Hybrid Boiler Plants w/ Jim Devlin
HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs
Bryan Orr
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2019
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jim Devlin from Weil-McLain joins us to talk about high-efficiency and cast-iron boilers. He also explains how to use them together in a "hybrid" configuration to serve your customers.
Cast-iron boilers are standard-efficiency boilers. These boilers are "standard-efficiency" because they have higher return water temperatures; you typically measure about 330 degrees in the flue. Conversely, high-efficiency boilers have much lower return water temperatures, only around 180-190 degrees in the flue. The goal of a high-efficiency boiler is to get more BTUs out of the fuel, so your flue gases will be cooler. However, the standard boiler can be better for thermal transfer and gives us more leeway for our flue temperatures.
Hybrid boiler plants aim to eliminate inefficiencies by using cast-iron and high-efficiency boilers together. These hybrid configurations usually exist in older constructions, but you also see them in new constructions with dual-fuel burner systems or where high-efficiency boilers won't have a good value on their own. You will often see a greater ROI on systems that use cast-iron and high-efficiency boilers together than on systems with multiple high-efficiency boilers. Hybrid configurations usually set up dissimilar boilers in series with a primary-secondary loop. The controls usually use sensors and 1-10v DC output signals, so these controls can modulate the burners.
Many people make mistakes when piping these boilers; they don't understand the parallel positioning of the tees. When installers make these mistakes, the boilers lose efficiency. Jim recommends drawing out the piping to avoid making those errors.
Jim and Bryan also discuss:
- Sulfuric acid and condensate
- Boiler metals
- Dual-fuel burner systems
- Boiler controls
- Hybrid vs. Combi-boilers
- Comparing utility reports and checking ROI
- Energy savings on cast-iron boilers
- Heat exchangers
- Future geothermal and solar hybrid systems
Visit weil-mclain.com to learn more.
Learn more about Refrigeration Technologies HERE.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | and This episode of the HVAC School Podcast is made possible by our sponsors. |
| 0:19.5 | I think you've caught on. |
| 0:20.7 | I think you've caught on that the HVAC School Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors but we gotta thank |
| 0:25.2 | them. So big thanks to carrier carrier.com also thank you to speed clean. |
| 0:31.8 | speed clean.com. |
| 0:33.3 | I actually went up and visited Speed Clean up in Connecticut. |
| 0:36.4 | They are really a first class operation. |
| 0:38.6 | I was really impressed by what they've got going on up there. |
| 0:41.7 | And I got to take a look at their assembly line for coil shot which is the best solution for cleaning |
| 0:47.8 | Coils in places that it's tough to get water or maybe even electricity battery powered |
| 0:51.8 | It has a water reservoir and a chemical reservoir |
| 0:54.7 | all right on the coil shot. |
| 0:56.4 | Great product. |
| 0:57.0 | You can find out more by going to speedclean.com. |
| 1:00.0 | I also want to thank Field Piece. |
| 1:01.7 | You know they just came out with their SM 380V wireless |
| 1:06.0 | three-port S-Manifold. It really is a nice feeling device. I checked it out when I was at the AHR show and I really like it. |
| 1:15.7 | It's a well put together manifold and one thing I really like about it is it works with their |
| 1:21.3 | job link probes. So if you don't want to use the |
| 1:23.9 | corded probes you can use the job link rapid rail temperature probes with it and |
| 1:28.8 | I thought that was pretty cool. Also the plugs for it the K-typeouples now plug into the back of the manifold instead of right in the front which makes it much more compact and just a lot to like about it the hook is |
| 1:40.1 | Incredibly strong very beefy hook. |
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