Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

Routine maintenance on your boiler is a critical component for proper and efficient boiler operation. One of the main factors to improper maintenance that can also lead to boiler failure is not understanding the concept of blowdown. In this month’s Boiler Basics 101, we will be going over what blowdown is and how it will help improve your boiler’s health.

When boiler water turns to steam, solids from the water are left behind. The blowdown process involves partially draining the boiler to remove the sludge those solids create. If these are not removed, boiler performance will be reduced and ultimately, it can lead to boiler failure.

Industrial boilers have three types of blowdown procedures:

• Low Water Cutoff
  This blowdown procedure should take place after every shift. The water column must be kept clean to ensure the water level in the gauge glass accurately represents the water level in the boiler. Regular checks on the boiler verifies that the low water cutoff is operating correctly and cleans it out.

• Bottom Blowdown
  Bottom blowdown is done by manually opening a set of two valves that drains water out of the bottom of the boiler. The purpose of the bottom blowdown activity is to clean out solids that accumulate at the bottom of a firetube boiler or in the mud drum of a watertube boiler. Solids are pushed through a blowdown separator designed to take water from the boiler during blowdown and reduce it to atmospheric pressure for disposal. During this process, steam is rapidly separated from blowdown water and vented out the top of the blowdown separator. From there, the cooled blowdown solids can be safely removed from the boiler.

• Continuous Blowdown
  The purpose of the continuous blowdown is to help control the water quality in the boiler; the more impurities and the more chemical treatment required, the greater the amount of blowdown required. It is a procedure facilitated by a pipe entering the upper section of the boiler, typically located in the steam drum of a watertube boiler or the upper steaming portion of a firetube boiler.

The continuous blowdown process is generally automated and does not require much manual interaction, like with bottom blowdown. When operating continuous blowdown, adjust the valve to maintain the recommended boiler water dissolved solids level. This helps control the dissolved solids in boilers that are operated at a steady load.

It is important to consider proper blowdown procedures to keep the water piping clean and the boiler in working condition. 

Be sure to check out our previous Boiler Basics 101 blogs and stay tuned for the next edition!

Summer is officially here, typically a season jam-packed with tradeshows and conferences for Nationwide Boiler. With effects of the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way many businesses and organizations operate, event coordinators have had to make tough decisions to either cancel, postpone, or reorganize and host their events on a virtual platform. As they say in show business, “the show must go on!”, and we are happy to announce that Nationwide Boiler is participating in two virtual tradeshow events this summer. 

This is the first year that Nationwide Boiler is participating in the Downstream Conference, originally scheduled to be in Houston this month. The show has gone virtual and we are excited to be participating in our first virtual event along with more than 50 other companies.  

Downstream will be hosting new remote virtual access Q&As, breakout sessions, workshops, and audience polls, accessible right from your computer. The tracks being offered are focused on the latest services and technology solutions that will benefit across your entire plant lifecycle. Come and join us on June 9-11 for an opportunity to connect with fellow attendees and potential new partners. And the best news yet, registration is free! Sign up today and visit all of the virtual exhibitors to be a part of this exciting new virtual tradeshow experience.

Every year, IDEA hosts an industry-wide conference that deals with topics of relevance to its members which includes general sessions, seminars, workshops, user groups and event-specific breakout groups. Although originally planned to take place in Washington DC, IDEA2020 has moved to a virtual platform.

On June 24, join IDEA members and professionals in the district energy, CHP and microgrid industries as we all come together to share experiences, explore new solutions, and learn from each other. IDEA2020 Virtual Town Hall provides the ideal space for industry leaders, energy and environmental experts and business partners from around the globe to discuss the "New Vision for District Energy".

Nationwide Boiler will be part of the virtual exhibition this year and we are ready to discuss how we can support your next project. You can view our company profile under the virtual exhibition, and be sure to join in during the live panel discussions on June 24!

The tragic events of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected many, placing people and businesses out of their normal operating procedures. Individuals typically have routines consisting of a normalized work schedule, personal or family responsibilities, and hobbies or other choice activities, in addition to the drudgery like laundry and cleaning the bathroom. All these activities fall into day to day life. Businesses have routines as well. Monday morning sales meetings, Thursday weekly training sessions, safety meetings, sales calls, purchase order acknowledgements, payroll and other various activities that make the work world turn.

What should be done during an “upset” condition?  Risk management in both our personal lives and work obligations needs to be a frequent topic. We must combine the worlds of our personal lives and our work lives because the reality of this “upset” condition impacts both.

As a rental boiler and related equipment supplier, in addition to a full-fledged engineering and procurement company, Nationwide is essential to keeping North America operating at survival capacity.  Our customers producing food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and heat for hospitals and correctional facilities need us to be ready and available to continue to operate.

