Boiler Blog | Nationwide Boiler Inc.

Last week the White House announced an executive order supporting Combined Heat & Power (CHP) and industrial energy efficiency.  The order calls for a national combined heat and power deployment goal of an additional 40 GW by 2020.

CHP systems can reach efficiencies above eighty percent (80%) and currently supply twelve percent (12%) of U.S. energy capacity. There is approximately 82 GW of CHP installed in the U.S. and industry estimates indicate the technical potential for additional CHP at existing sites in the U.S. is approximately 130 GW (plus an additional 10 GW of waste heat recovery CHP).

Investments in industrial energy efficiency, including combined heat and power, offer significant benefits to manufacturers, utilities and communities across the country, including:

• Manufacturers could save at least $100 billion in energy costs over the next decade, improving U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.
• Meeting the 2020 goal could mean $40 to $80 billion of new capital investment in American manufacturing facilities and helps to create jobs.
• Offering a low-cost approach to new electricity generation capacity to meet current and future demand:  Investments in IEE, including CHP, cost as much as 50% less than traditional forms of delivered new baseload power.
• Significantly lowers emissions:  Improved efficiency can reduce nationwide GHG emissions and other criteria pollutants.

USCHPA Executive Director, Jessica Bridges, said "CHP technology can be deployed quickly, cost-effectively and with few geographic restrictions. Establishing this national goal toward greater CHP deployment will significantly advance cleaner energy generation in the U.S., benefit the environment, and help create much-needed manufacturing and industrial jobs. I applaud the White House for its efforts to support clean power generation through CHP and pledge the combined heat and power industry's support to help achieve this goal."

USCHPA is a trade association whose membership includes manufacturers, suppliers, and developers of combined heat and power (CHP) systems.  CHP lowers demand on the electricity delivery system, reduces reliance on traditional energy supplies, makes businesses more competitive by lowering their energy costs, reduces greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions, and refocuses infrastructure investments toward next-generation energy systems. CHP is a proven and effective energy resource that can be immediately deployed to help address current and future global energy needs by incorporating commercially available and domestically produced technology.  For more information, visit www.uschpa.org.

In support of the Executive Order, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency released a new report Combined Heat and Power: A Clean Energy Solution  that provides a foundation for national discussions on effective ways to achieve 40 GW of new, cost-effective CHP by 2020, and includes an overview of the key issues currently impacting CHP deployment and the factors that need to be considered by stakeholders involved in the dialogue.

The U.S. Department of Energy has just launched three regular newsletters that include the latest news in industrial energy efficiency: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable transportation.

The Energy Empowers Newsletter includes governmental and industrial stories and news revolved around new energy innovations, technologies, and success stories.

The US DOE Gulf Coast Clean Energy Applications Center is offering new webinars on various topics in July, August and September. All the webinars are free and Continuing Education Units (CEU's) can be provided on request for attendance. These webinars are perfect for plant managers, engineers and operators.  Click here for details.

Renewable CHP Using Biomass Feedstocks

Wed., July 27, 2:00-3:00 a.m. CDT 

Guest speakers from Resource Dynamics Corporation and Nexterra Systems Corp will present on the following topics: first steps to consider while evaluating biomass CHP applicability, biomass market outlook, issues and challenges, gasification, case studies and biomass CHP system performance and costs.
Host: Krishnan Umamaheswar, GC RAC

Guest speakers: Paul Lemar, Jr., Resource Dynamics Corp; Johnathon Wilkinson, Nexterra Systems Corp.

Trigeneration Using Adsorption Chillers

Thurs., Aug. 25, 10:00-11:00 a.m. CDT 

The webinar will focus on the basics, applications, and comparisons of adsorption chiller technologies. Wes Livingston from Eco-Max Chillers will present on the following topics:

• Basics of adsorption chiller


• Comparisons between adsorption, absorption, and mechanical chillers


• Applications and product offerings


• Comparative economic and technical analysis of trigeneration and Solar PV

Host: Krishnan Umamaheswar, GC RAC  
Guest speaker: Wes Livingston, Power Partners, Inc.

 

CHP: Core Principles and Technologies

Thurs., Sept. 1, 10:00-11:00 a.m. CDT 

The webinar will be focus on core principles and technologies of CHP. The value proposition of CHP, environmental benefits, and energy efficiency benefits will also be discussed. The webinar will also explore the rich diversity of technologies included under the "CHP umbrella".

Speaker: Dan Bullock, GC RAC

CHP Feasibility Studies: Process and Software Tools

Wed., Sept. 7, 10:00-11:00 a.m. CDT 

Learn how the GC RAC conducts technical evaluations of potential CHP projects. Both screening analyses (monthly evaluations) and detailed analyses of recently analyzed projects will be included. An overview of available tools and software will also be presented.

The Boiler MACT Rule & Assistance Program

The big buzz in the industry lately has been all about the Boiler MACT Rule. The Boiler MACT Rule was introduced by the EPA in March 2011, requiring emissions control technologies to be implemented for all industrial and commercial boilers by March 2014. The rule was created to ensure compliance with the EPA’s strict air requirements, aimed at reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants (including PM, Hg, HCI, and CO) from boilers and process heaters.  This new requirement affects industries of all kinds, specifically companies who are labeled as major sources of emissions by the EPA. (Major sources are facilities that emit 10 tons per year or more of any single air toxin or 25 tons per year or more of any combination of air toxins).

The Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Application Center’s have devised a plan, the Boiler MACT Assistance Program, to help the more than 650 facilities affected by the Boiler MACT Rule. The program has been created to provide technical assistance to these facilities by promoting cleaner, more efficient boilers and presenting cost-effective clean-energy strategies for compliance. To learn more about the Boiler MACT Assistance Program, click here.

The Boiler MACT Rule has not only been a hot topic in industry, but also in Washington.  Some in Congress claim the rule as a “job killer” and debate that there are insufficient domestic manufacturing resources to comply within the time frames set by the EPA.  The American Boiler Manufacturer’s Association (ABMA) has diligently worked to educate politicians and the public on the truth about the Boiler MACT and a new website, www.boilermactfacts.com, has been developed to list the associations stand on the rule.

Despite claims, the Boiler MACT can be achieved with existing, affordable, state-of-the-art, technologically-advanced and fuel-flexible products, along with innovatively-designed-and-engineered application solutions, provided by members of the ABMA to meet boiler facilities that will be impacted. As stated online, “Implementation may not be cheap or easy, but it's entirely doable – and critically important for long-term public health, environmental quality and business stability.”  ABMA members have the combined experience in meeting tough air-quality regulations with real-world solutions and are ready to help those affected by these rules to comply with them in a timely and affordable manner.  While doing so, jobs will be generated not only for the boiler and pollution control technology industry, but also for small businesses that install, repair and tune-up boilers and boiler systems.

Resources are available to assure compliance with the boiler MACT rule in an affordable and timely manner, and the members of the ABMA, including Nationwide Boiler, are here to help.