According to steam system specialist, Spirax Sarco, ‘condensate contains about a quarter of the energy of the steam from which it came – a significant amount of heat available to an energy centre’.
Ensuring that existing condensate recovery systems are as efficient as possible is therefore ‘key’ to reducing energy centre costs, the company says. Paul Mayoh, product manager, Spirax Sarco, considers ways to ensure that as much condensate as possible is re-used.
In today’s straitened economic climate, with capital budgets being squeezed in both the public and private healthcare sectors, the focus of many energy managers has shifted away from significant capital expenditure projects. Instead, relatively low-cost and easy-to-implement upgrades and enhancements to existing installations are in the spotlight, and especially ones that can improve energy centre efficiency. Making the most of existing plant is the order of the day. For hospitals and large healthcare establishments, the energy centre is a major contributor to operational costs, and any improvements here can quickly repay themselves. In particular, it is vital that steam systems run at optimum efficiency. Condensate recovery is a juicy target for upgrades, because, although energy centres will almost all have condensate recovery systems in place, often they can be improved relatively easily to achieve rapid payback.
A ‘valuable’ resource
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