Optimizing steam production for industrial purposes

Among all industrial energy requirements, steam production is one of the most important elements. Managing this energy vector in an efficient way means achieve substantial economic benefits.

An example of energy optimization of an existing steam plant is the replacement of indirect steam generators. Thermal plants manufactured before the introduction of the European Directive 97/23/CE often use indirect steam generators (associated to diathermic oil) because this solution allowed to circumvent the requirement for the continuous presence of a licensed conductor. Now that this requirement is no longer needed, replacing those generators is an economically justified decision, because the indirect production has a lower efficiency rate compared to the direct one, especially if related to the performance (94%) of modern generators equipped with an exhaust gas recovery unit. In addition to a significant decrease of purchased natural gas for the same amount of produced steam, the balance of this operation can also count on less electric energy connected to the use of circulating pumps, which are necessary in case of indirect generation through diathermic oil.

RENOVIS, thanks to the recovery of the heat dispersed through exhaust gas, can also realize consumption optimizations, using the recovered thermal energy to:

• pre-heat the supply mix;
• pre-heat the make-up water;
• produce hot water for the process (technological water) or other uses.