A boiler is an enclosed type of vessel combustion chamber in which fluid is heated to produce steam at a desired pressure by the combustion of fuel. The produced steam is very much used in different fields like steam engines, thermal power plants, steam turbines, various heating installation processes, different cotton mills, crude oil refineries, salt factories, sugar refinery factories, etc. There exist various fuels such as coal, oil, and gas are commonly used for producing heat.
Parts
There have many parts of this equipment which descriptions are given below:
Shell: This part is made of steel plates which bent into a cylindrical form and riveted or welded together. This shell must have a good capacity to carry water and steam.
Combustion Chamber: This part is situated below the boiler shell which relates to burning fuel to produce steam from the water contained in the shell.
Grate: This part consists of a combustion chamber, on which fuel like coal or wood is burnt. This part is generally made of cast iron bars that are spaced apart so that air can pass through them. Fire can be burnt easily in this surface area which is generally called grate surface.
Furnace: This part also called the firebox stays above the grate and below the boiler shell. Fuel is actually burnt in this furnace area.
Heating Surface: This part of the surface is exposed to the fire or hot gases from the fire.
Mountings: There have many fittings in the boiler shell for increasing its efficiency such as a water level indicator, safety valve, pressure gauge, etc. A boiler can run its function safely in the presence of mountings.
Accessories: Many devices such as a superheater, economizer, feed pump, etc. are included in the boiler which helps in controlling and running the boiler efficiently.
Working Principle of Steam Boiler
The working principle of this equipment is very simple and easy for learning. This enclosed vessel is used to generate steam. Firstly, water is stored in this vessel and fuel is burnt in a furnace which produces hot gasses. These produced hot gasses come in contact with water vessels. Then it is possible easily to transfer the heat of these hot gases to the water and consequently steam is produced in the boiler. Then the produced steam is transferred by pipe to the turbine of the thermal power plant.
There have various types of this equipment utilized for various purposes like running a production unit, sterilizing skirts equipment, sanitizing some areas, warming up the surroundings, etc. Then this steam strikes the eye of the turbine of the thermal power plant. There exist various versatile types of boilers utilized for different purposes like running a production unit, sanitizing some areas, sterilizing equipment, warming up the surroundings, etc.
Characteristics
There have lots of good characteristics of an ideal steam boiler. The characteristics of some points are given below:
1. It should have the ability for the production of a maximum quantity of steam with minimum fuel consumption.
2. Any fluctuating load can be controlled easily.
3. The weight of this equipment should be light.
4. It requires less space for installation.
5. It must be economical and should require less attention.
6. It can be started easily.
Types
There are mainly two types of steam boilers which are given below:
Water tube type: Water is heated easily inside this type of equipment and hot gasses surround these tubes to generate steam.
Fire tube type: Hot gasses are passed easily at very high pressure through the number of tubes in this equipment inside and water surrounds these tubes.
There exists two types of steam boiler based which are given below:
Internally fired type: The furnace of this type of equipment stays inside the boiler shell where fire can be generated easily.
Externally fired type: The furnace of this type of equipment is arranged underneath in a brickwork setting.
There exists two types of steam boiler which are given below:
Horizontal type: The shell axis stays horizontally in this type of equipment where steam is heated at high pressure.
Vertical type: The boiler shell axis stays vertically in this type of equipment where steam is heated at high pressure.
There exist two types of steam boilers which are given below:
Natural circulation type: The water can be circulated in this equipment by natural convection currents, which are set up during the heating of water.
Forced circulation type: The water can be circulated by a centrifugal pump and heated to generate steam.
There exists two types of steam boiler which are given below:
Single tube type: This equipment has a single tube where fluid can be heated at high pressure for generating steam.
Multitube type: This equipment has many tubes where fluid can be heated at high pressure for generating steam.
There exists two types of steam boiler which are given below:
Stationary type: This equipment cannot be moved from one place to another.
Mobile type: This equipment of a steam boiler can be moved from one place to another.
Application
There have a lot of applications of this equipment to generate steam required for their manufacture. Steam boiler is very much used in the food and beverage industries. It is essential equipment in various commercial laundries, textile industries, fermentation industries, pharmaceutical industries, hospitals, health care centers, etc.
References
Gilman, G. J., & Gilman, J. (2010). Boiler control systems engineering. Isa.
