Modern burners can play a crucial part in reducing carbon emissions. Mike Baker, business unit director for Nu-way, the burner division for Enertech, looks at the developments that have led to the latest generation of burners.
The specification of pressure jet burners alongside hot water boilers has long been common practice in the commercial sector. First impressions of today's burners may be that there is little difference between these new solutions and outdated offerings, but the technology used in modern equipment has significantly changed. This has resulted in vast improvements including higher performance and efficiency, something which is becoming an increhigh priority for those involved in the commercial heating industry.
Government has been highlighting the benefits of utilising energy efficient solutions wherever possible. The majority of specifiers, contractors and end-users will be aware that investing in technology which offers a higher operating efficiency will reduce emissions and save money in the long term. It is for this reason that manufacturers have invested in research and development, ensuring energy efficiency is taken into account when bringing new products to market.
Using a low NOx burner is just one way to reduce the emission levels of a building and it has become easier to source equipment which offers this benefit. For example, Nu-way's M Series burner range offers low NOx as standard. In addition to lower nitrogen oxide emissions, these technologies offer improved burner turn down and minimise fuel and air imbalances within the burner.
Another way to reduce emissions is to invest in modulating controls. This will reduce the number of times the burner has to start up and will also improve demand matching, ensuring the levels of hot water needed are reflected in the quantities produced. In addition, using electronic burner programmers, for more precise modulating control of the air and fuel rates, result in increased repeatability of the air fuel ratio. This subsequently offers a reduction in air levels and flue losses.
For larger installations, electronic burner programmers can offer oxygen trim controls. These will continuously monitor the excess air level and use this information to reduce the air fuel ratio so optimum combustion is achieved. Electronic burner programmers offer an additional benefit when it comes to maintenance and identifying faults. Many programmers provide a fault history and improved diagnostics to aid the service engineer. This will ensure repairs can be carried out more easily and quickly, so down-time will be reduced.
Combustion fans, particularly on smaller burners, are increasingly incorporating speed control. Alongside improved air damper design, the turn down will be improved and electrical energy consumption reduced. An improved turn down ratio will inevitably reduce burner stops and starts which, in turn, offers increased operational efficiency.
As well as technological advances, the design of burners has been modified during the years to offer improvements. For example, burner head designs have changed to improve fuel and air mixing at low fire, and also improve combustion efficiency. Some burners allow the combustion head to be set during the commissioning process, while others offer automatic adjustment capabilities.
With the increasing requirement for lower emissions, demand for low NOx burners will also grow, so manufacturers will need to ensure they continue to invest in even more research and development in burner technology. The innovation and improvements we expect are advancements of burner heads with air fuel mixing techniques and maybe variable adjustment heads to allow for air fuel mixing at all throughput levels.
In addition, use of solid state micro processor control components will probably increase to provide even more operational data to be collected, interrogated and implemented. This will mean lower running costs, while allowing best practice such as oxygen trim on even the smallest burners. Together with the linking to modbus or eternet communications, this will simplify installation wiring. provide enhanced monitoring and better preventative maintenance options for the user.
The current drive towards renewable technology will undoubtedly have an impact on the future for burner products and it is anticipated the growth in heat pumps could eventually bring about a decline in the requirement for some of the smaller burners. In line with this, it is likely manufacturers' research and development activity will be targeted on burners for the larger commercial and industrial applications. Likewise, the process sector will continue to have a requirement for the higher temperatures available from fossil fuel burners which will utilise this enhanced technology.
For those involved in the commercial heating sector, the importance of selecting a burner with a higher efficiency should not be overlooked. The latest generation of burners offers a significant benefit to the end-user when it comes to reducing costs. In addition, the need to be energy efficient cannot be escaped, and burners certainly have a role to play in addressing emissions and making reductions wherever possible.