Courtesy Super Radiator Coils.
An elevated view inside Pearl Street Station: looking down through the maze of new ductwork and pipes to the steel-mesh floor and the top of one of the boilers.
installing all the upgrade components on
the remaining six boilers, which began in
May 2011 at the end of the heating season. After months of construction and
testing, the modifications to the boilers
were completed in October.
Jumping Through Hoops
In any major retrofitting and
upgrading project, there are always
unforeseen issues and challenges. At
Pearl, space – or the lack thereof – was a
problem. The plant’s eight boilers are
only 10 ft apart and surrounded by utility lines, electric motors, exhaust fans,
ductwork and other equipment, leaving
little room to work.
Another major challenge involved
adapting control logic within the Allen
Bradley, Koyo and Honeywell control
platforms with Pearl’s existing Siemens
PCS7 control platform. That involved
implementing a profibus (process field-
bus) network to provide digital control
of six variable-frequency drives that
monitor all operational parameters of
the control system on each boiler. In the
process, existing boiler controls were
optimized to provide additional savings
by lowering excess air operation.
Richard Parrish is president of MindShare Communications, which specializes in developing timely, relevant feature stories about organizations that are making a difference in a broad range of industries and professions. He is
a former senior vice president and equity partner
in a nationally recognized public relations firm
headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Parrish holds
a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts and a master’s
degree in journalism and public relations from the
School of Journalism at the University of Iowa. He
can be reached at minsharcom@msn.com.
