Power generation from combustion

Md. Mominur Rahman, PhD

Department of Chemical Engg., BUET
Lecture-01
Rankine cycle systems
• The Rankine cycle using steam as the working fluid generates about 90%
of electric power on a worldwide basis.

• The majority of such power plants have been fueled by coal, natural gas
and fuel oils

• Present-day nuclear power plants also utilize steam-based Rankine cycles;

so do most geothermal and solar thermal power plants.

• By far, steam has been the working fluid of choice for the Rankine cycle in
moderate to high temperature applications (>150 °C)
Boiler

• A boiler, as the name suggests, is a device that boils (water to

produce steam)

• The earliest form of boiler is the kettle

• More scientifically, a boiler converts the chemical energy in

fuel into the heat energy in steam, or the heat energy of hot
gases into the heat energy of steam when no firing is involved
 Types of boilers: based on what flows through the boiler tubes
1. Fire or smoke or flue tube or shell-type boilers in which flue gases are inside the
tube and water is outside
2. Water tube boilers in which water is inside and flue gases are
outside
3. Combination (combi boiler) in which flue gas and water flow
both outside and inside the tubes; in this type contains an
external furnace and shell-type boiler in a sequence
Fire tube boilers are basically suitable for:
• Clean fuels such as oil and gas, since the dusty fuels cause fouling
and erosion as they travel in the tubes

• Smaller sizes up to 35 tph, limited by the size of shell

• Small superheaters (SHs) of ∼50°C, as there are arrangement

problems for accommodating large SH surfaces

• Low pressures of usually <25 atm limited by the pressure-holding

capacity of the shell
Types of boilers: based on Type of Firing

• Mass/pile burning boilers

• Stoker-fired boilers
• Burner-fired boilers
• Bubbling fluidized bed combustion (BFBC) boilers
• Circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) boilers
• Pulverized fuel (PF) boilers
• Liquor-fired boilers
• Waste heat boilers
Mass/pile burning boilers
Stoker-fired boilers
Burner-fired boilers
Bubbling fluidized bed combustion (BFBC) boilers
Circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) boilers
Pulverized fuel (PF) boilers
Liquor-fired boilers
Types of boilers: based on operating pressure

• Subciritical boilers

• Supercritical boilers (>22 Mpa)

Boiler specification
Steam flow or evaporation or boiler output
• This is the amount of steam generated from the feed water (FW) supplied at a certain
temperature. It is the capacity or the rating of the boiler expressed in lb/h, kg/h, kg/s or
ton/hr. In a reheating (RH) boiler, heat is added to steam to raise its temperature from
inlet to outlet condition. This also forms a part of evaporation. So, Boiler rating is
sometimes expressed as heat duty: MBtu/h, Mkcal/h or megawatt thermals (MWth).
Steam outlet pressure (SOP)

• SH Outlet Pressure: Superheater outlet pressure is the pressure at which

steam is available for further consumption (Usually it is ∼5% higher than
process or turbine inlet pressure to account for the piping loss, that is,
pressure losses in piping, bends, flow nozzle, and valves)
• Design Pressure: In principle, the boiler design pressure is usually the set
pressure of the second safety valve (or the highest set safety valve lifting
pressure if there are more than two safety valves) on the drum. The
design pressure limits the maximum operating pressure of a boiler.
• RH Inlet and Outlet Pressures: These pressures are turbine-dependent
based on the power cycle design
• Calculation Pressure: Calculation pressure is the design pressure
Steam outlet temperature (SOT)

