Boiler Water Treatment PDF
Boiler Water Treatment PDF
Boiler Water Treatment PDF
N.MANIVASAKAM
Formerly CHIEF WATER ANALYST
PRINCIPAL PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY
COIMBATORE-641018 (T.N.)
INDIA
Practical Boiler Water Treatment
Handbook
2011 by Chemical Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8206-0171-7
8) Lenntech Water Treatment and Air Purification Holding, B.V., The Netherlands.,
for their kind permission to reproduce some of the figures, tables and portions from their
publications.
- N. MANIVASAKAM
PREFACE
This book is an outcome of my lengthy experience and the burning desire to write books
of this type. Starting from plant managers to plant operators indulging in boiler water treatment,
they have an umpteen number of unanswered questions. A vast literature is available on this
subject, but most of them are descriptive and provide less practical information. As pointed out
by George S.Solt and Chris B.Shirley in the preface of their book, An Engineers Guide to Water
Treatment, most of the books are written by the experts for the experts. This is true with the
case of boiler water treatment books also and therefore most of the technical persons are
unaware of the several problems that occur during treatment eventhough they read many
books. They carryout treatment with only partial understanding of the basics and intricacies of
the treatment. I tried to provide much more practical information on the subject and to offer
answers for the questions that have not been cleared hitherto, which sets this book as a
different one from others of this type.
This book is divided into nine parts for easy understanding of the subject. Part I,
Boiler Basics provides information on the fundamentals of boiler, boiler components and types
of boilers. In Part II, Boiler Water Troubles, are dealt exhaustively the innumerable troubles
caused by the impurities present in water. A thorough understanding of the causes and effects of
boiler water troubles would help to eliminate them in the early stages itself. In Part III, Water
Quality Requirements and Treatment Programs, the quality requirements of feed water and
boiler water as prescribed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and recommended
by James W.McCoy in his book The Chemical Treatment of Boiler Water are given. This is
followed by a brief discussion on external and internal treatments and guidelines on treatment
programs. In Part IV, External Treatment and Part V, Internal Treatment all the
treatment methods are dealt exhaustively.
It is extremely important that the technical persons must have a thorough knowledge on
the calculations of blowdown, cycles of concentration and dosage of chemicals. The methods of
calculation of such parameters are provided along with worked out problems under Part VI,
Boiler Water Treatment Important Calculations. To cater more information on boiler start up
and allied subjects, Part VII, Boiler Startup, Cleaning, Layup and Maintenance is included. In
Part VIII, Chemicals Handling, Solution Preparation and Feeders are given the methods of
chemical handling and storage, methods of preparation of solutions and different types of
chemical feeders. Part IX, Analysis of Water and Steam provides analytical procedures for
testing feed water and boiler water and for the measurement of steam purity. In the appendix
are provided a number of tables which are useful tools to simplify calculations and computations.
This book would be extremely useful to Plant Managers, Water Treatment Personnel,
Water Chemists, Boiler Operators and to Water Treatment Consultants and Firms engaged in
(ii)
water treatment as well as for Boiler Manufacturers. This book would serve as a handy reference
and ready reckoner to each wet processing industry and power stations and would help to
choose the right type of treatment, right type of chemical and to reduce the cost on water
treatment significantly. This book would also serve as a ready reference to students of Industrial
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Chemistry, Applied
Chemistry and to various other faculties of Colleges and Universities.
The usefulness of the book is enhanced by some figures and tables which are reproduced
from certain books and journals. Many of the publishers and manufacturers of water treatment
equipments and organizations have been kind enough to permit me to reproduce such figures
and tables from their publications. I am ever grateful to all of them.
In the preparation of this book, considerable assistance has been derived from a number
of my friends, I am grateful to them for their interest, encouragement and assistance. Especially
I wish to acknowledge the help rendered by Mr.S.Muruganandam and Mr.Manoharan. I also
acknowledge Ms.S.Punitha for the excellent typesetting of this book. Lastly it is a pleasure to
extend my sincere thanks, to my wife M.Sivabagiam for her patience and continued
encouragement, and to my son Mr.M.Sakthikumar who has designed the cover excellently,
amidst his busy schedule.
