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Central Steam Plant

The Central Utilities Plant: Boiler Operation operates at approximately 85% thermal efficiency and utilizes the latest technology, including steam economizers to pre-heat incoming water. When firing with oil, primarily during extremely cold weather, steam atomization of oil is used to provide a higher degree of combustion efficiency.

All boilers and heat distribution systems are maintained on a regular basis to ensure the highest available efficiencies. Oil is purchased with contracts annually; natural gas is currently purchased from PSE&G. The firm capacity of the Central Heating Plant is 100 Mlb per hour, calculated by subtracting the largest single unit capacity from the total plant capacity.

The energy management strategy for steam usage is optimization of the first 40,000 pph from the HRSG, year round. This is accomplished through the heating load in the fall, winter, and spring, and by steam turbine driven centrifugal chillers during the summer months.

 

Planning Proposals

  • The current summer steam load is 52,000 Mlb per hr (40 Mlb per hour is used for the chiller plant and 12 Mlb per hour is required for domestic hot water on campus). The first 40 Mlb per hour of steam comes from the HRSG (40 Mlb per hour). The balance of the load is supplied by conventional boilers.
  • The current winter steam peak is 80 Mlb per hour, with an average consumption of 60 to 70 Mlb per hour. The first 40 Mlb per hour of steam used is that from the HRSG (40 Mlb per hour). The balance of the load is supplied by conventional boilers.
  • In 2011, an additional summer steam load for chiller equipment of 15 Mlb per hour will be realized due to the campus building expansion. Domestic hot water will increase by 5 Mlb per hour, for a total increase in steam load of 20 Mlb per hour. This will be supplied with the conventional boilers

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