A thermal nonlinear dynamic model for water tube drum boilers

A thermal model for the prediction of possible tube overheating was developed. The model incorporates a nonlinear state space dynamic model that captures the important physical interactions of the main variables of steam generation in naturally circulated water tube drum boilers. This paper provides an investigation of the dynamic effects of rapid rise in fuel flow rate (heat input) on the thermal and flow characteristics of the riser tubes in natural circulation water tube boilers. The system under consideration includes the drum, riser and downcomer as its major components. The dynamic response of the system's state variables due to rapid rises in fuel flow rates was investigated. The results show that the sudden rise in the firing rate is followed by an increase in the steam quality, which is accompanied by a decrease in the circulation rate as a result of increase in the pressure. The riser temperature increases slightly above the saturation temperature due to the increase in the steam temperature and due to the dynamic influence resulting from sudden increase in the heat flux. The present calculations of the water level in the drum provide good comparison with those in the literature. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.