- N. MANIVASAKAM
(iii)
CONTENTS
PART I. BOILER BASICS 1
Chapter 1. Boiler An Introduction 3
Chapter 2. Classification of Boilers 11
Chapter 3. Common Terms and Explanation 24
PART VII. BOILER START UP, CLEANING, LAY UP AND MAINTENANCE 387
Chapter 63. Boiler Startup (Pre-operational Cleaning) 389
Chapter 64. Descaling and Boiler Cleaning 391
Chapter 65. Boiler LayUp 400
Chapter 66. Boiler Maintenance 403
(viii)
Bibliography 511
Appendix 519
Index 545
PART I
BOILER BASICS
3
Chapter - 1
BOILER AN INTRODUCTION
Water is the universal solvent and is invariably used for a wide variety of domestic and industrial
purposes. The major industrial uses of water are steam generation, cooling, washing, conveying of materials
etc., Above all, it is the major raw material which will become an ingredient in the finished product.
Of the many uses of water, steam production is considered as the most important as it is a means of
power generation and of several industrial uses. Steam is used to drive turbines and for heating, and to
operate pumps, compressors and reciprocating engines. Most chemical process industries require an
uninterrupted supply of steam to be used for varied purposes.
Steam is the vapor phase of water. While many liquids can be vaporized and utilized, steam is the
preferred one as it can hold very large quantities of heat within it, the property which the vapors of other liquids
do not possess. A kilogram of steam carries more energy than any other vaporized liquid. When water is
converted to steam, its volume increases by about 1600 times and produces a very high force similar to that of
an explosive and hence is used to drive turbines, pumps and compressors. This apart, water is available in
plenty than any other material. Besides, handling of water and steam is much easier when compared to
handling of other liquids and their vapors.
Steam is generated from water by the common equipment Boiler. A boiler is an enclosed vessel in
which heat is transferred continuously from an external heat source to water until it is converted to hot water or
steam. The hot water or steam under pressure is then used for transferring the heat for industrial processes or
for power generation. The pressure vessel consists of a furnace (heating source), steam drum and mud drum,
riser tubes, downcomer tubes, flue gas tubes, steam headers along with necessary accessories and fittings
such as safety valves, blow off valves and pressure and temperature gages. This apart, some auxiliary
equipments such as economizers, superheaters etc., are also incorporated in a steam generation system. All
these components are described separately in later pages.
Boilers can burn coal, oil, natural gas, biomass and other fuels. During combustion, oxygen reacts
with the fuel to produce a flame and hot combustion gases. These combustion gases transfer their heat to
water in the boiler through radiation, conduction and convection. The relative percentage of each is dependent
upon the type of boiler, heat transfer surface and fuel. A boiler is designed in such a way to absorb the
maximum amount of heat released in the process of combustion.
Boilers are manufactured in many different sizes and configurations depending on the characteristics
of the fuel, the required output, and on the emission controls. Some boilers are only capable of producing hot
water while others are designed to produce steam.
There are a few fundamental types of boilers and many variations of each type. Boilers are generally
classified according to the operating pressures and operational design. They are also classified based on
certain other criteria too. All types of boilers are dealt exhaustively in Chapter 2.
4 Boiler An Introduction
It should be noted that boiler is a pressure vessel transforming water to steam while steam
generation system is a combination of boiler along with preboiler system and postboiler system. A schematic
diagram of a steam generation system is shown in Fig 1 1.
The preboiler section of a steam boiler comprises of the boiler systems structural components that
hold, move and treat the water before the water enters the boiler. The preboiler system components include
water treatment system, feed water pre-heater, deaerator to remove dissolved oxygen (and other non-
condensable gases), economizer, and feed water pumps. All these components are discussed in the following
section. The pre-boiler section may include a storage tank for the treated makeup water.
Boiler Section
This is exclusively boiler which generates steam. The components of boiler includes steam drum,
mud drum, riser tubes, downcomers, and superheaters which are discussed in the following section.
The after boiler, or post boiler section comprises of all structural components of the boiler system that
hold, move and process the steam and water downstream from the actual boiler. The after-boiler components
include steam headers, desuperheaters, condensate system and steam traps etc., which are described in the
following section.
