Posted by Mike Pilling on October 30, 2001 at 10:36:09:
In Reply to: Cost of generating steam: easy method posted by Mike Pilling on October 25, 2001 at 08:47:03:
Whoops! In original post I said to multiply by blr efficiency...I meant DIVIDE. Sorry.
: Here is a ROUGH rule of thumb for a "ballpark" estimate on cost of steam, which assumes the following:
: * natural gas as fuel
: * saturated steam
: * watertube boilers
: * no economizer or air heater
: Take cost of gas per mmBTU
: Multiply by 1.3
: Divide by boiler efficiency
: = cost/1000 lb.
: EXAMPLE: Gas $6.00 mmBTU X 1.3 = $7.80
: $7.80 / 0.85 efficiency = $9.18 per 1000 lb.
: As I said, this is a very rough method and does not include labour, maintenance etc etc, but it comes pretty close in the majority of industrial non-superheated steam plants
: Mike Pilling
: Chief Engineer
: Molson Brewery, Vancouver, BC