This paper presents a framework of thermodynamic, energy and exergy, analyses of industrial steam boilers. Mass, energy, and exergy analysis were used to develop a methodology for evaluating thermodynamic properties, energy and exergy input and output resources in industrial steam boilers. Determined methods make available an analytic procedure for the physical and chemical exergetic analysis of steam boilers for appropriate applications. The energy and exergy efficiencies obtained for the entire boiler was 69.56% and 38.57% at standard reference state temperature of 25 degrees C for an evaporation ratio of 12. Chemical exergy of the material streams was considered to offer a more comprehensive detail on energy and exergy resource allocation and losses of the processes in a steam boiler. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.