News
Boiler re-tubes can save energy
The news that a steam boiler requires a complete re-tube is certainly not good news, with costly repair bills not to mention downtime and temporary hire boiler costs. However in some situations this could be an opportunity to increase the efficiency of the boiler. Ordinary plain boiler tube can be replaced by the revolutionary X-ID fire tube which greatly increases heat transfer from the tubes to the water space, by as much as 80%. Overall boiler efficiency will be increased by a minimum of 2.5%, but in reality could be much more, depending on the age and condition of the tubes removed. The X-ID tube achieves this increased efficiency by special internal helical ribs which create a unique boundary layer attachment – re-attachment phenomenon. The tube has been proved in the field both in the USA and UK and is currently saving £’000s for blue chip companies in the Yorkshireman2 boiler. X-ID tube is easy maintenance as it is, to some extent, self cleaning. Also if the worst happened, such as water treatment failure, the tubes are as simple to replace as plain boiler tube. X-ID is available as a re-tube for most makes of boilers.