Industrial Facilities
Heavy industrial facilities sometimes are required to meet regulations that involve more than NOx emissions and result in more complex systems and installations. The case studies here examine customer applications and key challenges.
Plains Exploration & Company
Waste Heat Recovery and SCR Upgrade System
McKittrick, CA
Cogeneration facility meets low emission levels with new SCR.
Plains Exploration & Production Company, also known as PXP, is a petroleum company based in Houston, Texas with several locations throughout the United States, including California. PXP has grown to be one of the largest independent companies in the U.S., and the fourth largest oil and gas producer in California.
PXP operated a cogeneration facility at a land exploration site in McKittrick, CA. When the state instituted new emission regulations, PXP was required to reduce NOx levels on the gas turbine generating electricity at the facility. PXP was dissatisfied with boiler companies they had worked with in the past and contracted with R.F. MacDonald Co. in order to obtain precision design and strict equipment delivery schedules for the SCR and system upgrade project. Read more
Keywords: waste heat recovery system, SCR upgrade system, cfd modeling, heat recovery boiler, boiler case studies, boiler projects, industrial boilers, SJVAPCD requirements
Longview Fibre Paper & Packaging
Boiler InstallationOakland, CA
New CBEX Elite boiler increases capacity and efficiency for paper plant.
Longview is a major producer of Kraft paper packaging. Their facilities include one of the highest-capacity and most diverse paper mills in North America and a network of well-equipped corrugated container plants in four Western states. Manufacturing more than 70 grades of Kraft paper and containerboard, Longview supplies a broad range of corrugated packaging and solid fibre slip sheets to 35 countries worldwide.
To provide steam for their paper corrugation and cardboard sheeting processes, Longview was utilizing an outdated 300 HP boiler. After coming under new ownership, Longview decided to upgrade their boiler system to meet the stricter Bay Area Air Quality Management District requirements, as well as to increase the capacity and efficiency of their plant. Read more
Keywords: CBEX elite firetube boiler, boiler case studies, boiler projects, industrial boilers, feedwater pumps, Grundfos cool-top pumps, boiler installation services, firetube boilers, BAAQMD requirements
NASA Ames Research Center
Boiler Controls UpgradeMoffett Federal Airfield, CA
A custom control panel restores safety to a historic boiler at NASA.
In 1945, the Bethlehem Steel Co. mounted a Babcock & Wilcox boiler on a Naval cruiser named the USS Helena. Although commissioned too late for World War II, the USS Helena saw action in the Korean War. During three trips to Korean waters, the USS Helena fired more than 35,000 rounds of ammunition and was awarded the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. In 1963, the USS Helena was decommissioned from service and eleven years later, the ship was sold for scrap.
The Babcock & Wilcox boiler from the USS Helena emerged in the NASA Ames Research Center to supply steam for their testing facility. Operators were using the boiler in a manual operation mode, bringing the boiler from no pressure to 400-500 lbs. of pressure. Since this situation proved highly inadequate and posed dangerous risks, the boiler controls needed upgrading. Read more
Keywords: boiler controls, boiler case studies, boiler projects, industrial boilers, boiler control system, Allen Bradley controllogix
