Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

Last year, Nationwide Boiler had to make the hard and necessary decision to postpone our 40th Annual Charity Golf Tournament due to the rapid growth of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, however, is a different story. We were able to coordinate a safe and successful event earlier this month, once again in support of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area and the ABMA Scholarship Fund. With about two-thirds of our normal attendance, more than 50 sponsors and donors, and no in-person banquets, we are happy to announce that we raised a total of $40,000 for these two outstanding organizations!

The tournament began with a practice round, 4-man scramble at The Links at Spanish Bay, followed by tournament play at the renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links. The weather was near perfect for the two days of golf and after their round at Pebble Beach, guests enjoyed lunch and drinks on the patio right off of the 18th hole.  To comply with local COVID restrictions around gatherings, no in-person banquets were held. While this eliminated multiple revenue streams, it did provide the opportunity for us to incorporate a virtual / online auction for the first time in the history of our event. This new feature allowed those not in attendance with the opportunity to participate, support, and purchase items from our auction. In addition to the virtual auction, we presented golf awards, announced the raffle winner, and played a game of Jeopardy in a virtual fashion via a Zoom meeting. Overall, it was a great week, a successful event, and our guests were happy to be back at Pebble Beach after a year off. 

Congratulations to our tournament winners:
Low Gross Champion - Jim Lohmeyer, Blue Cross Blue Shield
Handicap Flight Champion - Vern Eriksen, Nooter/Eriksen
Callaway Flight Champion - Miles Freeman, Heat Transfer Specialists (HTS)

A huge thank-you out to everyone involved! We wouldn't be able to make this happen without the many sponsors, donors, and guests who support us year after year. We are extremely fortunate to be able to continue this tradition of giving back to  organizations that do so much for our community. We did $40K, with 40 golfers for our 40th Anniversary - here's to another 40 years!

Visit our Facebook Album to see photos from this year's event, and check out our recent press release to learn more.

Nationwide Boiler's first Steamlines Newsletter of 2021 is out and available for viewing! Read up on the latest happenings at Nationwide, industry news, technical tips, and more, including... 

A SOLUTION TO STEAM SUPPLIER OUTAGES
Nationwide has nearly 55 years of experience responding to emergency needs, and there is no doubt that we are able and ready to dispatch equipment in a moments notice. What may come as a surprise to some is that unplanned and emergency rentals make up a smaller portion of our business than planned outages. And at times, rental boilers are used for process steam when the outage is planned by the steam supplier next door.

REMOTE WORK: IS IT THE FUTURE?
Since the pandemic forced many companies (including NBI) to move to a temporary remote work model, some corporations like Google, Dropbox, Facebook, and Salesforce are going all in with remote work as a permanent way of business. But is remote work for everyone, and is it the future? Hear from our President & CEO, Larry Day, for his take on the matter.

GETTING TO KNOW OUR STORAGE YARDS
Nationwide Boiler has a purpose built rental fleet featuring firetube and watertube boilers, mobile steam plants, and boiler auxiliary equipment. Partnering with multiple distinguished companies in our industry for the storage & maintenance of this equipment allows us to offer a quick and cost effective solution when a temporary steam need arises.

CALIFORNIA EMISSION RULE UPDATES
More changes are upon us here in California, and at Nationwide Boiler we make it a priority to stay abreast of AQMD emission rulings that will affect our customer base. The three areas of focus at this point are the South Coast AQMD, San Joaquin Valley APCD, and San Diego APCD.

REP SPOTLIGHT: COMBUSTION SYSTEMS, INC.
With headquarters in Indianapolis, IN, Combustion Systems, Inc. (CSI) is the exclusive Nationwide Boiler representative covering the territories of Indiana, Illinois, and most of Wisconsin. Check out this edition of our representative spotlight to learn more.  

NEW RENTAL BOILERS FOR THE FLEET
With over 100 rental boilers currently in our inventory, we still find the need to add new units to fill in the gaps, replace sold equipment, or to boost our numbers for equipment that is often in high demand. Learn about some of the new equipment currently being built for our rental fleet.

View this current edition and past editions of our Steamlines Newsletter, on our website now!

With over 30 years of experience, our General Manager at Pacific Combustion Engineering, Jack Valentine, is an expert when it comes to the design of combustion control systems. In the Winter 2021 edition of Today’s Boiler, Jack discusses the features and options typical of Combustion Control Systems today. Let’s take a peek at what he had to say.

Combustion equipment safety is essential for the daily operation of facilities and safety of plant personnel. Safety protocols and mechanisms in industrial plants have improved drastically in the last century, but incidents still occur far too frequently. Because boiler systems are inherently dangerous, safety must be factored into the design of not just the boiler, but also the burner, combustion control, and the overall operation of the system.  

The Combustion Control System (CCS) on a boiler, also known as the Boiler Control System (BCS), refers to the set of instrumentation and controls that modulates the firing rate of the burner in response to load demand while maintaining the proper air/fuel ratio (AFR). It works in conjunction with the Burner Management System (BMS) that provides safeguards before, during the initial light-off of the burner, and at shutdown. The BMS also provides the flame safeties and interlocks required to keep the boiler safe during continuous operation. Depending upon the complexity of the boiler, the CCS can also provide other functions such as drum level control and draft control.  With Low NOx burners, it also controls the proper amount of flue gas recirculation (FGR) to the burner.

For the sake of simplicity, the various types of CCS described below will be for boilers firing a single fuel gas only; fuel oil and solid fuel systems add an entirely new level of complexity.

It's that time of year again for our annual freeze protection reminders. As you know, winter can bring extremely cold weather conditions, especially in Canada, the Northeast, Midwest, and Upper Midwest. To reiterate what we have been saying for years, here are a few things to consider to protect your rental boiler and auxiliary equipment (deaerators, water softeners, etc.) from damage due to freezing temperatures this winter.

1. If you are renting a trailer or skid-mounted firetube or watertube boiler and installing the unit outdoors, these systems are completely exposed to the environment. User's should consider enclosing the front and/or the rear end of the boiler, or build a temporary enclosure around the entire system. An external heating source should also be used. 

2. Install the proper heat tracing (steam or electric) and insulation on all main lines and piping components, regardless of whether the boiler (or auxiliary equipment) is in operation or sitting as stand-by. This should include the following lines: 
      - Sensing lines for all transmitters
      - Primary and auxiliary low-water cut-offs
      - Water column and connected piping
      - Bottom blowdown and surface blow-off piping, depending on the length of the piping runs. These valves should also be left open.