the structural rigidity is lack.
Horizontal superheater: There are usually supported in the vertical gas ducts. They have a good
structural rigidity and proper drainage steam. But they do not view then flame directly so they are
mainly from the convective type. This convention superheaters located in the flue gas channel, where
the flue gas starts flowing downwards.
REHEATERS:
A reheater is basically a superheater that superheats stem existing in the high pressure stage of a
turbine. The reheated steam is then sent to low pressure stage of the turbine. By reheating steam
between high pressure and low pressure turbine it is possible to increase the electrical efficiency of the
power plant beyond 40%. Reheater design is very much similar to superheater design because both
operate at high temperature condition but their exit temperature is little bit less than superheater and
steam pressures are 20-25% less than superheater. The reheater is usually located above the primary
or convective superheater in the convective zone of utility boilers. It consists of a number of vertical
coils of horizontal tubes connected between two headers. Similar to the economizer and convective
SH steam comes from the high pressure turbine and after being reheated it goes to the i.p. turbine for
further expansion.
DESUPERHEATERS
The simplest type of desuperhetaer is an unlagged section of pipe where heat can be radiated to the
environment. However apart from the obvious risk of injury to personnel from such a hot item of plant
and the expensive energy wastage. This approach does not adjust to compensate for changes in the
environmental conditions, steam temperature or steam flow rate. Control by attemperation means that
the steam temperature is reduced by removing energy from the steam. In a tubular type a portion of
steam taken out through tubes from a point between the primary and secondary superheaters by
automatic value directed to a shell and tube heat exchanger where boiled water from the drum may be
circulated. The steam give some of its energy to that water and re mixed with the primary steam
before entering secondary superheater.
WATER SPRAY DESUPERHEATER
In water spray desuperheater superheated steam is passed through a section of pipe fitted with one or
more spray nozzles. These inject a file spray of water into the superheated steam which causes the
water to be converted into steam reducing the quantity of superheat. The working water may be
introduced into the superheated steam in a number of ways; consequently there are a number of
different types of water spray desuperheater.
WATER SPRAY DESUPERHEATERS ARE AFFECTED BY THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:
 PARTICLE SIZE: The smaller the water particle size the greater the ratio of surface area to
main and higher the rates of heat transfer. The water is broken into small particles using either
a mechanical device or steam atomizing nozzles.
 TURBULENCE: As the flow within the pipeline becomes more turbulent the individual
entrained water particles residue longer in the desuperheater allowing for greater heat transfer.
 THERMAL SLEEVE: Careful control of the spray is required to ensure that the water does
not fall out of suspension as this can result in thermal stresses being generated in the pipeline
and cracking may occur.
 COOLING WATER FLOWRATE: The rate at which cooling water can be added to the
superheated steam.

WATER SPRAY TYPE DESUPERHEATERS

 SINGLE SPRAY RADIAL INJECTION SPRAY DESUPERHEATERS: The simplest
method of injecting cooling water is to introduce a nozzle through the pipe wall. The cooling
water particles are sprayed across the flow of the superheated steam.

ADVANTAGES
1. Simple in peration
2. Cost effective
3. Minimum steam pressure drop

DISADVANTAGES
1. Low turndown ratio
2. Longer absorption length than the steam atomizing type
3. Limited pipe size

APPLICATIONS: for constant cooling water requirements(steam lead, steam temp)

  AXIAL INJECTION SPRAY SUPERHEATERS: this is a simple in line spray
desuperheater but the point of injection is moved to the axis of the pipeline. The cooling water
is injected into the steam flow via one or more atomizing nozzles. Axial injection of the
cooling water improves the mixing of the water and the superheated steam by two methods:
1. As the water is injected along the centre of the pipeline it will be more evenly distributed
throughout the duperheated steam.
2. The cooling water delivering pipe i.e.. injected in the pipeline acts as an obstruction,
creating additional turbulence at the point of water injection due to vertex shredding.

