Energy/ Power Plants

Flame Failure Causes in Boiler and Operator Action

There are many causes that can contribute to boiler flame failure. Operating the boiler with unstable flame is always dangerous and can lead to boiler explosion. Tripping the boiler is the option for all boiler designers and operators.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Oct 15, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Both Regenerative Air Pre-Heater Motors Trip - Tips to Handle

In regenerative type air heater in boiler when the electrical motor trips always the air motor start on auto. Failure of this will lead to a major breakdown of air pre-heater and loss of availability of boiler.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Oct 13, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Carryover From Boiler Drum

Carryover from the boiler drum leads to deposit in superheaters of boiler and turbine blades. Carryover from drum is of two types- mechanical and vaporous carryover. Deposits in superheater tubes results in overheating failure. In the turbine, this reduces the turbine efficiency.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Oct 10, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles

Air Pre-heater Fires in Large Capacity Boilers

The damage due to air pre-heater fire is very severe depending upon the intensity of the fire. In many cases it has made the regenerative air pre-heater elements a molten mass. The boiler availability loss will be high if a fire takes place in the air heater.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Oct 7, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Systems

To effectively use solar power, solar energy incident on a large area has to be concentrated to get high temperatures. The heat then has to transfer to a working media like steam to produce power. How is this done ? Read on…

Published by johnzactruba (3208 pts) on Sep 30, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Mechanisms of Steam Soot Blower Erosion.

There are many mechanisms that can cause steam soot blower erosion of boiler tubes at various heat transfer sections. Knowing the way these mechanisms contribute to erosion will help to prevent loss of availability of boiler.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Sep 30, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles

Solar Thermal Power Plants.

What is the future of solar power? How are we going to effectively use the incident solar radiation to get reliable and steady power ? This article gives an overview on the Solar thermal Power Plants.

Published by johnzactruba (3208 pts) on Sep 30, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Handle Low Drum Level in Boiler Operation

Low drum level operation leads to availability loss of the boiler. Water wall tubes fail due to short term overheating. Never bye-pass the very low drum level trip in boiler is to be adopted. Drum level in boiler indicates the level of water in drum for enabling the steam generation without hurdle.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Sep 30, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
Causes of High Temperature Corrosion in Boilers

High temperature corrosion occur in boilers occurs mainly in two areas- waterwalls and superheaters. The inorganic impurities in fuel like vanadium, sodium, sulphur, etc., are responsible. Read on to learn more about how this happens.

Published by Dr V T Sathyanathan (4014 pts) on Sep 23, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles
How Efficient is Energy Conversion in a Thermal Power Plant ?

Electricity is a convenient form of energy. Thermal power plants convert the energy in coal to Electricity. Have you ever wondered how much is lost in the process of generating electricity? This article explains how efficiently (or inefficiently) the natural energy sources are converted.

Published by johnzactruba (3208 pts) on Sep 20, 2009 to
Mechanical Engineering Articles