Process Fans Used in Power Plants

In power plants the heat energy is generated by boilers. Boilers use

industrial fans for the following reasons:
to supply air required for combustion
remove products of combustion
deliver fuel to the burners
circulate gases for the better heat transfer

Depending on these four functions, fans in power plants are divided

into three main types. They are draft fans (induced draft fans, forced
draft fans), primary air fans and gas recirculation fans.

Draft fans:
Draft fans in power plants are used to maintain the flow of gases in
the boiler. In a balanced draft system, boiler uses both induced draft
placed at outlet and a forced draft placed at the inlet.

 Forced draft (FD) fans

> Forced draft fans in boilers are used to supply air which is
necessary for fuel combustion. FD fans push the air through
combustion air supply system and into the furnace.
> FD fans are more efficient fans in power plants as they operate in
a cleaner operating conditions.
> Most common type of fans that are used as FD fans are radial
airfoil centrifugal fans or variable pitch axial fans.

 Induced draft (ID) fans

> Induced draft fans are present at the outlet of the boiler system.
Induced draft fans create a negative pressure or suction which
removes all exhaust gases and flue gases after combustion from the
furnace.
> As they handle hot flue gases, they are vulnerable to erosion and
corrosion even when used with particulate removal equipment
(Electrostatic precipitator ESP)
> To withstand the effects of corrosion and erosion, fans used as ID
fans are usually modified radial, forward curved, backward inclined
blade centrifugal fans.

Primary air (PA) fans:

Primary air fans are usually high pressure fans, which are used to
supply air for transportation of coal directly from the pulverizer to the
furnace.
Primary fans usually have a cleaner operation as they handle
relatively cleaner air. They provide a positive pressure upstream of coal
pulverizer. Primary air fan upstream from the pulverizer, pushes coal
and air mixture through pulverizer into the furnace.
Fans used as PA fans are high pressure like airfoil centrifugal fans or
a multistage variable axial fans.

Gas recirculation fans:

Gas recirculation fans in boilers are used to control steam temperature,
furnace heat absorption and slagging of heating surfaces.
Gases from economizer outlet and pre-heater inlet are absorbed by gas
recirculation fans and are discharged to either bottom of the furnace for
steam temperature control or to any other location in the furnace.
The operating conditions of gas recirculation fans are very harsh due to
heavy loads of dust and extreme temperature excursions.
Gas recirculation use straight or modified radials or forward curved
backwardly inclined centrifugal fans.

Process fans in power plants are important as they provide the

necessary air required for combustion and removal of exhaust gases.
The main advantage of using industrial fans in power plants is for gasrecirculation and to maintain the required temperature in the furnace.

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