Slag Monitoring System for Combustion Chambers of Steam Boilers

The computer-based boiler performance system presented in this article has been developed to provide a direct and quantitative assessment of furnace and convective surface cleanliness. Temperature, pressure, and flow measurements and gas analysis data are used to perform heat transfer analysis in the boiler furnace and evaporator. Power boiler efficiency is calculated using an indirect method. The on-line calculation of the exit flue gas temperature in a combustion chamber allows for an on-line heat flow rate determination, which is transferred to the boiler evaporator. Based on the energy balance for the boiler evaporator, the superheated steam mass flow rate is calculated taking into the account water flow rate in attemperators. Comparing the calculated and the measured superheated steam mass flow rate, the effectiveness of the combustion chamber water walls is determined in an on-line mode. Soot-blower sequencing can be optimized based on actual cleaning requirements rather than on fixed time cycles contributing to lowering of the medium usage in soot blowers and increasing of the water-wall lifetime.