Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

Throughout our 56 years in business, 2023 emerged as a pivotal year for Nationwide Boiler. Achieving remarkable sales, a boost in employee headcount, and a record high for rental boiler inventory, we've not only surpassed expectations but have also established a new standard for excellence within our company. As we start a new year, we'd like to reflect on these achievements and a year that has rewritten the history books for Nationwide Boiler.

Originally founded as “Nationwide Boiler Rentals” in 1967, the company has grown into one of the world’s largest rental boiler suppliers. Nationwide reached a milestone with 80 employees and over 110 rental boilers, marking an all-time high in both categories. This year we also achieved our best-ever sales performance, underscoring the resilience and adaptability of our company in a dynamic market. Additionally, revenue from parts sales reached an all-time high, reinforcing Nationwide Boiler's commitment to providing quality and reliable solutions to our customers.

Another notable achievement was the design of our new "World's Largest" trailer-mounted boiler, built for a sizeable 150,000 lb/hr of saturated steam supply. The boiler will be mounted to a highway-legal trailer for ease of transport, and it is on track to be ready for service in the first quarter of the new year. And lastly, we hit a new record at our 42nd Annual Chairty Golf Tournament, raising a total of $60,000 for Make-A-Wish© Greater Bay Area and the ABMA Scholarship Fund.

We are proud of these achievements and look forward to serving our customers with Integrity, Dependability, and Real Customer Service through 2024 and beyond.

Read more about our record-breaking year, Oilon’s ULN2.5 ppm burner, freeze protection reminders, holiday party fun and so much more in the latest edition of Nationwide Boiler’s Steamlines Newsletter!

Nationwide Boiler, established in 1967, has built a strong standing reputation by offering reliable rental boilers to assist industrial companies in both scheduled outages and unforeseen emergencies.

Featuring a diverse inventory of more than 100 boilers across various U.S locations, our equipment spans in size from 50 HP to 200,000 lb/hr and includes mobile package watertube boilers, fully equipped mobile boiler rooms, and skid mounted systems. Over the years, our company has expanded our capabilities, evolving into more than just a world-class rental boiler company. We are a stocking distributor, a UL-certified control panel design and manufacturing facility, and we provide sustainable solutions such as electric boilers, hydrogen blended fuel firing capabilities, and our CataStak™ Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) System.

As our company continues to evolve, we adjust to the changing times by providing environmentally friendly alternatives within the boiler industry. This involves the utilization of SCR and ultra-low NOx burners to manage NOx emissions, along with the integration of heat pumps and alternative fuel choices for the purpose of decarbonization.

Ultra-low NOx Solutions

Our journey into sustainable solutions commenced in the 1990’s with the introduction of the CataStak SCR to the market. The CataStak is an established solution for lowering NOx and CO emissions to single-digit levels, tailored for applications with package boilers, fired heaters, gas turbines, and other fired equipment. Equipment utilizing a CataStak SCR system has yielded source test results as low as 1 ppm NOx.

Recognizing that SCR technology may not be suitable for every application demanding ultra-low NOx performance, we serve as a supplier and user providing other options like ultra-low NOx burners. Several of our mobile boiler rooms and package firetube boilers incorporate these burners to comply with emissions standards in various regions of California and Texas. Therefore, we also deliver ultra-low NOx burners for permanent requirements when the application aligns better with burner technology.

Alternative Fuels for Decarbonization

Exploring alternatives to fossil fuels offers an additional avenue for sustainable steam and energy production. These alternatives encompass hydrogen, biofuels, and electricity, preferably sourced from renewable sources.

A preferred electric approach for high-pressure steam generation involves the use of electric boilers. Leveraging electricity as a clean, efficient, and easily controllable fuel, every unit of energy input into the boiler is converted to steam with an efficiency of 99%. Numerous industrial facilities possess the required power infrastructure to support an electric boiler, rendering it an optimal zero-emissions solution. Nationwide Boiler’s in-stock electric boiler packages are available for both rental and permanent applications.

Heat pumps are also a favored option for electric heating in comfort applications and, with ongoing technological advancements, are now being applied in industrial settings. Although heat pumps may not currently produce high-pressure steam, they can contribute to industrial processes by providing heat up to 240°F. Also, a heat pump is significantly more energy-efficient, utilizing only about one-third of the energy compared to traditional electric or fossil fuel heat-generating equipment for achieving the same temperature increase.

Lastly, hydrogen and biofuels are now being utilized more frequently as an environmentally friendly alternative to the prevalent use of natural gas or fuel oil in steam boilers. Hydrogen, a proven and low-emission fuel in the boiler industry for several years, offers virtually no carbon emissions. With experience and expertise in hydrogen and biofuels, our engineering group has confirmed that Nationwide Boiler’s existing fleet of package watertube rental boilers can effectively use blended fuels containing up to 20% hydrogen, with no need for system modifications. Originally designed to accommodate natural gas firing, this adaptability is made possible by our strict rental boiler construction standards, which integrate high-quality and robust components such as valving, fuel trains, burners, and more.

