White Papers

Download white papers on a variety of topics, from when to retrofit or replace your system, to implementing alternative fuel applications.  Select article reprints are also included in this section.

Alternative Fuel Applications for Gain

There are a number of innovative solutions that companies have successfully implemented to improve their energy and environmental performance. Among these solutions is the combustion of alternative fuels, such as biogas refinery fuels, hydrogen and flammable liquids, to produce usable power.  

Burner Retrofit Options to Increase Efficiency and Reduce Emissions

If your boiler/burner (package) is like more than 200,000 commercial and industrial boiler packages in operation today, then it’s more than 20 years old. Which means it’s probably only 60 to 70 percent efficient and large amounts of fuel and associated cash are simply being wasted every minute the equipment is being operated. 

Considerations for Selecting a Steam Boiler

Deciding which steam boiler to purchase is commonly determined by equipment cost. And while cost is an important consideration, this single criterion does not take into consideration a product’s operational inefficiencies, which can lead to excessive lifetime costs. Rather, equipment selection should be based on the overall performance of the equipment relative to system demand requirements and lifetime operational costs.

Designing Large Packaged Boilers

Designing large package boilers rated at over 400,000 lb/h steam production is a challenge because of shipping limitations within the U.S. and Canada. Field-erected boilers, on the other hand, are very expensive and take more time for commissioning. Minimizing field assembly time is crucial to cutting costs and shortening the construction schedule on such large projects.

Engineering the First Steam Ready Industrial Watertube Boiler

Design engineers at Cleaver-Brooks have been making modifications to its integrated watertube boiler/burner system in order to improve productivity, reduce emissions and increase energy efficiency.  Building upon its proven, high-quality design, engineers have applied advanced computational fluid dynamics and mathematical modeling to optimize and standardize the boiler system.  As a result, the industry-leading, IWT system is now available on a fast-track timeline.

EX Firetube Boiler Changed by Advances in Design Technology

Recent advancements in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and other analytical design techniques have given these engineers the ability to perform the sophisticated calculations necessary to design the next generation firetube boiler.  See how Cleaver-Brooks has changed the game in Firetube Technology.

Gas Technology: Condensing Hydronic Boilers

Condensing hydronic boilers can operate at efficiencies in the mid-90s and above. The key to these fantastic efficiencies is to have incoming feedwater at temperatures below 140° F, and to be able to either modulate the boiler or have sufficient redundancy that operating units can be held near their efficiency “sweet spot.”

How to Balance Steam Loads Efficiently

• An understanding of the load vs. efficiency relationship is a guide for better decisions about boiler operation.
• The oxygen content in turbine exhaust gases is sufficient to support the combustion needed for a downstream waste heat boiler.
• The heat recovery steam generator uses about 8% to 10% less fuel input to produce the same amount of steam as a package boiler.

Maximizing Boiler Efficiency with Hybrid Boilers

A hybrid boiler plant is defined as a hydronic heating plant combining condensing and non-condensing boilers.  This system is designed to take advantage of the best properties of both types.  Through the proper system design, control and boiler selection, we may be able to save the same amount of energy associated with a properly designed full condensing plant at a cost of one third to one half of an all condensing plant.   

Retrofit or Replace Boilers - Returning Wealth to the Business

With the current economic situation causing stress on every front from the crisis on Wall Street to the falling housing market to the failing auto industry, we in the energy conversion industry (including anybody who operates a boiler for heating or process) are also facing some tough economic times, and energy consumption is at the heart of much of it.