Heat Generator

the term ‘heat generator’ refers to a device for converting fuel or electricity into heat – e.g.

a boiler or radiant heater.
Heat sources and fuels can be used to generate heat by:
• Boilers.
• Solid fuel burners.
• Combined heat and power (CHP) plant.
• Electrical heaters.
• Gas heaters.
• Heat pumps.
Heat Sources
Examples of fuels and heat sources include:
• Solid fuel – timber, coal, peat, biomass.
• Liquid – oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
• Gas - natural gas, biogas.
• Electricity - grid, wind turbines, hydroelectricity, photovoltaics.
• Water – solar thermal, geothermal, ground source, water source.
Heat transfer
Radiation - Radiation is a heat transfer mechanism, along with conduction, convection, phase
change and mass transfer. All bodies which are hotter than 0°K emit thermal radiation. They
also absorb thermal radiation emitted by their surroundings. The difference in the total amount
of radiation emitted and absorbed by a body at any given moment may result in a net heat
transfer which will produce a change in the temperature of that body.
Convection is the movement of a fluid, such as air. It is a combination of advection and
diffusion:
• Advection is the large-scale motion of a fluid in currents.
• Diffusion is the small-scale movement of particles of fluid from areas of higher
concentration to areas of lower concentration.
Conduction - s the diffusion of internal heat within a static (rather than fluid) body as a result of
a temperature difference across it. Heat will tend to diffuse from higher temperature parts of a
body to lower temperature parts.
Boiler
A boiler is a piece of technical apparatus in which fuels are oxidised to generate thermal energy,
which is transferred to water or steam. Boilers are typically used to heat water to feed heating
systems or to supply hot water, or both.
The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels. Nuclear fission is also used
as a heat source for generating steam.
Boilers come in two primary designs: fire tube and water tube. In a fire tube boiler, the boiler
gases and heat are within the tubes in the boiler; while in water tube boilers, boiler feed water is
within the tubes and drums of the boiler. Water tube boilers primarily are used to generate
steam, while fire tube boilers are used for both steam and hot water.

Main Boiler Components

• Burner – the burner is the area where the air mixes with your fuel source and combusts.
• Combustion chamber/firebox – this is the chamber where the combustion from the
burner heats the heat exchanger; this chamber can reach temperatures of several
hundred degrees.
• Heat exchanger – the heat exchanger allows the heat from the combustion chamber to
heat the water in the boiler’s tank.
• Aquastats – these components sense the temperature of the water in your boiler and
tell the burner when to start and stop.
• Expansion tank – the expansion tank is a small tank off the main boiler that helps
protect your system from excessive pressure.
• Backflow valve – a backflow valve is a safety device that allows water to flow in a single
direction only.
• Circulator pump – a circulator pump is used with boilers that use hot water to heat; the
circulator pump pushes the hot water through your system, allowing it to circulate to the
various outlets.
• Supply lines – supply lines are the pipes that deliver the heated water or steam to the
distribution points.
• Return lines – when the water cools, or the steam cools and changes states back to
water, the return lines bring this water back to the boiler for re-heating.
Fire tube boiler

A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or (many)
more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred
through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating
steam
This is the type of boiler used in nearly all steam locomotives. The heat source is inside a
furnace or firebox that has to be kept permanently surrounded by the water in order to maintain
the temperature of the heating surface below the boiling point.
Fire-tube boilers have the advantage of being easy to install and operate. They are widely used
in small installations to heat buildings and to provide power for factory processes. Fire-tube
boilers are also used in steam locomotives.
Hot flue gases flow inside tubes that are submerged in water within a shell.
• Pressures up to about 10 bar
• Produce up to 14 tonnes of steam/hr
Advantages:
• compact construction 
• efficient, straight tube design
• lower total cost of ownership
• easier access and maintenance
• good load surge handling @ pressure
• simple operation
Disadvantages:
• Drums exposed to heat, increasing the risk of explosion
• Large water volume, resulting in poor circulation
• Limited steam pressure and evaporation
Water tube boiler

In this type, tubes filled with water are arranged inside a furnace in a number of possible
configurations. Often the water tubes connect large drums, the lower ones containing water and
the upper ones steam and water; in other cases, such as a mono-tube boiler, water is circulated
by a pump through a succession of coils. This type generally gives high steam production rates,
but less storage capacity than the above.
Water tube boilers can be designed to exploit any heat source and are generally preferred in
high-pressure applications since the high-pressure water/steam is contained within small
diameter pipes which can withstand the pressure with a thinner wall. These boilers are
commonly constructed in place, roughly square in shape, and can be multiple stories tall.
Water tube boilers can generate saturated or superheated steam, which is useful
for applications such as steam turbine power generation. In addition, these boilers are
commonly used in process industries, including chemicals , refining, and pulp and paper
manufacturing. Water tube boilers are safer by design and generally considered to last much
longer than the firetube boiler.
Advantages:
• Rapid heat transmission
• Fast reaction to steam demand
• High efficiency
• Safer than firetube boilers
Disadvantages:
• More control than fire tube boilers
• Higher initial cost
• More complicated to operate
Selecting the Heat Source
In many cases, the type of heat source is predetermined by what is available in the plant and
the cost of utilities. However, if more than one heat source can be used, there are questions to
consider to narrow the choice. Consider the following questions.
• What heat source (fuel) is available? Typical choices include natural gas, liquefied
petroleum (propane or butane) gas, diesel and electricity.
• What is the cost of each fuel per million BTUs? Electric is the most expensive many
parts of the country.
Boilers are most commonly fuelled by:
• Mains gas
• Liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
• Wood.
• Coal.
• Oil.
• Electricity.
There are a very wide range of boilers available depending on; size, fuel type, efficiency and
application, and ranging from compact units used for domestic heating, to very
large boilers used for industrial processes.

Common boiler fomulas

Boiler Efficiency
It is calculated by dividing the boiler output (in BTUs) by the boiler input (in BTUs) and
multiplying by 100. The actual input and output of the boiler are determined through
instrumentation and the resulting data is used in calculations that determine the fuel-to-
steam efficiency.
Boiler Horse power
Once the total amount of steam is known, it is very simple to determine boiler power. Simply
divide the total amount of steam required by either 15.9 kg/boiler hp or 35 lbs/boiler hp
Boiler fuel consumption
The formula for calculating the hourly gas consumption of a 10 ton gas boiler is:
Gas consumption of gas boiler (hourly) = gas boiler power * time / fuel calorific value /
gas boiler heat value utilization.

Boiler Steam production

Use btu/hr (British thermal units/hour) heat input rate to calculate boiler steam flow. It takes
970.28 btu/hr to produce 1 pound of steam at the above conditions. If 50 million btu/hr are
being applied to the boiler, divide by the 970.28-btu/lb to yield 51,531-lb/hr steam flow.