OVERVIEW OF BOILER

COMMISSIONING

By: Dhruv Garg

Engineer/ Boiler/ PS-TS

BOILER COMMISSIONING
SEQUENCE
Hydraulic Test (drainable and Non-drainable portions of
pressure parts)
Trial Run of Equipments(Fans PA, FD, ID, Scanner, Seal
Air & Air heaters)
Gates and Damper Commissioning
Air and Gas Tightness Test (Furnace, 2nd pass, ESP and
Fan Ducts)
Fuel Oil System Readiness(LDO / HFO Pumps, Steam
Blowing and Oil Flushing of oil lines)
Control and Isolation Valves (Motorized, Pneumatic)
Secondary Air Damper Control (SADC) Commissioning

BOILER COMMISSIONING SEQUENCE

Preparation for First Boiler Light Up

v FSSS (furnace safeguard supervisory system) commissioning
v Checks on oil guns, igniter system, equipments in oil/air
lines, furnace probe and thermocouples

Alkali Flushing and EDTA Cleaning (Pre-operative chemical

cleaning)
Steam Blowing (MS, CRH and HRH)
HP & LP Bypass Commissioning
Safety Valve Floating
Steam Dumping
Mills Commissioning
Soot Blowers (Wall blowers, Long retractable soot blower(LRSB),
Air heater soot blowers)

STEAM
BLOWING
OF BOILER
PIPINGS

WHY STEAM BLOWING ?

q

In spite of maintaining higher standards of boiler

erection cleanliness and doing a pre-operational
chemical cleaning of the circulation system. certain
quantity of debris in the form of scales, loose
materials, weld spatter, etc. will remain in the boiler
and the pipe lines especially in the Superheater,
Reheater sections, Main steam line, Cold and Hot
Reheat Lines.
Subsequent steam blowing completes the task of
providing a cleaner system for passing steam into the
turbine. In other words we attain steam of required
quality standard by way of chemical cleaning and
steam blowing.
Failure to remove debris may result in increased
turbine erosion, blade damage and rapid
deterioration of turbine efficiency.

TYPES OF STEAM BLOWING

Puffing

Method:

The system (surface) to be clean is first pressurized by steam

upto certain pressure and then releasing of this pressure
suddenly caused the cleaning of system internal surfaces due
to high kinetic velocity attained by steam.
Continuous

Blowing method:

The surface to be clean is continuously blown by

superheated steam for 20-30 min at 12 kg/cm2 & 300-350
Deg C.

CIRCUITS COVERED WITH STEAM

BLOWING
(PUFFING METHOD)

Super-heater sections of Boiler.

Main steam line up to HP Turbine inlet.
Cold Reheat line up to Re-heater inlet.
Re-heater Sections.
Hot Reheat line up to IP turbine inlet.
HP and LP bypass Sections.
All auxiliary steam lines.

LINE SIZES (FOR 500 MW TYPICAL)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

SH Outlet Pipes
MSL
CRH
CRH to Re-heater inlet
RH to HRH
HRH
HP BP line
LP BP line

( d x t) mm
: 406 x 42
: 564 x 57
: 864 x 35
: 620 x 20
: 750 X 45
: 969 X 60
: 334 X 35
: 720 X 45

BOILER END CRH LINE

457x14.2

2ND STAGE

711.2x 25

457
BOILER END CRH
LINE

323.9
273

457
323.9

HP BYPASS

457

HOTV
219.1

EOTV

MSL

ESV

ST

STAGE

MSL

ESV

HRH

IV

RD

STAGE

HRH

IV

508

LPBP VALVES

STEAM BLOWING SCHEME FOR

250 MW PIPING

HOTV

IST STAGE CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION

Stage-1a
Superheater, Main steam Line (includes MS strainer
portion), Temporary line from Emergency Stop Valve
(ESV) to Electrically Operated Travelling Valve(EOTV)
& EOTV to CRH NRV and CRH lines upto boiler end
with temporary exhaust piping.
1a end point will be concluded by seeing target plate.

FIRST STAGE CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION (

CONTD..)
Stage-1b
Stage 1a plus HP bypass inter connection by opening
hand operated valve mounted in place of HP bypass
valve.
1a &1b will be combination blowing and would result in
effective blowing of CRH Line.
However. approx 6 to 8 blows will be given only through
HP bypass to ensure cleanliness of the limb.