ADVANTAGES
1. Simple in operation
2. No moving parts
3. Cost effective across the entire range of sizes
4. Minimum steam pressure drop

DISADVANTAGES
1. Desuperheated steam temperature can only be reduced to 10o C above saturation temperature
2. Longer absorption length than the steam atomizing type but less than the radial type
desuperheaters.

APPLICATIONS
Constant steam lead, constant steam temperatures, constant coolant temperature
The water used for spray must be of high purity so that no deposits are added on the superheater tubes,
pipes, and turbine blades. The spray type desuperheater has been quite satisfactory in its service.
Steam is heated to some extend in the primary superheater cooled from that high temperature to some
extend in desuperheater by spray water and again steam is heated in the secondary superheater.
Desuperheater is placed between primary and secondary superheater. If the desuperheater is located
after the last stage superheater, the steam temperature exceeds the maximum desired temperature
before desuperheating which is harmful.
 EXPERIMENT-5
AIM- to study regenerative feed heating system.
Regeneration
There is a way to overcome this problem by raising the temperature-of the working
fluid (water) before it enters into the boiler and this process is called regeneration
in steam power plants. Conventional way of doing regeneration in a power plant is
by extracting the steam from the turbine after partial expansion or partial work
done. This steam is used to heat the feed water and the device in which it
happens is called a feed water heater or a regenerator. Regeneration improves
the cycle efficiency by increasing the initial feed water temperature before the
water, water enters the boiler and also helps in controlling the large the large flow
rate of steam at the turbine exhaust. Regeneration is commonly used in all power
plants where efficiency is of importance and fuel saving is the motto.

A feed water heater is basically a heat exchanger where heat is transferred to the
feed water by extracting the partially expanded steam from the turbine to heat the
feed water. Heating of feed water can be done by:
 Directly heating (in a tank)- Direct heating of feed water is performed in
tanks or vessel also called open feed water heaters; or
 By indirect heating (in shell and tube type heat exchanger)- Indirect heating
of steam and water is performed on shell and tube type closed heaters
Regeneration with Open Feed Water Heaters
Open or direct feedwater heating comprises of the vessel were extracted steam
and feedwater directly mix with each other. Heated mixture leaves the tank at a
temperature which is in line with the pressure of the mixing chamber. An example
of the power plant operating with single stage regenerative cycle on the T-s
diagram given below.

 In a Rankine regenerative cycle steam enters the turbine at the boiler outlet
pressure at (5).
 After entering the turbine the steam expands isentropically in the turbine till
the point (6) or intermediate pressure (6), where it is extracted.
 At the state (6) some steam is taken out or extracted and directed towards
the feedwater heater while the rest of the steam continue to expand in the
remaining stages of the turbine till the end i.e. condenser at a pressure
corresponding to condenser pressure at state (7).
 The condensate in the condenser is at the saturation temperature
corresponding to the condenser pressure at (7).
 From condenser Condensate leaves as a saturated liquid at condenser
pressure (1). Condensate or feedwater from here enters into the open
 feedwater heater via pump (1), where it comes in direct contact with the
steam extracted from the turbine at (6).
 Mixture leaves the open feedwater heater as saturated liquid corresponding
to heater pressure at (3).
 Second pump raises the feed water pressure equal to boiler pressure (4), in
boiler chnage of state from water to steam and then superheating of steam
took place to match the turbine inlet parameters.

For every 1 kg of steam coming out of the boiler, some amount of steam (y) kg
expands partially in the turbine up to (6) and extracted to heat the feed water.
Remaining quantity of steam (1-y) kg worked completely over the rest of the
turbine stages to condenser pressure.

