In its most basic terms, a steam boiler is a closed vessel that heats water to generate steam at a specified pressure. The steam produced is used as a source of heat energy to be applied in power generation or other industrial processes, such as pulp and paper, sugar factories, cotton mills, textile industries, breweries and steam turbines. On an industrial scale, steam boilers are usually referred to as an integrated system with both internal and external parts that work collectively to perform a single cohesive function. According to steam boiler contractor in Malaysia, steam boilers are used extensively in various parts of the world as one of the most major energy sources, the reason lies in the property of steam having a high latent heat of vaporization, that is to say, a small amount of steam can carry a massive amount of energy. Steam is also chemically safe, non-flammable, and has a fixed boiling point at constant pressure; and is thus able to safely deliver heat at a uniform controlled temperature. In contrast to many other heat delivery and distribution systems, steam is readily available and less expensive to operate employing conventional piping and valve equipment that are relatively inexpensive. Aathaworld is a steam boiler supplier and contractor, providing our customers consultancy and maintenance to attend to all your boiler system queries.
Basic operations and components of a steam boiler
While there are several types of steam boilers, their fundamental working principles are nearly identical – water is boiled to the gaseous state, producing high pressured steam that is transported through pipes. The primary pieces that constitute a steam boiler are its shell, furnace, grate, burner, refractory, mud ring, mud drum, safety valve, ash pit, steam stop valve, feed check valve and pressure gauge. Steam boilers are usually accompanied by a feedwater treatment system that supplies the boiler a continuous flow of purified, processed water sources. Untreated water is unsuitable to be used directly as it may damage the boiler, shortening its lifespan; and the steam produced also contains harmful impurities that cause fouling, scaling, contamination and corrosion issues, resulting in costly repairs and replacements down the line, in accordance to steam boiler contractor Malaysia. The makeup water – raw water supply, or condensed steam reentering the system is chemically processed to sequentially remove impure particles and undergo deaeration to reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen as oxygenated water is corrosive. The feedwater enters the boiler at about 80 °C to prevent thermal shock of the boiler.
The chemically dosed feedwater will inevitably lead to suspended solids collected in the bottom of the boiler in the form of sludge. Steam boiler contractor in Malaysia claims that the sediments are removed by a process known as ‘blowdown’, which can be done using two methods, that is surface and bottom blowdown. Surface blowdown is the removal of low volumes of water somewhere 6 to 8 inches below the water surface level, where the concentration of dissolved solids is the highest at the point when the water is turned to steam; this water is sent to a flash tank to be recycled. Bottom blowdown is required to remove sludge gathered at the bottom of the boiler, known as mud drum and has to be performed routinely to avoid the recirculation of these particles on other systems. The water level regulation of a steam boiler is critical as the consequence an uncontrolled system is catastrophic. Should the water level drop too low exposing the boiler tubes, the tubes may overheat and explode; while exceeding a certain limit of the water level can result in water entering the steam system, upsetting the subsequent processes that needs to consult steam boiler contractor Malaysia. As such, it is a common legal requirement in most countries to incorporate alarm functions which automatically shut down the boiler and alert attention to ensure the safety of workers and preserve the system.
The steam generated is conveyed through a series of pipework with smaller branching pipes distributing steam to individual pieces of equipment. For a given mass of steam, a higher pressure allows a smaller bore of pipework required for distribution. To deliver heat effectively by steam boiler contractor in Malaysia, the steam should be dry as possible as this is done by using separators in the pipeline, which is an assembly of plates or baffles, interrupting the path of steam to collect any condensed particles. Condensates are removed from the lowest points of the pipework as accumulated condensate can become corrosive and damage the equipment. Control Valves are used to regulate the flow of the steam using actuators, sensor monitors and several other controllers. To gain further insights on the operations of steam boilers for your commercial and industrial application, head on to contact Aathaworld, an experienced steam boiler supplier and contractor.
