Chapter 5

Co mbus t i o n and draught cont rol

Whe n consi deri ng fired boilers and heat - r ecover y st eam generat ors it is
cl ear t hat in t he areas of t hei r st eam and wat er circuits t here are ma ny
similarities bet ween t hem ( al t hough t he HRSG may have t wo or mor e
pressure systems). But when t he systems for cont rol l i ng t he heat i nput ar e
exami ned, t he t wo types of pl ant t ake on al t oget her di fferent charact eri s-
tics. The reason for this is f undament al : wi t hi n t he HRSG, no act ual
combust i on process is involved, since all t he heat i nput is deri ved from t he
gas-t urbi ne exhaust (except wher e suppl ement ar y firing is i nt r oduced
bet ween t he gas t ur bi ne and t he HRSG) . The subject of combust i on
cont rol , whi ch we shall be exami ni ng in this chapt er, is t herefore onl y
rel evant to fired plant.
Nat ural l y, in a fired boiler t he cont rol of combust i on is ext r emel y
critical. I n or der to maxi mi se operat i onal efficiency combust i on must be
accurate, so t hat t he fuel is consumed at a rat e t hat exact l y mat ches t he
demand for st eam, and it must be execut ed safely, so t hat t he ener gy is
rel eased wi t hout risk to plant, personnel or envi ronment . ( The amount of
ener gy involved in a power pl ant is considerable: in each second of its
oper at i on a l arge boiler releases ar ound a billion joules, and in a process of
this scale t he results of an er r or can be catastrophic. )
I n this chapt er we shall see how t he combust i on process is cont rol l ed to
meet t he t wo objectives defined in t he previous par agr aph. We shall also
exami ne t he subsidiary systems t hat mai nt ai n t he correct operat i onal con-
ditions in t he fuel -handl i ng pl ant of coal-fired boilers.
64 Power-plant control and instrumentation
5.1 The pri nci pl es of combus t i on control
In Chapt er 3 we saw t hat the t heoret i cal l y perfect combust i on of a fuel
requires the provision of exact l y the right amount of air needed tbr
compl et e combust i on of the fuel. For the boiler as a whol e this means t hat
the total amount of air bei ng delivered to the combust i on chamber at any
instant mat ches the total amount of fuel ent eri ng t hat chamber at t hat
time. For an individual bur ner it means t hat the fuel and air bei ng
del i vered to the bur ner are always in st ep wi t h one another.
On the surface, therefore, it woul d appear t hat the mat t er of combust i on
cont rol merel y involves keeping the fuel and air i nput s in step with each
other, accordi ng to the demands of the master, and i f this were t rue this
role woul d be adequat el y addressed by a st rai ght forward flow rat i o con-
troller. Unfort unat el y, when the realities of practical pl ant are involved,
the si t uat i on once agai n becomes far more compl ex t han this simple
analysis woul d suggest.
When the relationship bet ween the fuel and air flowing at any instant
into the furnace is chemi cal l y ideal for combust i on, the relationship
bet ween the t wo flows is known as the stoichiometric f uel / ai r ratio.
However , as st at ed earlier, it is usually necessary to oper at e at a f uel / ai r
ratio t hat is different from this t heoret i cal l y opt i mal value, general l y with
a cert ai n amount of excess air. All the same, even t hough mor e t han the
t heoret i cal amount of air has to be provi ded, any overprovi si on of air
reduces the efficiency of the boiler and results in undesirable stack
emissions, and must t herefore be limited.
The reduct i on in efficiency is due to losses which are composed of the
heat wast ed in the exhaust gases and the heat whi ch is t heoret i cal l y
avai l abl e in the fuel, but which is not burned. As the excess-air level
increases, the heat lost in the exhaust gases increases, while the losses in
unbur ned fuel reduce (the short age of oxygen at the lower levels increasing
the degree of i ncompl et e combust i on t hat occurs). The sum of these t wo
losses, plus the heat lost by radi at i on from hot surfaces in the boiler and its
pi pework, is identified as the total loss.
Fi gure 5.1 shows t hat operat i on of the pl ant at the poi nt identified at
'A' will correspond wi t h mi ni mum losses, and from this it may be assumed
t hat this is the poi nt to which the operat i on of the combust i on-cont rol
system shoul d be t arget ed. However , in pract i ce air is not evenl y distrib-
ut ed within the furnace. For exampl e, operat i onal considerations requi re
t hat a suppl y of cooling air is provi ded for idle burners and flame
monitors, to prevent t hem being damaged by heat from near by active
burners and by general radi at i on from the furnace. Air also enters the
Combustion and draught control 65
u .
Total losses
s S s
\ i . "
" \ i . . - " "
\ ..i, "
S S S ~0
s " s " i ~ . Unburned loss
i "
os ~ . . . . . .
k l ~ e e s s 02
A
Figure 5.1 Heat losses in a f urnace
combust i on chamber t hrough leaks, observat i on ports, soot -bl ower ent ry
points and so on. The sum of all this is referred to as ' t r amp air' or ' setting
leakage' . I f this is included in the total bei ng supplied to the furnace, and i f
t hat total is appor t i oned to the total amount of fuel bei ng fired, the impli-
cat i on is t hat some burners (at least) will be depri ved of the air t hey need
for the combust i on of their fuel. In ot her words, the correct amount of air
is being provi ded in total, but it is going to places where it is not avai l abl e
for the combust i on process.
Oper at i on of the firing system must t ake these factors into account ,
and from t hen on the system can appor t i on the fuel and air flows. I f these
are mai nt ai ned in a fixed relationship with each ot her over the full range
of flows, the amount of excess air will be fixed over the entire range.
5.1.1 A simple system: "parallel control"
The easiest way of mai nt ai ni ng a relationship bet ween fuel flow and air
flow is to use a single act uat or to position a fuel-control val ve and an air-
cont rol damper in parallel wi t h each ot her as shown in Figure 5.2. Here,
the openi ng of an air-control damper is mechani cal l y linked to the
openi ng of a fuel cont rol valve to mai nt ai n a defined relationship bet ween
66 Power-pl ant control and instrumentation
T
I
F u e l f l o w ~"~
Figure 5. 2 Simple 'parallel' control
Master
demand
,t
Fue/va/ve A/r control damper
fuel flow and ai r flow. Thi s system is empl oyed in very small boilers, and
a var i ant allows a non-l i near relationship bet ween valve openi ng and
damper openi ng to be det er mi ned by t he shape of a cam, wi t h a range of
cams offering a vari et y of relationships.
Al t hough this simple system may be qui t e adequat e for very small
boilers bur ni ng fuels such as oil or nat ur al gas, its deficiencies become
i ncreasi ngl y appar ent as t he size of t he pl ant increases.
One l i mi t at i on of t he system is t hat it assumes t hat t he amount of fuel
flowing t hr ough t he valve and t he quant i t y of ai r flowing past t he damper
will r emai n const ant for a given openi ng of t he respective devices. I n
practice, i f a valve or damper is held at a given opening, t he flow past it
will change as t he applied pressure changes. Fur t her mor e, t he flow will
also be affect ed by changes in t he characteristics of t he fuel and air,
not abl y t hei r densities.
Anot her pr obl em is t hat t he response times of t he fuel and air systems
ar e never identical. Therefore, i f a sudden l oad-change occurs and t he two
cont rol l i ng devices ar e moved to pr edet er mi ned openings, t he flows
t hr ough t hem will react at di fferent rates. Wi t h an oil-fired boiler, a
sudden i ncrease in demand will cause t he fuel flow to increase quickly, but
t he air system will be slower to react. As a result, i f t he f uel / ai r rat i o was
correct before t he change occurred, t he firing conditions aft er t he change
will t end to become fuel-rich until t he air system has had t i me to cat ch up.
Thi s causes charact eri st i c puffs of black smoke to be emi t t ed as unbur ned
fuel is ejected to t he chi mney.
On a l oad decrease t he reverse happens, and t he mi xt ur e in t he combus-
tion chamber becomes air-rich. The resulting hi gh oxygen cont ent coul d
Combustion and draught control 67
lead to corrosion damage to t he met al work of t he boiler, and to
unaccept abl e flue-gas emissions.
5.1.2 Fl ow ratio control
The first appr oach to overcomi ng t he limitations of a simple ' parallel'
system is to measure t he flow of t he fuel and t he air, and to use closed-loop
controllers to keep t hem in t rack wi t h each other, as shown by the two con-
figurations of Figure 5.3.
I n each of these systems t he mast er demand (not shown) is used to set
t he quant i t y of one par amet er being admi t t ed to t he furnace, while a con-
troller mai nt ai ns an adjustable relationship bet ween t he two flows (fuel
and air). Ei t her of t he flows can be selected to be t he one t hat responds
di rect l y to t he mast er and, in Section 5.1.2.1, we shall see t he di fferent
effects t hat result when fuel flow or ai r flow is used in this way.
