The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Plumbing Heating And Piping
Heating and Piping Information Series
SEC. H-l. BOILER PLANT
6.1. General Discussion
It might well be said that there are as many different over-all designs of boiler plants as there are individual plants. However true this statement may seem to be, it would be as misleading as a statement that all boiler plants are alike. A little reflection will show that both of these statements are true to a certain extent but very misleading in the final analysis. In this book we are primarily interested in the cost of installation. From this standpoint it is well to point out that two plants, though similar, may differ considerably in cost. The reasons for this difference may be location, accessibility, area economics, labor availability and training, specification requirements, general construction progress, and cooperation among specialty subcontractors. These are only a few of the factors which must be considered in making the cost estimate.
The ultimate use of the steam or hot water, naturally, has a great deal to do with the type of generating plant to be installed. A boiler plant supplying steam or hot water for heating purposes in an office building, school, or municipal building may be quite simple. This same office building, however, might be only one of the buildings forming a part of a large chemical-process plant. In this case the boiler plant probably would be much more complex, because of the large quantities of steam required for the process work. The boilers will be of much higher capacity, making it economically feasible to install additional equipment which will in turn cut the cost of operation of the plant. Large boilers will require additional control equipment, fuel-handling equipment, and other items which are not found in the relatively small boiler plant for heating only. Large boiler plants used only for heating, however, may be found serving universities and other multiple-building developments as central heating plants.
This variation in equipment used as well as a variation in the combination of possible equipment makes it appropriate to break down the boiler-plant section of this book into two parts: (1) equipment and (2) boiler piping.
6.2. Limits of Boiler-plant Work
The most logical, as well as the most simple, grouping of the elements of a completed heating plant quite naturally cuts the whole system into two parts. The first part or section is the steam or hot-water producing plant; the second part or section is the use or consumption section of the system. This should be used as a guide in setting the limits of boiler-plant work.
Limits of boiler-plant work, as distinguished from mains and branches or distribution, should be set by the estimator in order to reduce the possibility of duplication in take-off or of leaving out a portion of the work. Limits properly set will also facilitate later cost accounting.
