Another reason not to slam open the valve to blowdown the water column/primary low cut off is because if you have a float type switch instead of a probe, you can crush or crack the ball float. Same applies with the secondary
Wow! Nice video but.. When talking about constant blow downs you should have elaborated on that mic valve. It has numbers on it and a very small adjustment can have a large impact on your conductivity. In fact if your at 1200 I would only move it by 1 whole number and retest after a few hours of run time.. Maybe even 8 hours. If it's off by a little bit you may want to move it by .25 of one number till you get it right. One day you may want to automate it and it will be blown down via solenoid valve. I've been around long enough to have done operated boilers more than one way.
The biggest thing for the quick open is that it really is to be in line with code. It is an visual indicator on the state of the valve (whether it is open or closed). Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for the comment and for watching.
@@wareboilers Thank you for the reply. The state of the valve can be known from the slow opening valve itself i think. We don't use quick opening valve as a visual indicator along with slow opening valve anywhere for other applications. So why does code insist this if it doesn't serve any purpose other than just visual indication of the state of the valve (open or close)?
Sediment, scale, and other solids don't have as much chance of hanging up in the valve of a quick opening valve as a slow opening valve. The valve opening is the same or slightly greater than the pipe diameter coming from the boiler. Depending on how the stem is made and connected to the valve from the handle/wheel it may not show on the stem whether the valve is open or closed unless there is an indicator.
There is a purpose in locating the quick open as the first valve. When you start the procedure with both valves closed, the quick open valve is simply moving through the water, it is not starting or stopping flow. Theoretically this valve will not wear and therefore always be a tight shutoff valve. This allows you to service the slow open valve with full boiler pressure. The slow open valve has an extremely hard seat, usually 500 brinell hardness and is designed to handle the flashing conditions that develop during operation.
oh and if you have a constant blowdown it's good to blow that system down daily too. Meaning look where the valve setting is. Close the valve and count the turns. Then open it all the way. Close it all the way then reopen to where you started. This just flushes the system so it doesn't plug up over time. Remember it's removing dissolved solids and those solids can precipitate in the piping after the constant blow down plugging it up.
Hi Dear Sirs, Is it possible to attend Boiler University online remotely? I've been living in TURKEY and want so much get your lessons. Kind regards...
Good video as usual . I cant tell Ya how many newbies these days walk away leaving blowdown valves cracked open so they can play on a cell phone !!!!!!
Hello there! I just have one question. We have a boiler in my college where there are two intermittent blowdown valves right next to each other. They tell us a way to open this valve a little bit then open that valve a little bit (basically to make them equal) but I don't understand the technique. Could you please tell me what's the basic role for that? Thank you & as always, great presentation!
Based on your description, it sounds like this is still the main blow down for the boiler but instead of having a quick open valve and then a slow open valve, you just have two slow open valves. Per code, you are allowed to have two slow open valves as your blow down valves (compared to one quick and one slow) but you can never have two quick open valves. Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for watching!
@@wareboilers Yeah, you are right! I should have mentioned that they are two slow opening valves. My question is, they tell us to open this valve like 2 turns and then the other one two turns or something like that. I don't understand the technique. Maybe I will ask my instructors tomorrow.
you guys are the best! I was a BT in the navy, (many years ago)! Was an operator after i got out for about 12 years. Switched over to pipe fitter welder. I teach steam theory in an apprentice class. Stressing the principles of steam and condensate from an installers point of view. Your videos are priceless!!! Keep up the great work I guarantee you`ve help make a safer workplace!
We are using Parker Boiler 25HP. The plant runs between 80PSI to 115PSI and runs for 8 hours shift. What should be the ideal PSI for the partial blowdown? Do we do before, mid or end of the shift? Appreciate your input!!
Whatever pressure you normally operate at should be fine if you have a blowdown separator. I would wait for a minimum load on the boiler if a pressure drop affects your process. Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for watching!
Blowdown is normally just discharged into the city sewer after being cooled down to a reasonable level. This can vary from plant to plant though. Hopefully that helps. Thanks for watching!
You can do it with the boiler running (ideally at low load conditions). Also you can do it to boilers that are on hot standby as they do cycle on and off several times a day to maintain temperature and pressure. Off meaning what? If the boiler is not running and has no pressure you can't do a blow down as there is no pressure to move the water out of the blow down.
