Click to enlarge Blow down the water column on a steam boiler daily to keep it and the piping connections free from sediment or sludge.

As boilers age, they can become less efficient, causing an increase in fuel costs. The main cause of energy inefficiency is system heat loss. Here are several ways to reclaim the heat loss in an effort to reduce facility operating costs.

1. Maintain, Maintain, Maintain

Keep up with annual boiler maintenance. Maintaining a boiler according to manufacturer recommendations is the simplest way to ensure it will continue to run efficiently.

2. Proper Water Treatment

Check that the boiler system water is treated properly. Particulates clog up internal boiler tubes, and over time the system loses its heat transfer ability. In most applications, a deaerator is a good solution. It can increase the water temperature to 227°F (108°C) and remove a lot of the particulates from the water.

3. Install a High-Turndown Burner

Increasing the burner turndown rate will increase energy savings and reduce maintenance. Energy savings increase when on/off cycles are reduced. Each on/off cycle is followed by a purge cycle. During a purge cycle, a large volume of air passes through the boiler, resulting in heat being blown out of the stack. Installing a high-turndown burner enables a boiler to consistently run at its most efficient point.

4. Add Variable-Speed Drive Controls

Installing variable-speed drives (VSDs) on boiler feed or deaerator pumps allows an operator to fine-tune the system to run at optimal conditions while saving energy. This is because VSDs enable a motor to operate only at the speed needed at a given moment.

Click to enlarge   Adding an economizer to an existing boiler system can increase efficiency up to 8 percent.

5. Incorporate Parallel Positioning

Adding parallel positioning to a boiler enables it to run at its most capable efficiency point. Parallel positioning uses dedicated actuators for the fuel and air valves. Burners that incorporate parallel positioning are able to maintain excess air levels more precisely.

6. Include O₂ Trim

Another way to maintain peak efficiency is to add an oxygen sensor/transmitter in the exhaust gas. The sensor/transmitter continuously senses oxygen content and provides a signal to the controller that trims the air damper and/or fuel valve, maintaining the originally commissioned oxygen concentration under varying conditions. This minimizes excess air while optimizing the air-to-fuel ratio.

7. Integrate Lead/Lag

Lead/lag sequences the operation of multiple boilers, matching system load. Lead/lag enables boilers to operate in sync with fluctuating steam loads, reducing the possibility of process failure and needless boiler cycling.

8. Incorporate an Economizer

Another way to improve energy efficiency is to incorporate heat recovery into a boiler system. The right type of equipment for a boiler system depends upon several factors, including boiler type, fuel used, stack material and operating conditions.

Standard Economizer. Economizers transfer energy from the boiler exhaust gas to the boiler feedwater in the form of sensible heat. Sensible heat is created by the transfer of the heat energy of the exhaust gas to boiler feedwater.

An economizer captures and redirects sensible heat from the hot flue gas that normally goes up the boiler stack. This sensible heat increases the temperature of boiler feedwater or makeup water. On average, adding a standard economizer increases boiler system efficiency by 3 percent to 5 percent.

Condensing Economizer. A condensing economizer captures both sensible and latent energy from the flue gases leaving the boiler. Two types of condensing economizers are available: a standard one-stage condensing economizer, or a two-stage condensing economizer. In the two-stage system, the first stage is noncondensing and the second stage is condensing, so the system can heat two sources of water. Adding a condensing economizer increases energy efficiency between 4 percent and 8 percent.

9. Recover and Repurpose Heat from Blowdown

A blowdown heat recovery unit is the most effective method of purging destructive solids from any steam boiler system. The unit transfers heat energy normally lost during continuous blowdown, transferring it to the cold makeup water. The payback in fuel savings for a blowdown heat recovery unit is typically less than a year.

Another way to recover heat from blowdown is a flash economizer. A flash economizer uses the surface blowdown to heat up the makeup water. It recovers blowdown energy in the form of flash steam (latent heat) and blowdown (sensible heat). By capturing both sensible and latent heat, a flash economizer is able to recover more heat than the blowdown heat recovery unit. Payback for a flash economizer often is less than a year.

10. Use Exchangers to Preheat Inlet Water

Water-to-steam or water-to-water U-tube heat exchangers can be added to preheat a boiler feedwater system or deaerator. These heat exchangers operate similar to a blowdown heat recovery unit. U-tube heat exchangers can be used just about anywhere to transfer heat between a hot fluid and a cold fluid.

Payback calculations can help companies predict the annual cost savings for making certain energy-efficient upgrades. Some boiler manufacturers offer tools such as software programs that can help you calculate the potential savings. PH