White Papers

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. […]

Choosing the Right Flow Meter – Vortex

-Robert Roda, Danbury, CT When it comes to choosing a flow meter engineers are spoiled with choices, making selection of the appropriate meter a daunting task simply due to the sheer number of possible types of measurement devices: differential-pressure, thermal mass, turbine, and vortex meters being among the most common. Vortex meters, however, offer some unique advantages and […]

Modbus RTU verses Modbus TCP/IP: What’s the Difference?

-Robert Frohock, Danbury, CT See also: “I know what Modbus is, but what is BACnet?” Modbus Protocol is a messaging structure developed by Modicon. It is used to establish master-slave/client-server communication between devices. Modbus has a lot of protocol options. But the two used most are Modbus RTU (Remote Terminal Unit), serial (RS-232 or RS-485) protocol or Modbus […]

Boiler System 101: The Advantages of Full System Integration

Danbury, CT – A boiler system functions as a critical component to the continuous operation of a facility.  It is important to maintain safe, reliable, and efficient operation while minimizing any downtime of the boiler system to prevent disruption of operation and significant loss. A boiler system consists of many sub-systems working in harmony – the boiler, the burner and its controls, boiler […]

Automatic, Variable Ratio, Firing of a Blend of “Free” and Purchased Fuels

-Peter Lavelle, Danbury CT “Free” fuels are available from many processes: Digester Gas from wastewater treatment plants, Bio-Gas from agricultural and food processing plant waste, Hydrogen from chemical plants, Off-Gases from a Refinery, etc. The Challenge Firing these “free” fuels in a boiler, process heater, or engine-generator significantly reduces operating costs and can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. […]

Five Considerations for Pumping and Storing Liquid Biofuels

-Dan Wallace, Danbury, CT Why do you need to know about biofuel handling? End users, governments, and private enterprises are looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions while minimizing capital equipment costs, and the equipment impacted ranges from backup diesel generators to industrial boilers. While the customer needs for this fuel are becoming more pronounced, third party testing […]

Watchdog Circuits in Burner Management

-Howard Wells, Preferred Utilities, Danbury, CT Introduction Have you ever seen a PLC-based burner management system and wondered “Why are the inputs turning on and off every few seconds?” This “flashing” of the inputs is a type of error checking for the PLC discrete input channels and is required by NFPA 85 for all non-SIL3 rated PLC-based burner […]