Improvement in Energy Efficiency & Heat Loss Minimization during Boiler Operation: A Case Study

Abstract

A case-study has been done to analyze the 500 MW boiler performance located in middle part of India, manufactured by M/s BHEL (C.E. design). At the power plant consideration, it was observed that they were operating the boiler with high excess air and the soot blowers were being operated once in 10 days. In this paper, an attempt has been made to increase the efficiency of the boiler by making certain changes such as reduction in excess air and increasing the frequency of using soot blowers. It was concluded that the efficiency of the boiler can be improved by at least 1.41% over the existing efficiency. For the evaluation of boiler efficiency the “heat losses method” was applied. With an increase of efficiency by 1.41%, 30,000 MT of fuel can be saved as compared to annual consumption of 2.38 million tonnes of coal for 500 MW boilers. By this we can secure access to all sources of energy including coal, oil and gas supplies worldwide for boilers, till the end of the fossil fuel era, which is fast approaching and it will ensure us that our country will be able to supply energy to all its citizens at affordable costs at all times.