Kimberly Hospital opts for Cleaner, more reliable and cheaper coal-fired boilers.
After years of extensive research on coal-fired boilers vs electrical equipment Kimberly Hospital has signed a contract with John Thompson for new “Europac” coal-fired boilers fitted with the newly developed “Micropac” boiler controls.
More then a decade ago there was a strong drive to move to electric boilers to generate steam in the general industry. At the time there was a surplus of electrical power and a misconception was created that electrical energy was cheaper and cleaner. Times have changed. We have faced some serious shortages of electrical power and the emphasis now is to save electricity where-ever we can. The cost of electricity has increased drastically over the last few years and what the cost of electricity will be in the next few years is anybody’s guess.
When an industrial user requires process steam an efficient coal fired boiler unit should be considered instead of an electric boiler. The reasons behind this are explained here further. Most of South Africa’s electric power generation, about 85 %, comes from coal fired power stations. Typical efficiencies of coal fired power stations are around 30%. Thermal efficiencies of modern coal fired boiler units are in excess of 85%.
Typical 10 t/h coal-fired boiler installation
In practice this means that a coal fired power station requires about 3000 kg of coal to produce 10 ton of steam while an efficient packaged boiler unit requires about 1000 kg of coal to produce the same amount of steam.
The use of PLC controlled combustion systems on coal fired packaged boilers further reduces the amount of fuel burnt per ton of steam generated. The proposed new air quality act as gazetted by the department of environmental affairs in July 2009 requires a serious reduction in pollution that can have a detrimental effect on the environment, social conditions, economic conditions and ecological conditions. Having a nation wide reduction in coal combustion of a ratio of at least 3 to 1 by using dedicated coal fired boiler units instead of electrically powered boilers will go a long way towards these targets.
Apart from the obvious Carbon emission implications the cost of running an installation becomes critical (energy costs is about 3,7 times more for electricity on a R/GJ basis). In addition, the government National Energy Efficiency Strategy as gazetted in June 2009 aims for a final energy demand reduction of 12% by 2015. Dedicated coal to steam energy production can reduce the energy required by up to 68% compared with electricity based heat energy.
In view of all the above, when heat is required, it is better to use efficient modern coal fired boiler units and avoid electric energy sources at all cost.
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