For heating residential buildings and industrial premises, as well as for supplying hot water to them, special installations are usually used - boilers. This type of equipment can operate on different types of fuel. Moreover, the characteristics of the latter must comply with certain standards. Wrong fuel selection for a boiler room can lead to breakdown of water heating equipment. In this case, the efficiency of the boiler is also reduced.
Types of fuel
Installations designed for heating water can operate on:
- gas;
- liquid fuel;
- electricity;
- solid fuel.
Most often, gas or electric boilers are used to heat buildings and supply hot water. Liquid installations are usually used only in remote areas - where there are no highways supplying “blue fuel”. Wood, pellet and coal equipment is used where there is not even a power line.
The most popular type of fuel for a boiler room is gas. The installation of the water-heating equipment running on it is quite expensive. Installing an electric boiler costs at least a lot less. However, significant installation costs subsequently pay off due to the cheapness of gas. Electricity, as you know, is very expensive in our country.
The operation of solid fuel and liquid boilers is usually even cheaper than gas. However, such equipment, unfortunately, is not too convenient to use. And the fuel itself in this case requires the creation of special storage conditions and often takes up a lot of space.
Gas for heaters
This type of fuel, as already mentioned, is used most often for boilers. According to the regulations, it is allowed to use any type of gas for heating installations - both liquefied and main. However, in the first case, boilers of exclusively special design, designed to work in combination with cylinders or a gas tank, should be used for heating residential buildings and industrial premises.
Liquefied gas is usually used only for heating private homes. But sometimes this type of fuel for boiler rooms is used, for example, in general village communications.
Rules for installing boilers running on "blue fuel"
Equipment of this type may only be connected to a trunk or gas tank by licensed specialists. For an independent insertion, the owner of a country house or the head of the enterprise faces a serious fine. After all, gas is a fuel, as you know, explosive. And improper connection in the future can easily lead to tragedy.
There are special requirements for the room in which the gas boiler itself will be located. Such equipment cannot be installed in rooms with a total volume of less than 7.5-15 m 3 , depending on the power. In this case, the room must be ventilated. The presence of dull windows in the room is not allowed. Also, it is impossible to mount a gas boiler in a room if the total thermal power of all devices installed in it exceeds 150 kW.
Gas supply: standards
Depending on the type of line passing near, the laying of the “blue fuel” supply pipes for boiler plants in the house can be performed by the above-ground or underground method. In the first case, the following standards must be observed:
- gas pipeline elements must not come into contact with parts of buildings and structures made of combustible materials;
- pipe distortions are not allowed;
- vertical elements of the gas pipeline should be strictly vertical;
- horizontal elements are laid at a slope of 2-5 mm towards the connected building.
When laying the trunk for supplying fuel to the boiler room underground, the following requirements must be observed:
- pipes for transporting liquid gas are located below the level of soil freezing;
- when entering the building, the depth may decrease to 0.8-1.2 m;
- the gas pipeline should be laid with a slope of at least 1.5 mm per meter;
- pipes with liquid gas are laid under the foundation, with the usual one above it, through the wall;
- wells are provided for all kinds of detachable connections of the gas pipeline.
Liquid fuel oil: requirements
Boilers used for heating residential buildings or industrial premises located in remote areas often operate on diesel fuel. Diesel fuel for heating equipment has special requirements. When choosing diesel fuel for a boiler, attention should be paid, first of all, to such characteristics of it as:
- cetane number;
- density and viscosity;
- fractional composition.
Cetane number determines such important indicators as:
- fuel ignition time for boiler rooms;
- completeness of combustion of diesel fuel;
- level of harmful emissions.
Ultimately, it is the cetane number of diesel fuel that affects the efficiency of the water heating equipment. The optimal CC value for boilers is considered to be 40-45 units.
Storage requirements
Diesel fuel, like gas, is boiler fuel for boilers, dangerous in terms of fire and explosions. Therefore, it should be stored correctly. In a private house, a separate room for diesel fuel is usually not required. However, if the volume of stored diesel fuel exceeds 5 thousand liters, it will still be necessary to build a warehouse for it.
