Lars Josefsson. Important marine steam boiler information
Know-how is the keystone of all steam boiler operations; the pioneer scotch fire-tube marine steam boiler as well as modern water-tube steam boilers,
package steam boilers, composite steam boilers and exhaust gas steam boilers; all steam boilers require skilled boiler-engineers to operate them.
Development of Marine Steam Boilers
In tracing the history of the development and application of marine boilers, its interesting that some of the basic requirements have always applied,
although from time to time the emphasis has shifted from one requirement to another. In the beginning, space and weight limitations were not considered to
be as important as other factors, and yet at later stages the emphasis on those items brought about the development of new types of marine boilers. Generally,
it has been the economic or military need for increased propulsion power that has instigated significant advances in marine boiler design. The earliest types
of marine boilers were relatively large pressure-vessels, with furnaces located underneath them, but it soon became apparent that such exterior furnaces were
far from satisfactory, and they were then located inside the boilers shell. The boiler exterior had now developed into an approximate cube and, no matter how
heavily stayed, its flat exterior placed very low limits on the steam pressure that could be carried and also left much to be desired from a maintenance and
safety standpoint. The internal furnaces and tubes, however, were cylindrical and entirely satisfactory for the pressure demands of their time. By 1870,
marine boiler pressures had reached only 4 bar; by 1900 they had increased to about 20 bar.
Scotch Marine Fire-Tube Steam Boilers
To overcome the structural weaknesses and at the same time reduce cost of fabrication, the marine steam boiler shell was made cylindrical with provision
to install one or more combustion chambers fire-tube between the two flat sides of the shell. Known as the Scotch marine fire-tube steam boilers, this boilers as finally
developed, met with wide and enthusiastic approval by marine engineers. Although minor changes have been made throughout the years, its design has
remained much the same and its qualities of ruggedness, reliability, ease of maintenance, and ability to stand abuse made it -- until recently -- the most
popular boilers in the marine field. Even though the Scotch marine steam boilers proved to be popular and well suited for shipboard installations, the
fact that its pressure was limited to 20 bar retarded progress. There was a realization that advanced boiler designs with greater generating capacity,
higher pressure, and increased efficiency were needed to meet the changing requirements brought about by the development of turbine propulsion machinery.
Stiff commercial competition among merchant fleets as well as various naval powers made these developments most urgent. Marine engineers began to adapt
various types of water-tube boilers to fit into the restricted space available for installations on shipboard, Some adaptations proved highly advantageous
with respect to heat transfer and weight, and offered a variety of designs suitable for pressures in excess of the maximum of fire-tube types. Thus, new
possibilities were presented for the utilization of steam aboard ships.
The name, Scotch boiler, depends on its original boilermaker in Scotland.
Even though the water-tube boiler almost has replaced the smoke tube boiler, Old steamships with Scotch marine fire-tube steam boilers are still
sailing in salt water as well as lake water, managed by enthusiastic marine boiler engineers. These boilers are often new build from the original boiler
drawings.
Marine Steam Boilers Master-Slave System for steam generating power stations and ship propulsion units
The very best way to get redundancy in a marine steam boiler plant would be to have two independent one-boiler-systems. Two identical control cubicles;
each cubicle provided with starters and stand-by functions for the fuel oil pumps and the feedwater pumps. Only one cable for the master/slave system
between the two steam boiler control cubicles. A master-slave system that forces the burners load to follow the performance curves of the boilers. The
master-slave function may be disconnected and allow the boilers to operate independently. At inert gas firing the master burners load is limited to
operate between 50% and 100%. A steam dump controller should automatically take over the steam pressure-control and by means of a control valve dump the excess
steam to a steam dump condenser. A possibility to run the burner at minimum load continuously to minimize the number of burner start/stop if the steam
demand is very low and also a combustion air fan stop delayed for ten minutes to minimize the number of fan starts. Burner forced to minimum firing if the
boiler is cold or the pressure is lower than 1 bar. Two setpoints for the water level; 40% level when the burner is stop and 50% when it's firing; to minimize
shrink and swell at start and stop of the burner. Supply for chemical dosing pump only when the feedwater pump runs. Separate automatic fuse for all, not
short circuit proof, external circuits.
The importance of redundancy in a boiler plant cannot be over-emphasized.
If the world were to end tomorrow I would go to Aalborg where everything happens twenty years later. (en)
Si el fin del mundo llegara mañana iría yo a Aalborg, donde todo ocurre veinte años más tarde. (es)
Se il mondo dovesse finire domani, io andrei a Aalborg, dove tutto succede vent'anni piú tardi. (it)
Se o mundo devesse terminar amanhã eu iria a Alborgue onde tudo acontece vinte anos mais tarde. (pt)
Si le monde devaient finir demain j'irais à Aalborg où tout se produit vingt ans après. (fr)
Om världen skulle gå under imorgon då skulle jag åka till Aalborg, där allting händer tjugo år senare. (se)
Om verden skulle gå under i morgen, da skulle jeg reist til Aalborg, der allting skjer tjue år seinere. (no)
Hvis verden gik under i morgen, ville jeg rejse til Aalborg hvor alting sker tyve år senere. (dk)
Wenn die Welt Morgen untergehen würde, würde ich nach Aalborg fahren, wo alles zwansig Jahre später geschiet. (de)
Als morgen de wereld zou vergaan ging ik naar Aalborg waar alles pas twintig jaar later gebeurt. (nl)
Jestlize svet zitra zanikne, jel bych do Aalborg nebot tam se vse deje dvacet let pozdeji. (cz)
All boiler engineering industries makes marine boilers as well as boilers for other industries.
