More in Heating

Using an aerosol sealant to seal ductwork from the inside saved a luxurious condominium complex thousands of dollars in project costs while proving minimally disruptive to residents....More

With the inception of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green-building rating program and stricter ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, requirements, the geothermal industry has evolved. This article provides an overview of the wide array of geothermal options available to design engineers and commercial-building owners seeking to sharply reduce operating costs....More

With a goal to have 40 percent of its energy needs met with renewable resources by the end of 2020, The University of Iowa replaced a natural-gas boiler with a biomass boiler at its Oakdale Research Park campus in Coralville, Iowa. The project was not without challenges, including space restrictions, unusual piping, creative wiring, and many customized solutions worked out in the field....More

The burner is the true driver of fuel use and costs in a boiler. Over time, linkage joints, cams, and other moving parts wear out, and a burner loses its ability to keep tight control of fuel/air ratio. Additionally, a burner can suffer from plugged or deteriorated nozzles and gas orifices, deterioration of other combustion-head components responsible for proper fuel and air mixing, and a host of other issues. All of this results in unburned fuel and higher-than-required excess-air levels, leading to poor performance, reduction in overall efficiency, and higher operating costs....More

Operators of industrial-size centralized hot-water- and steam-generating facilities on college, hospital, and government campuses are under increasing pressure to restrict nitrogen-oxide (NOx) emissions, as state environmental agencies enforce federal law intended to decrease respiratory-related health concerns. The focus of this article is on reducing NOx formation at the burner....More

On Dec. 20, 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final changes to Clean Air Act standards for major- and area-source boilers and commercial and industrial solid-waste incinerators originally finalized in March 2011....More

Cleaver-Brooks, the Thomasville, Ga.-based provider of boiler-room products and systems, recently announced it was acquired by Harbour Group, a privately owned operating company based in St. Louis....More

There are four key facets of hydronic-system design and function that design engineers and building owners should be aware of to create a total system approach...More

Natural-gas-engine-driven heat pumps offer an economic alternative to gas boilers. While the concept of a natural-gas-engine-driven heat pump is not new, advances in internal-combustion-engine technology in the automobile industry have led to significant improvements in reliability and efficiency. Additionally, new emissions-control technology has led to cleaner emissions and lower criteria pollutants (contributors to smog)....More

Hydronic boilers enable efficient control and delivery of heat when and where it is needed....More

The boiler was tripping offline because of insufficient water in the steam drum. Auxiliary-equipment instrumentation and distributed-control-system sensing were inadequate. Earlier investigation and reports indicated the incidents occurred two or three times a month, late in the second shift or during the third shift....More