The use of steam for industrial purposes dates back to the Industrial Revolution and, even in the wake of the fourth industrial revolution and with the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), steam boilers remain the unsung heroes of contemporary production and the ‘chameleons’ of manufacturing, as a recent blog describes them. Part 2 of a two-part series.
Myriad steam applications
Dennis Williams, Commercial Director at steam and boiler operations and maintenance service provider, Associated Energy Services (AES) explains that the use of steam is widespread across the cold chain food (cooking, heating, cleaning, sterilising), rubber (curing, setting, heating), pulp and paper (raw materials preparation, drying, setting), textiles (dye house water heating, textile setting with heat exchangers), healthcare (sterilisation, air conditioning, laundry services, cooking), mining process (heating, activated carbon regeneration), medical manufacturing (sterilisation, air conditioning and temperature control), power generation (steam turbine driving), desalination (waste heat use for evaporative water process), wood board manufacture (fibre processing, platen heating for board curing) and chemical manufacturing (various processes for heat supply, as well as direct use through injection into raw materials) sectors.
Williams notes that, in South Africa, efforts to improve local industries such as the food and textile sectors could certainly see an increased demand for steam.
He explains that there two main types of boilers: those with a fire tube design, which is essentially a cylindrical vessel containing water, with tubes passing through it that carries hot flue gas through the inside of the tubes. Heat transfers through the tubes to the body of water on the outside of the tubes, eventually creating steam. Water tube boilers contain less water volume per unit steam output, featuring upper and lower steam drums connected by boiler tubes. Water boils within the tubes, with steam rising to the top of the boiler into the steam drum.
There is also the option of a combined water tube and fire tube design.
Williams adds that optimising efficiencies and understanding a client’s current and future operational requirements are critical when selecting a boiler: “The decision needs to be robust and defensible in terms of longer-term business strategy. These assets are expensive to buy, operate and maintain – and have potentially long service lives if well maintained, so a selection error can impact on many fronts for a long time.”
The perfect partner
AES is the perfect partner in making such a decision, with many years of experience across numerous industries, operations and energy plants, equipping the company to provide the necessary on-the-ground capex, opex and other insights. After engaging with a client to understand their overall objectives, AES can provide an overview of potentially workable steam boiler alternatives – and assist in clarifying the technicalities of each.
“We can then assist with the execution of a project on a turnkey basis – or combine the turnkey project with an operations and maintenance SLA which covers a longer- term contract period (of at least three years). AES can provide a solution while being fully accountable to clients around their operational outcomes,” Williams concludes.
Source: AES