Transient Simulation of an Industrial Steam Boiler

The safety analysis of an industrial installation is extensively based on modeling and simulation. However, the analysis of simulation using realistic computer codes like RELAP5/Mod3.2 will help understand thermal-hydraulic behavior of an installation during normal and accidental conditions. In a steam boiler operation, it is very important to evaluate numerous accident scenarios under real plant conditions. One of the main accidental transients is tube rupture of steam boiler. The main objective of this study consists toinvestigate the behavior of an industrial steam boiler installed in the complex of natural gas liquefaction (LNG) at Skikda in Algeria during feed water line break accident. A RELAP5 model was set up to simulate the entire system, the model represents all steam boiler components to be suitable for the analysis of the several accidents. The control and regulation systems are also considered. The model was qualified against the steam boiler data at steady-state conditions. As seen from the results, a good agreement was obtained. The transient simulation results show that the thermal-hydraulic code correctly predicts the behavior of the main steam boiler parameters and how the control system, when required, can successfully mitigate the accident.