I n t he system shown in Figure 5.3a a gain block or amplifier in one of
t he flow-signal lines is used to adjust t he ratio bet ween t he two flows. As
the gai n (g) of this block is changed, it alters the slope of the fuel-flow/air-
flow charact eri st i c, changi ng t he amount of excess air t hat is present at
each flow. Note t hat when t he gain is fixed, the amount of excess air is t he
same for all flows, as shown by t he hori zont al line.
I n practice, this situation woul d be impossible to achieve, since some
air i nevi t abl y leaks into t he furnace, with the result t hat t he amount of
excess air is proport i onal l y great er at low flows t han high flows. Thi s
causes t he excess-air line to curve hyperbol i cal l y upwards at low flows
(much as is shown in Figure 5.3b). Practical bur ner requi rement s demand
t hat t he quant i t y of air should always be slightly gr eat er t han t hat whi ch
t he t heoret i cal stoichiometric rat i o woul d dictate. The charact eri st i c
woul d t herefore not pass t hr ough the origin of t he gr aph as is shown in
Figure 5.3a.
Fi gure 5.3b shows a di fferent cont rol ar r angement worki ng wi t h t he
same idealised pl ant (i.e. one with no ai r leaking into the combust i on
chamber ) . Here, instead of a gai n function, a bias is added to one of t he
signals. The effect of this is t hat a fixed surfeit of air is always present and
this is proport i onal l y l arger at t he smaller flows, with t he result t hat t he
amount of excess ai r is largest at small flows, as shown. Changi ng t he bias
signal (b) moves t he curve bodily as shown.
Each of these cont rol configurations has been used in pract i cal plant,
al t hough t he version wi t h bias (Figure 5.3b) exacerbat es t he effects of
t r amp ai r and t herefore tends to be confined to smaller boilers. The
ar r angement shown in Figure 5.3a t herefore forms t he basis of most
pract i cal f uel / ai r ratio cont rol systems.
68 Power-plant control and instrumentation
T
. , , " / " Excess ai r
. . . . . . . . ~ . _ , - - . " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fuel fl ow
Fuel fl ow Ai r flow
I I
Ai r control damper
( a )
T
. . ~ " '..x~ Excess air
Fuel fl ow
Fuel fl ow Ai r flow
+
II
Ai r control damper
Figure 5.3
( b )
Fuel~air ratio control
a Gai n adj ust ment of f uel / ai r rat i o
b Bias adj ust ment of f uel / ai r rat i o
Combustion and draught control 69
In these illustrations it has been assumed t hat the mast er demand is fed
to the fuel valve, leaving the air-flow cont rol l er to mai nt ai n the f uel / ai r
rat i o at the correct desired value. When this is done, the confi gurat i on is
known as a ' fuel lead' system since, when the l oad demand changes, the
fuel flow is adj ust ed first and the cont rol l er t hen adjusts the air flow to
mat ch the fuel flow, after the l at t er has changed.
It doesn' t have to be done this way. Instead, the mast er demand can be
rel ayed to the air-flow controller, whi ch means t hat the task of mai nt ai ni ng
the f uel / ai r ratio is t hen assigned to the fuel controller. For obvi ous reasons
this is known as an ' air-lead' system.
5.1.2.1 Comparing the "fuel-lead' and 'air-lead' approaches
Of the t wo alternatives descri bed above, the fuel-lead version will provi de
bet t er response to l oad changes, since its act i on does not depend on the
sl ower-respondi ng pl ant t hat supplies combust i on air to the furnace.
However, because of this, the system suffers from a t endency to pr oduce
fuel-rich conditions on l oad increases and fuel-lean conditions on decreases
in the load. Oper at i ng in the fuel-rich region raises the risk of unbur ned
fuel bei ng ignited in an uncont rol l ed manner, possibly causing a furnace
explosion. Wher eas operat i ng with t oo much excess air, while not raising
t he risk of an uncont rol l ed fire or an explosion, does cause a vari et y of
ot her probl ems, including back-end corrosi on of the boi l er structure, and
undesi rabl e stack emissions.
The air-lead system is slow to respond because it requires the dr aught
pl ant to react before the fuel is increased. Al t hough this avoids the risk of
creat i ng fuel-rich condi t i ons as the l oad increases, it remai ns pr one to such
a risk as the l oad decreases. However , the hazar d is less t han for the fuel-
l ead system.
A furt her limitation of these systems (in either the fuel-lead or air-lead
version) is t hat t hey offer no prot ect i on against equi pment failures, since
these cannot be det ect ed and correct ed wi t hout special precaut i ons bei ng
taken. For exampl e, in the fuel-lead version, if the fuel-flow t ransmi t t er
fails in such a way t hat it signals a l ower flow t han the amount t hat is
act ual l y bei ng del i vered to the furnace, the f uel / ai r rat i o cont rol l er will
at t empt to reduce the suppl y of combust i on air to mat ch the erroneous
measurement . Thi s will cause the combust i on conditions to become fuel-
rich, wi t h t he at t endant risk of an explosion. Conversely, i f the fuel-flow
t ransmi t t er in the air-lead system fails low, the fuel cont rol l er will at t empt
to compensat e for the appar ent loss of fuel by injecting mor e fuel into t he
furnace, wi t h similar risks.
70 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Th e s e ar e j u s t s ome o f t he f ai l ur e char act er i s t i cs whi c h t he basi c s ys t em
de s i gn c a n n o t addr ess. Al t h o u g h t he sel f - di agnost i c f eat ur es i n c o r p o r a t e d
i n mo d e r n t r a n s mi t t e r s c a n be a r r a n g e d t o r ai se a n a l a r m a n d t r i p t he
bur ne r s , or o p e r a t e t he p l a n t i n a p r o t e c t e d mo d e , unt i l t he f aul t has be e n
c or r e c t e d, i t woul d be pr e f e r a bl e t o e mp l o y a s ys t em whi c h has g r e a t e r
i n h e r e n t abi l i t i es t o deal wi t h f ai l ur es b o t h i n t he p l a n t a n d i n its c ont r ol
a n d i n s t r u me n t a t i o n e q u i p me n t .
T h e so- cal l ed ' cr oss- l i mi t ed' c o mb u s t i o n c ont r ol s ys t em addr esses t hese
fact ors i n a ver y c o mp r e h e n s i v e way, as des cr i bed i n t he f ol l owi ng sect i on.
5. 1. 3 Cross-limited control
Fi gur e 5. 4 shows t he pr i nci pl es o f t he cr os s - l i mi t ed c o mb u s t i o n c ont r ol
syst em. I n d i v i d u a l f l ow- r at i o cont r ol l er s (7, 8) ar e p r o v i d e d f or t he fuel
a n d ai r syst ems, r espect i vel y. I g n o r i n g f or t he mo me n t t he sel ect or uni t s
(5, 6) a n d t he f u e l / a i r r at i o a d j u s t me n t bl ock (4), i t wi l l be seen t h a t t he
ma s t e r d e ma n d si gnal is fed t o e a c h o f t hese cont r ol l er s as t he desi r ed-
va l ue si gnal , so t h a t t he del i ver y o f fuel a n d ai r t o t he f ur na c e c o n t i n u a l l y
ma t c h e s t he l oad. Because fuel fl ow a n d ai r fl ow ar e e a c h me a s u r e d as p a r t
o f a cl osed l oop, t he s ys t em c o mp e n s a t e s f or a n y c ha nge s i n e i t he r of t hese
flows t h a t ma y be c a us e d by e xt e r na l fact ors. For t hi s r e a s on i t is
s ome t i me s r ef er r ed t o as a ' f ul l y me t e r e d ' syst em. T h e effect o f t he f ue l ] a i r
r at i o a d j u s t me n t bl ock (4) is t o mo d i f y t he ai r - f l ow si gnal i n a c c o r d a n c e
wi t h t he r e q u i r e d f u e l / a i r r el at i ons hi p.
So far, t he c o n f i g u r a t i o n pe r f or ms s i mi l ar l y t o t he basi c syst ems s h o wn
i n Fi gur e 5.3. T h e di f f er ence be c ome s a p p a r e n t wh e n t he ma x i mu m a n d
mi n i mu m sel ect or s ar e b r o u g h t i nt o t he pi ct ur e. Re me mb e r i n g t he
p r o b l e ms o f t he di f f er i ng r es pons e- r at es o f t he fuel a n d ai r s uppl y syst ems,
cons i der wh a t h a p p e n s wh e n t he ma s t e r d e ma n d si gnal s u d d e n l y r equest s
a n i ncr eas e i n fi ri ng. As s ume t ha t , p r i o r t o t h a t i ns t a nt , t he fuel a n d ai r
cont r ol l er s ha ve be e n k e e p i n g t he i r r es pect i ve c o n t r o l l e d va r i a bl e i n st ep
wi t h t he d e ma n d , so t h a t t he fuel -fl ow a n d modi f i e d ai r - f l ow si gnal s ar e
e a c h e qua l t o t he d e ma n d si gnal . Wh e n t he ma s t e r d e ma n d si gnal
s u d d e n l y i ncr eases, i t n o w be c ome s l a r ge r t h a n t he fuel -fl ow s i gnal a n d it is
t he r e f or e i g n o r e d by t he mi n i mu m- s e l e c t o r bl ock whi c h i ns t e a d l at ches
o n t o t he mo d i f i e d ai r - f l ow s i gnal ( f r om i t e m 4). T h e fuel c ont r ol l e r n o w
assumes t h e r ol e of f u e l / a i r r at i o cont r ol l er , ma i n t a i n i n g t he boi l er ' s fuel
i n p u t at a va l ue t h a t is cons i s t ent wi t h t he ai r b e i n g del i ver ed t o t he
f ur nace. T h e ai r fl ow is me a n wh i l e be i ng i ncr eas ed t o me e t t he n e w
d e ma n d , si nce t he ma x i mu m- s e l e c t o r bl ock (6) has l a t c he d o n t o t he r i si ng
ma s t e r si gnal .