• SH Outlet Temperature: Superheater outlet temperature is the

temperature at which the steam leaves the SH. It is usually the
highest temperature attained by the steam in a boiler. Superheater
outlet temperature up to ∼350°C is usually not controlled, being
used mainly for process heating. For power application, the SOTs
are generally >400°C and are required to be controlled.
• RH Outlet Temperature: Reheater outlet temperature (RHOT) is the
temperature at which steam leaves the RH. Reheater inlet
temperature is turbine-dependent
Feed water (FW) inlet temperature
• Feed water temperature (FWT) varies from as low as 85°C for very low-
capacity process plants with no feed heating to as high as 270°C in very
high-pressure (HP) power plants with several stages of feed heating.
Fuels
• Fuels have the most profound effect on the size and shape of a boiler, because all
boilers have to be primarily built around the characteristics of the fuel to be burnt.
When the fuels for the project are understood, the resultant customization of the
boiler is better.
• Fuel flexibility in a boiler is most desirable, for multiple fuels as in the case of
industrial boilers, it enables plant owners to optimize the fuel cost. But every
flexibility brings a performance penalty and a trade-off is necessary

• Prime or principal or main

• Start-up fuel

• Alternate fuel

• Auxiliary or additional fuel

• Prime or principal or main fuel is the fuel around which the boiler is built and the performance is
guaranteed.

• Start-up fuel is the fuel with which the boiler is started up and loaded until it is ready for taking the
main fuel. Oil firing in case of Pulverized Fuel (PF) boilers, gas firing for circulating fluidized bed
combustion (CFBC) boilers, and oil/charcoal for bubbling fluidized bed combustion (BFBC) boilers
are some examples of start-up fuels.

• Alternate fuel is available as an alternative to the main fuel, and usually full generation is obtained
on both fuels with appropriate guarantees. Alternate fuel is planned when disruption of main fuel is
a distinct possibility. In bagasse-based cogeneration (cogen) plants, coal or oil is planned as an
alternate fuel during the off-season. Oil- and gas fired boilers, coal- and lignite fired boilers, bagasse
and husk-fired boilers are some of the examples of employing alternate fuels where the fuels are
somewhat similar and use the same firing equipment.

• Auxiliary or additional fuel is available in the plant and is to be burnt along with the main fuel in
cofiring mode
Question??

End of Lecture

Reference: Kumar Rayaprolu, BOILERS for POWER and PROCESS, 2009, CRC Press ,Taylor & Francis Group
Chap 1: Boiler Basic
Power generation from combustion
Lecture-2
Drum-type RH utility boiler with ECON and AH as back-end
equipment

Super
heater
Energy balance in a boiler
Boiler Efficiency
• Boiler Efficiency = 100 – (% Loss 1 + 2 + 3 + 4)
• Loss 1: Stack loss: Dry gas loss, moisture loss, humidity loss
(70-80% of total loss where moisture loss: 8-20%, humidity loss: 0.1%, rest
is dry gas loss)

• Loss 2: Unburnt loss:

• Loss 3: Radiation loss: < 1%

• Loss 4: Unaccountable loss: heat loss in ash, loss due to sulfation and
calcination reactions in FBC, etc
Boiler Efficiency
Find out the efficiency of the boiler by direct method with the data given below:

Type of boiler: Coal fired

• Quantity of steam (Saturated and dry) generated: 10 TPH
• Steam pressure (gauge) / temp: 10 kg/cm2(g)/ 180 0C
• Quantity of coal consumed: 2.25 TPH
• Feed water temperature: 85 0C
• Gross Calorific Value (GCV) of coal: 3200 kcal/kg
• Enthalpy of steam at 10 kg/cm2 pressure: 665 kcal/kg (saturated)
• Enthalpy of feed water: 85 kcal/kg

What is the Boiler Efficiency?

Boiler Efficiency
Type of boiler: Oil fired

• Ultimate analysis of Oil

C: 84 percent
H2: 12.0 percent
S: 3.0 percent
O2: 1 percent

• GCV of Oil: 10200 kcal/kg

• Percentage of Oxygen: 7%
• Percentage of CO2: 11 percent
• Flue gas temperature (Tf): 220 0C

• Ambient temperature (Ta): 27 0C

• Humidity of air : 0.018 kg/kg of dry air

• Find out the Boiler Efficiency

Questions?