Boiler feed water is usually preheated by the waste heat extracted from spent steam. Closed tube and
shell type heat exchangers are used for feed water preheating. These closed feed water heaters generally
make use of turbine exhaust steam. The feed water is preheated before it is passed on to deaerators or hot
water boilers. In the heat exchanger, feed water is passed in the tubes (inside) and steam on the shell side
(outside).
Deaerators
Feed water usually contains objectionable amounts of dissolved oxygen which is highly corrosive. In
order to prevent corrosion by dissolved oxygen, it has to be removed completely. Deaeration is the process by
which oxygen and other gases are removed from boiler feed water prior to its introduction to a boiler.
Deaeration is accomplished by the equipment termed as deaerator. Deaerators function on the principle that
solubility of oxygen decreases as the temperature is raised. This is done by passing a stream of steam through
the feed water. Deaerators are generally a combination of spray and tray type. A separate chapter is devoted
for deaeration and deaerators. Refer Chapter - 38.
A boiler system consists of a steam drum and mud drum. The steam drum is the upper drum of a
water tube boiler into which feed water is added. Chemicals used for internal boiler water treatment are also
6 Boiler An Introduction
added to water in the steam drum. Steam drum is the place where separation of water and steam occurs.
Steam drums are equipped with mechanical separators to ensure that the steam leaving the boiler does not
contain water, solids or other impurities. The present day trend is to use combination of baffles, cyclonetype
separators, corrugated scrubbers, and perforated plates for effective separation of steam and water. Steam
from the drum may be discharged directly to the steam header or to the superheater to generate superheated
steam. The steam drum also contains provisions for continuous blow down.
The steam outlet line normally takes off from this drum to a lower drum by a set of riser and
downcomer tubes. The lower drum, called the mud drum is a tank at the bottom of the boiler that equalizes
distribution of the water to the generating tubes and collects solids such as salts formed from hardness and
silica or corrosion products carried over into the boiler. The mud drum is normally provided with a blowdown
valve for periodic blowdown of sediment collecting in the bottom of the drum (See Fig. 2 -5).
Steam Headers
The steam generated by the boiler reaches steam header from where it is being supplied to steam
distribution system. (See Fig. 1-1). The steam is either used to generate electricity by passing on to turbine
section or consumed for industrial processes. The used steam is then condensed and subsequently reused for
steam production.
Economizer
An economizer is a tube bundle placed in the stack of the boiler for preheating feed water.
Economizers are used to recover heat from the boiler flue gases and thereby increase boiler efficiency. In
effect an economizer is a water heater designed to preheat boiler feed water and deliver the water to the boiler
at a high temperature, thus saving energy. By recovering waste heat, an economizer can often reduce fuel
requirement by 5% to 10%. Not all boilers have economizers. Usually they are found only on water tube boilers
using fossil fuels, that too in high pressure steam plants. Adding an economizer to an existing high pressure
boiler installation would increase the capacity of the plant. Boilers that exceed 100 boiler horsepower,
operating at pressures exceeding 75 psig or above and those that are significantly loaded all year long are
excellent candidates for economizer retrofit. Economizers do not work on most low pressure and HTHW plants.
In power plants that use fossil fuel, improvements in thermo dynamic efficiency are achieved by
economizers and air heaters installed in the path of the exit flue gas between the boiler and stack.
Economizers transfer heat from the exit gases to the feed water, air heaters transfer some of the residual stack
gas heat to the boiler combustion air supply.
An economizer is typically constructed of tubes just like boiler tubes. The tubes can be bare but are
usually fitted with fins to increase the heat transfer surface. Bare tubes are used for coal fired boilers, while fin
tubes or extended surfaces are commonly used on gas and oilfired units. Figure 1 2 shows a continuous
bare tube economizer. Figure 1-3 illustrates a steelfinned extended surface economizer.
Boiler An Introduction 7
ECONOMIZER
OUTLET HEADER
ECONOMIZER
NORMAL DIRECTION
OF GAS FLOW
ECONOMIZER
INLET HEADER
EXTENDED SURAFACE
PRINCIPLE
WATER FLOW
GAS FLOW
Reproduced with the kind permission from the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alexandria, from their
publication, Central Boiler Plants (TM 5-650).