Combustion and draught control 71
Fuel flow

2
Master
demand
A/r #ow
,
9 ~ 10
Air control damper
Fuel valve
Figure 5.4 Basic cross-limited control system
On a decrease in load, t he system operat es in t he reverse manner . The
mi ni mum-sel ect or block locks ont o t he collapsing mast er and quickly
reduces t he fuel flow, while t he maxi mum- sel ect or block chooses t he fuel-
flow signal as t he demand for the air-flow cont rol l er (8), whi ch t herefore
starts to operat e as t he f uel / ai r rat i o controller, keeping t he air flow in step
with t he fuel flow.
Analysis of t he system will show t hat it is much bet t er able to deal with
pl ant or C& I equi pment failures. For exampl e, i f t he fuel valve fails open,
t he air cont rol l er will mai nt ai n adequat e combust i on ai r to meet t he
quant i t y of fuel bei ng supplied to t he combust i on chamber. This may
72 Power-plant control and instrumentation
result in overfi ri ng but it cannot cause fuel-rich conditions to be cr eat ed
in t he furnace. Similarly, i f t he fuel-flow t r ansmi t t er fails low, al t hough the
fuel cont rol l er will still at t empt to compensat e for t he appar ent loss of
fuel, t he ai r flow cont rol l er will ensure t hat adequat e combust i on ai r is
supplied.
The system cannot compensat e for all possible failures, but it provides
a much hi gher level of prot ect i on t han any of t he simpler systems
described earlier, and when coupl ed with self-checking diagnostics and
pr oper faul t -det ect i on techniques it provides a high degree ofsat~ty.
5.1.3.1 Using gas analysis to vary the fuel~air ratio
I n t he systems shown in Figures 5.3 and 5.4, t he relationship bet ween the
fuel and air quant i t i es is manual l y adjusted, ei t her t he gai n or the bias is
al t ered to change t he combust i on conditions. Wi t h such systems, if t he
adj ust ment fact or is set wrongl y, or if changes outside t he system di ct at e
t hat the f uel / ai r rat i o should be altered, no provision exists for aut omat i c
correct i on, and t he ri ght combust i on conditions can only be rest ored by
manual i nt ervent i on. To i mprove per f or mance and safety, some form of
aut omat i c recogni t i on and correct i on of these factors woul d be prefer-
able.
I f t he f uel / ai r rat i o is incorrect, combust i on of t he fuel will be affected
and t he results will be observable in t he flue gases. Thi s indicates t hat an
effective way of opt i mi si ng t he combust i on process is to change t he f uel / ai r
rat i o aut omat i cal l y in response to measur ement s of t he flue-gas cont ent .
For all fossil-fuelled boilers, t he oxygen cont ent of t he flue gases
increases as t he excess-air quant i t y is increased, while t he car bon dioxide
and wat er cont ent decreases. The car bon monoxi de cont ent of t he boiler' s
flue gases is a di rect i ndi cat i on of t he completeness of the combust i on
process and systems based on the measur ement of this par amet er have
long been recognised as an effective mechani sm for i mprovi ng combust i on
per f or mance in coal and oil-fired boiler pl ant [1]. However, experi ence
indicates t hat t he use of this gas as a cont rol l i ng par amet er is less advant a-
geous in boilers fired on nat ur al gas [2].
Meas ur ement of the flue-gas oxygen cont ent oft en provides a good indi-
cat i on of combust i on per f or mance, but it must be appreci at ed t hat t he
presence of ' t r amp air' due to leakages into t he combust i on chamber can
l ead to anomal ous readings. I n t he presence of significant leakage,
reduci ng t he ai r / f uel ratio to mi ni mi se t he flue-gas oxygen cont ent can
result in t he burners being st arved of air. This is an ar ea where systems
based on car bon monoxi de measur ement s provi de bet t er results since t he
Combustion and draught control 73
car bon monoxi de cont ent of the gases is a di rect i ndi cat i on of combust i on
per f or mance and is unaffect ed by the presence of t r amp air.
A system which adjusts the f uel / ai r ratio in relation to the flue-gas
oxygen cont ent is shown in Fi gure 5.5. The oxygen measur ement is fed to a
cont rol l er (5) whose out put adjusts the f uel / ai r ratio by var yi ng the multi-
pl yi ng fact or of a gai n block (8).
The t ransmi t t ers used for measuri ng flue-gas oxygen are usual l y based
on the use of zi rconi um probes, whose conduct i vi t y is affected by the
oxygen cont ent of the at mosphere in which t hey are installed. True two-
wire 4 - 2 0 mA analysers are now avai l abl e (Figures 5.6 and 5.7), and are
bot h accur at e and reliable.
The flue gases leave the combust i on chamber t hrough ducts of consider-
able cross-sectional ar ea and it is inevitable t hat a significant degree of
stratification will occur in the gases as t hey flow to the chimney. Air
ent eri ng the furnace t hrough the registers of idle burners will t end to
pr oduce a hi gher oxygen cont ent in the gases flowing al ong one area of the
duct t han will be present in anot her area, where fewer burners may be
idle.
It is t herefore necessary to t ake consi derabl e care t hat any gas analysis
provides a t rul y represent at i ve sampl e of t he average oxygen content, and
this demands t hat great care should be exercised over the selection of the
Flue-gas
oxygen
Boiler oontent Fuel flow
load
6 7
F 1
Ai rfl ow
Ai r ~ damper
Figure 5.5 Oxygen trimming of fuel~air ratio
74 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Figure 5. 6 An in-situ oxygen analyser
Fisher Rosemount Ltd. Reproduced by permission
l oc a t i on o f t he anal ys er . Wi t h l a r ge r duct s i t ma y be neces s ar y t o p r o v i d e
sever al anal yser s. T h e si gnal s f r o m t hese c a n be c o mb i n e d , or t he o p e r a t o r
c a n be gi ve n t h e f aci l i t y t o sel ect one or mo r e o f t h e m f or use.
A be t t e r o p t i o n is n o w avai l abl e. T h e p o we r a n d fl exi bi l i t y of mo d e r n
c o mp u t e r - b a s e d c ont r ol syst ems al l ows f or t r ul y i nt e l l i ge nt s a mp l i n g t o be
a ppl i e d, wh e r e t he s ys t em r ecogni ses t he d y n a mi c st at us o f t he pl a nt , s uch
as wh i c h b u r n e r s ar e b e i n g fi red, a n d a u t o ma t i c a l l y selects t he anal ys er
s i gnal t o be used, or i nt e l l i ge nt l y mi xes t he a na l ys e r si gnal s t o opt i mi s e per -
f or ma nc e . T h e i ns t a l l a t i on o f s uc h a s ys t em r equi r es car ef ul obs e r va t i on o f
Combustion and draught control 75
FLUE GAS FLOW I I ~.~O*,~,d~
/ ~ to flue duct I
I I
/ ~ 1N NI~" ~ 1 ~
connection I
connection
i , ,
Calibration gas
Input connection
I Conduit
connection
Figure 5.7 Installation o f an in-situ oxygen analyser
t he pl ant per f or mance over an ext ended peri od and t he devel opment and
subsequent appl i cat i on of a suitable system based on those observations.
Al t hough such techniques ar e possible. Despite t he considerable
advances t hat have been made in gas-analyser t echnol ogy over t he past
few years, f uel / ai r rat i o t r i mmi ng on t he basis of gas analysis is still t r eat ed
wi t h some reservation. It is general l y accept ed t hat t he measur ement s ma y
occasionally fail or be mi sl eadi ng and for this reason it is usual to allow
manual i nt ervent i on in t he absence of reliable oxygen control. I n Fi gure
5.5 this facility is pr ovi ded by t he ha nd/ a ut o station (7). I n addition, a
ma x i mu m/ mi n i mu m l i mi t er block (6) restricts t he amount of adj ust ment
t hat is permi t t ed, to const rai n t he effects of anomal ous or invalid measure-
ment s or i ncorrect cont rol actions.
This system also characterises t he set-value signal for t he oxygen con-
troller over t he boiler' s l oad range by means of a funct i on block (4),
provi di ng for hi gher excess-air operat i on at low loads. The i ndi cat i on of
76 Power-plant control and instrumentation
boiler l oad ma y be obt ai ned from ei t her st eam flow or air flow, and the
exact shape and par amet er s of t he oxygen versus load charact eri st i c will
be defined by t he boiler desi gner or process engineer.