SECOND STAGE CIRCUIT

DESCRIPTION
c)

Stage-2a
1a + 1b plus Re-heater, Hot Reheat Lines(HRH),
Interceptor Valve(IV) strainer and exhaust through
temporary pipe at TG Floor.

d)

Stage-2b
1a + 1b + 2a up to IV strainer + LP bypass up steam lines
with temporary pipe exhaust .
2nd stage blowing will be parallel blow in the path 2a, 2b
but end point will be decided through target plate mounted
in IV exhaust temporary line at TG Floor with LP bypass
exhaust put in blank position.

STEAM BLOWING PROCEDURE

The boiler is to be lighted up in a normal manner,

following start up procedure from Boiler O&M manual.

Boiler drum pressure raised to 40 50Kg/sq.cm.

Water level in the drum kept at the lowest port (visible

limit) before the start of each steam blow off.

Light off the Boiler and at the same time, open the
EOTV ( Pressure release takes place) & close this
EOTV at 20-25 Kg/sq. cm drum pressure.

Limit number of blows per day to 8 with an interval of

1-1 hours for cooling in addition to overnight
cooling. ( Starting time at 0600 hrs and End time is
1000hrs)

COMPLETION CRITERION FOR STEAM

BLOWING

The result of the blowing operations can be judged by the

absolute number of pittings on the target plate in the
central zone. The piping is considered clean if there are
not more than 5 (five) pittings and shall not have any
deformed edges. Besides this, there shall be no pitting in
the rim zone.
Initial Targets plates used can be of Mild Steel Material
but finished Stainless Steel T.P must be used for final
completion.
Also, If Disturbance Factor(DF) is calculated for the
steam blowing of any circuit, then its value must be
greater than 1.
(D.F is the ratio of the steam flow during steam blowing
operation to the Steam flow at MCR.)

STEAM BLOWING DATA FOR

VARIOUS PROJECT SITES
S.No Site

Stage

No. of Blows

Remarks

40

MSL

13+8

CRH + HPBP

24+6

HRH + LPBP

18+4

MSL &CRH + HPBP

18+4

HRH + LPBP

24+3

MSL & CRH + HPBP

24+2

HRH + LPBP

47

MSL

15+9

CRH + HPBP

27+9

HRH + LPBP

Unchahar U # 5, 210
MW (NTPC)

Parichha U # 3, 250
MW (UPRVUNL)
Parichha U# 4, 250
MW
Vindhyachal U# 9, 500
MW (NTPC)

For NTPC projects- Steam Blowing carried out in 3 stages

For other projects- steam blowing carried out in 2 stages. (stage 1&2 combined)

STEAM BLOWING FOR

FUEL OIL LINES
(CONTINUOUS BLOWING
METHOD)

OBJECTIVE

To remove debris, scales and weld splatters and clean

the internal surface of oil lines in the LDO / HFO
system including atomizing steam lines and steam
tracing lines.

PLANT DETAILS:
The Fuel oil plant consists of facilities for Unloading,
Storage and Supply of LDO and HFO.
Fuel Oil Pump House is located close to Fuel Storage Yard.

The Pump house houses:

LDO and HFO Pumps for Main Boiler

HFO Heaters
HFO cooler in the return line
Drain Oil Tank & Drain Pump
Electrical & control Panels for FO Pump House auxiliaries

STEAM BLOWING PROCEDURE

The line to be blown is charged slowly with auxiliary steam
and warmed up, keeping the drains open.
After proper charging , blow is given for 20-30 minutes.
Steam at a pressure of 10-12 Kg/cm2 and having a
superheat of at least 350 deg C at source is used for blowing.
The line is allowed to cool for 1-2 hours and then again
blown.
Blowing of drains, vents and instrument tapping points is
done at 5 Kg/cm2 for 10 minutes each.

STEAM BLOWING PROCEDURE

(CONTD..)

Blowing of LDO lines, Steam tracing lines and condensate

lines is done at 6 Kg/cm2 for 20-30 minute each.

Drains / vents of FO lines are kept open as required during

steam blowing and thereafter for draining of condensate.

After sufficient cooling, the piping are dried with

compressed air.

After completion of steam blowing, all spool pieces are

removed and Trip valves, control valves, flow elements,
filter elements and NRV internals are restored /
normalized. Pipe connections to LDO / HFO pumps are
normalized and pumps are commissioned.

COMPLETION CRITERION FOR

CONTINUOUS STEAM BLOWING

Steam blowing of the section of LDO / HFO lines is

declared complete after minimum five blows each
having a blow duration of 20-30 minutes.

Blowing medium at exit of the pipe should be visually

clean.

THANK
YOU