SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE


TOP FIVE TIPS FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY


Steam systems are efficient and reliable. Yet even so, many users often struggle to utilise their plant’s valuable assets as much as they could be. If you’re curious about what you could be doing to increase efficiency and achieve more ‘bang for your buck’, there are five basic strategies that could just be the answer.


1. Water treatment An effectively conditioned water system is the basic starting point for any efficient steam system. But how do you make sure your water is always as clean as it can be?


Effective water treatment tackles problems such as corrosion, deposit build-up, and foaming at source. While the traditional approach uses water softening supplemented by chemical treatment, reverse osmosis (RO) forces water through a semi-permeable membrane, stripping out nearly all of its contaminants. The benefit to you is pure water which has had 98-99% of its impurities removed.


2. Boiler control


Having the right controls is a crucial ingredient in the optimisation of any steam system. Your level controls, for example, ensure sufficient water is fed to the boiler to meet demand. If the water level falls too low, the heating surfaces could become exposed and the boiler would overheat. Too high, and water could be sucked into the steam, leading to poor quality steam that could impair heating or production efficiency. Automated boiler controls can also deliver major savings, especially in the area of total dissolved solids (TDS) boiler blowdown.


3. Heat transfer efficiency Whether steam is being used to drive an industrial process or provide heating and hot water, effective heat transfer is a key driver for almost every installation. Using the most efficient heat exchangers should therefore be a priority.


Traditional shell-and-tube calorifiers used to be the workhorses of steam, but they’re looking increasingly outdated in the face of more efficient, compact alternatives. Modern plate heat exchangers, such as Spirax Sarco’s EasiHeat™ systems, are much smaller and typically improve energy efficiency by around 6-10%, simply by reducing radiation heat losses from their surfaces.


4. Condensate recovery Condensate contains about 20% of the energy of the steam from which it came, which is why most steam system operators recognise it as being a particularly valuable resource.


Most systems could be achieving a condensate recovery rate of 75-80% by using it to heat the boiler feedwater, saving on energy and disposal costs, and limiting the need for fresh water treatment. Recovering flash steam can also capture energy that would have otherwise been lost and return it safely to the boiler.


FIND OUT MORE


Contact us on 01242 521361 to discuss your specific requirements or download our services overview brochure to learn more about the services we offer: sxscom.uk/sxsservicesbrochure.


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5. Steam system services and thermal energy audits No two steam systems are the same, so only a technical assessment and cost saving calculation will determine the energy-savings payback of a particular project.


You may not count steam as a core area of your expertise. Your business could even be suffering from a skills shortage. Either way, calling in specialists to provide service and support for the steam system can be the most realistic, cost-effective way of keeping things running at their optimum. Best of all, payback will typically be achieved in as little as one to two years, if not in a matter of weeks.


Don’t miss out


If you have a steam system, you’re already sitting on a large investment, so efficiency is really all about making the most of your existing assets – and who can afford to miss a trick like that?


Download your guide: sxscom.uk/boilerhouseefficiencyquickstartguide


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