Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

DRAFT
Natural draft
It is draft produced by a chimney alone. It is caused by the difference in weight
between the column of hot gas inside the chimney and column of coal outside air of
the same height and cross section. Being much lighter than outside air, chimney gas
tends to rise, and the heavier outside air flows in through the ash pit to take its place.
It is usually controlled by hand-operated dampers in the chimney and breeching
connecting the boiler to the chimney.

Chimney

It creates natural draft where no draft fans or blowers are used and discharges the
products of combustion at such a height that it will not be a nuisance to the
surrounding community. Where mechanical draft is used, the second reason is the
main one.

Types of Chimney

Chimneys are built of steel, brick, or concrete. The steel chimney is usually the
cheapest and most easily erected, but it requires more care and attention if it must
last a comparable time. Unless the outside is kept well painted, a steel stack
deteriorates rapidly from the action of the weather, and the flue gas corrodes the
inner surface if it has no protective lining. Also, the excessive heart loss through an
unlined steel stack reduces the draft produced; hence practically all-permanent steel
stacks are lined with firebrick or some other fire-resisting material. A common
practice in building this lining is to use firebrick for the base section, where the heat
is most intense, and common brick for the rest of the distance to the top.

Steel chimneys may be self-supporting, in which case the base flares out to about
twice the upper chimney diameter and is bolted to a substantial concrete foundation.
If the chimney is not self-supporting it is kept up-right, and braced against wind
pressure, by steel guy wires or cables with one end anchored in the ground and the
other fastened to a ring on the chimney, about two-thirds of the height from the
bottom. Small steel stacks are usually of uniform diameter throughout, but large
stacks, especially the self-supporting type, may be tapered gradually from bottom to
top.

The brick chimney is more expensive to build than the steel, but it lasts longers and
stands weathering much better. It is usually built with a uniform inside diameter from
bottom to top but a decreasing outside diameter. In the best construction, an inner
lining is used with an annular space between the lining and the outer wall, so that the
lining expands or contracts without affecting the outer wall in any way. A hard close-
grained brick is used for the out-wall construction. The inner lining may be all
firebrick, or firebrick part way up from the base and common brick the rest of the
way. Rectangular bricks can be used for chimney building, but specially shaped
radial bricks make a stronger and neater job.

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar

 Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

Chimneys are also built of reinforced concrete. This type can be built rapidly, yet it is
very strong because of the steel reinforcing. The chimneys is practically airtight and
less likely to have air leakage than a brick chimney with its multitude of joints. Walls
may be thinner than brick, thus giving a lighter construction without sacrificing
strength. A concrete chimney should also have an inner refractory lining at least part
of the way up from the base.

Mechanical draft

It is draft artificially produced by mechanical devices, such as fans and, in some

units, steam jets.

Three basic methods of applying fans to boilers are:

Balanced draft where a forced-draft (F-D) fan (blower) pushes air into the furnace
and an induced-draft (I-D) fan (draw) or a high stack (chimney) provides draft to
remove the gases from the boiler. Here the furnace is maintained at from 0.05 to
0.10 in. of water gage below atmospheric pressure.

An induced-draft fan or the chimney provides enough draft for flow into the furnace,
causing the products of combustion to discharge to atmosphere. Here the furnace is
kept at a slight pressure below the atmosphere so that combustion air flows through
the unit.

The pressurized furnace uses a blower to deliver the air to the furnace, causing
combustion products to flow through the unit and up the stack.

Fans are also used to supply over-fire air to the furnace in some designs for
distributing the flame more evenly throughout the furnace and thus come in contact
with more tube area. Pulverized-fuel-burning boilers have blowers, which deliver the
coal dust to the furnace.

Advantages of mechanical draft over natural draft

Mechanical draft is independent of wind or temperature changes. After the limit of

combustion is reached with natural draft, more fuel may be burned and the boiler
capacity increased by installing mechanical draft; also, poorer grades of fuel may be
burned than with natural draft. Where a very thick fire is carried, as for underfeed
stokers; mechanical draft must be used to force air through the thick fuel bed. Also,
when economizers are placed between the boiler and chimney to utilize heat from
the waste flue gas, mechanical draft is essential to overcome the resistance offered
by the banks of tubes in the economizer.

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar