BSEE L
With the need to maximise the utilisation of every square foot of building space, Martin Cooke, technical director for Baltur in the UK, discusses the benefits of moving boiler installations from the basement to outside
ocation, location, location. Not a phrase often used when it comes to boiler installations, but with ever more challenging environmental constraints and demands for improving efficiency of boiler plant, the traditional location of the boiler room in the basement or elsewhere inside the building is becoming more problematic.
Retain, repair or replace?
New builds also demand maximum efficiency and utilisation of floor space, making a boiler room an expensive luxury, whilst replacing existing boiler plant with modern high efficiency condensing boilers brings its own set of challenges. Modern regulations demand a safe working environment for engineers and operatives working on the boiler plant, where ventilation is often not up to current regulations and condensing boiler flues require the installation of a suitable flue liner, which can be an expensive and disruptive operation.
Added to the mix of complexities is that many existing boiler rooms may be riddled with asbestos, which is costly, difficult and time-consuming to remove, thereby making the reuse of an internal boiler room an expensive exercise. This often leads to old, unreliable and inefficient boilers being retained and repaired
when replacement should be the better answer.
One solution to these problems is to use boiler plant specially designed for use outside of the building, a concept that has been widely adopted in Europe. There now exists ‘state-of-the-art’ high efficiency condensing boilers developed for this purpose, offering the same advanced specifications such as pre-mix low NOx burners with turn down ratios of up to 20 to one to deliver perfect load matching to meet the majority of building requirements. With built-in compatibility to BMS controls, they are suitable for both new build applications and boiler replacement scenarios. These boilers can be installed anywhere externally, including on the roof alongside other building services equipment such as chillers.
External boilers
External boilers are available as standalone units or for modular cascade applications, typically providing outputs up to 2000kW. For greater outputs, banks of modular units can be connected to provide a virtually limitless heating output, all sited outside or on the roof, saving or creating valuable floor space within the building.
Another aspect of the external boiler is being able to use LPG. With the advent of the government’s ‘Clean Green Strategy’,
organisations maybe considering the use of gas in place of oil. If the
HEATING & PLUMBING Thinking outside the box
installation is ‘off grid’ then LPG is a solution that to date has not been an option due to it being prohibited in basement boiler rooms. However, using an external boiler allows for the easy installation of high efficiency LPG boilers by simply running a flow and return to the existing system with no need to reuse the existing flue. Modern controls can be part of the boiler supply package to give a virtually turnkey solution to changing from oil to LPG, delivering a cost- effective solution with realistic payback for the end user.
Flexibility and scaling
External boilers primarily fall into two types: the single unit and the modular unit, each housed in a fully weather-proof casing. Typical of this type of boiler is the Baltur MCS (single boiler) and MCS Hidro (multi- boiler modular installation) with outputs of 200kW to 500kW single boilers and up to 2000kW in modular configuration. These are connected to an internal system where the control valves and pumps are usually located, and with the main control panel also located inside the building, making this type of system suitable for both new build and retrofitting.
Where a completely new boiler system is needed a different solution may be required. High efficiency condensing boilers installed in a weather-proof cabinet can be the solution, either as a single boiler, or multi boiler system complete with headers, valves, control panel, etc,
all mounted on a bespoke frame in a modular weather proof cabinet. If no suitable building space is available, then moving the boiler plant external to the building is the cost-effective alternative to either building a dedicated boiler room or reusing a traditional plant room. The weather-proof external unit can be delivered pre-assembled or in kit form where access may be an issue. New into the UK, Baltur’s MCS range of external commercial boilers are built to order from standard items with each designed to suit the precise application. Coupled with speedy turn around and attractive pricing makes this a viable solution for many installations. Additionally, boilers such as the Baltur Smile Energy range, with 33kW to 150kW single unit outputs, and up to 600kW for multiple unit rigs, are also available in weather-proof cabinets, making this type of external boiler installation a viable option. All the Baltur gas boiler range are suitable for natural gas or LPG.
www.baltur.com/gb/en ‘ External boilers are
available as standalone units or for modular cascade applications
’
uExternal boiler installations can save valuable building space
16 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2019 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