In practice, facilities may also be i ncorporat ed to allow t he oper at or to
adjust t he system by biassing t he load signal upwards or downwar ds at any
given poi nt to yi el d bet t er combust i on wi t h reduced stack emissions.
Because t he oxygen cont ent of air is 21% by vol ume (or roughl y 23%
by weight), a given change in oxygen cont ent represents appr oxi mat el y
five times t hat change in t erms of excess air. Since it is i ndeed airflow t hat is
bei ng cont rol l ed, t he oxygen loop must recognise t he presence of this high-
gai n component , and t he gain of t he cont rol l er (5) should be set at a kick-
of f low val ue (typically 0.25, or a proport i onal band of 400%). The t i me
constants of t he fuel / ai r/ fl ue-gas system are long, and t he i nt egral t er m of
t he oxygen cont rol l er will t herefore also t end to be long.
5.1.3.2 Combining oxygen measurement with other parameters
The use of an oxygen- t r i m signal on its own can be misleading, for t he
reasons not ed earlier, and bet t er per f or mance can be obt ai ned by
combi ni ng oxygen t ri m wi t h t he opaci t y of t he flue gases, since reduci ng
t he ai r flow event ual l y results in the product i on of visible smoke. However,
it is usually undesi rabl e to operat e a boiler in t he regi on wher e smoke is
bei ng pr oduced, and an i mpr ovement is to adjust t he air flow on t he basis
of anot her par amet er , such as car bon monoxide.
Figure 5.8 shows how the car bon monoxi de and oxygen measur ement s
can be combi ned to t ri m t he f uel / ai r ratio. Basically, t he system comprises
two gas-analysis controllers (6 and 10) whose set-value signals are det er-
mi ned in rel at i on to the boiler load (via funct i on generat ors 5 and 7).
However, t he set val ue for t he oxygen cont rol l er is also t r i mmed by t he
out put of t he car bon monoxi de cont rol l er (the two signals bei ng combi ned
in s ummat or 9). Ha nd/ a ut o facilities enabl e t he system to operat e with
bot h analysers in command, or wi t h onl y oxygen t ri m in service (the CO
cont rol l er bei ng on manual at ha nd/ a ut o station 8), or with fully manual
f uel / ai r rat i o adj ust ment ( hand/ aut o station 12 bei ng on manual , to
isolate bot h gas-analysis controllers).
I n anot her var i ant of this system, ei t her of t he two flue-gas analysis con-
trollers can be selected for operat i on, ei t her by manual i nt ervent i on or
aut omat i cal l y by means of a maxi mum-sel ect i on function.
5.1.3.3 Using carbon-in-ash measurements
I n boilers bur ni ng solid fuels, t he car bon cont ent of t he ash has t radi t i on-
ally been used to provide an i ndi cat i on of the completeness of combustion,
Boiler
load
Flue-gas
carbon monoxide
content
5
Combustion and draught control 77
~
7
Figure 5.8
F
"I
1
f 18
Flue-gas
oxygen
comer#
Fuel fl ow Ai r flow
D
11 12
Combined CO and 02 trimming o f fuel/air ratio
1
13
14
r
Ai r control damper
since any carbon remai ni ng in the ash indicates t hat i ncompl et e combus-
tion has occurred. Until comparat i vel y recently, accurate online carbon-
in-ash sampling was not possible and measurement of this par amet er
required manual sampl i ng and analysis. With the emergence of online
analysers t he picture has changed, and tests have indicated that online
measurement can play a useful part in optimising the combust i on process
[3]. I n addition, analysis of unbur ned carbon can indicate whet her the
coal mills (pulverisers) require adjustment. However, the long transfer-
time constants of the combust i on process coupled with the comparat i vel y
slow response of the instruments and problems of stratification [4] suggest
78 Power-plant control and instrumentation
t hat this t echni que is onl y useful for l ong-t erm correct i on of firing, wher e
relatively stable l oad condi t i ons can be mai nt ai ned for ext ended periods.
5. 1. 4 Mul t i pl e- burner systems
The systems t hat have been described so far are based on t he adj ust ment
of t he total quant i t y of fuel and ai r t hat is admi t t ed to t he combust i on
chamber . Thi s appr oach ma y suffice wi t h smal l er boilers, wher e adjust-
ment of a single fuel valve and ai r damper is reasonable, but l arger units
will have a mul t i pl i ci t y of burners, fuel systems, fans, damper s and com-
bust i on-ai r supplies. I n such cases pr oper consi derat i on has to be given to
t he di st ri but i on of ai r and fuel to each bur ner or, i f this is not practical, to
small groups of burners. Agai n, suitable st andar ds have been devel oped by
t he NFPA for t he design of t he pl ant and cont rol systems of such boilers
[5].
The concept of i ndi vi dual l y cont rol l i ng ai r registers to provi de t he
correct f uel / ai r rat i o to each bur ner of a mul t i bur ner boiler has been
i mpl ement ed, but in most pract i cal situations t he expense of t he instru-
ment at i on cannot be justified. Oil and gas burners can be oper at ed by
mai nt ai ni ng a defi ned rel at i onshi p bet ween t he fuel pressure and t he dif-
ferent i al pressure across t he bur ner air register ( r at her t han pr oper flow
measurement s), but even wi t h such economi es t he capi t al costs ar e high
and t he payback low. The need to provi de a modul at i ng act uat or for each
ai r register adds f ur t her cost.
A mor e pract i cal opt i on is to cont rol t he ratio of fuel and air t hat flows
to groups of burners. Fi gure 5.9 shows how t he principles of a simple cross-
l i mi t ed system ar e appl i ed to a mul t i bur ner oil-fired boiler. The pl ant in
this case comprises several rows of burners, and t he flow of fuel oil to each
row is cont rol l ed by means of a single valve. The combust i on air is
supplied t hr ough a common wi ndbox, and t he flow to t he firing burners is
cont rol l ed by a single set of secondary-ai r dampers.
I n most respects t he ar r angement closely resembles t he basic cross-
l i mi t ed system shown in Fi gure 5.4, wi t h t he oil flow i nferred from t he oil
pressure at t he row. A funct i on gener at or is used to conver t t he pressure
signal to a fl ow-per-burner signal, whi ch is t hen mul t i pl i ed by a signal
represent i ng t he number of burners firing in t hat row, to yield a signal
represent i ng t he total amount ofoi l flowing to t he burners in t he group.
The system operat es in exact l y t he same way as t he basic confi gurat i on
of Fi gure 5.4, and it is r epeat ed for each row of burners, so t hat t he rat i o of
t ot al fuel-oil flow to t ot al ai r flow ent er i ng t he boiler is mai nt ai ned at t he
desi red value. The mast er de ma nd and t he oxygen- t r i m signals are fed to
Combustion and draught control 79
all t he rows to keep t he firing rat e in step wi t h t he l oad demand and t he
flue-gas oxygen cont ent at t he correct level.
This basic confi gurat i on is not restricted to oil-fired boilers. It can also
be used wi t h gas-fired pl ant and it can be applied to systems burni ng a
mi xt ur e of fuels, wi t h suitable modifications as will now be described.
5.2 Working wi t h mul t i pl e fuel s
The cont rol systems of boilers bur ni ng several di fferent types of fuel have
to recognise t he heat -i nput cont ri but i on being made at any time by each of
t he fuels, and t he ar r angement s become mor e compl i cat ed for every addi -
tional fuel t hat is to be considered.
O i l p r e s s u r e
I a t b u r n e r g r o u p
i =
'
I
I N u m b e r o f i
I
I
I
i t
I
I
i
i
i
i
I
I
I
I
i
i
I
i
I I
i
I I
I I
I I
I B u r n e r - g r o u p o i l v a l v e
M a s t e r S e c o n d a r y - a i r
i d e m a n d f l o w t o b u r n e r F l u e - g a s
g r o u p o x y g e n c o n C n t
,
m g r o u p i- i
i i . i I '
===l~ ~ T~gut~huoi r
I B u r n e r f u e l
i s y s t e m [ - Z 1
I S e c o n d a r y - a i r c o n t r o l
i d a m p e r
Figure 5.9 A control system f or multiple burners (one burner group shown)
80 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Fi gure 5.10 shows a system for a boiler burni ng oil and gas. The similari-
ties to the simple cross-limited system are very apparent , as are the
commonal i t i es wi t h the fuel-control par t of the muhi bur ner syst em (shown
wi t hi n the chai n- dot t ed ar ea of Fi gure 5.9).
The cross-limiting funct i on is performed at the mi ni mum-sel ect or
bl ock (5) whi ch cont i nuousl y compar es the mast er demand wi t h the
quant i t y of combust i on air flowing to the common wi ndbox of t he bur ner
group. The gai n block (6) translates the air flow into a signal represent i ng
the amount of fuel whose combust i on can be suppor t ed by the avai l abl e
secondar y air.