If the boiler generates m kg of steam, then it is (1-y)m steam enters the

condenser. Analysis of the heat and work interaction for single feed water heater
per unit mass of steam flowing through the boiler is given by:

Where,

Regeneration helps in boosting the thermal-efficiency of the cycle and also the
boiler heat input requirement by enhancing/improving the feed water temperature
entering the boiler. No. of feed water heaters is directly having a positive impact
on the Rankine cycle thermal efficiency, but addition of every heater should do
judiciously after studying the real benefit and the cost incurred (capital expenditure
required).

Basic feed heating system:\

or the basic feed heating system for each process in vapor power cycle. it is
possible to assume a hypothetical (or)ideal process which represents the basic
intended operation. For basic feed system we used Rankin cycle in this when all
these four processes are ideal, the cycle is an ideal cycle called Rankin cycle. For
the purpose if analysis, the Rankin cycle is assumed to be carried out in a steady
flow operation, applying steady flow engineering equation (SFEE) to each of the
process on the basis of the process on the basis of unit mass of fluid, and
neglecting changes in kinetic and potential energy. The work and heat quantities
can be evaluated in terms of the properties of the fluid. Usually, the pump work is
small compared to the turbine work

Regenerative Cycle With Single Feed Water Heater:

The steam at p, pressure enters the turbine at point A. let a small amount of wet
steam of m Kg after partial expansion at pressure p2 be drained from turbine at
point B and enters the feed water heater. The remaining steam at pressure P3 is
further expanded in turbine and leaves at point “c” The steam is then condensed
in the condenser.
Regenerative Cycle with Two Feed Water Heaters:
 The steam at pressure p1 enters the turbine at point “A” Let a small amount
of steam after partial expansion p2 be drained from the turbine at point B1
enters the feed water heater 2.
 the remaining steam equal t (1-m1-m2)Kg is further expanded in the turbine
and leaves it a point “c”.The steam is then condensed in the condenser, The
condensate from the condenser is pumped in to the feed water where it
mixes with the steam extracted from the turbine.
Advantages Of Regenerative Feed Heating System:
 It improves the cycle efficiency.
 The metal temperature of boiler tube reduces by taking feed heaters in
service and hence increases the boiler tube life and reduces the outage due
to tube leakages.
 Extractions from last stages of turbine also act as moisture extractor and
hence reduce the blade damage due to water droplets impact.
 Cost per unit of electrical power reduces by using with feed heaters.
Disadvantages Of Regenerative Feed Heating
System:
 Increase cost of pipe frame work and also increase mechanical losses with
the some steam input less work is achieved.
 Strength of turbine decreases due to the holes provided for extraction of
steam from different stages. The temperature of the flue gases may reach to
dew point temperature Decreases the extent of heat extraction from the
gases economizer, Regenerative feed heating involves the process of
improving the efficiencies of turbine and to produce move work.
 EXPERIMENT-6

AIM- To study turbine and water cooling system

Turbine and Water Cooling System

A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it
into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating electrical power
when combined with a generator. A turbine is a turbomachine with at least one
moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving
fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early
turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels.

Types of turbines
1. Water turbines
2. Steam turbines
3. Gas turbines
4. Wind turbines

Turbines used in hydro power plants :-

The turbines used in hydroelectric power plants are water turbines which have
water as their working fluid.
First of all, millions of litres of water is collected in the dam. More the height of
dam, more the pressure. The highly pressurized water is then made to flow via
large pipe called as penstock.
The turbine is located at the end of penstock from where the pressurized water
strike the blades of turbine at high velocity making it to rotate. This turbine is
connected to a generator which generates electricity.
The shape of turbine blades depend upon the pressure & velocity of water. Water
turbines are classified into 2 types -

1. Impulse type
2. Reaction type
Types of water turbines with Francis being most widely used.
Impulse type turbines-

Impulse turbines basically work on Newton’s 2nd law.

In impulse turbines, number of elliptical half sized buckets are fitted instead of
blades on the rotor hub. When water strike the buckets at high speed, the rotor
starts rotating. In short, the kinetic energy of water gets converted into rotational
mechanical energy.
Thus electricity is generated when one end of turbine shaft is connected to
generator.

