Clayton Armstrong 2011-02-22 GSK Aranda SP - steam&condensat

STEAM AND CONDENSATE AUDIT

Project N°30275

Date: 04/02/2011

GSK MANUFACTURING Aranda, Spain

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Established by E. Morin

To the attention of Ms. Beatriz Herrero-Gonzalo

3 Optimisation project n°1: Reduce Boilers Blowdown rate

3.1 Current situation

Water impurities and chemicals concentrate (due to evaporation) in a Clayton system as in any

other steam boiler.

To avoid boiler problems, water must be periodically discharged or “blown down” from the boiler to

control the concentrations of suspended and total dissolved solids in the boiler.

The importance of boiler blowdown is often overlooked. If the blowdown rate is too high, you waste

energy (water, fuel, chemicals). If high concentrations are maintained, (too low blowdown) it may

lead to scaling, reduced efficiency, and could lead to water carryover into the steam compromising

the steam quality (wet steam).

Comparing to conventional firetubes steam boilers, Clayton Steam Generators have reduced

blowdown because of two factors:

• Steam Generator is a forced circulation boiler and can tolerate relatively high TDS levels in

the feedwater – as high as 8550 ppm (normal range is 3000-6000 ppm)

• Water that is blowndown is separator trap return water that has been concentrated in the

separator by a factor of, typically, 4 to 5.