Master Gas Gas
demand Secondary temperature pressure
air flow
Oil pressure
at burner group
1 ( ~ Number of
, T
oil burners
firing in
group
pressure/flow
or gas
per
unit of
5 e air 7 ,
Burner-group oil valve
Burner gas F
pressure/flow
Gas equi val ent ~ Number of
of oil firing, gas burners
firing in group
~ r 14
Oil equivalent
of gas firing
Burner-group gas valve
f 1
9
f l
Figure 5.10 Controlling multiple fuels (one burner group shown)
Combustion and draught control 81
The selected signal (the load demand or t he available air) ul t i mat el y
forms t he desired value of bot h t he gas and oil closed-loop controllers. But,
before it reaches t he rel evant cont rol l er a value is subt ract ed from it, whi ch
represents t he heat cont ri but ed by the ot her fuel (convert ed to t he same
he a t / m s value as t he fuel bei ng controlled). The conversion of oil flow to
equi val ent gas flow is performed in a funct i on gener at or (10), while t he
ot her conversion is per f or med in anot her such block (14). Each of t he t wo
s ummat or units (11 and 13) algebraically subtracts t he ' ot her-fuer signal
from t he demand.
Not e that, in t he case of this system, the gas pressure signal is compen-
sated against t emper at ur e variations, since the pressure/ fl ow relationship
of t he gas is t emper at ur e- dependent .
As before, each fuel-flow signal represents t he flow per burner and so it
has to be multiplied by t he number of burners in service in or der to
represent the total fuel flow.
These di agr ams are hi ghl y simplified, and in pract i ce it is necessary to
i ncorporat e various features such as interlocks to prevent overfiring and to
isolate one or ot her of t he pressure signals when no bur ner is firing t hat
fuel. (This is because a pressure signal will exist even when no firing is
t aki ng place.)
5.3 The c ont r ol of coal mi l l s
So far, we have looked at boilers where the i nput of fuel can be measured
and where its flow can be regul at ed by means of one or mor e valves. Wi t h
boilers burni ng coal, the mill (or pulveriser) system must be t aken into
consideration. The mills have al r eady been described in Chapt er 3, now
we shall look at how t hey are controlled.
But first it has to be underst ood that, because t he mill has to meet
defined per f or mance guarant ees, t he control st rat egy to be applied in a
given installation must be devel oped in association with t he manuf act ur er
of t he mill. Once t hat st rat egy has been agreed it must be applied to each
of t he mills t hat feed the boiler. The demand is fed in parallel to all t he mill
sub-systems, with facilities for biassing t he signal to any one of t hem wi t h
respect to the others.
5.3.1 The 'load line"
The dr op in pressure experi enced by air flowing t hr ough a mill will be
det er mi ned by t he geomet r y of t he mill, t he amount of coal in it and t he
vol ume of air flowing t hr ough it. Fi gure 5.11 shows schemat i cal l y t hat a
82 Power-plant control and instrumentation
MI L L E M P T Y
MI L L F UL L
Low pressure drop
High pressure drop
MI L L E MP T Y MI L L FULL
Low pressure drop High pressure drop
Figure 5.11 Effect of coal load and airflow on cross-mill differential pressure
hi gh pressure-drop across t he mill ma y be t he result of a hi gh coal l oad in
t he mill or a hi gh ai r flow t hr ough it, or a combi nat i on of both. The air-
flow rat e will bear a square-l aw relationship to t he di fferent i al pressure
across t he mill, and t he di fferent i al pressure across a restriction such as a
flow nozzle or an orifice pl at e will also have a square-l aw relationship wi t h
t he air flow. Fr om this, it can be appreci at ed t hat t he charact eri st i c curve
rel at i ng t he mill di fferent i al pressure and t he pr i mar y- ai r di fferent i al
pressure will be a st rai ght line. Thi s is called t he ' l oad line' and is specific to
a given design of mill oper at i ng under defined conditions. The manuf ac-
t ur er will define t he correct load-line par amet er s and scales for a given
design of mill.
5.3.1.1 Load control strategies f o r pressurised mills
Wi t h pressurised mills, some cont rol systems oper at e on t he principle of
compar i ng t he t wo differential-pressure signals and modul at i ng t he feeder
speed to keep t he rel at i onshi p bet ween t he two in t rack wi t h t he load line,
as shown in Fi gure 5.12. The met hods of var yi ng t he speed of t he feeder
i ncl ude vari abl e-rat i o gearboxes or vari abl e-speed motors.
Combustion and draught control 83
Master demand
~ s I - p r e $ s u r 8
acrossm#l
Differential-pressure
across flow-nozzle in
PA line
0
P A ~ control
Figure 5.12
()
7
4
0
MiU-differential / PA-differential control system
?
F]
The speed of t he feeder is sometimes fed back to t he mast er system as
an i ndi cat i on of coal flow, to provi de a degree of closed-loop operation. It
is not a perfect solution, since a change in the calorific value of t he coal
cannot be det ermi ned by this system. But, in t he absence of reliable and
fast systems for measuri ng the heat i nput from coal, it is as good as can be
achieved.
Al t hough the system described above provides an adequat e met hod of
control, it cannot deal with changes in the pri mary-ai r (PA) flow caused
by external factors. Therefore, if t he PA flow changes, the system must
wait for t he resulting change in steam pressure before a correction can be
made.
An approach to overcomi ng this limitation is to provide closed-loop
control of t he pri mary-ai r flow, as shown in Figure 5.13. Here, because the
system detects and i mmedi at el y reacts to changes in PA flow, and adjusts
the flow-control damper to compensate, disturbances to steam product i on
are minimised. Again, a feeder-speed signal, representing fuel flow, is fed
84 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Q
Mas ter d eman d
P A f l o w c ontrol
Figure 5.13
Di fferenti el -pres s ure
ac ros s fl ow-nozzl e h,
P A l i ne
Di fferenti al -pres s ure
ac ro s s mi l l
Closed-loop control of PA flow
F eed er - s p eed control l er
back to t he mast er system to provide closed-loop correct i on of speed
changes, whi ch woul d otherwise i nt roduce di st urbances to t he st eam
pressure.
Both of these systems adjust the feeder speed after t he PA flow has been
changed, and this can lead to del ayed response to changes in demand.
Fi gure 5.14 shows a system t hat adjusts t he feeder speed in parallel with t he
PA flow. Thi s also shows some pract i cal refinements: a mi ni mum- l i mi t
block t hat prevent s t he PA flow from being reduced below a predet er-
mi ned limit, and a mi ni mum selector block whi ch prevent s t he coal feed
being i ncreased above t he availability of pr i mar y air (the bias uni t sets t he
mar gi n of ai r over coal).
5.3.1.2 Load control systems f o r suction mills
I n br oad terms, the l oad-cont rol strategies for suction mills follow similar
principles to those of t he pressurised mills as described above. A very
Combustion and draught control 85
Master demand
Minimum limit
o n P A f l o w
demand
Limits feeder speed
w~th respect to
available PA flow
I r
F1
Bias
' V
F1
Differential-pressure
across flow-nozTJe in
PA line
?
r l
Feeder speed PA flow
Figure 5.14 Parallel control of feeder speed and PA f l ow
Mast er demand
Figure 5.15
0
Feeder speed
Simple suction-mill control
8
Exhaust er f l ow
86 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Mast er demand
r
7q
Ai r pressure at
AV fl ow to mill mi l l inlet
?
Feeder speed E xhaus ter
flow-control
damper
Figure 5.16 Improved control of suction mill
Mill inlet damper
simple t echni que is to adjust t he speed of t he coal feeder in parallel wi t h
the flow t hr ough the exhauster, as shown in Figure 5.15. Here again, the
feeder speed is ret urned to t he mast er system to correct for speed variations
t hat woul d otherwise di st urb t he steam pressure.
Thi s system provides open-l oop operat i on of the mill and, once again,
i mproved performance can be achieved by the use of a closed loop ar ound
t he air flowing t hrough t he mill, as shown in Figure 5.16. I n this system, an
addi t i onal cont rol loop mai nt ai ns a const ant air pressure at t he mill inlet.
Wi t h these systems, it is again necessary to feed back to t he mast er
system a signal t hat represents the i nput of fuel from t he mill to t he
combust i on chamber. Feeder speed provides this function, and t hereby
minimises steam-pressure disturbances.
5.3.2 Mi l l temperature control
It is very i mpor t ant t hat t he t emperat ure of t he air in t he mill should be
mai nt ai ned wi t hi n close limits. For many reasons, i ncl udi ng i nadequat e
Combustion and draught control 87
dryi ng of the coal, combust i on efficiency will be reduced if t he t emperat ure
is too low, while too hi gh a t emperat ure can result in fires or explosions
occurri ng in t he mill. The control techniques for bot h pressurised and
suction mills involve mi xi ng hot and cold air streams to achieve t he correct
t emperat ure. However, whereas pressurised coal mills require t he use of
two dampers for this purpose (one controlling the flow of hot air, t he ot her
the cold air) in a suction mill only one damper needs to be adjusted, to
admi t more or less cold air into t he stream of hot air being dr awn into t he
mill by the exhausters.