Turbines used in thermal power

plants:-
Also called as steam turbines, they are used in nuclear & thermal power
plants where water is heated to form steam & then flowed t hrough turbines to
produce electricity. Alike water turbines, steam turbines are also classified into
impulse & reaction types but the arrangement & design is different. All the
modern steam turbines are a combination of impulse & reaction type.

Blades of Impulse & Reaction turbines

Steam turbines consist not only rotating blades called as rotor but also static
blades called as stator. Rotors & stators are placed alternately in order to extract
most energy out of it. This method is called as compounding.

Also, if you observe, the moving buckets in impulse turbine are designed to get
pushed by the steam. While the rotor blades in reaction turbine are aerofoiled
shape, which lets itself generate reaction & also let steam maintain its velocity.
Gas turbines :-

Parts of a gas turbine, popularly called as jet engine.

Gas turbines in other words are internal combustion engines, which are not only
used in powerplants for generating electricity but also for propelling airplanes &
helicopters. Gas turbines as a whole system has a axial compressor at the inlet.
These are sets of rotating blades which suck huge amount of air & compress it
which also increases the temperature. This air is then supplied to the combustion
chamber. Fuel is added into the combustion chamber & ignitor ignites the fuel.
Thus large amount of exhaust gases are produced which are made to flow through
turbines.
The different types of gas turbines/jet engines are –

1. Turbojet
2. Turbofan
3. Turbojet
4. Turbo shaft
5. Ramjet

The above mentioned are open cycle gas turbines where the exhaust gases are
let directly into atmosphere. The other type i.e closed cycle gas
turbines where the exhausted are reused again for reheating are used in power
plants.
Here is more detailed working of gas turbines & different types of gas turbines in
detail.

Wind turbines :-

Parts in wind turbine

Wind turbines are a boon to mankind- affordable, clean & sustainable ! Some
windfarms are so big that they could produce 50MW of power.
Well, coming to working of wind turbines, the story remains same as other
turbines. The rotor has 3 blades & are designed in such a way that when wind
flows straight through them, they start rotating. The only problem here is wind
turbines rotate at a very low of RPM. The low RPM doesn’t produce electricity of
required frequency & that is why we require a gearbox which increases the speed
of shaft. The output shaft is then connected to the generator.
The 3 primary types of wind turbines are –

1. Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT)

2. Savonius vertical-axis wind turbine (Savonius VAWT)
3. Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine (Darrieus VAWT)

3 main types of wind turbines

HAWTs are much older & common while VAWTs produce less power, are less
efficient & hence are not used commonly.

Well, what’s interesting is why do wind turbines have 3

blades ?

Adding more number of blades increases torque which is not the need here.
Increase in torque decreases the RPM which is undesirable. Also cost increases
significantly.
Also lowering the number of blades to 2 leads to gyroscopic instability & periodic
stresses which makes it unsafe.
Hence, 3 blades makes wind turbines the most efficient in all terms
 Why is cooling necessary?
Thermoelectric power plants boil water to create steam, which then spins turbines to
generate electricity. The heat used to boil water can come from burning of a fuel, from
nuclear reactions, or directly from the sun or geothermal heat sources underground. Once
steam has passed through a turbine, it must be cooled back into water before it can be reused
to produce more electricity. Colder water cools the steam more effectively and allows more
efficient electricity generation

Types of cooling
Even though all thermoelectric plants use water to generate steam for electricity generation,
not all plant cooling systems use water. There are three main methods of cooling:

