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condensate dumping

Ken_40
Ken_40 Member Posts: 1,320
in THE MAIN WALL
How much does it cost to replace all the boiler tubes, the tube sheets and near boiler piping?

Unless you are Con-Ed/KeySpan, no one can afford to just "dump" the condensate.

The boiler insurer may also have a comment or two. They hate it when clients intentionally compromise the entire heating system by knowingly abusing it...

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Comments

  • stu gotz
    stu gotz Member Posts: 2
    condensate dumping

    I have a client with a large manufacturing complex. They have a power plant producing high pressure steam. One of the farthest buildings on caampus has had severe condensate leaks. It will be more cost effective to dump the condensate than to repair the lines. Any advice as to what to look for in sizing/using a HX to preheat the building's heating needs instead of just dumping it? Thanks.
  • Brad White
    Brad White Member Posts: 2,399
    Somewhere

    an engineer weeps...

    I can understand the shorter term imperative regarding "dump versus return" and this is commonly done in district steam systems (and where there are an abundance of customers to share infrastructure repair costs). But when you own the system, the degradation of raw feed water will take it's toll on boilers and other parts. The upside is that with HPS, you probably have a very good deaerator, surge tanks and other means of good pre-treatment of the boiler feedwater.

    Lecture over.

    Firstly, I would get a handle on your heating needs and compare that to the available reliable volume.

    Secondly, I would get a handle on the maximum volume of condensate on an hourly if not daily basis. Compare this to the load and you can get an idea what kind of surge or storage tank you need.

    Load versus Source is the basis.

    If the amount of condensate is less than the heating load, I would direct it to domestic HW pre-heating (summer benefit at least if a year-round process load is available). You get what you get when it is available.

    If the available condensate exceeds the heating demand (including DHW production), you should prepare to store it and recirculate back to the tank over time. Many variables.

    Keep in mind that eventually you will have to dump the condensate and this may well require cool-down to 130F or less, or as dictated by your local plumbing code as you know.

    Typically, plate and frame exchangers are used to allow narrow approach temperatures and maximize heat extraction.

    Many more facets to look at. These are just a couple.

    Brad
    "If you do not know the answer, say, "I do not know the answer", and you will be correct!"



    -Ernie White, my Dad
  • Joe Billow_6
    Joe Billow_6 Member Posts: 69


    I have seen where boilers save huge on chemicals just by fixing cond. leaks. I can not imagine that the re-pipe cost is even close to what your chemical and softener costs would be in five years of dumping cond. I saw a plant that used the live steam to process with and only returned about 40% and even with a dedicated man to check chemicals and make-up the internals still looked bad.
  • stu gotz
    stu gotz Member Posts: 2


    Thanks for the input. The condensate pumps go off every 15 minutes like Old Faithful all day everyday. It's a lab building that has constant volume reheat for all of the labs so I was going to preheat that water. I will probably still use city water backup for cooldown after a plate-and-frame operating on a solenoid just in case.
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