PERFORMANCE OF A BOILER

INTRODUCTION

THE PERFORMANCE OF A BOILER GREATLY DEPENDS AND IS AFFECTED ON ITS EFFICIENCY,

SPECIFICATIONS, RATED WORKING PRESSURE, AREA OF HEATING SURFACE AND CAPACITY TO PRODUCE
STEAM AT A GIVEN TIME. ANY OBSERVED ABNORMAL DEVIATIONS COULD THEREFORE BE
INVESTIGATED TO PINPOINT THE PROBLEM AREA FOR NECESSARY CORRECTIVE ACTION. HENCE IT IS
NECESSARY TO FIND OUT THE CURRENT LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY FOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, WHICH
IS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION ACTION IN INDUSTRY.

PERFORMANCE OF A BOILER LIKE ITS EFFICIENCY AND EVAPORATION RATIO REDUCES WITH TIME DUE
TO:

1. POOR COMBUSTION.

2. HEAT TRANSFER LOSSES DUE TO FOULING.

3. POOR OPERATION AND POOR MAINTENANCE.

4. DETERIORATION OF FUEL QUALITY AND WATER QUALITY ALSO LEADS TO POOR

PERFORMANCE OF A BOILER.

IN A BOILER, DISCUSSION OF HEAT BALANCE AND BOILER EFFICIENCY, WHICH ARE NEEDED AND VERY
IMPORTANT IN ASSESSING THE BOILER PERFORMANCE.

A HEAT BALANCE HELPS US TO IDENTIFY AVOIDABLE AND UNAVOIDABLE HEAT LOSSES THAT CAUSES
POOR PERFORMANCE. THIS GREATLY HELPS INDIVIDUAL TO KNOW THE FACTORS THAT CAUSES POOR
PERFORMANCE AND IN THAT CASE THIS CAUSES AND FACTORS CAN BE REDUCED OR CAN BE
CORRECTED FOR BETTER BOILER EFFICIENCY AND PERFORMANCE.

ALSO BOILER EFFICIENCY TEST HELP US TO FIND OUT THE DEVIATION OF BOILER EFFICIENCY FROM THE
BEST EFFICIENCY AND TARGET PROBLEM AREA FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION.

AS A WHOLE THE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF A BOILER LIKE EFFICIENCY AND EVAPORATION RATIO
REDUCES WITH TIME DUE TO HEAT TRANSFER SURFACE FOULING, POOR COMBUSTION AND POOR
MAINTENANCE AND POOR OPERATION. EVEN FOR A NEW BOILER, REASONS SUCH AS DETERIORATING
FUEL QUALITY AND WATER QUALITY CAN RESULT IN POOR BOILER PERFORMANCE.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF BOILERS

THERE ARE TWO METHODS IN ASSESSING BOILER EFFICIENCY:

1. THE DIRECT METHOD.

WHERE THE ENERGY GAIN OF THE WORKING FLUID (WATER AND STEAM) IS COMPARED WITH
THE ENERGY CONTENT OF THE BOILER FUEL. THE DIRECT METHOD IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE
“INPUT-OUTPUT” METHOD. THIS IS BECAUSE IT ONLY NEEDS THE USEFUL OUTPUT, WHICH IS
STEAM AND THE HEAT INPUT WHICH IS FUEL IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE EFFICIENCY.
2. THE INDIRECT METHOD.

HERE THE EFFICIENCY IS MEASURED IN TERMS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ENERGY
LOSSES AND THE ENERGY INPUT. THIS IS ALSO REFERRED TO AS THE HEAT LOSS METHOD. THE
BOILER EFFICIENCY CAN BE CALCULATED BY SUBTRACTING THE HEAT LOSS FRACTIONS