Ottawa Community Housing Corporation:
In 1999
the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation decided to replace their
existing 20 year old inefficient atmospheric boilers. According to
Steve Capello of the OCHC the boilers had exceeded their estimated
life cycle and the repairs needed could not be justified.
The OCHC
wanted to improve boiler efficiency and at the same time lower the
cost of repairs. The task was to find a product that would do
both, they did. Ten De Dietrich boilers were installed in two
buildings in 1999.
Doug
Laviolette is the Project Manager for the OCHC, when he heard
about De Dietrich’s unique features such as; low return water
temperatures and low boiler maintenance he was convinced De
Dietrich would be the right choice for the OCHC. The unique
“eutectic cast iron” allows the boiler to expand and contract
without risking any damage to boiler. This damage is commonly
known as “thermal shock”. Most boilers are designed to accept a
maximum temperature differential of 20 – 30 degrees F. The De
Dietrich boiler can withstand an 81 degree F differential without
damaging the boiler. This allows the building water temperature to
vary considerably during warmer weather conditions. This variation
in system loop temperature allows the building owner to save money
on gas because the boiler acts like a 3-way mixing valve to
control temperature.
The Project:
The OCHC
provides heating, ventilation and DHW to over 15,000 apartment
units. This project involved replacing the existing atmospheric
boilers in two buildings with five new De Dietrich boilers.
Two of
the boilers are used for supplying Domestic Hot Water (DWH) and
the others for building heat. The existing Johnson building
automation system provides the sequencing and staging for the
system. The boilers were supplied with Fuel Master Burners which
made it easy to tie into the existing Johnson BAS control system.
The
boiler water temperature is adjusted according to outside air
temperature via the BAS system. The “eutectic cast iron” allows
the BAS to utilize the boilers design capabilities to the maximum
The Results!
The
boiler plant was placed on a regular maintenance program which
ensured the burners were operating at peak performance. The BAS
system was monitored to make sure the boilers are set according to
outside temperature conditions.
The OCHC
through the services of Enbridge Consumers Gas Company were able
to chart the results from 2000 to 2003.
Over the
last three years the OCHC saved the equivalent of 182,773 m3 of
Natural Gas. In today’s natural gas market prices this equates
to...
$54, 831.90
...in
savings!
Existing Old Atmospheric Boilers
New De Dietrich GT300 Series High Efficiency
Boilers