The feedwater, in a modern steam generating plant, passes through a deaerator, to remove air from it, an through an economizer to be heated before
it enters into the boiler and the outgoing steam passes a superheater to increase the steam temperature. Feedwater heating has a number of advantages
Lars Josefsson
Myself, a presentation During the years I have designed automatic control systems for more than one hundred boilers that are sailing on the seven seas today in tankers, cruise liner, general cargo ships, etc.
The Steam esteem visitors' book Please do sign the Visitors' Book.
Questions and Answers Questions and answers about marine steam boilers
Alarm and trip functions Possibility to distinguish between flame failures occurring during the burner's start-up sequence and flame failures that occur during normal firing would be a great advantage
Boiler automatics Is an automatic controlled marine boiler an explosion risk?
Boiler Control systems a steam boiler plant would have two completely independent one-boiler-systems
Babcock & Wilcox boilers In marine boilers of this type are the water-tubes lying, but slightly inclining towards the boiler front.
Belleville water-tube boiler The feedwater was fed into the to the feedwater collector, at the lower end of the tubes, by means of an automatic feedwater controller
Carlsund fire-tube steam boiler Old marine fire-tube boiler from 1845
Combustion Engine V2M8 The water-tube boiler is top-fired with resulting improved gas distribution over the entire furnace. Used for propulsion turbine engine in ships
Combustion Engine V2M9 The water-tube boiler is a vertical two-drum dropped-furnace boiler. Used for propulsion turbine engine in ships
Cochran donkey boilers donkey boiler was used in harbor when the main boilers were not needed for the propulsion of the ship
Composite steam boiler a combination of an oil-fired steam boiler and a diesel engine exhaust gas economizer
Corner Tube Boiler a water-tube boiler for all kinds of fuel
Exhaust gas steam boiler for waste heat recovery in motor ships
Fraser boiler was produced in 1836 at Motala Verkstad
Gunboat fire-tube boiler This fire-tube boiler was installed entirely below the sea water line in navy ships
Normand marine boiler Normand water-tube boilers have external downcomers
Nuclear steam generator Are used in large navy ships and icebreakers
Schulz marine boilers A water-tube boiler that was used in German navy ships
Scotch marine boilers In this fire-tube boiler the gases pass through a bank of flue-tubes from the combustion chamber to the smoke-box at the boiler front. It is often provided with two or three burners.
Howden-Johnson boilers the disadvantages of the hybrid arrangement were greater than the advantages
Prud'hon-Capus boilers the disadvantages of the hybrid arrangement were greater than the advantages
Semi-flash Boiler, LaMont A water-tube boiler that requires a powerful pump for the forced circulation of the boiler water
Steam generators The feedwater enters into one end of a heated tube and the steam exits from the other end
Stirling steam boiler A water-tube steam boiler with a chain-grate setting designed to burn coal
Sunrod steam boiler This boiler is a combination of water-tube and fire-tube boiler. This boiler tybe is very common in tanker ships. A singel burner gives often poor turn-down ratio.
Thornycroft steam boiler The water heavy circulation keeps the tubes free from deposits
Water-tube boilers consists of a large number of closely spaced water-tubes
Yarrow navy boilers was widely used in the navy ships of many countries. Multiple burners increses the turn-down ratio.
Boiler safety Safety with marine boilers
Marine boilers steam and water system A steam dump valve takes care of excess steam from the waste heat boiler when the steam production exceeds the steam demand
Boiler feedwater Beware of fuel oil in the marine steam boilers feedwater system
Boiler Feedwater problems Harmful substances in Boiler Feedwater
Boilers level measuring by means of Differential pressure very common onboard ships.
Boilers level measuring by means of Capacitance electrode. More and more used onboard ships
Boilers level measuring by means of Conductivity electrode. Increasingly used onboard ships
Boilers level control by means of Level float. This method is not common in new ships today
Boilers level measuring by means of Level displacer. This method is not suitable for ships installation
Boiler level control Shrink and swell phenomena will complicate the control of the boilers steam drum level
Two boiler operationsIn a two-boiler system it’s often a problem to keep the slave boiler at operation pressure when the steam demand is low
Fail-safe systems Any predictable failure must result in a safe situation.
