XXVI.

DATA RECORDS
AND
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
N E X T
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Contents
1. STATION ECONOMICS
2. CHECKING EQUIPMENT CONDITION
3. FAILURE ANALYSIS
4. TRAINING NEW OPERATION STAFF
5. PROVIDING FEED BACK ON EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE
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B A C K
XXVI. DATA RECORDS AND PROBLEM
ANALYSIS
Achieving continued high performance and high availability of a thermal power station requires
the combined effort of the operation and maintenance personnel. While the operation staff
should maintain recommended parameters for achieving high efficiency, the maintenance
men should monitor the equipment condition and carryout necessary adjustments or repair to
ensure high availability for a given equipment. Use and importance of data in this context,
cannot be over-emphasized. Instrument indications and recorder trends can convey to a
knowledgeable operator what is happening in the equipment. It is in recognition of this fact
that Boiler instrumentation, to the tune of 3 to 7 per cent of the boiler cost, is installed in the
thermal power station.
Generally, the practice in Indian power stations is to log the instrument data hourly. Periodic
analysis of the data should be done at different stages to check condition of equipments and
make operation and maintenance adjustments. Also the records are useful in :
- Computing station economics.
-Checking equipment condition.
- Failure analysis.
-Training of new operation staff.
- Providing feed back on equipment performance.
The following paragraphs give a short discussion on the use of data records in achieving the
above objectives with specific reference to boiler and its auxiliaries.
1. STATION ECONOMICS
Operating economics of a thermal station is greatly dependent on boiler efficiency. The two
main parameters influencing boiler efficiency are the exit gas temperature and excess air.
An increase of 20
0
C in exit gas temperature lowers the boiler efficiency roughly by one per
cent. In a 200 MW coal fired unit, this amounts to an annual additional expense of Rs.13,00,000
for a nominal coal price of Rs. 200 per tonne.
Increased excess air operation, in addition to being a drain on boiler efficiency, causes
additional fan power consumption and higher rate of gas erosion in boiler components. For
sustained high efficiency these two parameters should be continuously maintained at the
recommended limits.
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2. CHECKING EQUIPMENT CONDITION
Data records greatly aid in analysis and solution of equipment problems. To mention a few.
2.1 High Carryover in Steam
High carryover in steam is indicated by the steam conductivity and silica content. They result
in deposition on the turbine stages and are noticeable from the rise in curtis wheel chamber
pressure for the same output and other parameters.
This problem can be solved by maintaining recommended water regimes, reliable drum water
level control and correct setting of drum internals.
2.2 Steam Temperature Variation
Unduly high steam temperature for the same steaming conditions is generally the result of
high excess air operation, increased furnace wall deposition, in advertant up-tilt of burners
or low pressure operation. High difference in steam temperature between left and right side
steam pipes may be due to differential tilt between corners, unequal burner loadings in wall
field units, preferential slag, soot formation, accumulation, removal or unequal gas/steam
flow between sides. Continued operation at this condition can lead to tube failures. Timely
restoration of the equipments to normal operating parameters will help in avoiding resultant
problems. The limits of steam temperature variation permissible from boiler side is indicated
by the metal temperature alarm settings for superheaters and reheaters.
2.3 Operation without Feed water Heaters
Boiler operation without the feed water heaters results in a different thermal balance in the
boiler compared to that with feed water heaters. The effect of such an operation is a higher
convection superheater outlet steam temperature. If this temperature exceeds the alarm
setting limit for the superheaters, the load should be restricted to contain this temperature
within limits
2.4 Unit Operation with Condenser Leakage
The steam generating circuits of the high pressure boilers are sensitive to water quality.
Condenser leakage deteriorates the feed quality inspite of maintaining make up water purity
and can cause corrosion problems in the steam generator. Condenser leakage is easily detected
from the conductivity of condensate. To minimize extensive corrosion of boiler tubes prompt
action should be taken for maintaining recommended water regimes and for attending the
leakage at the earliest opportunity.
2.5 Pulverizer Wear
Necessity for adjustment/repair to the pulverizer is indicated by poor fineness, decreased
output and increased mill rejects. As the pulverizer performance has a direct effect on unit
loadings and combustion stability, prompt action should be taken for necessary adjustments
or replacement of wearing components.
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2.6 Inability to Maintain Adequate Furnace Draft
Under normal operating condition, in a coal fired boiler, this indicates worn-out condition of
I.D. fan impeller. To avoid failure of the fan early replacement of the fan impeller is warranted.
The onset of such a condition will be indicated by the progressively increased vane openings
and higher fan current requirement for same through-output of the fan.
2.7 High Air Leakage in the Gas Passes
Progressive increase in oxygen along the gas flow path signifies such a condition. This will
be less predominant in units with welded wall construction. But this can be significant in skin
cased areas and ductings. If not corrected in time this will result in unnecessary auxiliary
power consumption and lower boiler efficiency.
2.8 Increase Draft Loss across Air Preheaters
This condition can be the result of high excess air operation or deposition in the air heater.
While high excess air operation can be easily identified by oxygen measurements and increased
draft loss across the other heat transfer sections like economiser or low temperature horizontal
superheaters, airheater deposition causes high draft loss across the air heater gas and air sides.
Through, normally prevalent in oil or lignite fired units, this can happen in coal fired units
also due to poor oil burner performance. Operation of air preheater soot blowers or washing
device is only a temporary Solution to the problem. Correcting the basic cause (lie in improving
oil combustion) will avoid this problem.
