Overview:

A boiler is the basic technology that heats water to produce hot water or steam for everything from heating a residential spa or home, making hot water, heating a commercial facility, or for use in industrial applications.

The common thread in all boilers is that it is a device that raises the temperature of water producing hot water, or if raised to the boiling point, steam for delivery to the point of use. Boilers can also be used to heat fluids other than water. These are not covered in this section.

Output:

• Hot Water: Most residential and small commercial boilers produce hot water around 160 °F to 180 °F, which is circulated through the system by a pump.
• Steam: Steam is produced above 212 °F and at a pressure high enough to deliver the steam to the point of use.
• Superheat: Steam or water can be superheated if it runs through the pipes at elevated pressures. This is typically only done in large commercial or industrial settings.

• Small Boilers
• BTU per Hr: 1 British Thermal Unit is equal to the amount of energy required to raise 1 pound of water by 1°F at atmospheric conditions.
• Medium Sized Boilers
• HP: 1 Horse Power is equal to 33,472 BTU of boiler output. Note that Output BTUs needs to be divided by 33,472 and also divided by efficiency to derive input HP
• Large Boilers
• Pounds per Hr: Larger industrial boilers will tend to be rates in the amount of steam that they are capable of producing in the thousands of pounds per hour. One Pound of steam is approximately 970 BTUs.

ESC Members with products in this Technology

Clayton Industries
Cleaver-Brooks
GasMaster
Hurst Boiler
John Zink
Novitherm
Superior Boiler
Unilux Boilers

For more information about boilers, see our Consortium web site at www.cleanboiler.org.