Feedwater heating Marine Boilers feedwater heating has a number of advantages
Heat transfer media; Thermal Fluid, Hot Water and Steam All three have advantages and all of them also do have disadvantages. Fortunately the three systems do not have the same disadvantages
Test accuracy Sample and test accuracy
Marine boilers Heavy Fuel Oil system On large boilers the fuel oil flow controller gets its setpoint from the burner management system
Bunker oil firing How to burn marine bunker oil in marine burners
Fuel pressure jet marine boilers with fuel oil pressure jet burners
Intenal mix marine boilers heated with Intenal mix burners
External mix marine boilers with External mix burners
Rotary cup burner marine boilers with Rotary cup burners
Low pressure air burner boilers with Low pressure air marine burners
Blue flame burner boilers heated with Blue flame marine burners
Marine burners Smoke Density Meter Marine burners adjustment
Waste oil firing Sludge Firing or Waste Oil Burning in marine burners
Steam sootblowing Very common in modern ships
Water soot washing Usually a complement to other metods of soot-cleaning onboard ships
Infrasonic boiler soot cleaning
Steal balls boiler soot cleaning not common on ships
Rapping boiler soot cleaning not very common on ships
Superheaters Superheaters are essentially a bank of tubes, in the exhaust gas duct after the boiler, used to heat the steam above the saturation temperature
Abradant - Auxiliary Engine ATOMIZER -- A device by means of which a liquid is reduced to a very fine spray in a fuel oil burner
Backwash - Burner Windbox BARRING GEAR -- Arrangement for moving the engine by manpower, used to turn the engine slowly for adjustment or inspection
Calcium Carbonate - Crown Sheet CARRY-OVER -- Chemical solids and liquid entrained with the steam from a boiler
Damper - Dump Condenser DONKEY BOILER -- Auxiliary boiler used to supply steam to deck machinery and engines for electric power while the ship is in port and the main boilers are shut down.
Economizer - Express Boiler EXCESS AIR -- Air supplied for combustion in excess of the air theoretically required for complete combustion of the fuel in a burner
Fail-Safe - Fusible Plug FEEDWATER -- The water supplied to the boiler to replace the steam that has been used.
Galvanic Corrosion - Gravity Heating System GAUGE COCKS -- Small test cocks fitted to the side of a vessel to ascertain the liquid level therein, as on many steam boilers
Handhole - Hydrostatic Test HEADER -- A small sidewall drum into which tubes are rolled
Induced Draught - Isothermal INCRUSTATION -- Scale, a hard coating of deposits precipitated from solution at the boiler tube surface
Jacket - Junk Ring JET CONDENSER -- A condenser in which exhaust steam is condensed by jets of cooling water introduced into the steam space.
Keelson - Kinetic Theory of Gases KINETIC ENERGY -- Energy available as a result of motion that varies directly in proportion to an object's mass and the square of its velocity.
Labour - Lug LATENT HEAT -- The heat which is required to change the state of a substance from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas, without change of temperature.
Magnesium Carbonate - Multi-Stage Burner LATENT HEAT -- The heat which is required to change the state of a substance from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas, without change of temperature
Naphta - NPSH NATURAL CIRCULATION -- The circulation of water in a boiler caused by differences in density.
mnibus-Bar - Osmotic Pressure OSMOSIS -- Diffusion of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane into a more concentrated solution, tending to equalize the concentrations on both sides of the membrane.
Panting - Pyrometer PITTING -- Corrosion of metal surfaces due to local chemical actions.
Quadruple-Expansion Engine - Quick-Revolution Engines QUARTER -- The upper part of a vessel's sides near the stern.
Rankine Cycle - Ruths Accumulator REFRACTORY -- Any solid ceramic material suitable as a structural or protective material at high temperatures in a corrosive environment.
Safety Valve - Surface Blow Valve STEAM ATOMIZING OIL BURNER -- A burner for firing oil that is atomized by steam. It may be of the internal or external mixing type.
Tank Top - Tuyere TREATED FEEDWATER -- Feedwater that has been chemically treated to make it suitable as boiler feedwater.
Velocity in control valves The maximum inlet flow velocities
Velocity in pipes Maximal flow velocity in pipes
Viscosity Dynamic Pascalsecond is the unit used for dynamic viscosity today.
Viscosity Kinematic mm²/s (Centistoke ) is the unit used for kinematic viscosity today
Viscosity Obsolete Degree Engler was withdrawn by DIN 1986
Links... boilers and burners Some useful links to boiler and burner manufacturers
UNITS-Conversions Unit-conversions between SI-units and american and british units
FUEL OIL Calculations Calculation the quantity measurement of oil products and marine heavy fuels.
Calderas de vapor Calderas pirotubulares y calderas acuotubulares
Steam boilers and heavy fuel oil burner marine burners
Steam boiler accessories soot blowers
Fuel oil atomizing methods marine burners
Marine boiler constructions marine boilers
Marine steam boiler glossary Boilers, burners and ships glossary of terms
Marine boilers water level level measuring equpment for boilers onboard ships.
Steam, water and oil tables
Sitemap for steamesteem in a computerized world.
Sitemap Pictures Pictures on the steamesteem in a computerized world site.
Steamesteem in a computerized world
©2007 Lars Josefsson