Control valves help boilers save money
A
Spirax Sarco product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 22, 2002
Spirax Sarco stainless-steel control valves are at the heart of an ingenious money saving system that enables boilers to run on tallow instead of fuel oil.
Spirax Sarco stainless-steel control valves are at the heart of an ingenious money saving system that enables boilers to run on tallow instead of fuel oil.
Andy Gibson of A and L Gibson, an engineering company in Northern Ireland, has devised an innovative manifold that enables this sticky alternative fuel to be used and says that one client in the meat processing industry is saving around GBP 700 every week, while another is saving up to GBP 3000 in 24 hours, simply by substituting tallow when it is available.
The change from fuel oil can be made at the flick of a switch.
Each manifold is a drilled stainless-steel block.
An immersion heater stops the tallow solidifying and a pump keeps it circulating at all times.
Oil burner regulations require two valves to provide a double-safe shut off to the burner.
Gibson uses two Spirax Sarco piston-actuated PF61G valves, each of which is controlled in turn by a compact, electrically actuated Spirax Sarco control valve.
The piston valves are stainless steel to withstand the corrosive tallow.
They also have a high linear lift when open, which should prevent any solids getting stuck.
"If I used quarter-turn ball valves, they would hold sticky stuff in the middle section", says Gibson.
"No solids get trapped in the Spirax Sarco valves.
They also have a soft PTFE seat, so any particles that do adhere will release next time the valve opens".
The pneumatic actuation of the valves also saves space.
"These installations tend to be retrofits and space can be tight.
A solenoid would be as big as the valve itself", says Gibson.
He adds that the piston-actuated valves make it easy to see directly whether they are open or shut, adding an extra degree of safety.
Tallow is a fatty byproduct of meat processing.
A large part of its potential market has disappeared in the wake of the BSE crisis, so what was once a saleable commodity has become a waste product.
In some ways tallow is a very good substitute for fuel oil.
Its calorific value is similar and it can be ignited in the same way using a pilot flame.
It is also very low in sulphur compared to conventional fuel oil.
However, tallow is sticky and corrosive and must be kept warm.
"If the tallow goes cold it sets like margarine", says Gibson.
In addition to the high quality of the valves themselves, the service offered by Spirax Sarco has been instrumental in Gibson's decision to use the company's products.
"The valves arrive within two days of being ordered and the service is very good", he says.
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