BOILER EFFICIENCY –WHAT IS IT? Constantly rising fuel prices, a depressed market and increasingly stringent pollution norms are urging all of us in utility management to take a closer look at the operating efficiency of our equipment. Modern steam boilers, while more efficient in design than older boilers, are also surprisingly difficult to operate at optimal efficiencies. The reasons for this are many - a fiercely competitive (and therefore price oriented) boiler manufacturing sector, our hesitation in working with instrumentation and the inherently complex process of combustion are just a few. In addition, the design of modern boilers has also placed certain special demands on operating parameters. Almost all-utility managers have a fair idea of their effici ency, because they know how much fuel is consumed, and roughly how much steam they generate. However, the actual amount of steam generated can vary substantially from the “guess”, and the utilisation of the steam is another area where wastage can occur. If we are to increase the efficiency of our boilers, knowing exactly what‟s happening is crucial. The basic requirement for improvement is to know exactly where we are today, where we want to be, and a plan for how to get there. INDIRECT EFFICIENCY CALCULATION & BS845 The method most standards (including IS8753, BS845 etc.) follow is the indirect efficiency calculation method. In this method, each loss is individually calculated, and the sum of these losses is then subtracted from 100 to give efficiency %.