Drawing from our extensive history and the collective years of industry experience, our team is dedicated to providing trustworthy temporary rental boilers, sustainable solutions for steam generation, and more, all guided by the principles of "Integrity, Dependability, and Real Customer Service."

To learn more, please explore our website or reach out to us at (800) 227-1966.

Learning and performing proper water treatment will protect your boiler system from tube damage and corrosion, and can also contribute to maximizing boiler efficiency. In this edition of Boiler Basics 101, we will discuss the consequences of improper water treatment and how to implement a proper water treatment plan.

If feedwater is not treated properly before entering the boiler, a chemical imbalance can initiate the formation of scale. Scale is the accumulation of mineral deposits, primarily calcium and magnesium, on the internal surfaces of the boiler.  These minerals have the potential to precipitate from the water and bond to surfaces, creating a layer that may result in harm to boiler tubes, reduced boiler efficiency, and potential for ruptures. Proper water treatment methods, such as the use of water softeners and deaerators, reverse osmosis, and chemical additives to condition the water, must be employed to prevent scale formation.

1. A water softener will remove the calcium and magnesium content in the boiler’s water supply. This effectively “softens” the water before it enters a boiler and removes the minerals that are often the cause of scale in a boiler.
2. A deaerator should be utilized to mechanically remove oxygen from the water before it enters the boiler. This will prevent boiler tube failure.
3. Reverse osmosis can also be used to aid your boiler. Reverse osmosis is a process that can be used in boiler water treatment to purify and condition the water by using pressure to filter out any hardness and impurities.
4. Chemical treatment is also necessary to ensure proper water conditioning alongside the mechanical treatments listed above. Typically, the chemicals used for treatment purposes are an oxygen scavenger, scale inhibitor, and an amine to treat the steam system piping.

It is important to note that from a rental perspective, it is the customer’s responsibility to maintain the water treatment conditions of their rental boiler to avoid equipment damage and additional repair charges that can result from improper water treatment procedures. It is recommended that the services of a reputable boiler chemical consultant are retained in order to supervise the water treatment conditions on a regular basis. Weekly tasks should include maintaining daily boiler logs, conducting chemical treatment tests, providing a report from the chemical treatment consultant, and sharing maintenance records with your rental boiler supplier.

All boilers are subject to damage if proper water treatment procedures are not followed. This is an important consideration both during operation and when the boiler is idle. Maintaining a water treatment plan will not just extend your boiler’s lifespan and the durability of its components, but it will also facilitate long-term cost savings. It is an investment that pays off in the form of lower energy costs, fewer repairs, reduction of costly down time, and compliance with regulations; all contributing to long-term cost savings.

Make sure to explore our earlier Boiler Basics 101 articles and keep an eye out for the upcoming edition!

Promoting a sustainable future is the focus now more than ever in the boiler industry, and Nationwide Boiler has been at the forefront of identifying and supplying reliable ultra-low NOx solutions to industry for more than three decades. Today, we can proudly state that we have achieved 5 ppm NOx performance with a recent ultra-low NOx burner/boiler package - and the outlook is bright for this ultra low NOx burner. 

With half of the state covered in forests, it is no surprise that Washington is one of the country's largest lumber and plywood producers. Exterior Wood is a leader in the industry for pressure treated wood products and is in the same business park as Nationwide Control Solutions, a division of Nationwide Boiler Inc. Facing operational issues with their existing 700 HP CB boiler, Exterior Wood consulted Nationwide Control Solutions to evaluate their system and recommend the best solution to address each of the problem areas.

The problem areas that were identified included: (1) the burner head assembly constantly getting burnt out and replaced, (2) the combustion air fan motor which was rebuilt many times without a like-in-kind replacement option, and (3) stack temperatures at low fire were so low that the stack gases would condense in the stack and rain down corrosive condensate on the boiler tubes. Plus, the boiler tuning was becoming increasingly difficult to meet their local emissions requirements due to the age and condition of the existing burner controls. After a thorough review of existing equipment, site conditions, and natural gas usage reports, we concluded that the boiler was greatly oversized and that continuing to replace and rebuild components was not a viable solution for the longevity of the system.

Based on these results, our team offered a new 250 HP Superior package firetube boiler with an Oilon LN30 ultra-low NOx burner that was capable of not just meeting but exceeding their NOx emissions requirements of 12 ppm. Upon start-up and source testing, the ultra-low NOx capabilities of the Oilon burner were proven with the impressive results of 5 ppm NOx and 0 ppm CO output. Plus, the LN30 recently completed additional testing on a boiler from Nationwide's stock inventory, with results that prove it to be a reliable 2.5 ppm option.

Built upon cutting-edge technology, this new Superior Boiler/Oilon burner package will provide Taiga / Exterior Wood with many years of low maintenance and reliable operation. And, with a commitment to sustainability and efficiency, this solution ensures future emissions compliance to help minimize environmental impact.

Check out Nationwide Boiler's recent press release for additional information. If you would like to learn more about how you can achieve ultra-low emissions requirements, contact us or call 1-800-227-1966.