Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

At Nationwide Boiler we continuously upgrade our stock of rental equipment, allowing us to offer our customers a variety of options to fit each individual need. We are currently assembling two (2) 650 HP, 250 psig design, low NOx mobile boiler rooms. Below are some pictures of one of the boilers being put into its trailer, take a look!

We recently came across the following column written by Allan Bedwell, URS Corporation’s California Practice Leader for Climate Change & Renewable Energy Services.  His article prepares food processors for the final implementation of AB 32, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

AB 32 will certainly affect producers and processors, and, perhaps most importantly, will cause increases in the costs of energy inputs.  As a result, costs relating to electricity, steam, fuel and water will be affected.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Start preparing for AB 32 now and establish an AB 32 strategy.  If you don’t know where to start, here’s where you can start:

This summer the California Air Resources Board (CARB) makes a series of AB 32 compliance and carbon allowance allocation decisions for food processors that will lock in facility carbon emission reduction targets for the next eight years. Before CARB locks in your facility carbon allowance allocations and launches carbon auctions, food processors should evaluate your options and chart a course forward to minimize your cost of compliance.

If you are wondering if you should buy carbon allowances during CARB’s upcoming auctions, the short answer is: Look before you leap. Before your company decides to buy or sell carbon allowances or offsets, determine what your facility compliance obligations will be during the next eight years and establish an AB 32 compliance strategy to guide your actions.

There are some key actions that food processors should do now to determine your compliance obligations and establish an AB 32 strategy. Actions to take now include:

• Strategically evaluate the baseline emissions data you are supposed to supply CARB by July 1. The agency will consider baseline years prior than 2008 to 2010.


• Estimate your carbon allowance allocations to determine if you are above or below CARB’s expected 90 percent allowance allocation.


• Develop cost curves for AB 32 compliance. Cost curves identify least cost options for achieving compliance and will serve as a compass to guide your company’s decisions about the relative value of reducing emissions on site, purchasing carbon allowances or offsets, banking emissions, or taking a hybrid approach.


• Calculate the net life cycle costs under different regulatory, allowance and offset cost scenarios. Net life cycle costs will guide your company’s effective comparison of emission management options.


• Actively evaluate CARB’s "benchmarking" methodology for carbon allowance allocations to determine if it’s accurate for your operations and processes. Each percentage point of lost efficiency can cost some facilities millions of dollars over the next eight years. Now is the time to negotiate with CARB before your emissions baseline, benchmarks and allocations are locked in.


• Before a product benchmark is established for food processors, determine its potential financial impacts to your facilities compared to the current allocation method.


• Approach the full costs of cap-and-trade strategically. Your electricity, steam, fuel and water suppliers will be affected by AB 32, and your facility will likely see significant utility cost increases as a result. Price your suppliers' carbon liability and incorporate the "pass-through" costs into a net life cycle analysis of your options. It may have a significant bearing on the actions you take under different regulatory and carbon market scenarios.

Carefully evaluate the full range of life cycle costs and the relative values of on-site reduction compared to buying or selling allowances and offsets. A large part of your AB 32 cost will come from increased energy costs. Not only can process improvements reduce your emission costs, but they can also reduce your electricity and gas bills.

A successful AB 32 compliance strategy has the flexibility to manage changing regulatory, legal and market conditions. Evaluate all your options and timing before you buy or sell carbon allowances or offsets. Most importantly, use net life cycle costs to chart your strategy to maximize the effectiveness of your actions to save costs under AB 32.

The Boiler MACT Rule & Assistance Program

The big buzz in the industry lately has been all about the Boiler MACT Rule. The Boiler MACT Rule was introduced by the EPA in March 2011, requiring emissions control technologies to be implemented for all industrial and commercial boilers by March 2014. The rule was created to ensure compliance with the EPA’s strict air requirements, aimed at reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants (including PM, Hg, HCI, and CO) from boilers and process heaters.  This new requirement affects industries of all kinds, specifically companies who are labeled as major sources of emissions by the EPA. (Major sources are facilities that emit 10 tons per year or more of any single air toxin or 25 tons per year or more of any combination of air toxins).

The Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Application Center’s have devised a plan, the Boiler MACT Assistance Program, to help the more than 650 facilities affected by the Boiler MACT Rule. The program has been created to provide technical assistance to these facilities by promoting cleaner, more efficient boilers and presenting cost-effective clean-energy strategies for compliance. To learn more about the Boiler MACT Assistance Program, click here.

The Boiler MACT Rule has not only been a hot topic in industry, but also in Washington.  Some in Congress claim the rule as a “job killer” and debate that there are insufficient domestic manufacturing resources to comply within the time frames set by the EPA.  The American Boiler Manufacturer’s Association (ABMA) has diligently worked to educate politicians and the public on the truth about the Boiler MACT and a new website, www.boilermactfacts.com, has been developed to list the associations stand on the rule.

Despite claims, the Boiler MACT can be achieved with existing, affordable, state-of-the-art, technologically-advanced and fuel-flexible products, along with innovatively-designed-and-engineered application solutions, provided by members of the ABMA to meet boiler facilities that will be impacted. As stated online, “Implementation may not be cheap or easy, but it's entirely doable – and critically important for long-term public health, environmental quality and business stability.”  ABMA members have the combined experience in meeting tough air-quality regulations with real-world solutions and are ready to help those affected by these rules to comply with them in a timely and affordable manner.  While doing so, jobs will be generated not only for the boiler and pollution control technology industry, but also for small businesses that install, repair and tune-up boilers and boiler systems.

Resources are available to assure compliance with the boiler MACT rule in an affordable and timely manner, and the members of the ABMA, including Nationwide Boiler, are here to help.

1    Operate Boilers At or Close to Design Capacity. This decreases fuel consumption per unit of production and can result in an estimated energy savings range of 1 percent to 5 percent.  Likewise, if your facility or plant requires excess capacity, visit the Nationwide Boiler website to obtain a current list of boilers for rent or for sale.  Nationwide Boiler provides new and used boilers that can ship immediately, anywhere around the world (conditions apply, contact Nationwide Boiler for details).

2    Reduce Combustion Excess Air. Measure and control air-fuel ratio or oxygen and carbon monoxide content of flue gases from process heating equipment such as furnaces, ovens, and boilers for the entire range of operation. This has an estimated energy savings range of 2 percent to 15 percent. Think about installing a standard low NOx / low excess air burner (compared to an ULN / high excess air burner) on your boiler.  Complemented with a Nationwide CataStak™ Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR), a new burner retrofit and SCR installation will not only provide immediate energy savings, but will also reduce NOx emissions and decrease your carbon footprint.

3    Clean Heat Transfer Surfaces. Cleaning heat transfer surfaces lowers flue gas temperature and increases efficiency by improving heat transfer. Doing so can save an estimated 1 percent to 5 percent at a moderate cost.

4    Reduce Radiation Losses from Openings. Reducing radiation losses can save an estimated 1 percent to 2.5 percent at a relatively low cost.
5    Use Proper Oven, Furnace or Boiler Insulation to Reduce Wall Heat Losses. Reducing wall losses produces energy savings of 1 percent to 2 percent with only a moderate investment.

6    Insulate Steam Lines Leaving the Boiler as well as Air- or Water-Cooled Surfaces Exposed to the Oven or Furnace Environment. With an estimated energy savings range of 1 percent to 5 percent, piping insulation can be completed for a moderate investment.

7    Install Air Preheaters or Other Heat Recovery Equipment. This type of equipment recovers available heat from exhaust gases and boiler blowdown and transfers it back into the system by preheating. The potential energy savings range id from 1 percent to 25 percent, depending on process temperatures and other variables.  Consider a Nationwide Boiler EconoStak Economizer or a Heat Recovery (HR) Blowdown Pak to recover valuable heat that can be reused, allowing you to save money in the long-term.

Adapted from Process Heating Magazine, March 21, 2012.