Solved and Thermal-Hydraulic Problems Systems: Learning from Accidents Unsolved in Boiler

Abstract

This article begins with a brief review of the similarity law of conventional fossil fuel-fired boilers. The concept is based on the fact that the heat release due to combustion in the furnace is restricted by the furnace volume but the heat absorption is restricted by the heat transfer surface area. This means that a small-capacity boiler has relatively high specific furnace heat release rate, about 10 MW/m 3 , and on the contrary, a large-capacity boiler has a lower value. The surface heat flux limit is dominated mainly by the critical heat flux (CHF) inside the water wall tubes of the boiler furnace. This heat flux limit is almost the same order, independent of the capacity of the boiler. For the safety of water walls, it is essential to retain a good amount of water circulation, i.e., the circulation ratio and velocity of the water must be high enough above the respective critical values. This principle is common knowledge in boiler designer, but the actual situation is not the case. Newly designed boilers often suffer from similar accidents, especially burnout due to water circulation problems. This article demonstrates recent accidents encountered in practical boilers, and raises rather classical but important problems related to two-phase flow and heat transfer.