There is not one formula to calculate that but rather is manufacturer specific. You would need to reach out to whoever makes the boiler and get their formula from them. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for the comment and for watching!
I wish my water heater had something like that to remove the sediment and scale from the bottom. When the element failed, it was because of the scale. Sent a guy to replace it, it failed inside two months. I rigged a vacuum to remove the sediment, and replaced it again, myself. Hasn't failed since. No wonder plumbers are able to sell water heaters so easily!
Every month or two use the faucet on the side of the water heater to blow water off for a few seconds. Sort of the poor man's blow down. It won't get rid of everything but will help.
MacGyver at large when you first get a water heater ditch the garbage drain valve and put on a decent full port, you can essentially do the same thing.
@@bruiseandy the drain valve is not large enough to let chunks of scale out had to use the opening the lower element mounts into. It will be good for several years. Also, the level of scale in this area is incredible, because the entire region has bedrock of limestone. I refuse to drink the water because it tastes like dissolved bricks.
Good instructional on how to blow down the boiler! Can you talk about frequency more? I have an over-sized boiler (400 horsepower, firetube, natural gas, Cleaver Brooks) to heat a 30,000 sq ft facility in NY Metro Area weather. We don't get a lot of steam movement or makeup water in our system (150 gallons makeup/day). We get almost all of our condensate back. Originally the boiler was used for humidification of the laboratory space (lots of steam use and flow), but now it is solely used to heat the building. Would you still recommend blowing down the boiler every couple of hours, or would you prolong the blow-down schedule. The manufacturer calls for every 8 hours, however since we don't get a lot of makeup, I think we should prolong our blow-downs. I don't want to accumulate too many solids at the bottom though, I guess this is a balancing act. Would be cool if boilers came with cameras inside them....
Once a shift. If you work with a chemical company for your boiler they could probably be more specific, but if your conductivity numbers aren't all over the place, I'd continue with the once a shift or every 8hrs. You'll also be able to tell on your annual inspection when you open it up and flush the water side
@@losgar2515 The free blow valve between the two steam stop valves is primarily for the inspectors safety. If he is going to enter the water side of the boiler. He can look at the two steam stop valves to verify that they are closed and then look at the free drain valve to verify that it is open. This piping MUST not be connected to any other piping such as drains, blowoff or blowdown piping. The end of the piping must be visible to the inspector. As another side note code does not require a non return valve, simply two valves. If a non return is used however it must be the first valve off of the boiler.
Where should the water level be, ideally? You mentioned the one you're working on was below its optimal level. Thanks. (I am responsible for setting the boiler, and doing regular blowdown.)
Just a note regarding blow down. Code refers to the bottom piping as blowoff and the surface piping as blowdown. There are different requirements and limits for these two systems. Interestingly code does not have a classification for the piping on the low water cutoffs
Another reason not to slam open the valve to blowdown the water column/primary low cut off is because if you have a float type switch instead of a probe, you can crush or crack the ball float. Same applies with the secondary
Great advice! Appreciate the comment and thanks for watching!
wareboilers ref
Wow! Nice video but.. When talking about constant blow downs you should have elaborated on that mic valve. It has numbers on it and a very small adjustment can have a large impact on your conductivity. In fact if your at 1200 I would only move it by 1 whole number and retest after a few hours of run time.. Maybe even 8 hours. If it's off by a little bit you may want to move it by .25 of one number till you get it right.
One day you may want to automate it and it will be blown down via solenoid valve. I've been around long enough to have done operated boilers more than one way.
How to define the percentage of quantity of blowdown ?
Very informative, thank you. I’m going for my second firemen’s license
سلام. من سالهاست در ایران مشغول سرویس و تعمیرات بویلر هستم و با بوبلرهای فایرتیوب یورک. کوچران و کنتینتتال کاملا آشنایی دارم فیلم بسیار مفیدی هست
What is the purpose of quick opening valve in bottom blow down?
The biggest thing for the quick open is that it really is to be in line with code. It is an visual indicator on the state of the valve (whether it is open or closed). Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for the comment and for watching.
@@wareboilers
Thank you for the reply.
