Why Miura Water Tube Boilers Are More Efficient Than Traditional Fire Tube Boilers
When choosing a steam boiler for your facility, you typically have a choice between a water tube or a fire tube design. While both may have their advantages in certain situations, from an efficiency standpoint, Miura water tube boilers are far more efficient than fire tube boilers. Let’s dig a little to find out why this is so.
The difference in Steam Boiler Design
Water turns to steam when it comes into contact with sufficient heat. From a design standpoint, water tube boilers and fire tube boilers have completely opposite approaches in how this contact happens. In a fire tube design, hot flue gas travels through tubes that are surrounded by water.
In a water tube design, the opposite applies — the water heats by traveling through a tube surrounded by flue gas. Most conventional boiler systems use the fire tube design, and this has been the standard approach for many years. However, water tube boilers are gaining popularity because they can be built more compactly and produce steam heat more quickly.
What Makes Miura Water Tube Boilers More Efficient?
Between the two types of boiler designs, water tube boilers are remarkably more efficient than their fire tube counterparts. This stems from a number of factors:
- Water turns to steam more quickly. When the water flows through the tube, it is surrounded by the heat source, rather than the other way around. Additionally, since the tube holds less water than the water tank of a fire tube design, it takes less time to turn that water to steam — and by extension, less fuel. A water tube boiler produces steam in as little as five minutes, compared to an hour or more for fire tube boilers. As a result, fuel savings costs can be significant over time.
- Water-tube boilers require less water. By heating water in the tube via a once-through design, water tube boilers don’t need to store as much water to produce steam, making them more environmentally friendly by design.
- Water-tube boilers can adapt to shifting loads more easily. By heating less water at one time, water tube boilers can respond more quickly to changes in demand for steam. Individual units configured modularly can power up or down as needed. This means you only use fuel and water as needed, greatly reducing energy waste in the process.
- Water-tube boilers tend to last longer. The ability to run more efficiently also means water tube boilers have a longer life expectancy than their fire tube counterparts.
Due to their increased efficiency in operation, Miura water tube boilers are a perfect fit for companies with fluctuating steam demands, as well as companies looking to save on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Miura Boilers are known for their innovative water tube design and their high-efficiency standards.
