Is it Too Good to Be True? Question the validity of vendor claims that tout extraordinary energy efficiency

摘要

OF ALL my consulting assignments,none has been so strange as”The Case of the Magic Burner.”My client asked me to evaluate this new technology,with the objective of upgrading some boilers.The vendor claims were interesting,to say the least.The burner requires virtually no excess air,and produces essentially no carbon monoxide or NO.Furthermore,because of high flame speed,it delivers excellent heat transfer.However,what really caught my attention was the claim that the burner would reduce fuel use in the boilers by 30-40%.The name-plate efficiency of the boilers was over 90%(lower heating value(LHV)),equivalent to about 81%(higher heating value(HHV)).If the burners could reduce the fuel use by even 30%,while still delivering the same amount of useful heat,the energy efficiency would significantly exceed 100%,thus violating the first law of thermodynamics(conservation of energy).