The state of the valve can be known from the slow opening valve itself i think.
We don't use quick opening valve as a visual indicator along with slow opening valve anywhere for other applications.
So why does code insist this if it doesn't serve any purpose other than just visual indication of the state of the valve (open or close)?
Sediment, scale, and other solids don't have as much chance of hanging up in the valve of a quick opening valve as a slow opening valve. The valve opening is the same or slightly greater than the pipe diameter coming from the boiler.
Depending on how the stem is made and connected to the valve from the handle/wheel it may not show on the stem whether the valve is open or closed unless there is an indicator.
There is a purpose in locating the quick open as the first valve. When you start the procedure with both valves closed, the quick open valve is simply moving through the water, it is not starting or stopping flow. Theoretically this valve will not wear and therefore always be a tight shutoff valve. This allows you to service the slow open valve with full boiler pressure. The slow open valve has an extremely hard seat, usually 500 brinell hardness and is designed to handle the flashing conditions that develop during operation.
Is there a way to download this video so I can watch it at work
Use savefrom. Net copy link of that video and paste on that save from website
Azscreenrecorder is really good.
It appears your low water cutoff has an automatic reset, isn't it best practice to have a manual reset?
Most industries have both, since we cannot rely on the automatic one.
oh and if you have a constant blowdown it's good to blow that system down daily too. Meaning look where the valve setting is. Close the valve and count the turns. Then open it all the way. Close it all the way then reopen to where you started. This just flushes the system so it doesn't plug up over time. Remember it's removing dissolved solids and those solids can precipitate in the piping after the constant blow down plugging it up.
Love your informative videos, keep up the great work.
Hi Dear Sirs,
Is it possible to attend Boiler University online remotely? I've been living in TURKEY and want so much get your lessons.
Kind regards...
Good video as usual . I cant tell Ya how many newbies these days walk away leaving blowdown valves cracked open so they can play on a cell phone !!!!!!
Very good tip! Never ever leave blow down valves while your blowing down. Not even if your boss calls you over!
During LWCO operation- Do we need to bypass any trip switch?
As always, very informative..
Thanks for watching!
Wish our plant was this clean all our pipes an boilers leak lol
Hah! This is actually at our boiler school. We make sure to keep it nice and pristine for all of the students coming in. Thanks for watching!
How often do you recommend DA tank and Surge tank blowdowns?
Hello there!
I just have one question. We have a boiler in my college where there are two intermittent blowdown valves right next to each other. They tell us a way to open this valve a little bit then open that valve a little bit (basically to make them equal) but I don't understand the technique. Could you please tell me what's the basic role for that?
Thank you & as always, great presentation!
Based on your description, it sounds like this is still the main blow down for the boiler but instead of having a quick open valve and then a slow open valve, you just have two slow open valves. Per code, you are allowed to have two slow open valves as your blow down valves (compared to one quick and one slow) but you can never have two quick open valves. Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for watching!
@@wareboilers Yeah, you are right! I should have mentioned that they are two slow opening valves. My question is, they tell us to open this valve like 2 turns and then the other one two turns or something like that. I don't understand the technique. Maybe I will ask my instructors tomorrow.
Just open the first to boiler valve full then for second do the throttling and controlling after blowdown close by sequence inner to outer
@@rushikeshfegade Yeah, everything you said was exactly explained after 2 weeks of my question though I appreciate your help a lot. 🤴
you guys are the best! I was a BT in the navy, (many years ago)! Was an operator after i got out for about 12 years. Switched over to pipe fitter welder. I teach steam theory in an apprentice class. Stressing the principles of steam and condensate from an installers point of view. Your videos are priceless!!! Keep up the great work I guarantee you`ve help make a safer workplace!
Thank you, appreciate the encouragement!
bottom blowdown boiler is clogged, give me advise
We are using Parker Boiler 25HP. The plant runs between 80PSI to 115PSI and runs for 8 hours shift. What should be the ideal PSI for the partial blowdown? Do we do before, mid or end of the shift?
Appreciate your input!!
Whatever pressure you normally operate at should be fine if you have a blowdown separator. I would wait for a minimum load on the boiler if a pressure drop affects your process. Hopefully that answers your question. Thanks for watching!
