Differences Between Fire Tube Boilers and Water Tube Boiler

July 14, 2020

Differences Between Fire Tube Boilers and Water Tube Boiler

When choosing a boiler, many friends will have such a question, we use a water tube boiler or a fire tube boiler. First, we need to understand the difference between a fire tube boiler and a water tube boiler.

Two steps are required.：

1. we need to divide different fuels.

2. we need to make a detailed comparison of the boiler structure, pressure, boiler size, application industry, price, and usage rights:

Differences between solid fuel water tube boiler and fire tube boiler.

ITEM	Water Tube Boiler	Fire Tube Boiler
Boiler Structure	More floor space Double drums, thin and long Water tubes are slender and densely, covered in the furnace. With header	Less space Single drum, thick and big Fire tubes are dense, covered in the drum With header
Boiler Price	Higher	Lower
Heating Ways	High-temperature flue gas in the furnace heats the water in the tube	High-temperature flue gas in the tube heats the water in the drum
Thermal Efficiency	80~82%
Water Quality	Higher requirements	Lower requirements
Boiler Pressure	No limit	≤2.5Mpa
Steam Temperature	Saturated steam up to 400℃	Saturated steam can reach up to 226.04℃
Boiler Capacity	≥35T/h	≤35T/h (Suggestion: use a water tube boiler above 6T/h)
Industry Application	Large or medium-sized enterprise production or large-scale heating	SME production and small-scale heating.
Boiler Operation	Complex operation More operators.	Easy operation Fewer operators.
Fuel	Various types of coal, biomass, etc.

Differences between solid fuel water tube boiler and fire tube boiler.

ITEM	Water Tube Boiler	Fire Tube Boiler
Boiler Structure	1. More floor space 2. Double drums, thin and long. 3. Water tubes are slender and densely, covered in the furnace. 4. No header	1. Less space 2. Single drum, thick and big 3. Fire tubes are dense, covered in the drum 4.No header
Boiler Price	Higher requirements	Lower
Heating Ways	High-temperature flue gas in the furnace heats the water in the tube	High-temperature flue gas in the tube heats the water in the drum
Thermal Efficiency	90~92%
Water Quality	Higher requirements	Lower requirements
Boiler Pressure	No limit	≤2.5Mpa
Steam Temperature	Saturated steam up to 400℃	Saturated steam can reach up to 226.04℃
Boiler Capacity	≥35T/h	≤35T/h (Suggestion: use a water tube boiler above 6T/h)
Industry Application	Large or medium-sized enterprise production or large-scale heating	SME production and small-scale heating.
Boiler Operation	Complex operation More operators.	Easy operation Fewer operators.
Fuel	Various types of coal, biomass, etc.

Do you now know what is the difference between a fire tube boiler and a water tube boiler? However, if you need to buy a boiler, you still need to consider a lot of factors based on the actual situation of your industry and the size of the company. If you don’t know what kind of boiler to use, or if you have any questions about the boiler, please feel free to contact me.

Your private boiler butler

Jenny Shi

differences between water tube boiler and fire tube boiler