Rumor has it that steam boilers are inefficient, but the reality is quite different. In fact, one of the main challenges in improving boiler efficiency is that modern steam boilers are already extremely efficient. But why is that? Our product marketing manager temperature, Stijn Verstraeten, will give you the answer. Let’s talk about steam!
The energy you put in is the energy you get out
“Steam demand is huge—it makes up about 30% of industrial energy use worldwide," says Stijn. "But making steam production more efficient isn’t easy because boilers running on natural gas or diesel are already about 90% efficient. There’s not much room for improvement, but it’s not impossible. By adding an economizer, we can boost efficiency to 95%. So, in a way, almost all the energy you put into a steam boiler is what you get out of it”.
To electrify steam boilers or not to electrify?
The short answer is it depends on the location. If you compare the electrical steam boilers with natural gas or diesel ones, the efficiency gain is relatively minimal. Using natural gas to produce heat is generally more efficient than converting natural gas into electricity and then back into heat, as many countries rely on natural gas for electricity generation or even less efficient sources.
If natural gas is used for generating electricity, you need a natural gas power station, turbine and grid where the power is transferred from to the electric boilers. You reach an efficiency of approximately 85%. This process is not more efficient than locally generating heat directly with natural gas. Of course, in some countries where they use nuclear energy for example, using electric boilers do have a significant impact on the CO2 emissions. The challenge here is the huge install capacity of electrical power and therefore not always easy to get the connection to the point of use.
As the energy transition takes place, fossil fuels will remain part of the process. It is our responsibility to use them in the most efficient way. In the meantime, all boilers of Atlas Copco Specialty Rental also work with HVO and even a mix from HVO with diesel is possible. On that note, our new models have the possibility to run on a 25% mix of hydrogen with natural gas and in the future, we can modify them to 100%.
What’s next?
“With Atlas Copco Specialty Rental we want to provide steam with the least amount of CO2 emissions possible. Adding economizers should not be an option anymore.”, according to Stijn. “It should become a no brainer to have steam boilers with integrated economizers. Every customer using a fossil fuel boiler will enjoy the benefit of 5% CO2 emission reduction and 5% fuel saving costs.”
Want to know more? Listen to our podcast for all the details!
