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Feedwater Treatment for Marine Boilers

Modern high-pressure, high-temperature marine boilers with their large steam output require very pure feedwater. Feedwater treatment deals with the various scale and corrosion causing salts and entrained gases by suitable chemical treatment. This is achieved as follows:

1. By keeping the hardness salts in a suspension in the solution to prevent scale formation.

ships machinery spaces
container ships machinery info
2. By stopping any suspended salts and impurities from sticking to the heat transfer surfaces.

3. By providing anti-foam protection to stop water carry-over.

4. By eliminating dissolved gases and providing some degree of alkalinity which will prevent corrosion.

The actual treatment involves adding various chemicals into the feedwater system and then testing samples of boiler water with a test kit. The test kit is usually supplied by the treatment chemical manufacturer with simple instructions for its use.

For auxiliary boilers the chemicals added might be lime (calcium hydroxide) and soda (sodium carbonate). Alternatively caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) may be used on its own.

For high-pressure watertube boilers various phosphate salts are used, such as trisodium phosphate, disodium phosphate and sodium metaphosphate. Coagulants are also used which combine the scaleforming salts into a sludge and stop it sticking to the boiler surfaces. Sodium aluminate, starch and tannin are used as coagulants. Final de-aeration of the boiler water is achieved by chemicals, such as hydrazine, which combine with any oxygen present.

auxiliary boiler-steam-system
Auxiliary boiler steam system


Summarized below marine boiler detail Info pages:

  1. Requirement for various boiler types - water tube boilers and more
    2. The watertube boiler is employed for high-pressure, high-temperature, high-capacity steam applications, e.g. providing steam for main propulsion turbines or cargo pump turbines. Firetube boilers are used for auxiliary purposes to provide smaller quantities of low-pressure steam on diesel engine powered ships.....

  2. Fire tube boilers working principle and operational procedure
    3. The firetube boiler is usually chosen for low-pressure steam production on vessels requiring steam for auxiliary purposes. Operation is simple and feedwater of medium quality may be employed. The name 'tank boiler is sometimes used for firetube boilers because of their large water capacity. The terms 'smoke tube' and 'donkey boiler are also in use....

  3. Exhaust Gas Boilers And Economisers working procedure
    4. The use of exhaust gases from diesel main propulsion engines to generate steam is a means of heat energy recovery and improved plant efficiency.The auxiliary steam installation provided in modern diesel powered tankers usually uses an exhaust gas heat exchanger at the base of the funnel and one or perhaps two watertube boilers .....

  4. The use of boiler mountings
    5. Watertube boilers, because of their smaller water content in relation to their steam raising capacity, require certain additional mountings: Automatic feed water regulator. Fitted in the feed line prior to the main check valve, this device is essential to ensure the correct water level in.the boiler during all load conditions. Boilers with a high evaporation rate will use a multiple-element feed water control system ....

  5. Purity of boiler feedwater
    6. Most 'pure' water will contain some dissolved salts which come out of solution on boiling. These salts then adhere to the heating surfaces as a scale and reduce heat transfer, which can result in local overheating and failure of the tubes. Other salts remain in solution and may produce acids which will attack the metal of the boiler. An excess of alkaline salts in a boiler, together with the effects of operating stresses, will produce a condition known as 'caustic cracking'. This is actual cracking of the metal which may lead to serious failure.....

  6. The steam-to-steam generator working principle and operational procedure
    7. Steam-to-steam generators produce low-pressure saturated steam for domestic and other services. They are used in conjunction with watertube boilers to provide a secondary steam circuit which avoids any possible contamination of the primary-circuit feedwater. The arrangement may be horizontal or vertical with coils within the shell which heat the feedwater.....

  7. How to control combustion in a marine boiler
    8. The essential requirement for a combustion control system is to correctly proportion the quantities of air and fuel being burnt. This will ensure complete combustion, a minimum of excess air and acceptable exhaust gases. The control system must therefore measure the flow rates of fuel oil and air in order to correctly regulate their proportions.....

  8. Safe boiler operation - Preparations & raising steam
    9. All boilers have a furnace or combustion chamber where fuel is burnt to release its energy. Air is supplied to the boiler furnace to enable combustion of the fuel to take place. A large surface area between the combustion chamber and the water enables the energy of combustion, in the form of heat, to be transferred to the water.....

  9. Fuel oil burning process - various design burners
    10. Marine boilers currently burn residual low-grade fuels. This fuel isstored in double-bottom tanks from which it is drawn by a transfer pump up to settling tanks. Here any water in the fuel may settle out and be drained away.

  10. Boiler arrangement - combustion process - supply of air
    11. Combustion is the burning of fuel in air in order to release heat energy. For complete and efficient combustion the correct quantities of fuel and air must be supplied to the furnace and ignited. About 14 times as much air as fuel is required for complete combustion....

  11. Ordinary spring-loaded safety valve and improved high-lift safety valve for a marine boiler
    12. Safety valves are fitted in pairs, usually on a single valve chest. Each valve must be able to release all the steam the boiler can produce without the pressure rising by more than 10% over a set period.....

  12. Correct working level for marine boilers - use of water level gauges
    13. The water level gauge provides a visible indication of the water level in the boiler in the region of the correct working level.

  13. How to maintain water level in a marine boiler ?
    14. A modern high-pressure, high-temperature watertube boiler holds a small quantity of water and produces large quantities of steam. Very careful control of the drum water level is therefore necessary. The reactions of steam and water in the drum are complicated and require a control system based on a number of measured elements......

  14. Safety precautions for working with marine boiler
    15. All boiler controls, regulators, alarms and trips must be tested regularly in accordance with the applicable Planned Maintenance System and maker’s recommendations. Each test is to be recorded with the signature of the Engineer Officer who conducted the test....


Related Info:

Exhaust gas heat exchangers

Requirement for various boiler types on board cargo ships

General arrangement for marine boiler

Water tube boilers

Fire tube boilers

The use of boiler mountings

Combustion process - supply of air

Purity of boiler feedwater

Boiler feed pump operational safety

Boiler feedwater treatment

The steam to steam generator

Combustion process - supply of fuel oil

Safety valves

Boiler water level control -operational safety

Water level gauges

Boiler operation -additional safety

Double evaporation boilers

Exhaust gas heat exchangers

Fuel oil burning process - various design burners

Ordinary spring-loaded Boiler safety valve

Requirement for various boiler types on board cargo ships

Safety precautions for working with marine boiler

Exhaust gas heat exchangers

Boiler arrangement - combustion process - supply of air

How to control combustion in a marine boiler

Pressure jet burner,Rotating cup burner,Steam blast jet burner & Air register for side fired boiler

Safety precautions for working with marine boiler



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