 Once-through systems take water from nearby sources (e.g., rivers, lakes, aquifers,
or the ocean), circulate it through pipes to absorb heat from the steam in systems called
condensers, and discharge the now warmer water to the local source. Once-through systems
were initially the most popular because of their simplicity, low cost, and the possibility of
siting power plants in places with abundant supplies of cooling water. This type of system is
currently widespread in the eastern US Very few new power plants use once-through
cooling, however, because of the disruptions such systems cause to local ecosystems from the
significant water withdrawals involved and because of the increased difficulty in siting power
plants near available water sources.
 Wet-recirculating or closed-loop systems reuse cooling water in a second cycle
rather than immediately discharging it back to the original water source. Most commonly,
wet-recirculating systems use cooling towers to expose water to ambient air. Some of the
water evaporates; the rest is then sent back to the condenser in the power plant. Because
wet-recirculating systems only withdraw water to replace any water that is lost through
evaporation in the cooling tower, these systems have much lower water withdrawals than
once-through systems, but tend to have appreciably higher water consumption. In the
western US, wet-recirculating systems are predominant.
 Dry-cooling systems use air instead of water to cool the steam exiting a turbine.
Dry-cooled systems use no water and can decrease total power plant water consumption by
more than 90 percent. The tradeoffs to these water savings are higher costs and lower
efficiencies. In power plants, lower efficiencies mean more fuel is needed per unit of
electricity, which can in turn lead to higher air pollution and environmental impacts from
mining, processing, and transporting the fuel. In 2000, most US dry-cooling installations
were in smaller power plants, most commonly in natural gas combined-cycle power plants.
 EXPERIMENT-7

AIM- to study turbine vacuum system

TURBINE VACUUM SYSTEM

Why is it required?
The steam turbine. The steam turbine is a device to convert the heat. The steam turbine is a device to convert the
heat in steam. The steam turbine is a device to convert the heat in steam to mechanical power. Enthalpy drop
across the turbine decides the work output of the turbine. For increasing this enthalpy drop across the turbine we
need effective condenser vacuum system. By condensing the exhaust steam. By condensing the exhaust steam of
turbine, the exhaust pressure is brought down below atmospheric pressure. By condensing the exhaust steam of
turbine, the exhaust pressure is brought down below atmospheric pressure, increasing the steam pressure drop
between inlet and exhaust of steam turbine. By condensing the exhaust steam of turbine, the exhaust pressure is
brought down below atmospheric pressure, increasing the steam pressure drop between inlet and exhaust of
steam turbine. This further reduction in exhaust pressure gives out more heat per unit weight of steam. By
condensing the exhaust steam of turbine, the exhaust pressure is brought down below atmospheric pressure,
increasing the steam pressure drop between inlet and exhaust of steam turbine. This further reduction in exhaust
pressure gives out more heat per unit weight of steam input to the steam turbine, for conversion to mechanical
power.
Parts of Vacuum System
CONDENSER

The functions of condenser are:

To provide lowest economic heat rejection temperature for the steam. Thus saving on steam required per unit of
electricity. To convert exhaust steam to water for reuse for thus saving on feed water requirement. De-aeration of
make-up-pump water introduced in the condenser. To form a convenient point for introducing make up water.
CW system

Steam Condenser

Steam condenser is a closed space into which steam exits the turbine and is forced to give up its latent heat of
vaporization. It is a necessary component of a steam power plant because of two reasons. It converts dead steam
into live feed water. It lowers the cost of supply of cleaning and treating of working fluid. It is far easier to pump a
liquid than a steam. It increases the efficiency of the cycle by allowing the plant to operate on largest possible
temperature difference between source and sink. The steam’s latent heat of condensation is passed to the water
flowing through the tubes of condenser. After steam condenses, the saturated water continues to transfer heat to
cooling water as it falls to the bottom of the condenser called, hot well. This is called sub cooling and certain
amount is desirable. The difference between saturation temperature corresponding to condenser vaccum and
temperature of condensate in hot well is called condensate depression.

Single Pass condenser

Two face surface condenser

Thermal Processes Occurring in Condensers

The condenser never receives pure seam from the turbine. A mixture of steam and non-condensable gases (Air-
steam mixture) enters the condenser. The ratio of the quantity of gas that enters the condenser to the quantity of
steam is called the relative air content. The value of ε, depends on type, capacity, load and design dimensions of
the condenser plant.

