HeatMatrix - Steam Boilers
Steam is made by firing fuels in a boiler. Additional heat recovered from flue gas is used to heat up water or preheat combustion air. Cold spot corrosion problems and mechanical failures limit heat recovery. Polymer economisers and air preheaters are corrosion resistant and designed for leak proof thermal expansion.
Steam boiler efficiency can be improved to >95%, by using a polymer air preheater or economiser.
Every 1% efficiency increase of your Steam boiler results in 1% CO2 emission reduction.
By recovering additional waste heat, less fuel is needed to achieve the required duty of your Steam boiler.
Steam is the most important heat source in the industry. During steam generation a lot of energy is lost via the stack. A typical Steam boiler is already equipped with an economiser to preheat boiler feed water and will have an efficiency between 88 and 92%. This means that 8 – 12% of the energy is lost via the stack.
Depending on fuel type, heat exchangers may suffer from cold spot corrosion due to relatively cold tube skin temperatures. This limits heat recovery. Enhancing further thermal efficiency is possible by installing a corrosion resistant air preheater or economiser which recovers additional heat from the flue gas. This results in extra energy savings.
Conventional heat exchangers suffer from mechanical failure due to stresses that are developed by thermal expansion. This results in leaking equipment and loss of heat recovery.
The simplest and most economical way to improve the efficiency of your Steam boiler is by applying an economiser to preheat boiler feed water. In case of flue gases with high acid dew points the stainless steel or polymer economiser of HeatMatrix can be applied. This economiser is insensitive to acid dew point corrosion and can recover energy from your flue gas under harsh conditions.
A second stage heat recovery could be air preheating with the polymer Air PreHeater. With a polymer APH the flue gas temperature can be reduced to 80 – 100 °C.