The purpose of this publication is to acquaint engineers, purchasers and operators of industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) boilers with ABMA's judgment as to the relationship between boiler water quality, boiler operation, and boiler performance. This document is published for general guidance as a supplement to detailed operating manuals supplied by the equipment manufacturers. It should also be noted that the information presented is directed to steel boiler designs, as opposed to cast iron sectional or copper finned tube boilers. Furthermore Utility Boilers and Combined Cycle Boilers, which require extremely close control of water quality and steam purity, are not the topic of this document.

This new document combines two previous ABMA Guideline documents, namely "Boiler Water Requirements and Associated Steam Purity for Commercial Boilers" (1998), and "Boiler Water Limits and Achievable Steam Purity for Watertube Boilers", (1995).

The document discusses the effect of various feedwater and condensate systems on the boiler operation. It also provides information on boiler water and steam testing as well as system care and maintenance.
It is recognized that specific boiler usage and water treatment will vary and may require values different from these recommendations. Boiler users therefore, need to define limits, equipment and operating parameters for their particular application.

These recommendations are for information only. Everyone is free to accept or reject the conclusions of these suggestions as their own judgment warrants in all aspects of the conduct of their business.
The ABMA does not represent or warrant that any level of steam purity depicted will be achieved by any particular boiler or boilers.

The guide was prepared at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) through the Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT). To ensure that the guide covers a
broad range of technical and regulatory issues of particular interest to the commercial boiler industry, the
guide was developed in cooperation with the American Boiler Manufacturers Association (ABMA), the
Council of Industrial Boiler Owners (CIBO), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Information is presented for a broad class of steam and hot-water generating units known as ICI
boilers. General discussions about commercially available ICI boilers are provided as well as information
about the fuels that they burn and the emissions that they release. Discussions on environmental regulations,
including emissions standards and compliance issues, technical details related to emission control
techniques, and important considerations for combustion equipment selection, are also presented.

This guideline was written by the American Boiler Manufacturers Association
(ABMA) to provide boiler owners and operators, as well as consulting or
design engineers and contractors, and other interested parties with current
minimum industry guidelines to enhance the safety and reliability of the
combustion controls for industrial and utility boilers. The paper focuses on gas
and/or liquid fired boilers, and covers the design of the two predominant
combustion control schemes (Parallel Positioning and Metering) and the
applicability of each. Also, it includes minimum recommended features for the
hardware required for a combustion controls application. The paper discusses
the proper commissioning of a new combustion control application, and the
importance of maintenance, operator training and adequate operator staffing.
An example of the system design and commissioning cycle for a hypothetical
metering control system is also offered.

The specific goals of this guideline are to:

Provide concerned parties with an understanding of the requirements for
safe and reliable combustion controls so that they can be properly specified
for new and retrofit applications.

Provide concerned parties with an understanding that combustion controls
are a "system". This system incorporates the control scheme (suitable for
the requirements of the application), the actual controller, the final control
elements, the field measurement devices, the startup/commissioning and the
subsequent operation and maintenance. The safe and reliable
implementation of a combustion controls application on a multiple-burner
boiler requires thoughtful attention to all of these elements of the control
system.

Provide concerned parties with the understanding that lower boiler emissions requirements drive the need for additional combustion control precision.

Provide specific guidelines regarding the design and selection of
components for combustion control systems.

Provides information regarding the operation of boilers wherein A.C.S. affect the function of the heating cycles.

Provides architect/engineers, government regulators, and users with general information about emissions from ICI boilers.

Contains recommendations concerning the measurement of sound from field-erected stationary steam generators and boiler units, bottom supported, shop or field erected..

Guidelines for reduction of NOX stack emissions and to improve boiler efficiency. Boiler adjustments discussed can be done by operators and plant engineering personnel.

With safety as its prime objective, this document provides help in the choice of appropriate control systems.
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A comprehensive heat recovery steam generator performance test guideline for customers, manufacturers and general interest groups. The document outlines the best industry practices for evaluating the performance of HRSG's.

This manual has been written for boiler operators and is intended to be a concise,
easily understood, and interesting guide to the clean and efficient operation of bituminous
and sub-bituminous stoker coal- fired boilers. It should be made very clear that this
manual neither replaces nor supercedes the manufacturer's operating manual. This
manual will explain general principles of boiler operation and will suggest ways of
reducing boiler emissions and increasing boiler efficiency. This manual will not show
the operator exactly how to implement these suggestions. For this reason, the operator
should consult the boiler manufacturer's operating instructions as well.

The first part of the manual includes a list of definitions used in discussing stoker
equipment. The reader needs to understand terminology in order to properly address the
technical and operational ramifications of a stoker-boiler installation.

The first section of the manual describes the types of stoker boilers in use today.
Since stokers of different design have different operating characteristics, this part of the
manual will explain each type of design to enable a better understanding of how to solve
problems specific to the type of stoker in use. The next section of the manual explains
the combustion process. Since both increased boiler efficiency and reduced boiler
emissions can be achieved most inexpensively through combustion optimization, a basic
understanding of the combustion process is essential to achieving improved boiler
operation. The last two sections of the manual explain how the operator can control the
combustion process in the coal stoker-fired boiler in such a way as to achieve increased
boiler efficiency and reduced emissions. While it is frequently possible to achieve
increased efficiency and reduced emissions simultaneously, there is sometimes a tradeoff
between the two. The nature of this tradeoff is explained in the last two sections of the
manual.