BHEL becomes the first Indian company capable of manufacturing eco-friendly supercritical boilers.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement with Alstom for design and manufacture of large-size Supercritical Once-Through Boilers to gain access to Supercritical Technology, hitherto the domain of leading players, thereby enabling it to enlarge its product range.

Once-Through Boilers are being employed world-wide due to their higher efficiency which enables higher generation of power despite using the same amount of fuel, besides substantially reducing environmental pollution from fossil fuel fired power plants.

The Agreement with Alstom - an internationally reputed technology leader in Once-Through Boilers, includes transfer of state-of-the-art technology to BHEL for any size of Once-Through Boilers and associated Coal Pulverisers. During the period of the Agreement, Alstom will provide training to BHEL engineers as well as support in the design, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, testing, erection, commissioning, repair, retrofit and upgradation of the boilers.

With this, BHEL would be able to meet the requirements of higher-size Supercritical Thermal Plants aimed at meeting country’s objectives of providing power on demand by 2012.

In a ceremony presided over by Mr. Sontosh Mohan Dev, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (Independent Charge), the agreement was signed here today, by Mr. Ashok K. Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL and Mr. Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom.

Significantly, Once-Through type Boilers also respond better to load changes, besides reducing the emission of pollutant greenhouse gases (like CO2, SOx, NOx) and particulate matter. These will be manufactured at BHEL’s High Pressure Boiler Plant in Tiruchirapally (Tamil Nadu).

Drum type boilers can operate in the sub-critical range of steam pressure, whereas Once-Through Boilers can operate both in the sub-critical & super-critical range of steam pressures. Operation in the supercritical range helps in achieving better efficiency by providing considerable improvement in the available energy of steam passed to the turbine.

Power utilities in India are demanding once-through boilers suitable for operating with super-critical steam parameters. The Government is already considering introduction of higher size 800 to 1000 MW size units with supercritical parameters. BHEL would be able to meet these requirements with this new technology tie-up with Alstom, who are the world leaders in boiler technology having installed more than 4,00,000 MW of boilers globally.

Presently, at its High Pressure Boiler Plant, BHEL manufactures different types of boilers like Drum Type Boilers, Waste Heat Recovery Boilers, and environment friendly Fluidised Bed Combustion Boilers. The company has so far designed and supplied over 250 nos. Drum Type Boilers of various sizes upto 500 MWe rating, firing coal, lignite, oil and gas. BHEL is the leader in the engineering and supply of Drum Type Boilers, using high ash content abrasive Indian coal.