Figure 5.17 shows a t emperat ure control system for a pressurised mill,
with one act uat or provi ded for the hot-air damper and anot her for the
t emperi ng-ai r damper.
Sometimes the two dampers are linked mechani cal l y and positioned by
a single actuator. The use of two separate actuators adds cost, but allows
for a great er degree of operat i onal flexibility since it allows the openi ng of
each damper to be biassed with respect to t he ot her from the central
Mi l l e x i t temperature
+
IOO~
!
o~
Hot-ak" demper
I
~o Ternpedng-al r damper
4 position
i I ~
J
i I
4
4
4
4 I
10o~
i i
controt~r ootOot sign,,t
T e m p e r ~ i r Ho t - a i r
damper damper
Figure 5. 17 Mi l l temperature control
88 Power-plant control and instrumentation
cont rol room. Thi s enables the oper at or (or a sophisticated control
system) to optimise mill per f or mance whilst still mai nt ai ni ng t he mill tem-
per at ur e at t he correct value.
5. 3. 3 Controlling multiple mills and multiple f ue l s
Lar ge coal-fired boilers are provi ded with several coal mills, each of
whi ch has its own cont rol subsystem as described above, and in addi t i on
t hey i nvari abl y bur n ot her fuels as well as coal.
Fi gure 5.18 shows t he mill-control system of such a pl ant in simplified
form. It is present ed here to illustrate a r equi r ement t hat is an i nt egral
par t of boiler cont rol systems: the need to handl e applications where a
single cont rol l er sends commands to several subloops in parallel, and
wher e any of t he subloops may be isolated at will from t he controller.
Here, each mill feeds a gr oup of burners (say six), and each of these
groups may also fire fuel-oil. Since, at any given time, any mill group may
be out of service, oper at i ng at a fixed t hroughput , or otherwise requi ri ng
i ndependence from t he ot her groups, the overall loop gain will change,
and this is addressed by t he gai n-compensat i on block (item 4) in the
mast er - demand signal line. The demand signal from this block is fed to
each group via individual ha nd/ a ut o stations, one for each mill group
(i t em 10).
The out put of each of these stations event ual l y becomes t he desired
val ue for t he rel evant pr i mar y- ai r flow cont rol l er (17), but first t he heat
cont ri but i on from any oil burners firing in t hat group must be t aken into
consideration. 3"his i nput is derived from a measur ement of t he oil pressure
at t he burners in t he group (1), convert ed to represent t he oil flow per
bur ner (by means of funct i on block 2) and t hen multiplied (4) by the
number of oil burners in t hat group t hat are firing at t he time. The
resulting signal is t hen convert ed (9) to represent t he amount of coal t hat
woul d equat e to t hat quant i t y ofoi l , and this is subt ract ed from the mast er
de ma nd (block 12) to represent the amount of coal firing t hat is needed
from the group. Thi s firing demand is prevent ed from falling below a safe
pr edet er mi ned val ue ( mi ni mum- l i mi t block 15).
By account i ng for t he oil firing, the openi ng of t he pr i mar y- ai r damper
is i mmedi at el y adj ust ed if an oil bur ner trips, or if one is br ought into
service, to compensat e for t he change, wi t hout wai t i ng for t he heat -i nput
effects to be det ect ed via the mast er-pressure controller.
5.3.3.1 The challenge of hand/auto changeover
The heat i nput from a l arge coal mill can be as much as 100 MW, but
t he mechani cal design of t he mill and its auxiliaries is such t hat it can var y
Combustion and draught control 89
Oil pressure Master demand
Mi l l
di f f erent i al
pr essur e

t5
Set mi l l
l oad l i ne
r
Feeder speed
cont r ol l er
Figure 5.18
Number o f
bur ner s fi ri ng
Pr i mar y- ai r
di f f erent i al Pr i mar y ai r
pr essur e t emper at ur e
sa-J
. , , . . .
Temperat ure
compensat i on
,
o~w
I h~r r ~r
4
~ . ~ O#
bur ni ng at
, t hi s gr oup
Coal
e q ~ of
oi l bur ni ng at
thi s gr oup A
Gai n
compensat i on
, ( number o f
" ~ " mi l l s i n
To ot her mi l l gr oups
5
Mi l l gr oup mast er
HanOVAuto st at i on
12
Mi ni mum
pr~nary-a~
15
Pr i mar y- ai r
d a mp e r
actuator
A comprehensive mill control system (one millgroup shown, excluding
temperature control)
90 Power-plant control and instrumentation
t he t hr oughput by onl y a compar at i vel y small amount , cert ai nl y no mor e
t han 50%. Therefore, t he i nt r oduct i on of one mill to t he heat i nput of such
a boiler amount s to a step change of as much as 50 MW, and t he change in
t hr oughput t hat can be smoot hl y modul at ed is also 50 MW. Such l arge
step-changes requi re efficient modul at i on of any ot her fuels t hat are bei ng
fired at t he same time.
These factors make it i mpract i cal to consi der st art i ng up mor e t han
one mill at a t i me and requi re t he facility of allowing any mill to be
oper at ed under manual or aut omat i c cont rol , i ndependent of t he others.
Thi s brings about a severe chal l enge to t he DCS software.
The mast er de ma nd is fed in paral l el to several subloops, one for each
mill group. On st art -up of t he pl ant all of these will be under manual
cont rol . Whe n t he mill has r eached a t hr oughput of roughl y 50% of its
capaci t y, or when ot her conditions det er mi ne t hat aut omat i c cont rol is
now possible, t he oper at or will switch t he mast er demand into service. The
difficulty is t hat up to t hat instant, t he system cannot be made aware of
whi ch mill gr oup is about to be t ransferred to respond to t he mast er signal,
and each group ma y be oper at i ng at a ver y di fferent t hr oughput from any
other.
Whi l e a loop is bei ng t ransferred from manual to aut omat i c cont rol
(or vice versa), it is i mpor t ant t hat t he pl ant is not subjected to a sudden
di st urbance. At t he moment of changeover, t he ' hand' and ' aut omat i c'
signals must be equal. Thi s is called ' bumpless transfer' , and it can be
achi eved by provi di ng t he oper at or wi t h indications of bot h signals so t hat
t hey can be made equal before changeover is initiated. However, such a
system woul d not be accept abl e in most cases, since t he process of
changi ng from one mode of cont rol to anot her should be as quick and
simple as possible, and should not requi re t he oper at or to undul y di st urb
t he operat i on of t he plant.
To achieve what is know as ' procedureless, bumpless t ransfer' from
manual to aut omat i c control, a common t echni que is to make t he con-
t rol l er out put follow (or ' t rack' ) t he manual demand, so t hat when t he
system is switched to aut omat i c the signal to t he act uat or is not subjected
to a sudden change.
Thi s is easy enough wi t h a single cont rol l er positioning a single
act uat or, but what happens when one cont rol l er commands several
subloops as shown in Fi gure 5.18? It is cl earl y impossible to force t he
mast er cont rol l er out put to adopt a val ue t hat cannot be known ahead of
time, or to change t he out put of t he cont rol l er i f it is al r eady modul at i ng
one or mor e mills.
This probl em is frequent l y not recognised by DCS vendors who have
little or no experi ence of boiler control, and it can be qui t e difficult to
Combustion and draught control 91
expl ai n it to t hem. But under st andi ng it and resolving it are absolutely
essential i f t he system is to be expect ed to operat e smoot hl y and wi t h
mi ni mal oper at or i nt ervent i on. Various solutions have been developed,
such as ' freezing' t he mast er demand while t he t ransfer is effected and
gr adual l y r ampi ng one signal up or down to mat ch t he other. It is
i mpor t ant , however, t hat t he DCS vendor should be able to demonst r at e
t he solution offered wi t hi n t hei r system, and t hat t hey should be able to
demonst r at e its use on an existing power plant.
5. 3. 3. 2 Compl exi t y o f screen di spl ays
I n considering t he oper at or displays associated wi t h a system such as t hat
shown in Fi gure 5.18, at t ent i on should be given to t he vast amount of infor-
mat i on t hat must be provided. The di agr am given her e is necessarily
simplified, and excludes the ma ny interlocks and ot her functions t hat are
requi red in reality. When a pract i cal pl ant is considered it soon becomes
appar ent t hat accommodat i ng t he amount of i nformat i on and cont rol
facilities can l ead to very cl ut t ered display screens.
Clearly, t he mill groups are car bon copies of each other, var yi ng onl y
in respect to t he t ag numbers of each i t em and t he dynami c i nformat i on
rel at i ng to each ar ea of t he plant. It is t herefore reasonable to display onl y
one group at a t i me on t he screen, allowing it to be st art ed, adjusted or
stopped as requi red. However, to avoid maki ng any mistakes, t he oper at or
should be very cl earl y and unambi guousl y i nformed of whi ch group is
displayed at any time. Also, a mast er display should enabl e t he oper at or to
view t he status of t he ent i re set of mills feeding t he boiler.
