ENERGY
Potterton Commercial Boilers show major energy savings at Wigan Town Hall
and development of Shale Gas fields at Bowland in Lancashire, just miles from Blackpool. A recent report from the British Geological Society has estimated that there could be as much as 1,300 trillion cubic feet of gas trapped in rocks under Lancashire and Yorkshire, twice as much as previously estimated. However, it is not yet certain if extraction is viable and only 10% of the overall resource may be recoverable. A report from the Institute of Directors in May estimated that natural gas from shale could reduce the amount of gas the UK has to import in 2030 from 76% to 37%, with UK investment reaching £3.7bn a year and providing 74,000 new jobs across the industry.
Energy from waste is one of the most exciting new developments that could see the UK reduce the gap with Europe. Combined Heat & Power (CHP) can take waste destined for landfill and incinerate it producing power and heat. With the landfill tax of over £80 per tonne being introduced in 2014 this presents a real alternative to conventional power generation. One such private enterprise is the new CHP plant in Runcorn, Cheshire. This Solid Recovered Fuel Thermal Power Station is part of a Private Finance Initiative waste management project driven by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Capable of treating up to 810,000 tonnes of solid recovered fuel derived from household waste, delivering 174,000 MWth and exporting 100MW of electricity and 500,000 tonnes of steam per year to the local networks. To better understand the efficiency of the plant, a similar facility is planned for construction in Beddington, South London which will recover heat and electricity from up to 60,000 tonnes of organic waste per year, generating renewable electricity to power around 3,500 homes in the area. In terms of the future, the answers are out there and all we need is a little bit of faith in new technologies. New entrants into the energy sector bring new ideas and a will to make a difference; that’s what we need and with the proper backing we can close the energy gap on Europe.
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axi Commercial Division has supplied five floor standing condensing boilers for a refurbishment of Wigan Town Hall’s heating system which has shown a 22% energy saving over the year to May 2012, compared with the previous year’s usage. This saving was made despite the heating remaining operational until the end of May 2012 compared to 2011 when it was switched off in early April. The Town Hall is home to the Council Chamber, the Mayor’s Parlour, offices, as well as home for a number of civic functions and popular events. Consequently, it was important the heating system should be extremely flexible as well as energy efficient, in order to accommodate a number of functions which take place outside of normal business hours, in a cost-effective manner. The five Potterton Commercial Sirius 160kW floor standing condensing boilers were selected by consulting engineers NPS North West Ltd. in a joint venture with Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. The NPS Group specialises in providing property design and management services to both public and private sectors and is wholly owned by the public sector. A spokesman commented: “These boilers replace units which had reached the end of their operational lives and so had become less efficient and less reliable. “As access to the plant room was via weight restricted stairs and lifts we needed boilers that had low individual weight and had compact dimensions. The Client was very pleased with the project and especially the 22% saving in gas use over a measured 12 months.”
The boilers were installed in the third floor plant room at Wigan Town Hall by Hayman Mechanical Services Ltd. This floor also provides office accommodation, so the Sirius FS range’s low operating noise level makes it a good choice for such locations. As well as being quiet in operation, this range is perfect for refurbishment projects as each boiler is compact and lightweight for its output, fitting through a standard doorway and, importantly in this case, fitting in a small lift. The boilers serve both constant and variable temperature circuits, running fan convectors, air handling units and radiators. New pipework was installed
to each of the boilers, with the headers connected to existing pump circuits. The heating system is connected to a Building Energy Management System which provides monitoring and control functions including zone control. A spokesman for Hayman Mechanical commented: “We had excellent support from Baxi Commercial Division’s Area Sales Manager if any issues arose that we needed their help with. Potterton Commercial’s Sirius FS is a technically sophisticated range of floor standing, stainless steel condensing boilers, backed by a comprehensive five year warranty. Using the latest stainless steel heat exchanger technology in conjunction with a sophisticated controls system, the range delivers maximum condensing boiler performance. Sirius FS is easy to handle and install and, with ample internal space providing easy access to key components, is simple to service and maintain.
The Sirius FS features include a modulating pre-mix burner adjustable between 30% and 100%. The boilers provide energy efficiencies up to 107% net at 50°C flow and 30°C return and Part L2 seasonal efficiency of 96% gross. An in-built weather compensation facility optimises seasonal efficiency and encourages the boiler to condense whenever possible. The range offers a full fault diagnostics system and in-built time controls as standard with system controls options available and, as in this case, BEMS connectivity. The boilers were supplied via Baxi Commercial Division’s Agents, COMPHeat Ltd. Tel: 0845 070 1055 Email:
Jeff.house@baxicommercialdivision.com www.pottertoncommercial.co.uk
PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY • VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5
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