Steve Connor - cleaver-brooks.com Boiler Room Log 75 Date Time Boiler # Operator Water visible in gauge glass ... • Test auxiliary without jumper wire • Easy tie into PLC platform

Steve Connor

Technical Services Consultant

• Discuss the operational drivers: • Efficiency, Reliability and Safety

• The impact areas associated with each

• Possible remedies or solutions to consider

• Prioritizing

2

What We are Covering Today

What’s most wrong with my boiler operation?

Efficiency?

Reliability?

Safety?

3

What’s most wrong with my boiler operation?

Efficiency?

Reliability?

Safety?

Where do problems normally lie?

What are most popular solutions?

How do I prioritize them?

4

Efficiency

5

Major Market DriversEconomics

6

COST OF

OPERATION

50% +

Impact Areas

7

Popular Fuels

8

Hydrogen/Carbon Ratio

9

Moisture Losses

10

Hydrogen

OxygenWater Vapor = Moisture losses!!

Fuel/Air Control

11

Single motor & Jackshaft

Combustion Problems

12

Stack Losses

13

40 Deg. F Rise = 1% Loss

• Operating pressure

• Firing rate

• Ambient temperature

BASED ON:

Excess Air Increases As The Firing

Rate Decreases

14

Combustion Efficiency

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Burner

Turndown4 To 1

75%LF 50%25%

Percent O2

Firing Rate

Every 2%

Increase

= 1% loss!

100%

Cycling Losses

16

Pre & Post

Purge Losses

Excessive Makeup?

Feed water temperature?

Condensate returning?

17

Excessive Makeup?

Feed water temperature?

Condensate returning?

18

Every 10 Deg. F increase in FW temperature

= 1% increase in efficiency!

Motors

19

Reliability

20

Impact Areas

21

Reliability Issues

22

Reliability Issues

23

Scanner

Reliability Issues

24

Diffuser

Combustion Issue

Reliability Issues

25

Fuel/Air Ratio Control

Problems• Slip

• Deflect

• Wear

Reliability Issues

26

Unstable water level

Reliability Issues

27

Nuisance shutdowns

Pump on

LWCO

Reliability Issues

28

Liner tile

Throat tile

Reliability Issues

Burner housing cracks or poor seals

29

Safety

30

Impact Areas

31

Electrical Power

32

Low Voltage High Voltage

Hot Surfaces

33

Hot Surfaces

34

Hot Surfaces

35

Lower half

Sight port w/cooling line

Water Level Controls

Auxiliary

36

Main

Gauge glass

Water Side Occurrence

37

Confined Spaces

38

Firetube Boiler Watertube Boiler

Safety Valve Piping

39

Solutions

40

Efficiency Solutions

41

Stack Temperature

42

Accurate thermometer

Stack Temperature

43

+ 40 Deg. F

= 1% Efficiency lost

Reduce Cycling

Losses can reach 10 – 15%!

44

High Turndown Burner

45

Fuel/Air Ratio Control

46

Single point

Fuel/Air Ratio Control

47

Parallel Positioning System

Excess Air Losses

OXYGEN TRIM SYSTEM

Compensates for atmospheric changes such as:

• Ambient temperature

• Relative humidity

• Barometric pressure.

48

Stack Economizers

• Noncondensing

• Full Condensing

49

Stack Economizers

• Noncondensing

• Full Condensing

50

Every 40 Degrees Gained = 1% Saved!

Returning Condensate

Deaerator

51

Every 10 degree increase = 1% Saved!

High pressure receiver

Electrical Draw

52

High Efficiency Motors?

Variable Frequency Drives

53

VFD Analysis

No VFD

@ 100% = 100%

54

VFD Analysis

No VFD

100% = 100%

W/VFD

@ 70% = 34%

@ 50% = 12.5%

55

Reliability Solutions

56

Reliability

57

Reliability

58

Neat & Clean

Boiler Room Equipment Record Keeping

Dynamic records• Start up and tuning reports

• Repair reports

• Inspection reports

• Chemical analysis reports

• Boiler room log

59

Reliability Solutions

Scanner

60

Burner

Diffuser BMS

Reliability Solutions

61

Throat Tile

Furnace Liner

Dry Oven

Reliability Issues

62

Water Treatment

63

Water Treatment

64

Safety

65

Hot Surfaces

66

Dryback Wetback

Hot Surfaces

67

Dryback Wetback

Hot Surfaces

68

Gun Burner Package Integral Burner Package

Hot Surfaces

69

Hot Surfaces

70

Safety Solutions

72

Electrical Safety

73

Safety Valve Piping

74

Cleaver-Brooks Boiler Room Log

75

Date

Time

Boiler #

Operator

Water visible in gauge glass

Combustion check (visual)

Steam pressure

Feedwater pressure

Feedwater temperature

Flue gas temperature

Burner

Gas pressure

Gas meter reading

Oil pressure (regulated)

Oil temperature

Oil meter reading

Atomizing air pressure

Ambient air temperature

Make-up water

Blowdown water column

Blowdown boiler

Comments/Observations

Chemical analysis

Steam

Note: record water analysis and treatment on separate log

Diligent Monitoring and Recording

76

Evaporation Test

77

CB Level Master

Features• Low or no float movement

• High and low water alarming

• Column blowdown reminder

• Notes successful or unsuccessful

• LED readout of water level

• Test auxiliary without jumper wire

• Easy tie into PLC platform

78

Operator Training

Cleaver-Brooks “Boiler House” Milwaukee, WI

79

• On-site Tailored programs

• Regional seminars

• Online

Armstrong International Training Center

Troubleshooting and Repair

80

Prioritizing

• Efficiency

• Reliability

• Safety

81

Investing Capital Dollars

82

Everybody is vying for the same bag of

cash…

Normally a simple payback calculation…

Operation’s Guy Facility’s Guy

Investing Capital Dollars

Evaluating Cost & Value• NPV (Net Present Value)

• Time/value of money (opportunity)

• Discounted dollars

• Positive cash flow and/or profitability

• IRR (Internal Rate of Return)• Cost of capital including tax rate

• Hurdle rate

• Competing projects

83

Summary

• Single point positioning systems tend to wear causing poor fuel/air control. A

2% increase in O2 is a 1% loss in efficiency. A parallel positioning system can

remedy this problem.

• Excessive boiler cycling is a huge energy waster. A smaller boiler or high

turndown burner may be the answer.

• Reliability improvement starts with a clean and organized boiler room.

• Burner trips are mainly caused by fouled scanners and bouncing waterlines

due to improper water treatment or condensate fouling.

84

Summary

• The biggest contributors to unsafe boiler rooms are poor maintenance

procedures and low water cutoff failures. Operator Training is critical.

• Low voltage can kill!

• Safe boiler rooms have excellent boiler room policies & procedures which are

diligently followed including documentation.

• Justifying a capital spend goes beyond simple payback. Money has a

time/value component as well as various opportunities for its use. NPV and IRR

are critical methods for analyzing the investment for decisions & prioritizing

purposes.

85

Questions?

86

Steve Connor

Technical Services Consultant

[email protected]

262.377.6347

cleaverbrooks.com