The Future is Bright in Pennsylvania

Best Practices- Steam Generation

EPA - Boiler Wise Rules More . . .

1. Effective boiler load management techniques, such as operating on high fire settings or installing smaller boilers, can save over 7% of a typical facility's total energy use with an average simple payback of less than 2 years.
2. Load management measures, including optimal matching of boiler size and boiler load, can save as much as 50% of a boiler's fuel use.
3. An upgraded boiler maintenance program including optimizing air-to-fuel ratio, burner maintenance, and tube cleaning, can save about 2% of a facility's total energy use with an average simple payback of 5 months.
4. A comprehensive tune-up with precision testing equipment to detect and correct excess air losses, smoking, unburned fuel losses, sooting, and high stack temperatures, can result in boiler fuel savings of 2% to 20%.
5. A 3% decrease in flue gas O2 typically produces boiler fuel savings of 2%.
6. Using over fire draft control systems to control excess air can save 2% to 10% of a boiler's fuel use with typical equipment costs of $1,500.
7. Using a characterizable fuel valve to match the air/fuel ratios across the load range can save 2% to 12% of a boiler's fuel use at relatively low cost.
8. Converting to air or steam atomizing burners from conventional burners can reduce boiler fuel use by 2% to 8%.
9. Every 40°F reduction in net stack temperature (outlet temperature minus inlet combustion air temperature) is estimated to save 1% to 2% of a boiler's fuel use.
10. Stack dampers prevent heat from being pulled up the stack and can save 5% to 20% of a boiler's fuel use.
11. Direct contact condensation heat recovery can save 8% to 20% of a boiler's fuel use, but costs may be relatively high.
12. Preheating combustion inlet air can save about 3% of a facility's total energy use with an average simple payback of 8 months.
13. Minimizing energy loss from boiler blowdown can save about 2% of a facility's total energy use with an average simple payback of less than 1 year.
14. Removing a 1/32 inch deposit on boiler heat transfer surfaces can decrease a boiler's fuel use by 2%; removal of a 1/8 inch deposit can decrease boiler fuel use by over 8%.
15. Blowdown heat recovery is a proven technology that can reduce a boiler's fuel use by 2% to 5%.
16. For every 11°F that the entering feedwater temperature is increased, the boiler's fuel use is reduced by 1%.
17. Changing from manual blowdown control to automatic adjustment can reduce a boiler's energy use by 2% to 3% and reduce blowdown water losses by up to 20%.