Open AccessThermal-hydraulic modeling of the steady-state operating conditions of a fire-tube boiler
Author(s) -
A. Rahmani,
Ahmed Dahia
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
nuclear technology and radiation protection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1452-8185
pISSN - 1451-3994
DOI - 10.2298/ntrp0901029r
Subject(s) - boiler (water heating) , thermal hydraulics , heat transfer , nuclear engineering , heat exchanger , combustion , mechanics , boiler blowdown , environmental science , combustion chamber , thermal , materials science , thermodynamics , mechanical engineering , waste management , engineering , chemistry , inlet , physics , organic chemistry
In this work, we are interested to simulate the thermal-hydraulic behavior of three-pass type fire-tube boiler. The plant is designed to produce 4.5 tons per hour of saturated steam at 8 bar destined principally for heating applications. A calculation program is developed in order to simulate the boiler operation under several steady-state operating conditions. This program is based upon heat transfer laws between hot gases and the fire-tube internal walls. In the boiler combustion chamber, the heat transfer has been simulated using the well-stirred furnace model. In the convection section, heat balance has been carried out to estimate the heat exchanges between the hot gases and the tube banks. The obtained results are compared to the steady-state operating data of the considered plant. A comparative analysis shows that the calculation results are in good agreement with the boiler operating data. Furthermore, a sensitivity study has been carried out to assess the effects of input parameters, namely the fuel flow rate, air excess, ambient temperature, and operating pressure, upon the boiler thermal performances