8 Boiler An Introduction
Super Heaters
Some industrial processes and turbines require superheated steam which can be obtained by
incorporating a super heater in the boiler system. To obtain superheated steam, steam from the steam drum is
allowed to pass through superheater where it gets additional heat. The purpose of superheating is to remove
the last traces of moisture from the steam and to transfer additional heat to the steam, thus raising the
temperature of the steam above its saturation point. In power plants, to achieve the highest possible
thermodynamic efficiency, modern fossil fuel power cycles use steam superheaters and reheaters to raise
average temperatures of steam flowing through the turbine.
The superheaters can be single bank or multiple banks of tubes either in horizontal or vertical
arrangement and located in the convective or radiation zone of the boiler. Fig. 1-4 illustrates a two drum boiler
equipped with a superheater, water walls, spreader stoker and economizer.
There are two types of super heaters, namely 1) Drainable Super Heaters and 2) Pendant Super
Heaters. Drainable superheaters as the name implies have arrangements to drain the water that accumulates.
In pendant superheater, water is not drained, instead the tubes hang down from the heaters into the furnace or
flue gas passages.
Desuperheaters (Attemperators)
Reproduced with the kind permission from the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alexandria, from their
publication, Central Boiler Plants (TM 5-650).
Boiler An Introduction 9
Normally steam is superheated to increase the cycle efficiency in power generating plants. However
superheat is objectionable in process steam, principally because it creates a lower heat transfer rate than does
saturated steam. Therefore larger equipment is required if super heated steam is used. Because of this
reason, it becomes necessary to desuperheat the steam for process use. Desuperheating is accomplished by
injecting a stream of high purity water into the superheated steam. The injection rate is automatically controlled
by temperature sensors that modulate the flow of injection water. The injected water evaporates and becomes
part of the steam while reducing the temperature (and pressure) of the steam. An incidental advantage is the
increase in supply of desuperheated steam. Desuperheaters are usually located at the exit of the superheater,
but may also be placed in an intermediate position.
As the concentration of the total dissolved solids in the spray water should be < 2.5 ppm, condensate
is the preferred supply. In emergencies, feed water or treated makeup water may be used.
Steam Traps
Steam traps are integral part of any steam distribution system. Steam trap is a device attached to a
steam line that automatically drains off any condensate that forms (and other non-condensable gases such as
air) without releasing any significant amount of steam. It is a very important mechanical item for maintaining
peak efficiency in steam system. Industrial plants normally have a number of steam traps. It should be
remembered that no single type of steam trap is ideal for every situation. Four types of steam traps have been
developed to meet specific requirements. They are (i) Thermostatic (ii) Float and Thermostatic (c) Disc /
Thermodynamic, and (iv) Inverted Bucket types. Adequate care is essential in maintaining steam traps. If
steam traps are not maintained, condensate may be retained in the system, severely limiting heat transfer.
The operating pressure is usually expressed in terms of pounds per square inch (psi). It must be
clarified that boiler operators express the pressure indicated by the gauge and hence the precise expression is
psig (pounds per square inch gauge). Wherever pressure is indicated simply by psi it is psig only. There is
another term absolute pressure which is the gauge pressure plus atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi) and
expressed as pounds per square inch absolute (psia). But plant operators are normally interested only in
gauge pressure.
2
Pressure is also expressed in other units. They are (i) Kilogram per square centimeter (Kg/cm ),
2
(ii) atmosphere (iii) bar and (iv) Pascal (or Newton / meter ). Table 1 -1 provides conversion factors between
these units.
BOILER REGULATIONS
Boiler is a pressure vessel, and safety during operation is vital. Keeping in view of the safety, each
and every country has promulgated a set of rules and laws with regard to the construction, operation and
inspection of boilers. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has formulated a code for operating
boilers. These standards are universal and have been incorporated into the laws of many countries. For more
detailed information, readers are directed to refer Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code published by ASME.
