Performance of a Condensing Heat Exchanger System at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence, Missouri

Abstract : The U.S. Army has placed high priority on conserving national energy resources and is particularly interested in projects that demonstrate energy conservation. Approximately 18 percent of the fuel energy put into a boiler is wasted in the form of heat in the flue gas. This excess heat is necessary to maintain the flue gas temperature above the dewpoint of sulfur oxides to prevent corrosion. Because the condensing heat exchanger (CHE) system is resistant to corrosion, it allows the flue gas temperature to be reduced and the waste heat to be recovered, potentially increasing fuel efficiency. To evaluate the potential savings, the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACERL) conducted a system demonstration on the most frequently used boiler at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (Army Materiel Command (AMC), Independence, MO. Researchers estimated the annual fuel savings to be $132,000 based on 5 months of measured data, at a fuel cost $3.92 per million Btu. Total investment was $199,200. Payback of 1.5 years on the initial investment demonstrates the opportunities associated with CHE systems and warrants a broader investigation of applying the technology throughout AMC and the Army.