Boilers meet ever-changing demands of manufacturing process

When Glen Raven Technical Fabrics upgraded its textile dyeing and finishing infrastructure, it installed five Miura EX-300 industrial steam boilers. Engineered for quick startup, fuel economy and reduced emissions, Miura boilers provide the North Carolina-based company with the flexibility it needs to meet the ever-changing demands of its manufacturing processes.

“We made a lot of system changes when we went from our two previous large boilers to our smaller bank of five Miura boilers,” states Mike Harrington, project engineer for Glen Raven’s Technical Fabrics Group. “The new system is paying off, and Miura boilers are a big part of that. We have seen increased efficiencies.”

“We’re running anywhere from 80 to 87 per cent efficient with the Miura boilers,” says Steve Holt, recently retired head operator and plant engineer at Glen Raven. “We have an erratic steam load, but you can bring these boilers up fast and have them online in about 10 minutes.”

Glen Raven’s multiple installation (MI) of five compact EX-300 steam boilers can be turned on or off in varying numbers to match prevailing load patterns, thus saving fuel and water, as well as minimizing the emissions typically produced by idling boilers. In addition, the NOx (nitrogen oxide) rating of Miura’s EX Series boilers can be as low 30 ppm, depending on the model of the boiler.

Miura also offers an MI Controller that turns boilers on or off to match load patterns and achieve the highest possible in-service efficiencies, which are a measure of overall boiler performance (regardless of load profile) that takes into account all factors of boiler operation (combustion efficiency, thermal efficiency, fuel-to-steam efficiency, etc.) and total operation cycles.

The “once-through” design of the boilers turns water to steam in just five minutes and, on average, saves 20 per cent in fuel costs over other boiler designs (based on today’s fuel costs). At a 20 per cent fuel savings, Miura can save about $200,000 per year in fuel for a typical 600-BHP steam system (based on the price of natural gas at $0.09/therm).

“We continue to be very positive about our investment in Miura boilers,” says Harrington, “and look forward to many years of payoff with it.” 

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