Grumman/Butkus Associates (G/BA) received the Energy Efficiency Impact Award given by Nicor Gas as part of their energySMART program. The award was announced at the Trade Ally Kick-off event on June 2, 2014, at the Oak Brook Hills Resort in Oak Brook, Illinois. This event was held for energySMART’s contractor network.
G/BA received this award for their Advocate Health Care Boiler Burner Replacement project. G/BA provided the engineering services for ten boiler burner replacements at six hospitals in the Advocate Health Care network. Three of the six facilities benefitted from rebates and incentives offered by Nicor Gas. The projects help these hospitals save money, reduce operating costs, and improve steam system reliability. The Nicor Gas incentive funds were crucial in helping these projects receive initial funding and support and move forward.
The new burners use electronic controls in conjunction with a VFD to optimize the combustion process. The eight largest boilers incorporate oxygen trim controls. The boilers previously had mechanical linkages controlling the rate of combustion which limited ability to turn down the firing rate.
Boilers with new burners are preferentially loaded to maximize annual savings. Each site maintains N+1 redundancy for boiler capacity after the retrofit. New burners are capable of 10 to 1 turndown, replacing existing burners that were in most cases capable of 4 to 1 turndown only. Improved turndown allows two of the hospitals in the Nicor Gas program to operate year-round using the larger boilers, maximizing heat transfer surface, and improving efficiency.
The three hospitals in the Nicor program had a combined savings of almost 400,000 therms. The hospitals received Nicor Gas incentives of over $400,000.
The gorgeous trophy that G/BA received is made of recycled glass.
