3. RAPID START-UP
As the old saying goes, time is money, and time that you spend waiting for your boiler to heat up and reach its peak steam load is both time and money that could be better spent somewhere else. In the case of a traditional firetube boiler, it can take over an hour from your initial startup until your steam is ready for your production line. In order to combat this, employees are brought into the plant early for startup, or the boiler is kept at a warm ‘standby,’ effectively leaving the boiler in a constant idle state. In some plants it becomes necessary to do this twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Both of these solutions are less than ideal, and can substantially increase your operating costs.
With a Clayton Steam Generator, you can drastically lower both fuel and manpower costs by avoiding idle standby and an early start up. In contrast to a firetube boiler, Clayton’s watertube design is able to go from a cold start to full steam production in less than five minutes. How are we able to achieve this?
The answer comes from our low water content, which is typically a tenth compared to other boilers of a similar size, as well as our signature forced circulation design. These two features work hand in hand to ensure that steam is quickly delivered to your plant without the long wait. In a firetube boiler, your burner is trying to heat a massive amount of water all at once, and the process can be painfully slow while you wait for steam production to begin.
Inside a Clayton Generator, water is forced through the heat exchanger in perfect sync with your firing rate. This means that your boiler is brought up to temperature much faster, and the forced circulation ensures that as your water is transformed into steam, a fresh supply is always quickly moving through the boiler, keeping time with your firing rate to replace it. This cycle repeats itself throughout the boiler’s operation, ensuring a quick, constant, and reliable supply of steam to your plant.
As a result of this design, steam is produced almost immediately after start up. You can skip the long wait times, save on the labor costs, and save on the fuel costs associated with keeping your boiler idle. At the end of the day, you can simply shut your unit down, and expect full steam output upon start up the following morning. In many jurisdictions, this start up can even be handled remotely.
When it comes to a quick start to your production, you can count on Clayton Industries to provide the steam you need faster than the competition, all while saving you money.