Best Practices For Preparing A Temporary Boiler Rental

If your facility relies on an industrial steam supply, then it's only a matter of time before the need for a temporary boiler arises. Whether you're dealing with scheduled maintenance, emergency repairs or plant equipment retrofitting, a temporary boiler can help prevent unnecessary downtime and help your facility save money in the process.

There are a few best practices you should consider when it comes to renting temporary steam plant equipment:

Carefully Consider What Your Facility Needs

Your first and foremost consideration involves understanding exactly what your facility needs in terms of steam supply. Temporary boilers come in a broad range of capacities to suit a wide variety of needs, so it's important to choose rental boilers that offer the best fit for your facility.

This can have a tremendous influence on the type of temporary boiler you'll eventually rent:

• Mobile boiler rooms offer exceptional portability in a small, completely integrated and self-contained form factor. Most mobile boilers start out at less than 50 boiler horsepower (bhp), providing small operations with adequate steam capacity.
• Trailer-mounted watertube boilers offer much of the portability of their mobile boiler room counterparts, but with capacities of up to 120,000 lbs/hr. These boiler systems are also largely self-contained, although add-ons for feedwater and water treatment systems can also be added with relative ease.
• Skid-mounted boilers are intended for longer-term usage, plus they offer the most capacity for their size. Many skid-mounted units offer capacities of up to 250,000 lbs/hr.

You also need to consider whether you need additional equipment to successfully operate your temporary boiler. For instance, you may need to rent additional water treatment equipment such as water softeners, deaerators and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems in addition to the boiler itself.

Carefully Consider Your Operating Requirements

In order to select the right equipment, you also need to keep your facility's operating requirements in mind:

• Consider your facility's power requirements. In most cases, your temporary boiler will need a 480-volt single point connection to have adequate power. Some boilers may have stricter or more lenient power demands, depending on their design and capacity.
• Consider the type of fuel your temporary boiler needs. Most temporary boilers rely on propane, natural gas or No. 2 (Bunker A) oil, while others use biofuel, or No. 6 (Bunker C) oil.
• Consider the operating pressures and temperatures required to successfully supply your facility with process steam.

Carefully Review Local Codes and Permit Requirements

Before taking delivery of your temporary boiler, you'll want to review your local and state permit requirements pertaining to industrial steam plant installation. There may be site-specific permits that must be obtained in advance prior to the boiler's arrival. These requirements could easily affect the amount of time it takes to bring your temporary boiler rental equipment on-site.

Make Room for Your Temporary Equipment

When placing your temporary boiler equipment, you'll want it located in areas where all required fuel, water and power connections are within easy reach. You should also make sure that the area where the boiler will temporarily reside can safely support the weight of the boiler.

To avoid unforeseen errors that could cause unexpected downtime, it's usually good idea to measure up the dimensions of the planned site as well as the temporary equipment before it's put in place. While you're at it, you should also check for any potential obstructions that could interfere with placement.

Also consider any special requirements that may be needed to move the temporary boiler into position. For instance, skid-mounted boilers usually need to be maneuvered into place via crane. Some boilers may also need special foundations to prevent damage to the planned site.

These best practices can help you safely and efficiently transition to temporary steam plants from a place like Nationwide Boiler in the event of a planned or unexpected shutdown of your main boiler equipment.