This remove all my dought thanks you sir
Glad we could help! Thanks for watching!
Great video it’s awesome ❤❤😊😊
Very exellent demonstration.
Is that the limit for the low conductivity on firetube boilers?
I dont think low conductivity is bad per se. It's just wasting energy skimming more than needed.
Where does the blowdown water go? Is their something that catches the dissolved solids?
Blowdown is normally just discharged into the city sewer after being cooled down to a reasonable level. This can vary from plant to plant though. Hopefully that helps. Thanks for watching!
when you do botton blow downs is donewith boiler running or boiler off
You can do it with the boiler running (ideally at low load conditions). Also you can do it to boilers that are on hot standby as they do cycle on and off several times a day to maintain temperature and pressure. Off meaning what? If the boiler is not running and has no pressure you can't do a blow down as there is no pressure to move the water out of the blow down.
What is the formula for the heating surface of an electrode steam boiler?
There is not one formula to calculate that but rather is manufacturer specific. You would need to reach out to whoever makes the boiler and get their formula from them. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for the comment and for watching!
I wish my water heater had something like that to remove the sediment and scale from the bottom.
When the element failed, it was because of the scale.
Sent a guy to replace it, it failed inside two months.
I rigged a vacuum to remove the sediment, and replaced it again, myself.
Hasn't failed since.
No wonder plumbers are able to sell water heaters so easily!
Every month or two use the faucet on the side of the water heater to blow water off for a few seconds. Sort of the poor man's blow down. It won't get rid of everything but will help.
MacGyver at large when you first get a water heater ditch the garbage drain valve and put on a decent full port, you can essentially do the same thing.
@@bruiseandy the drain valve is not large enough to let chunks of scale out had to use the opening the lower element mounts into.
It will be good for several years.
Also, the level of scale in this area is incredible, because the entire region has bedrock of limestone.
I refuse to drink the water because it tastes like dissolved bricks.
You might consider a home water softner .
Good instructional on how to blow down the boiler! Can you talk about frequency more?
I have an over-sized boiler (400 horsepower, firetube, natural gas, Cleaver Brooks) to heat a 30,000 sq ft facility in NY Metro Area weather. We don't get a lot of steam movement or makeup water in our system (150 gallons makeup/day). We get almost all of our condensate back.
Originally the boiler was used for humidification of the laboratory space (lots of steam use and flow), but now it is solely used to heat the building.
Would you still recommend blowing down the boiler every couple of hours, or would you prolong the blow-down schedule.
The manufacturer calls for every 8 hours, however since we don't get a lot of makeup, I think we should prolong our blow-downs.
I don't want to accumulate too many solids at the bottom though, I guess this is a balancing act.
Would be cool if boilers came with cameras inside them....
Once a shift. If you work with a chemical company for your boiler they could probably be more specific, but if your conductivity numbers aren't all over the place, I'd continue with the once a shift or every 8hrs. You'll also be able to tell on your annual inspection when you open it up and flush the water side
What’s a free blowdown valve? Got asked that on a interview
Did you figure what the free blowdown valve was for?
@@tjn2254 its a spool in between the the non-return valve and the main isolation valve. Basically removes the condensation once the valves are closed
@@losgar2515 The free blow valve between the two steam stop valves is primarily for the inspectors safety. If he is going to enter the water side of the boiler. He can look at the two steam stop valves to verify that they are closed and then look at the free drain valve to verify that it is open. This piping MUST not be connected to any other piping such as drains, blowoff or blowdown piping. The end of the piping must be visible to the inspector. As another side note code does not require a non return valve, simply two valves. If a non return is used however it must be the first valve off of the boiler.
Where should the water level be, ideally? You mentioned the one you're working on was below its optimal level. Thanks. (I am responsible for setting the boiler, and doing regular blowdown.)
If You don't know then You are a major operational safety liability ! Stick to blowdowns only .
So this is a 7 minute video on how to open a valve 😂😂😂
Thanks for sharing my mother boiler have leak any recommendation of what kind of boiler sealer I should use she have a crown boiler!!!
Just a note regarding blow down. Code refers to the bottom piping as blowoff and the surface piping as blowdown. There are different requirements and limits for these two systems. Interestingly code does not have a classification for the piping on the low water cutoffs