Inside a Shell and tube condenser

Water-cooled surface condenser

The adjacent diagram depicts a typical water-cooled surface condenser as used in power stations to condense
the exhaust steam from a steam turbine driving an electrical generator as well in other applications. There are
many fabrication design variations depending on the manufacturer, the size of the steam turbine, and other
site-specific conditions.
Shell
The shell is the condenser's outermost body and contains the heat exchanger tubes. The shell is fabricated
from carbon steel plates and is stiffened as needed to provide rigidity for the shell. When required by the
selected design, intermediate plates are installed to serve as baffle plates that provide the desired flow path
of the condensing steam. The plates also provide support that help prevent sagging of long tube lengths.
At the bottom of the shell, where the condensate collects, an outlet is installed. In some designs,
a sump (often referred to as the hotwell) is provided. Condensate is pumped from the outlet or the hotwell
for reuse as boiler feed water.
For most water-cooled surface condensers, the shell is under [partial] vacuum during normal operating
conditions.

Vacuum system

For water-cooled surface condensers, the shell's internal vacuum is most commonly supplied by and
maintained by an external steam jet ejector system. Such an ejector system uses steam as the motive fluid to
remove any non-condensible gases that may be present in the surface condenser. The Venturi effect, which is
a particular case of Bernoulli's principle, applies to the operation of steam jet ejectors.
Motor driven mechanical vacuum pumps, such as the liquid ring type, are also popular for this service.

Tube sheets
At each end of the shell, a sheet of sufficient thickness usually made of stainless steel is provided, with holes
for the tubes to be inserted and rolled. The inlet end of each tube is also bell mouthed for streamlined entry
of water. This is to avoid eddies at the inlet of each tube giving rise to erosion, and to reduce flow friction.
Some makers also recommend plastic inserts at the entry of tubes to avoid eddies eroding the inlet end. In
smaller units some manufacturers use ferrules to seal the tube ends instead of rolling. To take care of length
wise expansion of tubes some designs have expansion joint between the shell and the tube sheet allowing the
latter to move longitudinally. In smaller units some sag is given to the tubes to take care of tube expansion
with both end water boxes fixed rigidly to the shell.
Tubes
Generally the tubes are made of stainless steel, copper alloys such as brass or bronze, cupro nickel,
or titanium depending on several selection criteria. The use of copper bearing alloys such as brass or cupro
nickel is rare in new plants, due to environmental concerns of toxic copper alloys. Also depending on the
steam cycle water treatment for the boiler, it may be desirable to avoid tube materials containing copper.
Titanium condenser tubes are usually the best technical choice, however the use of titanium condenser tubes
has been virtually eliminated by the sharp increases in the costs for this material. The tube lengths range to
about 85 ft (26 m) for modern power plants, depending on the size of the condenser. The size chosen is based
on transportability from the manufacturers’ site and ease of erection at the installation site. The outer
diameter of condenser tubes typically ranges from 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inch, based on condenser cooling water
friction considerations and overall condenser size.
Water boxes
The tube sheet at each end with tube ends rolled, for each end of the condenser is closed by a fabricated box
cover known as a water box, with flanged connection to the tube sheet or condenser shell. The water box is
usually provided with man holes on hinged covers to allow inspection and cleaning.
These water boxes on inlet side will also have flanged connections for cooling water inlet butterfly valves,
small vent pipe with hand valve for air venting at higher level, and hand operated drain valve at bottom to
drain the water box for maintenance. Similarly on the outlet water box the cooling water connection will have
large flanges, butterfly valves, vent connection also at higher level and drain connections at lower level.
Similarly thermometer pockets are located at inlet and outlet pipes for local measurements of cooling water
temperature.
In smaller units, some manufacturers make the condenser shell as well as water boxes of cast iron.

