Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

The need to operate a boiler efficiently in today's environment and competitive landscape is at the top of many plant owners and operators list. Unfortunately operating a boiler efficiently while meeting local emission regulations do not always go hand in hand. However, advances in boiler system design and low NOx technology solutions have made this a much more achievable task.

The list below includes 10 tips which can instantly improve overall boiler performance and sustainability, helping to achieve more cost-effective maintenance and operations of your steam system.

This list, along with general guidelines for each, will be published in an upcoming issue of Process Heating magazine. Please email Nationwide if you are interested in obtaining a copy.

1.    Reduce Excess Air

2.    Install an Economizer

3.    Install a Condensing Economizer

4.    Upgrade to VFD Fan Controls

5.    Install a Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR) with a Standard Low Excess Air/No FGR Burner

6.    Perform Proper Water Treatment

7.    Reduce Boiler Pressure

8.    Consider Boiler Blowdown Heat Recovery

9.    Upgrade to a High Turndown Burner & Controls

10. Implement an Energy Efficiency Program

Nationwide Environmental Solutions is pleased to announce the signing of Combustion Designs, Inc. as its new East Coast Representative for the company's environmental product line. Combustion Designs will promote the sale of the CataStak(TM) SCR system for emissions reductions and other solutions for boilers, heaters, turbines and furnaces.

Check out the press release for additional information.

All boilers are subject to damage if proper chemical treatment, water analysis and blowdown procedures are not followed. If these items are ignored, both during operation and idle periods, serious damage to the boiler will result.

When Nationwide Boiler delivers a rental unit, it is the boiler operator's responsibility to maintain and supervise the water treatment conditions of their rental boiler in order to avoid any additional charges that may result from improper operation or maintenance. It is recommended that the services of a reputable boiler chemical consultant are retained in-order to supervise the water treatment conditions on a regular basis. At least once each week, daily boiler logs, chemical treatment tests, a chemical treatment consultant's report and maintenance records should be implemented and sent to Nationwide Boiler. This ensures that the proper maintenance is being done on the equipment and provides accurate maintenance reports for Nationwide's equipment files.

As a boiler operator it is important to inspect the waterside condition of watertube boilers that may result in heavy scale or oxygen pitting or corrosion. Waterside scale can be cause for concern on the reliability of a boiler by the following:

• If the boiler tubes contain heavy scale, tubes can overheat and/or fail leading to tube leaks


• If the boiler has some scale but it is not heavily deposited, certain types of water treatment plans can cause the scale to quickly be removed in large flakes, plugging tubes and eventually leading to overheating and tube failures


• Certain types of scale can be easily removed such as a conventional soft phosphate scale, while others are very difficult to remove such as silica

If scale is present, any scale greater than 1/8 inch or 0.125 inch should be removed from the boiler prior to placing it back in operation.

Oxygen corrosion is not as easily detected as scale. O2 pitting can occur under deposits and in very small areas that can escape detection by the naked eye. If O2 pitting is suspected, a tube needs to be removed from the boiler for more close examination.

Therefore, it is extremely important to assess the waterside condition of a boiler and then to determine the type of scale and the method for removing it. There are several methods for removing boiler scale including high pressure water blasting and other proprietary methods offered by water treatment representatives. Overall, with proper boiler maintenance and water treatment plans, such procedures can be avoided.

Examples of (1) Heavy Scale, (2) Medium Scale and (3) No Scale

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2.

3.

Nationwide Boiler was recently asked to take part in a survey-type article for the May issue of Power Engineering magazine. The focus was on the latest trends and best practices for burner and combustion system operation and maintenance. Below is our response and it includes where we think the industry is heading.

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Submitted by Larry Day, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Nationwide Boiler Inc.

As a user and a supplier of rental boilers, Nationwide Boiler Inc. has vast knowledge and experience with supplying and servicing equipment. When the company evaluates new equipment for our rental fleet or provides solutions for new boilers or boiler upgrades, we evaluate equipment that is easy to maintain, provides reliable performance for demanding applications, is the most energy efficient and is able to meet the strictest air emission requirements. We cannot risk onsite equipment failures, therefore we only evaluate quality products that provide immediate efficiency gains.

Energy efficiency is and has been a growing trend over the last five years. Best performance standards (BPS) exist today that we view as a basic requirement for any new boiler system. These standards utilize proven methods for achieving the highest thermal efficiency possible, all based on proven technology. One item boiler owners and operators should not overlook is the installation of VFD fan controls, offering instant energy savings when a unit is not operating at its peak capacity.

For proven burner performance, a minimal or no FGR low excess air burner with O2 trim should also be evaluated. This type of burner not only results in high turndown, but also offers better flame stability compared to ultra low NOx burners, utilizing high FGR or excess air, which are often times slow to respond to load swings and can rely on oversized FD fans that increase energy consumption.

For those operators who must comply with ultra low NOX emission standards, we view back-end technology as the most proven solution.  Compared to burners, SCRs eliminate burner flame stability concerns, slow response time and high horsepower FD fans required by front-end technology. In most cases there is no need to increase fan sizes or change burner controls and a SCR is a long term compliance solution, able to reduce NOx up to 95% with emissions as low as 2.5 ppm.

In terms of controls, we are seeing more units equipped with fully metered PLC combustion control systems with innovative touch screen operator interface. This removes a lot of the guesswork out of the operation of the boiler and may save valuable field service time. Also, having the ability to monitor operations remotely and gather historical data and trends provide meaningful and valuable information.

Overall, the trend for energy efficiency is not going away. It is important for boiler owners and operators to take a BPS technology approach when faced with a new boiler purchase or boiler upgrade decision. Many plants that have implemented this approach have benefited and Nationwide Boiler predicts that more will follow.