We also have the fiduciary responsibility to our employees to keep them healthy. In the office we are maintaining the required distance between people. We are washing down high contact areas; employees are even working from home. In the shop, where we work on the equipment that generates steam, feedwater and emissions control, the team is twice as vigilant. Management must lead the team to help them do the job while maintaining their own health and safety. Good planning of where equipment is placed for maintenance while rerouting higher foot traffic areas for items like parts, welding machines, tools, etc. are all considerations thought through to keep the machine turning and our people safe.

So, the question, “Can a boiler rental company work from home?” is not that simple.  Yes, sales, engineering, marketing, and accounting can do much of their work outside of the building. Boiler mechanics, testers, painters, QA and safety, in addition to leadership, needs to be hands on. There are gloves on those hands and masks on those smiles, but even in Silicon Valley there is no app for that.

With the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, there has been a lot of talk about essential businesses. What is it that actually deems a business essential? In short, businesses that people rely on in everyday life are essential, while nonessential businesses are generally recreational in nature.

Many consumers may not understand the necessity of steam in everyday life, however, steam plays a major role in many industries including hospitals, food processing, refineries, and pulp and paper manufacturing. Let’s dive into exactly how steam is used in some of these processes.

Hospitals
One of the most obvious groups of essential workers right now are those in a hospital, and steam is utilized extensively in all hospital settings. There are five major uses of steam in a hospital: comfort heating, humidification of air, sterilization of surgical instruments and medical waste, laundry, and food preparation.  

Food Processing
Steam used by food processors commonly falls into two distinct categories: Clean Steam or Utility Steam. Clean Steam, also known as “sanitary” or “culinary” steam, is typically used for direct injection into a product or to clean and sterilize product contact surfaces. Utility Steam, also referred to as “plant” steam, can be used in most applications that do not involve direct contact with food products or the surfaces that the food might contact. It is often utilized to supply energy for heating, cooking, or mechanical work. 

Some other examples of where steam is typically utilized in food processing is the tomato canning process, deodorizing cocoa butter, puffing up cereal, and sanitization of yogurt cups.

Electricity Generation
Most of the electricity generated in the United States is from electric power plants that use a turbine to drive electricity generators, and many of these turbines are driven by steam. Steam turbines use high-pressure steam to rotate the blades of a turbine and create mechanical or rotational energy. As the steam turbine spins, the generator spins and creates electricity.

Pulp & Paper
Steam is used heavily in the production of paper products because energy drives the papermaking process. In fact, it is estimated nationally that steam accounts for approximately 43% of the total energy demand at a paper facility.

Most paper mills have a steam turbine to generate electricity. Steam is also used to cook wood chips and cook fibers for improved sheet strength, to evaporate moisture from pulp, to heat rotating dryer drums to dry the paper stock, and to heat chemicals for other processes. The steam from a boiler is also commonly used in other locations of the mill, like heat exchangers, steam-traced piping, and stock chests. Due to its usefulness, steam is the primary input used to evaporate moisture from a sheet, allowing for desirable and profitable sheet characteristics to be created.

Petroleum Refining
Petroleum refining is an energy-intensive process, with energy accounting for approximately 50% of refining costs. Steam is used in many ways in a refinery and is necessary to keep plants running.  Some uses include:

•   - Steam turbines for electricity generation and running pumps and compressors.
•   - Steam tracing and jacketing to keep viscous processes fluid in pipes.
•   - As a heating source to break up oils and distribute for the manufacturing of different products.
•   - As a heating source for lube oil systems for large pieces of equipment.
•   - As a heating source for reboilers.
•   - Plant cleanup.
•   - Stripper column injection to aid in stripping separation of different processes.
•   - Minor leak suppression by use of steam lances.
•   - Steam flares to aid in complete combustion of processes.

Chemical Processing
Steam also plays a large role in chemical processing and is used as both a process fluid and a utility. Common uses include process heating, power generation, atomization, cleaning and sterilization, moisturization, and humidification. Because it is so versatile, there are some major advantages to using steam in chemical processing:

• Control. By controlling the pressure of steam, you can control the temperature at which the heat is released. Having good control over the temperature is necessary in a number of chemical processes.
• Efficiency. Steam is an efficient heat source because it has a high output per mass of utility at a constant temperature.
• Safety. It is non-flammable, non-toxic, and inert to several process fluids.

Although steam is often hidden from our daily lives, it is the most effective way to transfer heat or energy and offers unique features that you just cannot duplicate with other systems. The simplicity and adaptability of steam makes it a reliable medium and first choice for many processing operations.

Nationwide Boiler takes pride in supporting many essential businesses with a reliable source of steam, whether for temporary or permanent use. As our own Walter Heussmann put it, “The heartbeat of America is driven by steam. The power industry, oil and gas, chemical, hospitals, food and beverage…. We are here to keep America going.”