If necessary, diesel fuel can be stored even in residential premises. However, its total volume should not exceed 40 liters.
In a room specially equipped for diesel fuel:
- it is impossible to carry out hidden installation of communications, pipelines and wires;
- signs prohibiting the use of open fire should be placed.
The room for diesel fuel itself should be erected from non-combustible materials. Doors in this case also use a special design.
Enterprises located in remote areas, for example, in the Far North, often purchase a special type of equipment - block-modular boiler houses using liquid fuel. In such complexes, storage rooms for diesel fuel may be provided initially.
The amount of diesel fuel necessary for the smooth functioning of the boiler depends, first of all, on the power of the latter. Fuel consumption for a boiler room (liquid) is calculated according to a rather simple scheme. For 10 kW of boiler power, usually 1 kg of diesel fuel per hour is required.
Coal for boilers
Solid fuel heating equipment is by far the most economical, but also the least convenient to use. Most often, such boilers, like stoves, operate on coal. In this case, as with the use of diesel fuel, the choice of fuel should be approached carefully.
Responsible for the supply of solid fuel to the boiler room operator-fireman. First of all, the efficiency of water-heating equipment depends on the quality of the coal loaded by it. The more responsible the boiler house staff will come to the choice of this type of solid fuel, the longer the installation will last.
Any coal consists of carbon and non-combustible impurities. The latter after burning form ash and slag. The ratio between impurities and carbon determines the type of coal. This indicator in different types of fuel can vary within rather large limits. For example, the carbon content in lingitis is very small. Therefore, this type of fuel is never used for boilers.
It simply forms a huge amount of ash and slag and brown coal. In principle, it can be used for boilers. However, doing this is highly discouraged.
Coal forms little ash, has a low percentage of moisture and has a fairly dense structure. Its calorific value is 5500 kcal / kg. Its carbon content is 75%. It is this kind of solid boiler fuel for boilers that is best suited.
Firewood for water heaters
This type of fuel is rarely used to ensure the operation of boilers. But still, sometimes in private homes or even in enterprises, you can see heating equipment that operates specifically on wood. The advantage of this type of fuel is, first of all, relative cheapness. However, using a boiler when using firewood is usually very inconvenient. The boiler operator should throw solid fuel of this type into the furnace 2-3 times a day. The operation of a water heater on wood and in a private house has the same feature.
Of course, there are no special requirements for logs when using them for boilers. The only thing - this type of fuel for boiler rooms should be dry enough. Firewood should be stored under a canopy or in a special small separate room - a drovnik. Traditionally, for boilers, as well as for furnaces, hardwood logs are used. Coniferous leaves a lot of ash and soot due to tar during combustion. Birch firewood is best suited for a solid fuel boiler.
Pellets
This type of fuel is usually used in long burning boilers. Such equipment has a special design that provides almost complete combustion of pellets, without the formation of even ash. Sometimes a solid fuel boiler fireman is responsible for supplying combustible granules. But in some cases, automatic downloads may be used in such installations. Such systems make the equipment much more convenient to operate.
Also recently, modern, comfortable-to-use modular solid fuel boiler houses have become very popular. Using pellets for their work is also an almost perfect solution.
Types of pellets
There are several types of such fuel in the modern market. Industrial pellets are gray-brown in color and have a high percentage of ash. Such fuel is mainly suitable only for industrial boilers. Using it in domestic water heating plants can lead to breakage of the latter.
Agropellets are obtained from crop wastes. The percentage of their ash content is also quite high. Usually such fuel is used only at large TPPs.
White pellets are made from debarked wood. The percentage of their ash content is only 0.5%. The color of such pellets is light yellow. They are quite expensive. However, it is white pellets that are usually used in domestic solid fuel boilers.
Electric water heating equipment
The main advantage of such boilers, as already mentioned, is the ease of installation. Yes, and this type of water heating equipment is much cheaper than gas or even solid fuel. Household electric boilers usually operate on 220 V mains. The latter should not “jump”. If in the area where the boiler is used, voltage drops are observed or it is increased or decreased, stabilizers should be used in addition.