When it comes to flow control in ducting systems, choosing the right damper design is crucial. Two common options are the opposed blade damper and the single blade butterfly damper. Here’s an explanation of the technical benefits offered by an opposed blade damper compared to a single blade butterfly damper: Improved Control Range: Opposed Blade Damper: The opposed blade damper design features multiple blades that move in opposite directions, […]
Technical Summary: Influence of Chemical Kinetics and Turbulence on Combustion Emissions
Dan Wallace Chemical kinetics and turbulence play critical roles in the formation and control of combustion emissions. Understanding their influence is essential for optimizing combustion processes and minimizing harmful pollutants. Here is a technical summary of how chemical kinetics and turbulence affect combustion emissions: Chemical Kinetics: Chemical kinetics refers to the study of chemical reactions and their rates. […]
Fuel System Controller for Data Centers & Fuel Systems
Brandt Boulden For Data Centers and Mission Critical Facilities with large Fuel Systems, the Preferred Fuel System Controller (FSC) offers flexibility, redundancy, and ease of monitoring. The FSC is a state-of-the-art fuel management system that has been designed to provide a simple and efficient way to manage fuel storage and delivery for industrial and commercial facilities. This advanced […]
What – and why – you need to know about liquid biofuels
Article as seen in District Energy Fall 2022 Gustavo Sanclemente As end users look to reduce carbon emissions while minimizing capital equipment and operating costs, some are considering biofuels. While demand for this fuel is becoming more pronounced, third-party testing agencies, government regulatory bodies and even manufacturers are rushing to catch up to customer requirements and market needs. […]
Plant Engineering Series: Boiler Room Demystified
Easy to reference on any project, the Boiler Room Demystified is the first in our Plant Engineering Series. Get useful tips and rules of thumb from calculating efficiency to finding correct boiler sizing for your application! Contact Us for your own printed copy! SEE ALSO: Fuel Oil Systems Demystified
The Three T’s of Combustion
Most of us benefit from some sort of combustion every day. Whether for the release of heat or the expansion of gas to perform work, this special category of oxidation is probably the most widely-used chemical reaction in our daily lives. Like most chemical reactions, there are parameters that need to be present not only for the reaction to take […]
Pressure Atomization vs. Air Atomization
While many boiler rooms and power plants have been swapping out old coal and oil-fired burners/boilers for natural gas and bio-fuels, there still will always be the need for oil burners/boilers in the world. With this need, come the multiple options of how to burn the oil. While there are many different variations, the two main methods of […]
Return pumps: Not just for returning fuel
Are there any fuel oil handling systems that don’t need return pumps? Are there any advantages to not having return pumps? While it is true that I have worked on system designs and executions that have not included return pumps, my general answer is “no,” there are not any advantages. And there are many different functional reasons why, […]
Combustion Theory – Efficiency
Understanding Combustion Efficiency The efficiency of a burner-boiler combination is simply the amount of useful energy leaving the system expressed as a percentage of the chemical energy in the fuel entering the system. Why should I care about efficiency? Accounting for the loss of useful energy is an important step in evaluating overall cost. For instance, a change in […]
Combustion Theory: Variables
Accounting for variations in oxygen and fuel For any burner-boiler combination, there is an ideal “minimum excess air” level for each firing rate over the turn-down range. Usually, burners require much higher levels of excess air when operating near their minimum firing rates than they do at “high fire.” More serious factors than dirty fan wheels and dampers […]