CW system

 CW pumps supply cooling water to condensers

 CW maintains vacuum in condensers
 CW flows through condensers tubes
STEAM EJECTORS

Air and water vapor are removed from the main steam condenser, enter the 1st stage ejector and are
compressed to the inter stage pressure by means of the high pressure motive steam. The load and motive
steam are discharged to the inter condenser and a portion of the water vapor load and motive steam are
condensed by condensate from the main condenser. Non-condensibles and associated water vapor are
removed from the inter condenser by the 2nd stage ejector.

STEAM EJECTORS

Multistage condensing ejector systems can be designed to operate at any condenser pressure and designs are
not limited by the available cooling water temperature to the inter condenser (condensate cooled systems are
common). These systems have no moving parts, are the most reliable, require the least maintenance of all
venting systems, and are the least expensive in initial cost. Once equipment is built for a given motive steam
pressure that pressure must be maintained or the ejector will become unstable and lose vacuum.
VACUUM PUMPS

The liquid-ring vacuum

pump is a specific form of
rotary positive-
displacement pump
utilizing liquid as the
principal element in gas
compression. The
working parts of the
liquid ring vacuum pump
consist of a multi-bladed
impeller mounted
eccentrically in a round
casing which is partly
filled with liquid. As the
impeller rotates, the liquid is thrown by centrifugal force to form a liquid ring which is concentric with the
periphery of the casing.

In addition to being the compressing medium, the liquid ring absorbs the heat generated by compression and
friction, absorbs any liquid slugs or vapor entering with the gas stream, and condenses water vapor entering
with the gas.A closed loop (or total recirculation) seal system is commonly used. The seal water temperature
warmer than the cooling water to the pump heat exchanger, which is normally taken from the same source as
the condenser cooling water (CW or ARCW).

TWO STAGE LIQUID RING VACUUM PUMP

To produce vacuum in a two-stage liquid ring vacuum pimp, a multi-blade impeller on a shaft is positioned
eccentrically in a cylindrical housing that is partially filled with sealing liquid
 As the shaft turns, a liquid ring is created by the centrifugal force
generated by the rotating impeller. This force holds the liquid ring
against the inner wall of the pumping chamber. Since the impeller
is located eccentric to the pumping chamber, the depth of entry of
the blades into the liquid ring decreases and increases as the
impeller rotates. This creates increasing cell volume on the inlet
port side, creating vacuum.

On the discharge port side, the impeller cell volume

decreases as the blades move further into the liquid
ring. This increases the pressure until discharge takes place
through the discharge port.

A continuous flow of fresh sealing liquid is supplied to the

pump via the sealing-liquid inlet.

In the case of the two-stage liquid ring pump, the discharge

from the first stage does not discharge to atmosphere.
Instead, the first stage discharges through the manifold
leading to the second stage as well as through a discharge
port located in the intermediate plate between the first-
and second-stage impellers.

The process repeats itself in the second stage, allowing deeper vacuum and finally discharging to atmosphere.
 EXPERIMENT NO-8
AIM: To study Shell and Tube Type Indirect Condenser.
APPARATUS: Models of different types of condenser.
THEORY: A shell and tube heat condenser is a class of condenser designs. It is the most common
type of condenser in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for higher-
pressure applications. As its name implies, this type of condenser consists of a shell (a large pressure
vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows
over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is called
a tube bundle, and may be composed of several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally finned, etc.
WORKING:
 Two fluids, of different starting temperatures, flow through the heat exchanger. One flows
through the tubes (the tube side) and the other flows outside the tubes but inside the shell
(the shell side). Heat is transferred from one fluid to the other through the tube walls, either
from tube side to shell side or vice versa. The fluids can be either liquids or gases on either
the shell or the tube side. In order to transfer heat efficiently, a large heat transfer area
should be used, leading to the use of many tubes. In this way, waste heat can be put to use.
This is an efficient way to conserve energy.

