A good burner can be financially beneficial. But then you must be sure it does what it is supposed to do. That is possible with remote monitoring, along with oxygen control. Vitotherm is increasingly rolling out this feature, says general manager Geert-Willem van Weert.
"That's, unfortunately, rarely included in new buildings, but clients are always happy with it afterward," he says. Geert-Willem cites an American customer as an example: "We could see, remotely, that the climate computer wasn't controlling the burner correctly. The log data showed that the burner stopped and started a lot."
"That causes issues. Apparently, the climate computer's control was improperly adjusted," explains Geert-Willem. From Vitotherm's headquarters in the Netherlands, they detected and fixed that along with the customer, who had opted to monitor the system themselves.
Geert-Willem van Weert and Ed Roeleveld
"We can see how efficient the oxygen level is during combustion. If that gets too high, we can warn the company so something can be done about it." Useful because things can still change somewhat in the boiler room after the burner's placement. "For example, some of those areas' temperatures fluctuate significantly throughout the year. You must adjust your burner properly to that," says Van Weert.
The goal is to keep oxygen use as low as possible while minimizing carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels. "With remote monitoring, you can see if that's happening during operation, especially with changing conditions." An extra pair of eyes from Vitotherm is nice, especially since burners are not always at the top of growers' priority lists of things to keep an eye on. "And it pays off, especially in colder periods. Adjust your burners properly, and that extra investment pays for itself," Geert-Willem concludes.
For more information:
Geert-Willem van Weert
Vitotherm
1 Lorentz Street, 2665 JG
Bleiswijk, the Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0) 153 030 071
Email: [email protected]
www.vitotherm.nl