A REVIEW OF THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A FIRE TUBE BOILER

Abdulrauf A. Ibrahim ¹ Ghali M.Jibril² andBucham Osang³

^1&3Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic

²National Board for Technology Incubation, Technology Incubation Centre Kaduna.

E-mail:abdrauf35@yahoo.com

Abstract

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water under pressure is transformed into steam by the application of heat. In the boiler furnace, the chemical energy in the fuel is converted into heat, and it is the function of the boiler to transfer this heat to the contained water in the most efficient manner. The boiler must be designed to absorb maximum amount of heat released in the process of combustion. This heat is transferred to the boiler water through radiation, conduction and convection. The relative percentage of each is dependent upon the type of boiler, the designed heat transfer surface, and fuel. This review from related literature focus on the design and analysis of a fire tube boiler which are internally fired, horizontal and natural circulation boiler. Example is the   Lancashire boilers which are reliable and bear over load. However, they are bulky and initially raise steam very slowly.Efficiency of the boiler is about 65%–70%. This research discuss the increase in the efficiency of a fire tube boiler through enhancing the heat transfer rate in the boiler tube. Due to economic and environment demand, engineers must continuously focus on improving the efficiency of the boiler emission reduction through usage of high grade fuel and incorporating heat exchangers that will utilize the flue gasses.