Study on condensing boiler technology potential accounting various fuels

摘要

Condensing boilers represent now the most advanced technology in boilers field. Currently, their operation is almost entirely based on natural gas, which mostly consists of methane (typically more than 95 % in volumetric composition). When natural gas is not available – for example when there is no access to the natural gas network – the usual alternative is LPG. Liquid fuel is also taken into account in some studies. The energy saving potential by harnessing the latent heat of water vapors from flue gas is analyzed in the paper for another seven fuels – butane, propane, coal gasification gas, biogas, heavy fuel oil, diesel and bio-oil – and the reference fuel is methane. The greenhouse impact of these fuels is also analyzed. The study indicates that biogas offers the highest energy saving potential for condensing technology (even higher than methane) while heavy fuel oil has the lowest potential. Evaluation of CO2emissions shows that coal gasification gas has the greatest greenhouse impact.