Experiment No.

OBJECT:
Study of Boiler Draught.

INTRODUCTION:
In order to maintain the continuous flow of fresh air into the combustion chamber, it is
necessary to exhaust the product of combination from the combustion chamber of boiler. A
pressure chamber has to be maintained to accelerate the product of combination of their final
velocity and to overcome the pressure losses in the flow system this pressure difference so
maintained is known as Draught.

CLASSIFICATION OF DRAUGHT:
The method of producing the draught is generally classified as:

1. Natural Draught
2. Artificial Draught

NATURAL DRAUGHT:
Natural draught is obtained by the use of a chimney .A chimney is a vertical tubular structure of
a bricks , masonry ,steel or reinforced plate ,bit for the purpose of enclosing a column of hot
gas to produce the drought. The life of brick or concrete chimney may be as high as 50 years.
Linging of the steel chimney can increase its life.

The drought produce produce by the chimney is due to the density difference between the
column of hot gases .Inside the chimney and coked air outside.

A diagrammatic arrangement of a chimney of height H meters above the grate is shown fig.6.1

The pressure at great level on the chimney side (P1) = atmospheric pressure (PA) at the chimney
top +due to the column of hot gas of height H meters.
 DETERMINATION OF THE HIGHT AND DIAMETER OF THE
CHIMNEY:
We already know that draught is produce by means of a chimney. Since the amount of draught
depends up to the height of chimney should be such that it can produce a sufficient draught.
Let H=Height of the chimney above the fire grate in meters.

h=Draught required in terms of mm of water

T1= Absolute temperature of air outside the chimney in K.
T2= Absolute temperature of flue gas inside the chimney in K.
V1= Vol. of outside air at temp. t in m3/kg of fuel.
V2= Vol. of flue gases inside the chimney at temp. T in m3/kg of fuel.

In actual practice the draught pressure is expressed in mm of water as indicated by a

manometer. Therefore,
1 m+1
h = 353H [ {(T ) ( mT2 )}] mm of water
1 2

Artificial Draught:
In contrast with the natural draught which is dependent on the atmospheric condition of the
temperature of air, artificial draught is produced either by steam jets as in case of locomotive to
create draught at the base of stack which cannot be made tall or by mean of fans. The different
methods of producing draught are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs. The purpose of
chimney in artificial draught system is to discharge gases high up in the atmosphere to avoid
hazard. It is not very significant for developing draught. Thus height can be reduced.

The artificial draught may be mechanical type of steam jet .If the draught is produced by mean
of fan .it is called as fan(mechanical)draught and if the draught is produced by mean of steam
jet then it is called as stream jet draught.

Forced Draught:
In a forced draught system, a blower is installed near the base of the boiler and air is forced to
pass through the furnace, thus, economizer, air preheater and to steak. This draught system is
known as position draught system or forced draught system because of the pressure of air
throughout the system is above atmospheric pressure and air is forced to flow the system. The
arrangement of this system is shown in the fig. 6.2 a stock or chimney is also used in this system
but its function is to discharge gases high into the atmosphere for better dispersion of ash
particle and pollutants. As it is not designed for producing draught, the height of the chimney
may not be large.

Induced Draught:
In this system, the blower is located near the base of the chimney. The air is sucked into the
system by reducing the pressure through the system below the atmospheric pressure. The
induced draught fan sucks the gases from the furnace and the pressure inside the furnace
below that of the atmosphere thus inducing the atmospheric air to flow through the furnace.
The action of the induced draught is similar to the action of the chimney as the draught
produced is independent of the temperature of the hot gases, the gases may be discharged as
cold as recovering as much heat as possible in the economizer and the air preheater.

This draught is used generally when as economizer and an air preheater are incorporated in the
system.

Balanced Draught:
It is always preferable to use a combination of forced draught and induced draught instead of
using either forced or induced draught at arc. It only the forced draught is used, the furnace
cannot be opened either for firing or inspection because the high pressure inside the furnace
will blow down suddenly. If only the induced fraught is used, the furnace cannot be opened
either for firing or inspection because the cold air will try to rush into the furnace as the
pressure inside the furnace id below atmospheric pressure this reduces the effective draught.

To overcome both the above difficulties a balanced draught is always preferred. The balanced
draught is a combination of forced and induced draught. The forced draught overcome the
resistance of fuel bed and therefore sufficient air is supplied to the fuel bed for proper and
complete combustion.

The induced fan draught removes the gases from furnace maintaining the pressure in the
furnace, just below the atmospheric, pressure. This helps to prevent the below out of flames
and the leakage, when the furnace downs are opened.

VIVA QUESTIONS
What do you mean by Draught?
Classify the Draught.
Define balanced draught.
What is artificial Draught?
How chimneys height effect the Draught?
What are the significances of Draught?