The devel opment of these oper at or displays is t herefore unusual l y
demandi ng and i f insufficient t i me or money is al l ocat ed to t he perfor-
mance of this task t he results can be at best unwi el dy and at worst
dangerous.
5.4 Draught control
I n Chapt er 3 we saw t hat , in a fired boiler, t he air requi red for combust i on
is provi ded by one or mor e fans and t he exhaust gases ar e dr awn out of t he
combust i on chamber by an addi t i onal fan or set of fans. On boilers wi t h
ret ro-fi t t ed flue-gas desul phuri sat i on plant, addi t i onal booster fans ma y
also be provided. The cont rol of all these fans must ensure t hat an
adequat e supply of air is available for t he combust i on of t he fuel and t hat
t he combust i on chamber operat es at t he pressure det er mi ned by t he boiler
92 Power-plant control and instrumentation
designer. In a fluidised-bed boi l er the air must also provi de the pressure
r equi r ed to mai nt ai n t he bed in a fluid state.
All of the fans also have to cont ri but e to the provision of anot her
i mpor t ant f unc t i on- - pur gi ng of the furnace in all condi t i ons when a
collection of unbur ned fuel or combust i bl e gases coul d ot herwi se be acci-
dent al l y ignited. Such operat i ons are requi red pri or to l i ght -off of the first
bur ner when t he boi l er is bei ng started, or after a trip.
The cont rol systems for the fans have to be designed to meet the requi re-
ment s of st art -up, nor mal oper at i on and shut -down, and to do so in the
most efficient manner possible, because the fans may be physically l arge
and requi re a l arge amount of power for their oper at i on (several MW in
some cases). In addi t i on, as we saw in Chapt er 3, the per f or mance con-
straints of t he fans, such as surge and stall, have to be recognised, if
necessary by t he provi si on of special cont rol functions or interlocks.
Chapt er 3 also descri bed t he met hods of cont rol l i ng the t hr oughput of
the fans, i.e. pi t ch-cont rol , dampers, vanes or speed adj ust ment . I n the
present chapt er we shall exami ne how these elements are adj ust ed to
address the oper at i onal requi rement s of the boiler.
5.4.1 Maintaining the furnace draught
Apar t from suppl yi ng air to suppor t combust i on, the FD fans have to
oper at e in concer t wi t h the I D fans to mai nt ai n the furnace pressure at a
cert ai n value. The heavy solid line of Fi gure 5.19 shows the pressure profile
t hr ough the vari ous sections of a typical bal anced- dr aught boi l er system.
It shows t he pressure from the poi nt where air is dr awn in, to the poi nt
where the flue gases are exhaust ed to the chimney, and demonst rat es
how the combust i on chamber operat es at a slightly negative pressure,
whi ch is mai nt ai ned by keepi ng the FD and I D fans in bal ance wi t h each
other.
I f t hat bal ance is di st urbed the results can be ext remel y serious. Such
an i mbal ance can be br ought about by the acci dent al closure of a damper
or by the sudden loss of all flames. It can also be caused by mal oper at i on of
t he FD and I D fans. The dashed line on the di agr am shows the pressure
profile under such a condi t i on, whi ch known as an ' implosion' . The results
of an i mpl osi on are ext remel y serious because, even t hough the pressures
involved may be small, the surfaces over whi ch t hey are appl i ed are very
l arge and t he forces exert ed become enormous. Such an event woul d
al most cert ai nl y result in maj or st ruct ural damage to the plant.
Combustion and draught control 93
P r e s s u r e
p r o f i l e
Wi n d b o x
\
\
E l ~ E x h a u s t
g a s e s t o
c h i m n e y
i i i i ~ i , ' i ~ i i
i i i t i i ~ i i i !
i i i i i ! i i I
i i i i i i N u m l a l I i i i
operation ,
y . - . . - : : L _ i i - - i i . . . . ~ t -tL~-
Implosion
C O l IdJJJOt~
Figure 5.19 Draught profile of a boiler and its auxiliary plant
5.4.2 Fan control
The t hr oughput of t wo fans operat i ng t oget her can be regul at ed by a
common cont rol l er or by i ndi vi dual controllers for each fan. Al t hough a
single cont rol l er cannot ensure t hat each fan delivers the same flow as its
part ner, this confi gurat i on is much simpler to t une t han the al t ernat i ve,
wher e t he t wo controllers can i nt eract wi t h each ot her and make opt i mi sa-
tion ext remel y difficult. Whi chever opt i on is used, t he cont rol system must
be designed to pr ovi de sufficient air to suppor t combust i on.
In the simplest case, the fan or fans will be dri ven by a cross-limited
syst em (see Fi gure 5.4), but wi t h mul t i bur ner installations the flow must be
cont rol l ed for each bur ner or gr oup of burners. The system shown in
Fi gure 5.9 shows how this is ar r anged by regul at i ng t he secondar y air flow
to each bur ner group. In such cases this air suppl y is dr awn from a
common wi ndbox whi ch is mai nt ai ned at a pressure whi ch may be fixed or
var yi ng wi t h boi l er t hr oughput .
Fi gure 5.20 shows how such a cont rol system can be i mpl ement ed. The
desi red-val ue signal for t he pressure cont rol l er is deri ved from st eam flow,
so t hat the pressure in the wi ndbox will change over t he boi l er l oad range,
to a charact eri st i c t hat will be defined by the process engineer. The
94 Power-plant control and instrumentation
S team f l ow
~ x pres s ure
(or windbox/rurnaoe
differential pres s ure)
<
Set r ~r ~t ~ml
pres s ure
Figure 5.20 Controlling the windbox pressure
/
V
I=D fan vane actuators
maxi mum- sel ect or uni t ensures t hat t he pr essur e- demand signal cannot
fall bel ow a pr edet er mi ned mi ni mum value. The measur ed val ue for the
cont rol l er can be based on a measur ement of t he wi ndbox pressure or the
wi ndbox- t o- f ur nace differential pressure (whi ch is what the boi l er designer
woul d pr obabl y require).
Combustion and draught control 95
5.5 Bi nary c ont r ol o f t he c o mb u s t i o n s y s t e m
So far, we have consi dered only t he modul at i ng systems involved wi t h t he
combust i on plant. I n practice, these systems have to operat e in concert
wi t h bi nar y cont rol systems such as interlocks and sequences. The purpose
of an interlock is to co-ordi nat e t he operat i on of different, but i nt errel at ed
pl ant items: t ri ppi ng one set of fans i f anot her set trips, and so on. The
purpose of a sequence system is to provide aut omat i c st art -up or shut-
down of t he plant, or of some par t of it.
The logic for interlock operat i ons will be defined by t he boiler designer
and will probabl y have to compl y with some local, nat i onal or i nt erna-
tional st andard. The systems ar e very specific to t he part i cul ar plant, and
no at t empt will t herefore be made in this book to define these, because t he
objective here is to provide a general overview of boiler cont rol systems.
However, one topic t hat we shall look at is bur ner management since,
like modul at i ng loops, this t ype of system is very dependent on t he correct
operat i on of i nput and out put transducers.
5. 5. 1 Fl ame monitoring
The requi rement s for a comprehensi ve bur ner - management system
(BMS) have al r eady been discussed in Chapt er 3, and at t ent i on was
dr awn t here to the i mpor t ance of fl ame moni t ori ng.
Moni t ori ng t he status of a fl ame is not easy. The det ect or must be able
to di scri mi nat e bet ween t he flame t hat it is meant to observe and any ot her
in t he vicinity, and bet ween t hat flame and t he hot surfaces wi t hi n t he
furnace. The det ect or must also be able to provide reliable det ect i on in t he
presence of t he smoke and st eam t hat may be swirling ar ound t he flame.
To add to t he problems, t he det ect or will be requi red to operat e in t he hot
and di rt y envi r onment of t he bur ner front, and it will be subjected to addi -
tional heat r adi at ed from t he f ur nace into whi ch it is looking.
Wi t h t hei r at t endant BMSs, flame scanners of a boiler ar e vital to t he
safety and prot ect i on of t he plant. I f insufficient at t ent i on is pai d to t hei r
selection, or i f t hey ar e badl y installed or commissioned, or i f t hei r mai nt e-
nance is neglected, t he results can be, at best, annoyi ng. The probl ems will
i ncl ude nuisance trips, pr ot r act ed st art -up of t he boiler and t he creat i on of
hazar dous conditions t hat coul d have serious safety implications.
Fi gure 5.21 shows a typical flame det ect or and t he swi vel -mount i ng
t hat enables its sighting angle to be adjusted for opt i mum performance.
A fl ame scanner is a compl ex opto-electronic assembly, and moder n
scanners i ncorporat e sophisticated technologies to i mprove fl ame recog-
nition and discrimination. Al t hough t he electronics assembly will be
96 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Heat-insulating nipple
Air-purge connection
Swivel mounting
\
!