Types of Steam Boilers
To adapt by steam boiler supplier in Malaysia to the various scope and kinds of industries, steam boilers come in a broad range of specifications and classifications regarding their contents, position of the furnace, axis of the shell, number of tubes, forced or natural circulation, and its portability. Fire tube boilers are the most fundamental and traditionally designed boiler, having a simple construction and less rigid water treatment requirements. They are built with a number of tubes channeling the flue gas, with the body of the boiler containing the water; the tubes heat up the water into vapor in the same container, as such fire tube boilers cannot generate vapor at a high force. They are generally intended for processes requiring pressures in a range of 15 to 2200 horsepower. In contrast, water tube boilers have the water passing through the tubes instead, while the exhaust gases remain in the shell, with the description of steam boiler supplier Malaysia. Since tubes can withstand higher internal pressure than the large chamber shell of a fire-tube boiler, water-tube boilers are capable of delivering high steam pressures above 3000 psi and are typically used in large thermal power stations. The high heat transfer rate translates to high efficiency and allows water-tube boilers to generate superheated steam, which is particularly favorable in applications requiring dry high-pressured steam such as refining process, chemical manufacturing and pulp and paper industry.
Waste Heat Recovery Boiler (WHRB) is a relatively recent type of boiler designed to recover heat from waste flue gases from diesel generator sets, furnace, kiln, incinerator and other exhausts from an external manufacturing process. They may be either fire-tube or water-tube depending on the application requirement of the plant and the amount of waste heat available, with the sharing from steam boiler supplier in Malaysia. Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG) are often combined with a gas turbine and diesel generator and transfer energy of the exhaust to an unfired or supplementary fired heat-recovery steam generator to produce steam. They help bring the overall efficiency of a plant to 85% as they help recover the energy of exhaust gas leaving the turbine at temperatures of 538°C or higher which accounts for 75% of the total fuel input. In doing so, they are well-recognized for their environmental and economical effort. As its name suggests, package boilers come as a complete factory assembled with all mountings, accessories and control instrumentation installed on it. As such in the experience of steam boiler supplier Malaysia, they are easily installed and only require steam, feed water pipe, fuel supply and electrical connections to be made when it’s delivered on-site. As they are compact in size, they have a high heat release rate, resulting in faster steam production, and are mainly used as power generators or to process steam. Aathaworld is a professional steam boiler contractor, providing you solutions to meet your power generation needs.
The industrial and commercial uses of steam boilers
Unsurprisingly, commercial boilers are smaller in size and are suited for institutional duties to produce steam or heat water for space heating in schools, offices, hotels and other commercial facilities in cold climates. To list a few examples, steam boilers are essential equipment in the brewery industry as brewers require a variable amount of steam at a specific temperature to create a distinct type of flavor, producing specially crafted breweries. In hospitals, steam produced by boilers is pumped into an autoclave sterilizer that kills germs and bacteria on medical tools and instruments. Industry boilers, on the other hand, are bigger and are able to generate steam that drives blowers and compressors or for industrial cleaning processes. Textile manufacturing requires boiler systems offered by steam boiler supplier Malaysia for transferring dye to the fabric, perform printing and steaming the final product to remove wrinkles. In the construction industry, steams are forced into the autoclave to harden molded bricks after being pressed into squares. Utility boilers have the largest capacity and represent the most advanced type of boilers, and typically meets high demand requirements in arduous work conditions. They are high-pressure boilers and are classified into single-drum and bi-drum boilers. Modern day bi-drum boilers are more favored as it can accommodate high load fluctuation and quick to respond to load changes; they are adapted for supercritical steam generation, where water instantly evaporates into steam without going through the boiling phase and is immensely advantageous in process steam generators. Single-drum boilers are used mainly for power generation and can be adapted for both high-pressure natural and forced circulation, in which it can be supported by steam boiler contractor in Malaysia. Aathaworld is familiar with all ranges of steam boiler models and is able to provide you professional advice for boiler types that suits the use of your industry.
Auxiliary Equipment for Steam Boilers
Most steam boilers are usually installed with neighboring devices to increase the efficiency of the overall boiler system, so as to reduce leakage of heat energy and ultimately minimize the wastage of fuel. These boiler accessories include feed pump, injector, super heater, economizer, air pre-heater, vibrating grates and reciprocating grates. The boiler feed pump primarily functions to supply pressurized feed water to the boilers to maintain the water inventory at various operating loads. Typically, centrifugal multistage pumps arranged in series are used and often driven by an electric motor whereas steam boiler supplier in Malaysia will be able to service too. Injectors function similarly and are only employed when limited space is available to implement a feed pump; they are commonly used for vertical and locomotive boilers. Economizers are generally heat exchangers, which are designed on the principle of heat transfer by capturing the high temperature boiler exhaust and transfer it to the return water circuit. As such, the recycling of energy produced within a boiler system is able to significantly increase the efficiency of the steam boiler system. In which steam boiler contractor Malaysia says that air preheaters are installed to heat the air before it enters the combustion chamber, objectively increasing the thermal efficiency of the process. They are usually used to replace a recuperative heat system or a steam coil and also may be used by itself. A steam superheater is a coil type heat exchanger used for producing superheated steam, commonly by converting wet steam generated to dry steam utilizing only sensible heat. To maximize fully the efficiency and operational functions of your boiler systems, contact Aathaworld, your preferred steam boiler contractor and supplier to provide you all the information and services needed.
