GKN Aerospace Ltd of Luton Bedfordshire had a centralised steam boiler system that was nearing the end of its life. This system consisted of four steam boilers. Our project was to produce a decentralised heating system for their 6,060 square metres premise, providing individual control of the many distinct areas within the premise. The Client's objective was to shut down the steam boilers with efficiencies possibly as low as 50% and replace them with warm air heaters on the Energy Technology List with efficiencies greater than 91%, significantly reducing the site's carbon footprint by reducing the gas consumption on the site.
Our solution:
The premises was of a collection of buildings mainly of brick construction but with various roof types, some with cladding and others with flat bitumen roofs. Additionally, there were numerous closed control areas with HVAC systems within the premises. Working around these factors, we carefully measured each building to calculate precise heat losses before specifying a system.
Harry Taylor designed and installed a bespoke system using Benson VRA room sealed heaters and Reznor UDSA room sealed heaters, both of which were on the Energy Technology List at the time. All heaters were fitted with optimised controllers giving zoned control of each area. Not only do these optimise heater use, but they also can be set to meter the use of each heater. We also looked to boost the efficiency of the heaters by specifying destratification fans where appropriate. The customer has monitored the system's performance, and they have been able to achieve weekly savings of approximately 12.95 Tonnes of Carbon per week.