Interest in energy savings goes beyond furnaces, as steam generation is another area where some cable makers may be able to find savings.
At American Insulated Wire’s plant in Coffeyville, Kansas, the company has realized six-digit fuel savings by changing its production line from steam boilers to steam generators from Clayton Industries. AIW, a major producer of copper building wire, manufactures single conductors encased in either a rubber or plastic insulating sheath that is extruded through a tube. The conductors are subjected to steam pressure of 250 psi to cure the rubber, converting it from “black chewing gum” to a hardened, durable and pliable sheath that maintains its shape. Until 2002, the processing steam source was two 350 BHP conventional boilers, deemed oversized, inefficient and expensive to operate. Particular problems were steam pressure fluctuations and long start-ups.
AIW Facilities Engineering Manager Joe Wilkinson discussed the company’s needs with Clayton and the company ultimately purchased and installed two Clayton steam generators. One is used almost continuously in the curing process while the second is a back-up. Wilkinson reports that fuel savings have ranged from $8,000 to $14,000 per month, and that the generator’s drastically smaller “footprints” freed enough boiler room space to accommodate fork-lifts and other equipment. Clayton Industries explained that, with the exception of quality, the steam created by the company’s generators is no different than that generated by a boiler, but that it is generated far more efficiently because of its inherent design. In addition to energy savings, a typical boiler creates about 2 percent water, which can carry impurities, compared to about 0.5 percent water for Clayton’s generator, he said.
A steam generator takes about a third of the space of a boiler and has a very short start-up time compared to an hour, which is typical for a boiler of this size, Albright said. The company notes that a steam generator cannot have an explosion as there is relatively little water in one of the systems and that water is contained in the helical coil heat exchanger. Even if there is a leak in the coil, the energy cannot be released instantaneously because the water has to travel to reach the point of the leak.
