Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

Nationwide Boiler's rental fleet consists of many boilers in a variety of steam output capacities and design pressures. Some boilers in  our rental fleet remain rental units throughout their useful life, while others find permanent homes through used boiler sales. One unit in particular has seen the best of both worlds. 

This 70,000 lb/hr trailer-mounted package watertube boiler was originally manufacutred in 1997 and was an active part of our rental fleet for roughly 14 years. In 2011 it was purchased by one of Nationwide Boiler’s valued customers in Newark, CA, less than 5 miles from our headquarters in Fremont. In addition to the boiler package itself, we supplied our CataStak™ SCR system for sub 5 ppm NOx emissions and removed the boiler from the trailer for permanent installation within their facility.

Nationwide Boiler is pleased to announce that we recently secured our largest rental project in our fifty one year history! This long-term rental includes three (3) 200,000 lb/hr, 750 psi / 750F superheated steam, skid-mounted package Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers. We are also supplying a plant master work station and one (1) deaerator with pumps for the duration of the rental. The equipment will support the start-up of Saudi-Aramco's 106-square-kilometer refinery and terminal in Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

The first boiler was loaded at the Port of Houston over this past weekend, beginning a six week journey to the Port of Jizan. The other two boilers, along with additional equipment, will be coordinated in a phased shipment process.

Take a look at the time lapse video below to see the first boiler being loaded on the ship, and read our press release for additional details on this major rental project.

Great job to all involved and we look forward to a successful project!

The price of fuel is constantly fluctuating and with it comes creative ways to be more economical. Finding methods to be more energy efficient is never a waste of time. In the boiler room, efficiency improvements can be found by many sources, however, a common option for energy savings includes the use of an economizer. What is an economizer? The economizer is a fabricated assembly of finned tubing that captures waste heat extracted from the boiler’s stack flue gases; the exhaust that leaves the boiler stack (or “flue”).

It’s all about the principle of Heat Transfer. While low temperature water, or feedwater, enters a boiler system, high temperature flue gas exits. An economizer captures heat from the flue gas that would typically go to waste, and utilizes it to preheat the feedwater. By doing this, an economizer is able to increase thermal efficiency by decreasing the energy required to heat the water to steam. This will typically result in a reduction of 1% in fuel cost per 10 degree rise in feedwater temperature. Overall, an economizer can be a major cost savings for boiler owners and will easily provide a quick return on investment.

The economizers’ simple technology and static parts provide longevity and low maintenance, and they are available in multiple designs and configurations. Conventional economizers are cylindrical or rectangular and come in a range of sizes for both firetube and watertube boilers. Rectangular designs are more commonly used for larger industrial watertube boilers, and can be configured for vertical or horizontal gas flows, finned or bare tube design, and other additional options if needed. A condensing economizer can improve waste heat recovery even further by cooling the flue gas below its dew point, reclaiming both sensible heat from the flue gas and latent heat by condensing the flue gas water vapor.

When determining whether an economizer is ideal for your boiler equipment, the location of the economizer into stack is important. To ensure the most thermal recovery during the process, you need to make sure the economizer is installed as close to the furnace breach as possible. This will help avoid thermal loss and cooling.

At Nationwide Boiler, we offer our EconoStak economizer as an optional addition (or a standard addition in some cases) on our fleet of watertube rental boilers. The EconoStak consists of the economizer as well as all of the associated piping and structural supports required for very efficient and safe operation. In addition, we are a West Coast representative for E-Tech Heat Recovery Systems, a leading provider of economizers for new, replacement, and retrofit applications.

Contact Nationwide Boiler today to see if an economizer is the right option for you, and be sure to check out our previous Boiler Basics 101 blogs. We review various topics each month, so stay tuned for the next edition!