boiler

boiler, device for generating steam. It consists of two principal parts: the furnace, which provides heat, usually by burning a fuel, and the boiler proper, a device in which the heat changes water into steam. A steam engine is driven by steam generated under pressure in a boiler. The amount of steam that can be generated per hour depends upon the rate of combustion of the fuel in the furnace and upon the efficiency of heat transfer to the boiler proper. Since the rate of combustion of the fuel in a furnace is largely dependent upon the quantity of air available, i.e., upon the draft, a sufficient supply of air is an important consideration in boiler construction. In some large installations the incoming air is preheated by the waste heat of the flue gases, and in order to increase the speed of combustion a forced draft (air at higher than atmospheric pressure) is often used. Two types of boilers are most common—fire-tube boilers, containing long steel tubes through which the hot gases from the furnace pass and around which the water to be changed to steam circulates, and water-tube boilers, in which the conditions are reversed. Water is changed to steam in these continuous circuits and also is super-heated in transit. This additional heating of the steam increases the efficiency of the power-generating cycle. The safety valve is used to prevent explosions by releasing steam if the pressure becomes too great. The construction of boilers in the United States is governed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Boiler Construction Code. Progress in boiler design and performance have been governed by the continuous development of improved materials.

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boiler

Apparatus for converting a liquid to vapour. A boiler consists of a furnace in which fuel is burned, surfaces to transmit heat from the combustion products to the water (or other liquid), and a space where steam (or vapour) can form and collect. A conventional boiler burns a fossil fuel or waste fuel; a nuclear reactor may instead supply the heat. There are two types of conventional steam boiler. In a fire-tube boiler, the water surrounds the steel tubes through which hot gases from the furnace flow; easy to install and operate, fire-tube boilers are widely used to heat buildings and to provide power for factory processes, as well as in steam locomotives. In a water-tube boiler, the water is inside tubes, with the hot furnace gases circulating outside the tubes; water-tube boilers, which produce more and hotter steam, are used in ships and factories. The largest are found in the central-station power plants of public utilities; other large units are used in steel mills, paper mills, oil refineries, and chemical plants. See also steam engine.

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boiler

a closed vessel or arrangement of enclosed tubes in which water is heated to supply steam to drive an engine or turbine or provide heat

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boiler [′bȯil·ər]

(mechanical engineering)

A water heater for generating steam.

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Boiler

A pressurized system in which water is vaporized to steam, the desired end product, by heat transferred from a source of higher temperature, usually the products of combustion from burning fuels. Steam thus generated may be used directly as a heating medium, or as the working fluid in a prime mover to convert thermal energy to mechanical work, which in turn may be converted to electrical energy. Although other fluids are sometimes used for these purposes, water is by far the most common because of its economy and suitable thermodynamic characteristics.

The physical sizes of boilers range from small portable or shop-assembled units to installations comparable to a multistory 200-ft-high (60-m) building equipped, typically, with a furnace which can burn coal at a rate of 6 tons/min (90 kg/s). Boilers operate at positive pressures and offer the hazardous potential of explosions. Pressure parts must be strong enough to withstand the generated steam pressure and must be maintained at acceptable temperatures, by transfer of heat to the fluid, to prevent loss of strength from overheating or destructive oxidation of the construction materials.

The overall functioning of steam-generating equipment is governed by thermodynamic properties of the working fluid. By the simple addition of heat to water in a closed vessel, vapor is formed which has greater specific volume than the liquid, and can develop an increase of pressure to the critical value of 3208 psia (22.1 megapascals absolute pressure). If the generated steam is discharged at a controlled rate, commensurate with the rate of heat addition, the pressure in the vessel can be maintained at any desired value, and thus be held within the limits of safety of the construction. See Steam

Addition of heat to steam, after its generation, is accompanied by increase of temperature above the saturation value. The higher heat content, or enthalpy, of superheated steam permits it to develop a higher percentage of useful work by expansion through the prime mover, with a resultant gain in efficiency of the power-generating cycle.

If the steam-generating system is maintained at pressures above the critical, by means of a high-pressure feedwater pump, water is converted to a vapor phase of high density equal to that of the water, without the formation of bubbles. Further heat addition causes superheating, with corresponding increase in temperature and enthalpy. The most advanced developments in steam-generating equipment have led to units operating above critical pressure, for example, 3600–5000 psi (25–34 MPa). Superheated steam temperature has advanced from 500 ± °F (260 ± °C) to the present practical limits of 1050–1100°F (566–593°C). See Marine engineering, Nuclear power, Steam-generating unit