10 Boiler An Introduction
From To Multiply by
2 2
psi (or lb/in ) Kg / cm 0.07031
psi atmosphere 0.068046
psi bar 0.068948
psi Pa (or) N / m2 6.8927 x 103
Kg / cm2 psi 14.223
Kg / cm2 atmosphere 0.9678
Kg / cm2 bar 0.9804
Kg / cm2 Pa (or) N / m2 9.804 x 104
atmosphere psi 14.696
atmosphere Kg / cm2 1.03325
atmosphere bar 1.01295
atmosphere Pa (or) N / m2 1.01295 x 105
bar psi 14.5039
bar Kg / cm2 1.02
bar atmosphere 0.9872
bar Pa (or) N / m2 1 x 105
Pa (or) N / m2 psi 1.4508 x 104
Pa (or) N / m2 Kg / cm2 1.020 x 105
Pa (or) N / m2 atmosphere 9.869 x 106
Pa (or) N / m2 bar 1 x 105
INDEX
- feeding, 314
A - polyamides, 356
2-amino-2methyl-1propanol (a neutralizing amine), 349 - recommended dosage, 356
Acidity determination, 444-447 - polyoxy alkylene glycols, 356
- Methyl orange acidity, 445-446 - recommended dosage, 356
- Total acidity, 445-446 - silicones, 356
- Free mineral acidity, 447 Antiscalants, 94-95, 269
Activated magnesia, 281 - phosphonates in RO process, 269
Activated silica, 106-107 Anti telescoping device (ATD), 257
After precipitation, 47, 127 Artificial standard soln for silica detn, 480
After-boiler section, 5 ASME Standards
Algal slimes in softener removal, 191 - for boiler water, 84
Alkali-iodide-azide reagent, 484 - for feed water, 84
Alkaline boilout, 389-390, 399 - for steam, 84
Alkaline cleaning solution, 389 Attemperators See Desuperheaters,
Alkalinity determination 452-457 Attrition losses, 160
- Phenolphthalein alkalinity, 453-454 Auxiliary chemicals for coagulation, 104-105
- Total alkalinity, 454
- calculation of three forms of alkalinity, 454-456
- hydroxide alkalinity-B value-detn, 456-457
All volatile Treatment, 346 B
Alum addition in softening, 126
Bacterial slimes in softener removal, 190, 191
Aluminium hydroxide gel
Bare tube economizer, 7
- preparation, 287
Barium chloride, 5% soln, 472
Aluminium sulfate (Alum), 101-102, 126
Barium chloride, crystals, 474
Alum stock soln for Jar test, 504
Bed volume, 141
Ammonia 31, 34
Bentonite, 107
- corrosion due to, 61
Biofouling of RO membranes 270-271
- and condensate corrosion, 70
Blends of neutralizing and film forming amines, 351, 353
- as regenerant, 136
Blowdown, 361-366
- addition in all volatile treatment, 346
- advantages and disadvantages, 364
- to prevent condensate corrosion, 348
- bottom, 363-364
- addition to prevent pre-boiler corrosion, 352
- calculations of 364-366, 374-376, 477-478
Ammonia-ammonium chloride buffer, 459, 496
- continuous, 361-363
Ammoniated citric acid, 392
- definition, 24
Ammonium bifluoride, 393
- intermittent, 363
Ammonium bromate, 392
Blowdown ratio, 25
Ammonium molybdate soln for phosphate detn, 490
Boiler, 3
Ammonium molybdate, 10% soln, for silica, 480
- A-type 17, 18
Ammonium salts of EDTA, 392, 395
- classification, 11-23
AMP (a phosphonate), 269, 312, 326
- definition, 3
Angstrom unit, 255
- D-type, 17-18
Anion dealkalization, 201-203
- fire tube, 12, 13-15
Anionic surfactants, 275
- flexitube 19
Antifoams, 91, 94, 95, 356
- fluidized bed combustion, 22
546 Index
Z
Zero solids treatment-See All volatile treatment
T Zirconyl chloride stock soln, 498
Zirconyl chloride working soln, 498
Tannin, 91, 311, 317, 321, 328, 356
Thin Film Composite membrane (TFC/TFM)-258, 260-
261
Thiocyanate soln 10%, 468
Thiourea, 393, 394
Thorough fare regeneration, 214
Total chelant determination, 497-498
Triammonium EDTA, 395
Trisodium phosphate, 318, 319, 342, 344
Tube failure, 42
Tube settlers, 108
Tubular module, 261
Turbine cleaning, 399
Turbine corrosion, 75-76
U
Ultra filtration, 255, 280, 286, 288
- for oil removal, 288