Rules of the Game

Now that the introductory blog #1 is a thing of the past, it is time to get down to the work of informing while at the same time trying to be interesting.  So while I try to figure out what this blog should be, I will let you know what it’s not.

First, it’s not going to be political.  I am told that my political beliefs are vastly different and certainly inferior to everyone else’s.  So you won’t see any of my opinions whether they come from left field or from right field.  Matters that are political such as emissions, efficiency standards, global warming and the like will be dealt with factually and only as they apply to our business and the effects they have on us.  Furthermore, so that I don’t alienate readers, I intend to offer both sides of these issues if available.

Second, I’m a golfer so I foreswear to lay off any metaphors about sports in general and golf in particular.  For any blogger, this should be par for the course.

Third, though I am happily employed at E-Tech, this blog will not be one constant advertising blurb.  The idea here is to serve an audience of people interested in our field without forcing a steady diet of marketing mush.  On the other hand, don’t expect links to my competitors either!

Fourth, I realize that everyone has very little time these days because we are all busy with the work at hand.  So don’t worry about seeing this blog updated with new information to the point of tedium.  Right now, I’ll shoot for a frequency of semi-monthly or better. 

Finally, since I hope to entertain dialogue on issues so that all topics may be aired, discussed and answered, I will try to stay out of conversations unless they’re directed straight at me.  I only ask that you follow generally along with rule one: let us avoid politics ruling our discussions.  No yelling and screaming (or should I say, “NO YELLING AND SCREAMING”).

And lest I forget the purpose of this blog being to inform, in our haste to emphasize fuel savings in terms of dollars, there is always an associated benefit for the environment when we burn less fuel.  Here’s an example of that.

Pollutants avoided by energy recovery

Pounds of	Per kwh of electricity	Per MM/btus of Natural Gas	Per MM/Btus of Coal	Per MM/Btus of #6 oil (1% Sulfur)
CO2	1.48	115	200	170
SO2	0.016	0.0005	2.67	0.95
NOx	0.007	0.39	1.12	0.48

6 to 10 trees would have to be planted to offset each ton of CO2 saved.

As I look for any way to escape from this miserable heat Oklahoma (and other areas of the Midwest are experiencing), I leave you with a bit of wisdom, something I hope to impart with each post I do.

The purest treasure mortal times can afford is a spotless reputation. -William Shakespeare

How Do I Measure Efficiency

How Do We Measure Efficiency?

As you read this I will be on the briny sailing from New York City.  Having grown up around this wonderful city and taken for granted the Statue of Liberty so many times (I visited the monument only once in all those years), I have always wanted to sail past the Statue on my way somewhere and that time has finally arrived.  I’ll glance out at this wonderful symbol of America’s freedom with a deep respect for all those who have preceded me.

When I first got into this business lo these many years ago, boilers were not as efficient as they are now.  To add to that, there were still many boilers firing coal and heavy oils and because of the high sulfur contents of these fuels, flue gas exit temperatures from an economizer were relatively limited.  The old literature I remember when I first started spoke of efficiency gains from 5-8%.  Using the old rule of thumb that each 40 degree drop in exit gas temperature equaled one percent gain in efficiency you can see that boiler exhaust temperatures were quite hot back then.  Now we look more at 3-5% gains, this despite the fact that the predominant fuel being fired on package boilers is now clean-burning natural gas.

With the advent of natural gas also came the ability to squeeze out additional heat recovery through grabbing extra BTU’s available with condensing economizers.  For more detail see the following link: Condensing Economizer White Paper

 This was particularly true in the middle of the last decade when gas prices shot up to $14.00/dekatherm and higher.  With the vagaries of heat transfer, as latent heat is recovered, the rule of thumb of a 40 degree drop in gas temperature being equivalent to one percent efficiency gain goes away.  Jamie Tighe put together for me the following graph that illustrates this better than I can write it.

Note that as the gas temperature goes down from 300 to 135 degrees F., the slope of the curve is consistent but at approximately 135 degrees F., the water dew point is reached and true condensation occurs and the curve flattens out.

I do hope this is helpful to all of you.

And finally, my saying for this blog is vacation related:

We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.  ~Erma Bombeck