You are reading The Mechanical post and today we"ll see what is a LaMont Boiler? its construction, working, advantages, limitations and applications.
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Introduction to LaMont Boiler.
LaMont Boiler is a high-pressure water tube boiler. In 1918 Walter Douglas LaMont, a lieutenant commander and an engineer in the US Navy introduced the forced circulation boiler. The LaMont boiler is named after him.
Before starting, do check out our article on the Thermal power plant - its layout and working for better understanding.
What is a high-pressure boiler?
A boiler that has an operating pressure of above 70 bar, along with a temperature above 250 degrees F is known as a high-pressure boiler.
Working principle of LaMont boiler
The LaMont boiler works on the principle of forced circulation of water in the boiler with the help of a centrifugal pump.
Construction of LaMont boiler
The LaMont boiler consists of the following components: (refer the figure given below)
- Centrifugal Pump
- Economizer
- Combustion chamber
- Radiant Evaporator
- Convective evaporator
- Superheater
- Storage and evaporator drum
- Air preheater
Centrifugal pump
Economizer
The economizer is placed in the path of flue gases. The main function of the economizer is to heat the feed water. It consists of tubes with a feedwater pump attached to it.
The feed water is taken up from the reservoir and circulated through the economizer where the feed water is heated before entering the storage and evaporator drum.
Combustion chamber
The combustion chamber is used to produce the heat required to convert water into steam. It is located at the bottom of the boiler. Coal, oil, or natural gas are the types of fuel usually used for combustion.
Under the combustion chamber, an ash pan is provided, from where the burnt coal can be collected and disposed off.
Radiant Evaporator
The radiant evaporator is placed as near as possible to the combustion chamber. It consists of small diameter tubes with high-pressure water flowing inside it.
Convective Evaporator
Superheater
Storage and evaporator drum
Air pre-heater
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Working of LaMont boiler
The atmospheric air enters the air preheater at the top with the help of a blower. The air gets warmed up in the air preheater and is sent to the combustion chamber.
The main reason for preheating the air for combustion is that if normal cool air is used, it would take up heat from the combustion chamber, thus cooling it. So to maintain a constant temperature in the combustion chamber air preheating is done.
Now, the feedwater is pumped to the economizer for preheating. The economizer warms up or say it provides sensible heat to the feedwater (i.e. there is no phase change, the heat provided only increases the temperature of the feed)
This heated water is then sent to the Storage and evaporator drum for storing.
This water is then pumped by the circulating pump to the radiant and convective evaporators, wherein phase change from water to saturated steam takes place.
This saturated steam is then sent back to the storage and evaporator drum, from where it is passed to the superheater. The superheater provides sensible heat to the saturated steam because of which its temperature increases.
This superheated high-pressure steam is then sent to the turbine where the rotary mechanical energy of the turbine is converted into electrical energy.
This is how the LaMont boiler works.
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Advantages of LaMont boiler
- The boiler can be easily started.
- High steam generation capacity.
- Simple in design.
- High heat transfer rates can be achieved.
- Since the water in the tubes flows at a high velocity, the problem of scaling is reduced.
Limitation of LaMont boiler
Applications of LaMont boiler
- To produce high-pressure steam for electricity production.
- For industrial heating purposes.
- It also has applications in textile industries, food processing industries, etc.
Some FaQ :
What is meant by saturated steam?
What is the operating pressure range of LaMont boiler?
What is meant by a water tube boiler?
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