 Heat exchangers with only one phase (liquid or gas) on each side can be called one-phase or
single-phase heat exchangers. Two-phase heat exchangers can be used to heat a liquid to boil
it into a gas (vapor), sometimes called boilers, or cool a vapor to condense it into a liquid
(called condensers), with the phase change usually occurring on the shell side. Boilers in
steam engine locomotives are typically large, usually cylindrically-shaped shell-and-tube heat
exchangers. In large power plants with steam-driven turbines, shell-and-tube surface
condensers are used to condense the exhaust steam exiting the turbine into
condensate water which is recycled back to be turned into steam in the steam generator.

Shell and tube heat exchanger design:

There can be many variations on the shell and tube design. Typically, the ends of each tube are
connected to plenums (sometimes called water boxes) through holes in tube sheets. The tubes may
be straight or bent in the shape of a U, called U-tubes.

1. STRAIGHT-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

i) ONE PASS TUBE SIDE
2) U-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER:

In nuclear power plants called pressurized water reactors, large heat exchangers called steam
generators are two-phase, shell-and-tube heat exchangers which typically have U-tubes. They are
used to boil water recycled from a surface condenser into steam to drive a turbine to produce
power. Most shell-and-tube heat exchangers are either 1, 2, or 4 pass designs on the tube side. This
refers to the number of times the fluid in the tubes passes through the fluid in the shell. In a single
pass heat exchanger, the fluid goes in one end of each tube and out the other.

Surface condensers in power plants are often 1-pass straight-tube heat exchangers (see surface
condenser for diagram). Two and four pass designs are common because the fluid can enter and exit
on the same side. This makes construction much simpler.
 ii) TWO PASS TUBE SIDE

There are often baffles directing flow through the shell side so the fluid does not take a short cut
through the shell side leaving ineffective low flow volumes. These are generally attached to the tube
bundle rather than the shell in order that the bundle is still removable for maintenance.
Counter current heat exchangers are most efficient because they allow the highest log mean
temperature difference between the hot and cold streams. Many companies however do not use
two pass heat exchangers with a u-tube because they can break easily in addition to being more
expensive to build. Often multiple heat exchangers can be used to simulate the counter current flow
of a single large exchanger.
Selection of tube material:
To be able to transfer heat well, the tube material should have good thermal conductivity. Because
heat is transferred from a hot to a cold side through the tubes, there is a temperature difference
through the width of the tubes. Because of the tendency of the tube material to thermally expand
differently at various temperatures, thermal stresses occur during operation. This is in addition to
any stress from high pressures from the fluids themselves. The tube material also should be
compatible with both the shell and tube side fluids for long periods under the operating conditions
(temperatures, pressures, pH, etc.) to minimize deterioration such as corrosion. All of these
requirements call for careful selection of strong, thermally-conductive, corrosion-resistant, high
quality tube materials, typically metals, including aluminium, copper alloy, stainless steel, carbon
steel, non-ferrous copper alloy, Inconel, nickel, Hastelloy and titanium. Fluor polymers such
as Perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA) and Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) are also used to produce
the tubing material due to their high resistance to extreme temperatures. Poor choice of tube
material could result in a leak through a tube between the shell and tube sides causing fluid cross-
contamination and possibly loss of pressure.
Applications and uses:
a) The simple design of a shell and tube heat exchanger makes it an ideal cooling solution for a
wide variety of applications.
b)
c) One of the most common applications is the cooling of hydraulic fluid and oil in engines,
transmissions and hydraulic power packs.
d) With the right choice of materials they can also be used to cool or heat other mediums, such
as swimming pool water or charge air.
e) One of the big advantages of using a shell and tube heat exchanger is that they are often
easy to service, particularly with models where a floating tube bundle (where the tube plates
are not welded to the outer shell) is available.
EXPERIMENT-9