2.9 High Air Leakage across Ljunstrom Type Air Heater
Leakage in air heaters can be monitored by oxygen and CO
2
measurements before and after
air heater in the air heater gas side. The problem results in over-loading of the fans.
Resetting the seals or replacement of worn-out components will solve this problem.
2.10 High Bearing Temperature
High bearing temperatures in high speed machines like fans can be due to several reasons, but
the most important being lack of bearing lubrication. Periodic grease filling (in grease lubricated
bearings) and ensuring minimum oil level and cooling water flow should be done to avoid
culmi. nation of this problem into a bearing failure.
2.11 High Fan Bearing Vibrations
Continuous vibration monitoring of the fans is not a general practice in Indian power
stations. Such a monitoring can be interpretted for checking the on-set of an unsafe fan
operating condition.
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3. FAILURE ANALYSIS
While by proper interpretation of the data and corrective action, problems can be prevented,
data can also be used as an aid in failure analysis. Some of the common failures in a boiler are
discussed in this Section.
3.1 Tube Failures
Tube failures are characterised by their hissing noise and the resultant inexplicable difference
between steam and feed flows. As a result of this failure the furnace draft also is disturbed.
The major causes for the tube failures are:
i) Over heating.
ii) Internal or external corrosion.
iii) Stress corrosion.
iv) External erosion.
3.1.1 Overheating is generally caused by increased steam and metal temperatures, due
to inadequate medium flow through the tubes or higher than designed heat trans-
fer.
3.1.2 Internal corrosion is caused by poor maintenance of water regimes. This is also
caused by excess dissolved oxygen due to poor performance of the deaerator.
External corrosion in the low temperature regions of economiser can be caused by
low water temperatures below acid dew point.
3.1.3 Stress corrosion is the result of components operation in a corrosive environment.
Austinitic stainless steels are prone to this type of failure.
3.1.4 External erosion may be caused by high velocity ash laden gas flow especially due
to misalignment of tubes or excessive end gaps between enclosure walls and the
coils.
External erosion due to water or steam is generally caused by improper alignment
or leaking of soot blowers or when adjacent tubes fail.
3.2 Pulverisers Component Wear:
Due to the very duty of the coal pulverising mills they handle coal dust laden streams and
hence are prone to wear due to erosion. In this case the data records can be used for planning
maintenance adjustments, component rebuilding or replacement.
Alignment Problems generally manifest in the form of vibration during operation. When in
doubt the history card for the mill should be checked for alignment with respect to the
previous alignment value.
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Mill Worm Shaft Bearing Failure in pressurised mills is mainly due to the ingress of coal and
ash into the bearing lubricating oil. This in turn is the result or wornout vertical shaft seals.
Timely replacement of the seals wil l avoid this problem. Con tamination check on the
lubricating oil can be used as an indicator to this problem.
3.3 Fans
Most of the fan bearing failures are due to lack of lubrication. Generally these failures have
happened when the bearing temperature high alarms have been ignored or when the instruments
were out of order. In most cases proper care in monitoring fan bearing temperatures and
vibration level can indicate the possibility of failure, before it occurs.
Rotor wear is specifically applicable to the I.D. fans. The inlet guide vane position for same
loading can be taken as an indirect indication of the condition of the impeller. Worn-out
impellers also result in inability to maintain the furnace draft. If not attended in time, the
unbalance of the rotor can increase resulting in excessive vibrations culminating into a
complete failure .
3.4 Air Heater
Due to poor oil combustion especially during start-up or shut-down oil carryover and
deposition can occur in the air heaters. These deposits have to be cleaned by soot blowing or
water washing. Otherwise under conducive conditions they will catch fire and lead to a
catastropic failure of the air heater.
Low Temperature Corrosion of the cold end is a common problem with units operating on
fuels with high sulphur content. The life of the cold end elements or tubes can be prolonged
by maintaining the cold end metal temperature above the acid dew point.
3.5 Electrostatic Precipitators
A review of the operating voltage and current of E.P. sections can provide an insight into the
inside condition of the precipitator sections.
Many power stations in advanced countries employ a data acquisition system. This is a
mini-computer type device installed in each unit. The device has the capacity to store in
memory all important parameters for a short duration (about 10 mts.). The data in memory
can be printed out whenever required. This facility will be very useful in analysing transient
performance or reasons for unit trip. Also conditions before and after an equipment failure
can be collected which will greatly aid in failure analysis.
4. TRAINING NEW OPERATION STAFF
Data records can be used as an effective tool for training new operators. From these records
the new operators can learn about the unit parameters to be maintained at different loads,
combustion regime settings and chemical regimes to be maintained for water and steam. Few
classical examples in this regard are:
(i) Frequency and sequence of sootblowing required to different coals being fired in
the boiler.
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ii) Fuel air damper settings and windbox pressure to be maintained for different fuels
or fuel combinations.
iii) Maximum possible loadings that can be maintained with one set of auxiliaries.
iv) Maximum mill loading permissible with wet coals.
A study of such data by new operators joining the unit will help them in understanding the
unit behaviour better and faster.
5. PROVIDING FEED BACK ON EQUIPMENT
PERFORMANCE
Feed back on performance of operating equipments can be a valuable aid for both the user
and the manufacturer. The user can take into account the performance of existing equipment
while ordering new stations. For the manufacturer this gives valuable information in
understanding the behaviour of equipments and for incorporating future improvements.
Due to the persistant search for high efficiency and , better availabilities and present days
steam generation equipments are made more and more sophisticated. Their handling therefore
calls for greater and greater skills from the operators. Collection of operating data and
monitoring the unit performance is an important feature in achieving this skill.
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