Nationwide Boiler Inc. announces that its existing fleet of package watertube rental boilers have the ability to utilize hydrogen as a fuel. The announcement reportedly aligns with the company’s strategy toward a sustainable future for Nationwide Boiler and the boiler industry.
“Back in the 1990s, Nationwide Boiler became the first rental boiler company to convert our entire watertube boiler rental fleet to 30 ppm low NOx. That same decade, we recognized the need to reduce NOx emissions even further, leading to our development of the CataStak SCR System for single digit NOx compliance,” says Larry Day, Nationwide Boiler president and CEO, in a press release from the company. “Nationwide Boiler is a leader in providing emissions reduction solutions for the rental boiler industry and with the widespread movement towards a carbon neutral future, the ability to fire hydrogen-blend fuels in our mobile boiler rental fleet is essential. We are proud to be able to offer flexibility for customers that are ready to move to the next phase of decarbonization.”
Although the combustion characteristics of hydrogen are considerably different than natural gas, Nationwide Boiler says its engineering experience supports the firing of hydrogen-blend fuels for package boiler applications. Due to the company’s rental boiler construction standards, burner upgrade requirements for hydrogen firing reportedly are minimal. The company says it has confirmed that its current fleet of watertube rental boilers, which range in size from 30,000 to 125,000 pph, are capable of firing up to 20% hydrogen blended with natural gas without any changes to the system. For fuels with a higher hydrogen content, burner modifications will likely be required.
“It is important to note that hydrogen produces no CO2 byproducts and is cleaner than petroleum-based fuels; however, the NOx output will increase as a result of higher flame temperatures. Fortunately, our CataStak SCR is a proven system that will combat that NOx increase for improved emissions and guarantees as low as 2½ ppm NOx,” says Nationwide Boiler Technical Manager David Spain.
For more information, visit: www.nationwideboiler.com