/
Electronics enclosure
Figure 5.21
/
Alternative air-purge connection
Typical.flame scanner
q) Fireye l,td. Reproduced by permission
designed to oper at e at a high t emper at ur e (typically 65 C), unless great
care is t aken this value could easily be exceeded and it is theretbre
i mpor t ant to t ake all possible precaut i ons to reduce heat conduct i on and
radi at i on ont o the electronic component s. The illustration shows how a
heat-insulating nipple is used to prevent undue heat bei ng conduct ed from
the boiler st ruct ure to the electronics enclosure. It also shows t wo purge-
air connect i ons t hat are provi ded bet ween the electronics enclosure and
the swivel mount . Ei t her of these connect i ons may be used, the ot her being
bl anked off.
5.5.1.1 The requirements f o r purge air
The purge air t hat is supplied to the scanner serves two purposes: it
provides a degree of cooling and it prevents dust, oil and soot from being
deposi t ed on the optical parts of the unit. The air should be avai l abl e at
each burner, even if the bur ner itself is not operating.
It shoul d t herefore be obvi ous t hat t he air used for purgi ng should be
cool, dr y and clean, and that it should be avai l abl e at all times. But, in
many cases these requi rement s are ignored, and the performance of the
i nst rument is t her eby i nevi t abl y degraded.
Purge air can be obt ai ned from the i nst rument -ai r supply, or it can be
provi ded by dedi cat ed blowers. In some cases it is taken from the FD fan
discharge. Each of these is viable, provi ded the requi rement s out l i ned
above have been t horoughl y considered. It is also i mpor t ant t hat the
Combustion and draught control 97
presence of t he pur ge- ai r supply should be moni t or ed and its loss trans-
mi t t ed to t he DCS, because failure of t he air supply coul d result in
expensive and possibly i rreparabl e damage to the scanners. Moder n
scanners i ncl ude self-monitoring circuits t hat will war n of overheat i ng.
The scanner system should be fail-safe, as a failed system represents t he
loss of a critical link in t he plant' s safety chain. I f it is overri dden, t he
oper at or can become used to oper at i ng wi t hout it in place, and such lapses
can event ual l y creat e a severe hazard.
Fi gure 5.22 shows an installation whi ch clearly demonst rat es exampl es
of neglect, i ncl udi ng a broken pur ge- ai r connect i on and a badl y misa-
ligned scanner. Unfort unat el y, in spite of t he critical i mpor t ance of
reliable fl ame moni t ori ng, it is not too difficult to find such exampl es on
oper at i ng power plant.
Figure 5.22 Example of aflame-scanner installation
98 Power-plant control and instrumentation
5. 5. 1. 2 Fl ame spectra
The spect r um of r adi at i on from a fl ame is det er mi ned by ma ny factors,
i ncl udi ng t he t ype of fuel bei ng bur ned and t he design of t he burner. The
i nt ensi t y of t he fl ame tends to be low for gas and high for coal and oil. The
fl ame will also flicker and, in general , l ow-NOx burners will demonst r at e a
l ower flicker f r equency t han gun- t ype burners. Oi l and coal flames t end to
pr oduce a hi gher degree of i nfrared radi at i on, whereas a gas fl ame is rich
in ul t ravi ol et radi at i on. Radi at i on in t he visible par t of t he spect r um will
also depend on these factors, but these days t he t endency is to use det ect ors
whose response is biassed t owards ei t her t he i nfrared or t he ul t ravi ol et end
of t he spect rum, since emissions in these ranges provi de bet t er i ndi cat i on of
a fl ame t han visible radi at i on, whi ch can be plentiful and misleading.
Each t ype of fuel also produces by-product s of combust i on, whi ch
affect t he t r anspar ency of t he fl ame and t herefore t he bl anki ng effect it has
on adj acent flames or on any flames on t he opposite side of t he furnace. Oil
and coal flames t end to obscure i nfrared radi at i on, while gas flames
pr oduce wat er vapour whi ch obscures ul t ravi ol et radi at i on.
Tabl e 5.1 shows one manuf act ur er ' s advice on t he t ype of fl ame
scanner to use in various applications. It is not i nt ended t hat this table
should be r egar ded as bei ng absolute or rigorous. I n cert ai n ci rcumst ances
a gi ven t ype of fl ame scanner will provi de bet t er or worse per f or mance
t han woul d appear to be i ndi cat ed from t he table. Reput abl e manuf ac-
t urers will be pleased to provi de application-specific gui dance. At t he
design stage this advice will be based on previous experi ence of similar
installations. For a retrofit on an existing plant, t he manuf act ur er should
be asked to car r y out a comprehensi ve site survey, using various types of
scanner, while t he burners are st art ed, oper at ed under various loads, and
stopped. Several tests ma y be requi red, and a survey may last for several
days. The gr eat er the at t ent i on t hat is pai d to this study, t he bet t er will be
t he per f or mance of t he final installation.
5. 5. 1. 3 Burner-management systems and pl ant safety
The design of t he BMS will ai m to address critical safety issues, and t he
sequences for a given t ype of boiler or bur ner will be defined in conj unct i on
wi t h t he pl ant designer, bear i ng in mi nd t he requi rement s of applicable
codes such as NFPA 8502-95. I n fact t he NFPA st andar d defines in some
det ai l t he exact sequences involved in lighting-off, moni t or i ng and
r unni ng- down operat i ons of burners, and shows how these ar e to be linked
wi t h t he pl ant i nt erl ock systems (for exampl e, ensuri ng t hat t he furnace
has been pur ged before any at t empt can be made to initiate a bur ner light-
Table 5.1 Flame-scanner application guide
( Fireye Ltd. Reproduced by permission)
Combustion and draught control 99
Boi l er t ype Fuel t ype Discrimination capabi l i t y
Infrared Ultraviolet
Front-fired Gas M H
Oil H H
Coal H H
Gas/ oi l M H
Gas/ coal M H
Oi l / coal H H
Coal / oi l / gas M H
Corner-f i red Gas L H
Oil H H
Coal H H
Gas/ oi l L H
Gas/ coal L H
Oi l / coal H H
Coal / oi l / gas L H
Opposed- f i r ed Gas L H
Oil M M
Coal M M
Gas/ oi l L M
Gas/ coal L M
Oi l / coal L M
Coal / oi l / gas L M
H = high, M = medium, L = low
off sequence). For these reasons, t he sequences will not be described here.
However, at t ent i on will be pai d to cert ai n safety-related aspects of BMSs.
Safety requi rement s are very comprehensively defined in every applic-
able standard. For example, NFPA 8502-95 describes t he events and
failures which should be recognised in t he design of the system. The UK
Heal t h and Safety Executive (HSE) has described [6] in considerable
detail t he requi rement s for t he safe design of a software-based system
(defined as a pr ogr ammabl e electronic system (PES)). However, in
practice it is very difficult for the nonspecialist to det ermi ne whet her or not
a system is adequat el y fail-safe. Even using the checklists provi ded in the
HSE document can be inadequate. For example, one i t em in the checklist
asks:
l O0 Power-plant control and instrumentation
Have adequate precautions been specified to protect against electrical inter-
ference in the environment of the PES with regard to:
(i) inherent design oft he PES;
(ii) installation practices (e.g.: separation of power and signal cables);
(iii) Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test programme, including con-
ducted interference on power supplies, electro-static discharges and ra-
diated interference?
In t hat it is difficult to say what is or is not adequate in this context, this
is a subjective assessment. For example, one system surveyed by the aut hor
found t hat the effectiveness of very comprehensi ve shielding in the DCS of
a pl ant had been negat ed by the provision of poorl y designed access
doors.
One solution is to assume t hat a pr ogr ammabl e system will occasionally
generat e i ncorrect commands and to therefore ensure t hat all its opera-
tions are cont i nuousl y shadowed by another, i ndependent , system. I f a
di screpancy occurs bet ween the actions of the t wo systems a trip should be
initiated or the rel evant sequence prevent ed from bei ng carri ed out.
5.6 Summary
Havi ng l ooked at the cont rol systems appl yi ng to the combust i on and
dr aught plant, in the next chapt er we shall t urn our at t ent i on to the feed-
wat er systems.
5.7 Re f e r e nc e s
1 ANSON, D, CLARKE, W. H. N., CUNNI NGHAM, A. T. S. and
TODD, P.: ' Carbon monoxide as a combustion control parameter' , J Inst
Fuel, 1971, xl l v (363)
2 DUKELOW, S. G.: ' The control of boilers' (Instrument Society of
America, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, 1991)
3 ESKENAZ1, D. V., I ) ' AGOSTI NI , M., LEVY, E. K. et al . : ' On-line
measurement of unburned carbon' , EPRI Heat-rate Improvement conference,
EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, 1989
4 HURT, R. H., LUNDEN, M. M., BREHOB, E. G., and MALONEY,
D. J.: 'Statistical kinetics for pulverized coal combustion' . Proceedings of
the 26th international symposium on Combustion, Naples, Italy, 1996
5 NFPA 8502-95 ' Standard for the prevention of furnace explosions/
implosions in multiple burner boilers'. National Fire Protection Association,
Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA, USA
Combustion and draught control 1 O1
6 ' Programmable electronic systems in safety related applications'. Health
and Safety Executive, Library and Information Services, Broad Lane,
Sheffield, $3 7HQ, UK