Repair, Inspection & Service
Given that the entire system of steam boilers especially in larger power plants or industrial facilities consist of many components that would definitely wear and tarnish overtime, servicing and maintenance of steam boilers can come at a hefty price if not taken care of properly and consistently. Steam boilers can run into numerous categories of problems, such as premature equipment failures, poor steam system efficiency and more specific problems include frequent boiler shutdowns from low-water level, damaged steam pipes and valves due to water hammer, vibration, corrosion, erosion and overloaded steam traps. Most of these failures typically fall under the grounds of poor steam quality – often known as “wet steam” or “carry-over”, whereby there is a high concentration of liquid present in the steam produced. To illustrate its severity, these water droplets in high-velocity steam can amount to the abrasiveness of sand particles. Steam boiler supplier Malaysia stated that confidently, these can erode the pipe fittings and valve seats; while an accumulated puddle in pipes leads to erosion, vibration and water hammer, loosening pipe fittings and support. While the entrainment of water cannot be entirely avoided, it still can be minimized by appropriate steam boiler operation and maintenance. A typical standard servicing should include a sufficiently detailed analysis of the boiler system, covering aspects such as firing rate, flue draft, combustion air setting, flue carbon dioxide and oxygen reading, stack temperature and control calibrations. The inside of the boiler may need periodical proper chemical treatment to reduce mineral deposits (scale), control condensate water pH and corrosion potential as these contaminant build-ups would reduce the efficiency of the boiler and may lead to serious stress problems and leaks. Boiler insulation, refractory, brickwork and casings for hot spots and air leaks have to have mandatory checks to repair and seal them when necessary, can be assisted by steam boiler supplier in Malaysia. It is also advisable for operations at a larger scale to have a daily log of their boiler performance; by doing so, any variations from normal conditions can be easily detected and indicate necessary procedural servicing, such as tube and nozzle cleaning, pressure or linkage adjustments, and air, fuel or draft correction. Frequently scheduled blowdowns on a regular basis are vital by inspecting oil line strainers and cups of oil-fired burners. Reducing steam pressure adequately to its minimum required level during low demand periods can extend its service life. The procedures of handling an entire boiler system is a technical task and require the expertise of experienced steam boiler contractors, such as Aathaworld to ensure the efficiency of your boiler systems.
Where to find steam boiler supplier in Malaysia
Aathaworld Sdn Bhd supply and install a broad range of steam boilers suited with multiple ranks of specifications to cater to every industry possible that requires a reliable smooth steam boiler systems, including healthcare facilities, student dormitories, breweries and distillers, food and beverage processing, commercial laundry, textile manufacturing, automotive manufacturing and even large power plants. We provide best consultation to ensure that our customers are aware of the available types of steam boilers available on the market to achieve the steam boiler best suited to their industries at a cost-effective and time-saving approach. At Aathaworld, we ensure that we can supply and install quality steam boiler and additionally provide maintenance and regular services to keep your steam boiler system operation in check.
As a steam boiler contractor and supplier in Malaysia, we are able to provide customizable designs for all kinds of steam boilers to fit your project needs including coverage such as KL Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Klang Valley, JB Johor Bahru, Penang, Malacca (Melaka), Seremban Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Kuantan, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Alor Setar Kedah, as well as Sabah and Sarawak for East Malaysia. In some circumstances, our steam boiler maintenance and services can also support overseas countries especially Southeast Asia (SEA) countries such as Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Bangladesh as well as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Consult us for your steam boiler system supply and installation in Malaysia and other regions today at info@aathaworld.com or call (WhatsApp) to +(60)11-7001 1003 (Monday to Friday) or +(60)11-1188 1003 (Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday).
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