Boiler Blowdown Cost & Savings Calculator
Estimate boiler blowdown energy loss, water waste and annual cost savings from reducing blowdown rates.
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What is a Boiler Blowdown Cost Calculator?
A boiler blowdown cost calculator estimates how much energy, water, and money a steam boiler loses through blowdown. Blowdown is the controlled removal of concentrated boiler water to control dissolved solids, but every gallon of blowdown carries hot water and heat out of the system. This tool quantifies that blowdown energy loss and shows the potential annual savings from reducing the blowdown rate, for example through better water treatment or automatic blowdown control.
Why Does Boiler Blowdown Cost Money?
Blowdown water leaves the boiler near saturation temperature, carrying both treated water and the heat used to raise it. The losses have two parts: fuel burned to heat the blowdown water from feedwater temperature to boiler temperature, and the cost of the make-up water and sewer discharge itself. On boilers with high blowdown rates, these losses can add up to thousands of dollars per year in fuel and water costs.
How Are Blowdown Savings Calculated?
The calculator converts blowdown rates into blowdown flow based on steam production, then compares the current and target blowdown flows. The reduction is multiplied by the heat difference between saturated boiler water and feedwater temperature to get annual energy loss in MMBtu, which is converted into fuel cost using boiler efficiency and fuel price. Reduced blowdown flow is also converted into gallons of water saved per year and valued at your water and sewer rate.
How Can Plants Reduce Blowdown Losses?
Common measures include improving feedwater quality with softeners or reverse osmosis, installing automatic blowdown control based on conductivity, recovering blowdown heat with a flash tank or heat exchanger, and fixing leaking blowdown valves. Even a few percentage points of blowdown reduction on a large boiler can meaningfully improve steam boiler efficiency and lower operating costs.
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