How to Save Money and Energy in Your Boiler Plant
Are you trying to save the highest possible amount of money and energy in your boiler plant? It all comes down to (a) how efficient your boiler is, and (b) how well you take care of that boiler system. Here are our recommendations for choosing and maintaining a steam system that maximizes cost-savings and efficiency.
Opt for a modular boiler system.
A modular boiler system is crucial for facilities that experience fluctuating load demands. With a modular boiler system, you have multiple boilers in a single system that turn on and off according to your facility’s precise load demands. For example, imagine you have a system with three modular units. You might only need to have one unit running at peak capacity when demand is low, but when the demand is high, you might need all three units running at peak capacity. In essence, modularity allows you to produce only the exact amount of steam you need exactly when you need it so that you’re not wasting fuel.
Choose a once-through boiler with a quick start-up process.
Because massive fire tube boilers can take hours to heat up, they are often left running even when no steam is needed to avoid the hassle of shutting them down and taking hours to heat them up again later. Unfortunately, keeping your boilers running when you don’t need steam power wastes a lot of fuel and money.
Miura’s once-through water tube boilers eliminate the need for this inefficient practice because they can safely produce steam from a cold start in less than 5 minutes. This means you can easily turn your boilers on and off based on your actual load demands.
Pay attention to efficiency ratings.
There are two types of efficiency ratings to consider when evaluating whether a boiler system will help you save money and energy:
- Fuel-to-steam efficiency indicates how much fuel a boiler uses while running at maximum capacity.
- In-service efficiency indicates how efficiently a boiler performs overall — whether the steam load is high or low, or running in standby mode.
When it comes to fuel-to-steam and in-service efficiency ratings, Miura steam boilers are the cream of the crop. Thanks to their unique, computer-aided design, Miura’s LX series boilers offer optimal heat transfer capabilities, resulting in fuel-to-steam efficiencies of 85% +/-. In contrast, traditional fire tube boilers offer fuel-to-steam efficiencies of up to 83%. And because Miura steam boilers are designed to adapt quickly to fluctuating steam load demands and can start up in less than 5 minutes, they boast in-service efficiency ratings that are 20% higher than comparable boilers.
These outstanding fuel-to-steam and in-service efficiency ratings allow companies who choose Miura boilers to save between 10-40% on fuel compared to conventional fire tube boilers.
Keep your boiler properly maintained.
You can buy the best, most efficient boiler on the market, but that won’t mean much if you aren’t taking proper care of it throughout the years. A boiler that does not receive proper maintenance or adequate water treatment will experience scaling and wear-and-tear issues that reduce the efficiency and longevity of the unit. Luckily, Miura makes it easy to keep your boiler system in excellent shape for its entire lifespan with comprehensive monitoring devices, top-notch water treatment products, and preventative maintenance programs.