A water level sensor fail on a steam boiler is extremely dangerous. The low water cut of should be tested daily. If the sensor fails the boiler could turn all the water into steam, leaving the boiler dry. Without water in the boiler the flame from the burner would heat up the heating surface to extreme temperatures and would crack and damage the inside of the boiler. But that’s not the dangerous part. If water added to boiler while it is extremely hot. Once water touches the extremely hot heating service, water would immediately start to evaporate into steam. When water evaporates it expands 18x it’s original size. The boiler would explode from the sudden increase in pressure from the inside. Some in some cases, boilers that have exploded out of a building and have landed 100s of feet away.
Missing insulation reduces the system’s efficiency. Insulation helps hold heat in the system, and when the heat can dissipate, more fuel is needed to maintain proper temperature and pressure.
Since missing insulation may not be visible, the best way to detect it is with a thermal imager. If you don’t have a thermal imager as a part of your building’s operations, a plumber or other professional likely will carry one. If your energy costs have increased without a rise in the amount you use the boiler, suspect missing insulation and call to have the system inspected with a thermal imager.
Normally a boiler is provided with two independent sensors for emergency low water level burner cut-outs. So this would never happen. However, if it does, don't take any chances! Shut off the burners immediately!
Before you start raising the level in the boiler you have to find out if any part of the furnace walls has been overheated. If you raise the level over a glowing steel-wall then the boiler might produce more steam than the safety valves can handle and a nasty explosion would be the result.
Compared with the price of a traditional coal-fired boiler, the operation cost of a gas-fired boiler is relatively high. So, users need to consider the price and quality before purchasing a boiler. For a gas-fired boiler, the energy-saving performance is more important than the boiler price. One year is enough for a gas-fired boiler with good energy-saving performance to save the extra costs of the boiler proper. And, the gas consumption is an important indicator to measure the energy-saving performance of a boiler.
A process load is usually a high-pressure steam load. A process load pertains to manufacturing operations, where heat from steam or hot water is used in the process. A process load is further defined as either continuous or batch. In a continuous load, the demand is fairly constant - such as in a heating load. The batch load is characterized by short-term demands. The batch load is a key issue when selecting equipment, because a batch-type process load can have a very large instantaneous demand that can be several times larger than the rating of the boiler. For example, based on its size, a heating coil can consume a large amount of steam simply to fill and pressurize the coil. When designing a boiler room for a process load with instantaneous demand, a more careful boiler selection process should take place.
Loads vary, and a power plant must be capable of handling the minimum load, the maximum load, and any load variations. Boiler selection is often dictated by the variation in load demand, rather than by the total quantity of steam or hot water required. There are three basic types of load variations: seasonal, daily, and instantaneous.
System load is measured in either BTUs or tons of steam (at a specific pressure and temperature). It would be nearly impossible to size and select a boiler(s) without knowing the system load requirements. Knowing the requirements leads to the following information:
The boiler(s) capacity, taken from the maximum system load requirement.
The boiler(s) turndown, taken from the minimum system load requirement.
Conditions for maximum efficiency, taken from the average system load requirement.
Determining the total system load requires an understanding of the type(s) of load in the system. There are three types of loads: heating, process, and combination.
Stack temperature is the temperature of the combustion gases (dry and water vapor) leaving the boiler. A well-designed boiler removes as much heat as possible from the combustion gases. Thus, lower stack temperature represents more effective heat transfer and lower heat loss up the stack. The stack temperature reflects the energy that did not transfer from the fuel to steam or hot water. Stack temperature is a visible indicator of boiler efficiency. Any time efficiency is guaranteed, predicted stack temperatures should be verified.
Stack loss is a measure of the amount of heat carried away by dry flue gases (unused heat) and the moisture loss (product of combustion), based on the fuel analysis of the specific fuel being used, moisture in the combustion air, etc.