End of Lecture

Reference

1. Kumar Rayaprolu, BOILERS for POWER and PROCESS, 2009, CRC Press ,Taylor & Francis Group
Chap 1: Boiler Basic
2. Energy Efficiency Guide for Industry in Asia (www.energyefficiencyasia.org)- For workout examples on boiler thermal efficiency:
Direct and Indirect method and also their advantages and disadvantages
Prime Movers and Thermodynamic cycles
Lecture -3
Prime Movers

A prime mover is a machine that converts energy (potential energy, kinetic energy
and heat energy) into work (mechanical) Examples: Gas turbine, steam turbine,
reciprocating internal combustion engine, hydraulic turbine and wind turbine.

These machines may be used for turning a generator to produce electricity or may
be used to drive another machine such as a compressor or a pump.

The gas turbine, steam turbine, and reciprocating internal combustion engine are
all heat engines, that is, convert thermal energy into work while the hydraulic and
the wind turbines convert the available kinetic energy in the fluid into work.
Thermodynamic Cycles

• Thermodynamic cycles
1. Gas cycles and
2. Vapor cycles, depending on the phase of the working fluid.

• Thermodynamic cycles
1. Open cycle
2. Closed cycle

• Thermodynamic cycles
1. Power cycle
2. Refrigeration cycle
Power (heat) Engines

• Power (Heat) Engines

1. Internal Combustion engine (automotive engine, gas turbine - open cycle)
2. External combustion engine (steam turbine, gas turbine – closed cycle )
 Gas Turbine (Open Cycle)

Excess air is required to limit the combustion

temperature between 1300-1400oC (stoichiometric
combustion temperature of NG is 1940oC needs very
expensive materials)
Reheat gas turbine (open cycle) with spray intercooling
Gas turbine - Brayton Cycle (Closed)

k is the specific heat ratio of the working fluid

Gas turbine - Brayton Cycle (Closed)

Best
possible
situation
Steam turbine - Rankine Cycle (saturated steam)
1. Isobaric Heat Addition: Subcooled liquid pressurized by the feed pump
is preheated to saturation temperature and then completely evaporated to
form saturated vapor.
2. Adiabatic Expansion: The pressurized vapor formed in the preceding
step is expanded adiabatically in an ideal turbine to produce work.
3. Isobaric Heat Rejection: The vapor–liquid mixture leaving the
expansion turbine is then condensed while rejecting heat to the heat sink.
4. Isentropic Pressurization: The pressure of the liquid formed in the
preceding step (“condensate”) is then raised in the feed pump (ideal
machine) and supplied to the evaporator to complete the cycle

TS Diagram

Cumulative heat exchange between two fluids and corresponding temperature profile
Rankine cycle with superheating
TS diagram

Cumulative heat exchange between two fluids and corresponding temperature profile
Rankine cycle with superheating and reheating

TS diagram
Superheat-reheat Rankine cycle with economomizer
Rankine cycle with regenerative heating
Supercritical Rankine cycle
Efficiency of Rankine cycle
Brayton-Rankine combined cycle
Combined cycle power plant (Combining Rakine and Brayton Cycle)
Electrical Generation Efficiencies for Different systems

System Fuel Efficiencies

Steam turbine Brown coal 21-29%
Steam turbine Black coal 30-37%
IGCC Black coal 40-52%
Open cycle gas turbine Natural gas 17-37%
Combined cycle Natural gas 44-57%
Question ??

End of Lecture
Reference
1. Kumar Rayaprolu, BOILERS for POWER and PROCESS, 2009, CRC Press ,Taylor & Francis Group
Chap 6: Prime movers; Chap 8: Rankine cycle system; Chap 9: Brayton-Rankine combined cycle system
2. Thermodynamics – An Engineering Approach by Cengel and Boles, Chap. 9 and 10