This is becoming quite a big challenge for a number of CFBC boilers, particularly with the new stringent emission limits imposed by the PCB’s. Ineffective in-bed sulphur capture can be significantly contributing to this problem. Please share your experience and practices in this regard.

ESP performance is becoming a continuous challenge for our industries using solid fuel in their boilers.

This is one area where most organizations take lots of initiatives. Introducing VFD for flow control, replacement of under loaded auxiliary equipment, trimming of impellers, etc. are quite common. However, sometimes a particular change that results in to reduction of APC may develop some other complications in the system. A holistic approach therefore is required in this area. We invite all community members to share their experience in this regard.

Coal fired power plants fire huge quantity of Coal for generation of power. Hence Generators has to spend lot of money for this. But generators, incur huge loss  due to poor operating parameters / conditions.

Failures of last stage (long!) blades of LP Steam Turbine are well known in the power plant community. Causes of failure include pitting, erosion, corrosion, fatigue, SCC, fretting and combination of these.

There have been quite a few cases of emergency lube oil pump failing to cut in and leading to Steam Turbine bearing and other components damage.

The metallurgies used in these tubes are highly susceptible to overheating failures and thus highly sensitive to temperature excursions. Frequently changing load, increased number of start-ups, fast ramp-up coupled with fuel variations have compounded this issues with most power and utility boilers. We invite all to share their practices and strategies to meet this challenge here.

Slagging and fouling can make the life of the PF boiler O&M personnel really difficult at times. This often leads to saturation of ID Fan capacity and creates a highly unsafe condition in the furnace. We invite all community members to share their experience in this regard.

At many plants the CBD is operated in the fashion any common man takes a paracetamol pill whenever his body temperature exceeds 98.6 ^oF. If boiler water chemical parameter exceeds the limit, it tells us something is wrong in the treatment which needs correction. This cannot be corrected by just operating the CBD which ultimately leads to significant loss of fuel. We need to have a constructive discussion by the community members in this regard.

The loss of un-burnt carbon with Fly ash and Bottom ash of any solid fuelled boilers is undesirable as it leads to huge wastage of fuel and thus revenue loss. Un-burnt in the fly ash in particular should be critically controlled. This community invites the members to share their experiences in this regard.

This is the most common reactionary operation practice whenever the stack temperature is found on the higher side by most. Sometimes the LRSBs get stuck, which leads to major erosion of the SH/ RH tubes. We invite all to share their practices and strategies in this area.

Another hazard of very low load operation coupled with use of low VM coal. Proper combustion tuning at technical minimum load has become essential with all coal based power plant boilers. Please share your experience in this regard.

There are more numbers of oil fired packaged boilers operating in our country than any other types. Improper fuel oil treatment leading to excessive soot formation is experienced in a number of such boilers. This not only reduces the efficiency and thus increases cost of process steam generation; excessive soot discharge through the stack also creates environmental issues. Our community members are invited to share their experience in this area.

Erosion failure in economizer tubes is quite common with boilers using Indian coal. However, with some, the frequency of such failures can be significantly high. We invite all to share their practices and strategies to meet this challenge here.

With increased number of start-up required by the present day’s power boilers, Thermal fatigue cracks in the attachment welding can be a common problem. Systematic inspection and maintenance practices can reduce these problems significantly. Please share your experience in this area.

This type of failure is the most devastating amongst all. While the primary cause is failure of water treatment, overheating also contributes significantly to the cause. Careful monitoring of the parameters and timely corrective measures can help us avoiding such failures. Our community members are invited to share their experience in this area.

A pinhole leakage is quite often seen from the weld joints of the Economizer. Faulty welding is usually considered to be the root cause. But is that the only root cause? Then why it is occurring in the Economizer outlet area most of the time? We invite constructive discussions from our community members in this area.

Combustion optimization is perhaps the most important action that is required to improve performance of a boiler, more so, in a solid fuel fired boiler. Frequently changing load and fuel quality demand frequent adjustment of combustion parameter these days. We invite all to share their strategies in this area.

Increased SH/ RH spray indicates possibility of overheating of the SH/ RH metallurgies. In order to reduce the spray quantity, the wall blowers are operated frequently, sometimes in every shift at many boiler systems. Frequent wall blower operation increases the chance of erosion of the tubes significantly. This community invites the members to share their experiences in this regard.

This is becoming a generic problem with most coal fired power station these days with the percentage VM getting lower and lower in the indigenous coal. We invite all to share their practices and strategies to meet this challenge here.