60 HP low pressure steam boiler
Installer
HydroFLOW Midwest.
Customer
Commercial trucking company from Rosemount, Minnesota.
Application
60 horsepower low-pressure natural gas steam boiler (steam is used during the truck wash process).
Installed Unit
One HydroFLOW i45 on the water line feeds the steam boiler. Note: The system does not have a condensate return or deaeration (DA) tank.
Water Source
Well water with calcium carbonate hardness of over 200 PPM. A water softener reduces the hardness to roughly 30 PPM.
Chemicals
Water softener and BWT-250 “Complete Boiler Treatment”.
Background
Due to excessive scale accumulation, even with softening and chemical usage, the head of maintenance decided to evaluate HydroFLOW’s ability to descale the steam boiler and prevent further scale formation.
Success Factor
Gradually remove scale deposits from the steam boiler’s tubes without the need for an acid clean.
Results
- Immediately following installation the maintenance supervisor increased blow down from once to twice per day. Increasing the blow down accelerated the removal of scale deposits and helped prevent any plugging issues. Upon completion of the cleaning process, the blow down regimen will be decreased.
- Stack temperature has dropped from 296° F to 272° F in 6 months, which demonstrates an 8% increase in heat transfer efficiency. The efficiency is expected to further increase as scale continues to be removed from the system.
- The removal of scale can be greatly accelerated if the steam boiler will be fed with unsoftened water, however, the water softener was not turned off as it serves the entire truck wash system and there is no bypass for the boiler feed.
- Chemicals are yet to be reduced. Note: Following a water analysis by a HydroFLOW representative, a significant reduction in chemical usage may be achieved. See below Steam Boiler Q&A and Water Test Requirements documents for additional information.
For the full case study please click on the PDF.