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 | | BUDERUS CASCADE SYSTEM IS COLLEGES CHOICE FOR EFFICIENCY | | | Buderus | | 11/06/2008 | | | The installation of a highly efficient cascade multi-boiler heating system featuring Buderus GB162 boilers has recently been completed at St Mary’s College in Blackburn, Lancashire.
The college is a long established and highly reputed seat of learning. Founded in 1925 as a direct grant Grammar School, it has grown consistently over the years, extending its curriculum, introducing new courses and adding new buildings to accommodate the increased number of students.
After many years of simply adding to the heating system to incorporate the new buildings, the need to provide heating for the newly created £8 million Science and Performing Arts centres and main building refurbishment provided a perfect opportunity to review the complete heating provision and to upgrade the existing aging boilers.
Consultants National Design Consultancy worked together with the Buderus Technical Advisory team to develop a flexible and high efficiency solution to the college’s heating and hot water provision with system performance and reliability key requirements.
A 400kW 4 boiler cascade system, which occupies just 1m2 of floor space was specified in a 2 x 2 back-to-back configuration. This was ideally suited to its location in a very restricted boiler room which also has difficult and limited access. Speed and simplicity of installation were also highly important as the installation needed to be completed within the short summer recess window running alongside the building of the new Science and Performing Arts buildings.
The radical overhaul of the heating system involved the relocation of the main boiler house into what had previously been a smaller subsidiary boiler room described as little more than a large cupboard with an old 100kW boiler only. This new location now provides the heating for the vast majority of the college and houses the four GB162 cascade installation. The previous larger boiler room is scheduled for an additional Buderus cascade system which will satisfy a slightly smaller existing heat requirement as well as the future heating needs of the college, in a two year staged programme.
Chris Mason of locally based heating engineers James Boardman, who carried out the installation of the new Buderus boilers including replacement of 81 radiators and associated pipework, was impressed with the cascade system. “With such a limited time to complete this large project, everything needed to run very smoothly indeed” says Chris “The GB162 boiler cascade system is engineered especially for speedy installation and the cascade framework went together so well it was a key factor in completing the installation on time.”
Controls were also an important feature to maximise efficiency of operation and therefore reduce fuel costs. Whilst time has not yet allowed for an actual assessment of fuel savings, James Boardman’s are anticipating a saving of up to 25% resulting from the new installation which also includes a new separate boiler management system to interface with the Buderus boiler controls and which will link together the operation of both plant rooms.
The GB162 is especially installation friendly, whether fitted as a single boiler or as part of a multi-boiler cascade, saving fitting time and costs. Once the installer has constructed the freestanding framework and hung the boilers, all that remains is to connect each boiler to the main heating system. The connection kits and optional fully insulated pump groups with temperature and pressure gauges are supplied with all the necessary fittings and accessories for a reliable connection to the main flow, return and gas headers. The Buderus GB162 is available in either 80kW or 100kW outputs and is whisper quiet in operation allowing it to be installed close to living or working areas. It features award winning finned aluminium heat exchanger technology and, with modulation to just 19% of its total output, can provide condensing efficiency even in summer months when demand for heat is low. The comparatively low weight of the individual units and their compact size allows installation in even the most cramped boiler and plant rooms.
The multi-boiler condensing cascade system allows a more flexible and cost effective approach to a single large boiler as individual boilers come into and out of operation as heat demand changes. In the summer months for instance only part of the system needs to operate and each boiler can automatically modulate to enable it to remain in condensing mode for as long as possible, maximising efficiency. The system can also be programmed to automatically cycle the boilers in operation to reduce wear and tear and increase longevity by evening out boiler usage.
As the college continues its successful growth with an ever increasing number of students, it can be confident that students will benefit from comfortable conditions ideally suited to aid their learning. | |
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