| OCR Text |
Show historically done, of course improved overall efficiency of many furnaces, however, up till recent time the only ways to obtain high efficiency levels were undesireable from one or more points of view. Waste heat boilers could achieve the high recovery of heat from the waste gases, but if the plant had no use for the steam generated, this approach could not be taken. Conventional regenerators or ceramic recuperators could be used but these had the disadvantage of high cost and usually required substantial space for installation. Operating problems were frequently encountered with these installations due to high leakage of the air being preheated, or where hot fans or other equipment requiring high maintenance were required to make the system functional at high efficiency ratios or where extensive high cost duct systems were required to pip€ the preheated air back to point of usage at the burner locations. We are entering an era where we must refine our production, obtain low operating costs, reduce fuel wastage and aim for ever higher product quality. We must achieve this goal to retain our industrial base in the United States. 17 |
