Motor ship steam plant

Silencer boiler (Spanner)

Spanner exhaust gas boilers can be provided as steam raising boilers

or hot water boilers or economisers. These boilers recover from 20% to 50%
more heat at a higher working pressure than some other designs.

They utilise the heat contained in the exhaust gases from diesel
engines and gas turbines. Spanner boilers of this type have tubes expanded and
then seal welded into the tube plate thus designed to be able to be run dry or
with varying water levels giving varying steaming rates. In the dry condition
access doors are opened to allow air circulation.

They may be fitted with an integral by-pass with either manual or

automatic control so that steam output can be controlled by varying the amount
of gas passing over the heating surface.

The boiler is designed to offer the minimum of resistance to gas flow

with a back pressure less than 150mm water.

There are therefor three ways of controlling steam pressure/generation rate

1. via a gas by-pass valve

2. via a steam dump system
3. via changing water levels(thus changing generating surface)

There is no capability for oil firing therefore a donkey package boiler

is required for use in port.

SWIRLYFLO tubes are used

Stone vapour boiler.

 The steam generating part of the unit consists of sets of coiled tubes
nested and connected in series to form a single tube several hundred feet long.
Water is pumped into the coil inlet and converted to steam as it progresses
through the coils. Heat is furnished by combustion of diesel fuel oil which is
sprayed by compressed air through an atomising nozzle in the fuel sprayhead into
the firepot above the coils. Here fine oil spray mixes with air supplied by the fan
and is ignited by a continuous electric spark. The heat flow is first downward,
then outward through the nest of coils.

The fuel supply is regulated such that the steam generated is equal to
80% to 90% of the water supplied, and any scale or sludge formed is carried out
of the system by the water. And deposited in a separator. This ensures that the
inner surfaces of the tubes are kept clean, the outside is cleaned by filling the
chamber with water and bubbling steam through the water for about 12 Hrs.

In the separator the sludge etc, settles to the bottom and is removed
periodically by blowdown. When water level reaches overflow level it is removed
via a steam trap back to the water supply tank but some of its heat energy is first
used to heat the incoming feed water. Feed pumps are driven at constant speed,
regulation is by a by-pass valve. When demand for steam falls, the steam
pressure at outlet increases, this acts on the feed regulator in such a way as to
increase the proportion of by-pass. Fuel and air control is by feed flow into the
boiler, thus if the by-pass is opened and feed flow to the boiler reduced, so the
fuel/air flow is adjusted accordingly.

Water pressure relief valve 40bar

Fuel pressure regulator 10.9 bar
Atomising air pressure 4.9bar
Max evaporation at 7bar 1250 Kg/Hr
Fuel consumption 114 litres hr
Water capacity 77 litres
 The advantage of this type of boiler is a very short warm up time, the
disadvantage is of course the disastrous consequence of a perforated pipe

Composite boilers-(Clarkson thimble tube)

This type of
boiler will generate steam
by means of exhaust gas
and oil firing, many
different arrangements are
possible, the one shown is
the Clarkson composite
boiler which makes use of
thimble tubes for heat
steam generation. The
only restriction is that it
must not be possible to
have oil firing and exhaust
gas firing on the same
heating surface at the
same time. If this were the
case there would be the
possibility of exhaust gas
entering the engine room
through the burner section
or of blowback due to the
action of exhaust gas and
oil firing. There would also
be a risk of poor engine performance due to exhaust back pressure, in order to
avoid problems and ensure that full use is made of exhaust gases even at slow
speeds it is usual to have completely separate oil and exhaust fired heating
sections.

Boiler tubes
In order to promote better heat transfer between gas and water it is necessary to
provide as large a surface area as possible. Specially shaped tubes will allow for
this. Heat transfer is also improved by giving the water a swirling action and the
tubes shown will achieve this, for plain tubes twisted strips of metal known as
retarders were sometimes inserted in order to cause turbulence in the water flow.

The Swirlyflo tube is formed from plate and rolled into seamless
tubes. The Cochran sinuflo is straight when viewed from the side, to prevent
deposits building up in the depressions.

Swirlyflo tubes may be inserted anyway around but the sinuflo tubes
must be inserted as shown. In addition they can only be fitted through one tube
plate and hence only removed the same way.

With any tubes deposits and corrosion can occur on the water side.
The nature of deposits and the degree of corrosion if any will depend upon the
quality of the feed and the effectiveness of treatment. The amount of treatment is
important too, too or too much both causing problems. Circulation of water will
also influence corrosion especially if stagnant flow areas are allowed to develop.
Stresses induced in the tube and the tube plate due to expansion can cause
cracking in the area of the tube plate connection. Vibration can also weaken this
expanded connection.

On the gas side the nature of the deposits and there quantity
depends upon the quality of the fuel burnt and the combustion process.
Vanadium, sulphur and carbon can all form deposits with the sulphur leading to
corrosion. Carbon will impair the heat transfer as will Vanadium which can also
cause corrosion.

Severe corrosion on either side of the tube means that it must be

replaced but the degree of corrosion must be considered in terms of thickness,
operating conditions and history. I.e. has the corrosion been reduced.

Tubes should be expanded if signs of leakage are evident. Over

expansion damages the tube plate and may cause problems when replacing the
tube. A leaking tube can be plugged as a temporary measure but only if that
leakage is from the tube itself and not from the expanded connection.

Replacing a tube requires the old tube to be removed usually by

cutting three grooves through the tube at the expanded connection and collapsing
the ends and then punching the tube out.

Motor ship steam plant

Were a large quantity of exhaust gas is available for extended periods of time it is
economical to make use of the exhaust gas to improve the quality of the steam
generated by superheating. This allows for the use of a turbine which connected
to a generator can provide electricity. Diesel generators are required as back up
in the event of failure. For in port a boiler with an independent superheater will
be required.

The steam generator part of the waste heat unit does not generate
100% dry steam at out let. 10% remain as water which carries back any sludge
to the boiler where it can be removed. The waste heat unit should have sufficient
reserve capacity to allow several minutes of operation after engine load reduction
to allow the in port boiler to be flashed
 Motor ship steam plant control

For the burner control to be fully automated transducers must be

fitted to monitor such things as fuel and air flow, steam pressure and water
levfel. Steam pressure is the main controlling parameter and the controller will
adjust fuel to maintain this at a set level .

The water level is monitored and kept within a certain range. Should
the level become too low then firing is ceased. Automated restarting after this trip
is not allowed and a manual reset must be operated. A high level shut off may
also be fitted by tradition tripping the feed supply pumps.

With this system fuel is delivered at a constant rate.Therefore before

commencement of firing the fuel may be circulated through the heater so is
available at the correct temperature. The diverter valve can deliver a varying
quantity of oil to the burner dependent on the master controller signal.

When flashing the fan will operate for a certain period at full flow to
purge the furnace of gasses. The spark relay operates and the fuel solenoid
opens. A period is allowed for ignition. If the photocell fails to detect a flame at
the end of this set period the fuel solenoid is shut down. Depending upon set up a
second attempt may be made or an alarm output signal will be generated.

Each item in the system must be tested on a regular basis for correct
operation by simulated failures.

This came up in my class one motor paper!!