Air vents and vacuum breakers

When a boiler is started from cold, the steam space is full of air. This air has no heat value, and will adversely affect steam plant performance due to its effect of blanketing heat exchange surfaces. The air can also give rise to corrosion in the condensate system, if not removed adequately.
The air may be purged from the steam space using a simple cock; normally this would be left open until a pressure of about 0.5 bar is showing on the pressure gauge. An alternative to the cock is a balanced pressure air vent which not only relieves the boiler operator of the task of manually purging air (and hence ensures that it is actually done), it is also much more accurate and will vent gases which may accumulate in the boiler. Typical air vents are shown in Figure 3.7.14.
When a boiler is taken off-line, the steam in the steam space condenses and leaves a vacuum. This vacuum causes pressure to be exerted on the boiler from the outside, and can result in boiler inspection doors leaking, damage to the boiler flat plates and the danger of overfilling a shutdown boiler. To avoid this, a vacuum breaker (see Figure 3.7.14) is required on the boiler shell.