For you one pipe steam folks....Boilerpro

DaveGateway

Looks great. Beautiful project.

Please explain the configuration of piping on the right. False water line?



Also, not at all criticism, are you comfortable with copper equalizer pipes?

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=290&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

Boilerpro_3

Preliminary results

Some system particulars:

1254 EDR installed, about 1100 in use. Building loss about 250,000 btu/hr, Insulated piping, 3 mains.

Newly installed 380,000 input Slantfin Caravan (950 Edr) (worked with Noel on this), Mains vented with big Gortons( about twice the needed venting according to Steamhead's standards. Boilers staged with Honeywell T841E 2 stage thermostat. Second stage boiler is fired at cycle start up until aquastat on end of slowest to heat main is satisfied and then stages off. I haven't yet done any balancing with rad vents, however, the apartment farthest from the boiler was typically cold with the old boiler, so the owner installed some adjustable vents there prior to the new installation.

Apartments all appear to be heating evenly, no complaints from one store on the lower level. The only thing the owner has noticed is that the rads on the end of the main in a second first floor store are not getting hot, while others in the space do.

It appears that stage firing a somewhat undersized steamer may work, contrary to the current industry belief, if the system is balanced. We've had design day weather, and days in the forties, and things seem to be going well.

I am keeping a close watch on this one to see how things go and will provide some more info after the winter is over.

I expect to be back to add adjustable vents to all the rads, and remove some, once the owner insulates the uninsulated attic above the second floor apartments.

Boilerpro

Unknown

Way cool

John, that's a place to mount the pump controller and a manual reset LWCO to stop all of the boilers in a bank.

Noel

Christian Egli

Two boilers are nicer to look at than one

Is the water level out of control when one boiler is off and not the other? Does it go up, down, or stay exactly in line with the on boiler?

Are both boilers the same size or is the pick up boiler sized for the pick up factor? (I guess like a 30% and 70% combination)

It looks like a great design and a great installation. Thanks for showing your stuff.

Weezbo

sorry..

i was sitting there meditating on the perfect grade and exceptional workmanship.....it speaks for itself.tear the rest of the building down LEAVE THAT ALONE.maybe3 they should mow down the entire block..."explicit steam".is my title for this work.

Boilerpro_3

Copper Equalizers

I really don't see any potential problems with them since there is little potential for water hammer when the piping is set up properly. There is no steam moving through the pipe and it is so short that the extra expansion in length versus using steel is negligible.

Seeing copper equalizers used by the really good steam installers at this site, who have been at this far longer than I, gives me additional confidence in using them.

They sure do make it easier to get your Hartford loop and other connections, like the extra taps on this install, right on.

Boilerpro

Boilerpro_3

Water levels and sizing

> Is the water level out of control when one boiler

> is off and not the other? Does it go up, down, or

> stay exactly in line with the on boiler?

>

> Are

> both boilers the same size or is the pick up

> boiler sized for the pick up factor? (I guess

> like a 30% and 70% combination)

>

> It looks like

> a great design and a great installation. Thanks

> for showing your stuff.

gerry gill

sweet..nice job

and you got to work on it with Noel..i'm envious..

Boilerpro_3

Water levels and sizing

I found the water levels to track quite well across the boilers with the water level in the boilers near the fadtory water line, weather one or both were firing. Right now the water line runs a bit high and is closer to the steam outlet, so it is much less stable because carry over is occurring. I plan on tighening up the spacing on the water feed control and move it down an inch to help eliminate or reduce this carry over to stabilize the water line.

The two boilers are the same size. Part of this is because Slantfin has not yet tried different sizes of boilers together and I was already moving well beyond typical installation practices with the installation. Also, I sized the boilers much more along the lines of hot water boilers, sizing to heat loss rather than connected radiation. I wanted the lead boiler to be firing nearly continously on a typical winter day (about 50% of design heat loss load), and then use the lag boiler for extra capacity in really cold weather and to give the system a bunch of extra steam to help get the cold piping warmed up on the start of a heating call (hence the use of the aquastat on the end of a steam main).
However, I also realize you need some extra btu's to keep that piping system hot, so a pick up load was added to the heat loss numbers. Fortunately, the piping system is insulated, so the loss from the piping is not very large, so not too many btu's are needed here.
Also, I try to make sure that if one boiler goes down, the other can still provide freeze protection (45F indoor)for the structure in most, if not all winter weather.
When you put this all together, for structures that are maintained constantly at 70F throughout the winter, I tend to find two equally sized boilers fit the bill well. If you get into churches, commercial sructures, with extensive temperature setbacks, this all changes.

While watching the system operate, I beleive it probably emulates a coal fired boiler operation quite well, especially for typical winter weather. On a cold start, a big fire is provided to get the steam out into the system (both boilers firing). Once steam is up (aquastat senses steam at end of main), the fire is banked to stabilize the heat output at whatever rate is needed to keep the building warm (single boiler operation). Like a coal fired system (at least as I picture it), the piping system almost never goes cold because the steam is almost always on. By matching the lead boiler output to the typical winter day load, I expect to see this same operation most of the heating season. This should really cut down of the thermal stress on the piping and radiators that is seen with all on, all off steam operation. It also should eliminate most corrosion in the system piping, since air is rarely brought into the piping.
Also, since the steam is nearly always on, the speed at which steam makes it to the end of the mains is not as critical, because the heating cycles are inherently quite long, greatly reducing the impact of this factor on system balance.

I think I am really going to like this way of doing bigger steam heating plants, even for single zone one pipe systems.
I am going to keep tabs on this one.

Boilerpro

Boilerpro_3

Yeh,....

that was one of the good parts. I've been wanting to work with him for quite a while.
He also introduced me to Larry at Slantfin. Noel, the steam guru, considers him a greater guru. I guess that makes Larry a Guru of gurus!
I expect to be doing more of these installs in the future!

Boilerpro