Radiator Sludge
Most central heating systems develop
sludge over time
- Water flows past the obstruction is diverted into a circular
pattern through the radiator
- Over time there will be a build up of additional deposits.
- Worst case, the sludge could block the water flow coming
in.
Effects of Radiator Sludge
- Cold and inefficient radiators
- Boiler deposit build up
- Internal system corrosion
- Heating pump circulation problems
- Central heating pipe blockages
- Noisy heating systems
- System blockages
Boiler deposit/scale build up
|
Boiler deposit is caused by
- impurities being precipitated out of the water directly or
- radiator sludge
Boiler deposit causes
- increased fuel bill by decreasing the operating efficiency
- thermal damage
- unscheduled down-time
- increased cleaning time and cleaning costs
- reduced working life of a boiler.
|
Advantages of sludge removal
- A warmer environment as the cold spots have been
eradicated
- Reduced fuel costs in future years with improved central
heating system efficiency
- Increased pump life as the central heating pump processes clear
water instead of sludge
- Reduced radiator corrosion or internal heating system
corrosion.
- Eliminating banging noises (kettling) and prolonging the boiler
life
Sludge removal process
What does it include?
- Remove of radiators
- Flushing of the radiators
- Install the radiators
How long does it take?
- 1 to 2 days per room
- 2 men full time on the job per room
- What are the inconvenience?
- Students not able to be in class for up to 2 days
- Create out of bounds area for students
- If the school wants to flush the radiators of 15 rooms, that
means, no heat for up to 30 days.
Thermal efficiency
- A boiler has a thermal efficiency of about 75%
- Thermal efficiency of the boiler is the ratio of the energy you
get from the grid and the energy the boiler produce
Where are the energy loss in the boiler?
- Heat loss in the flue 18%
- Radiation and convection4%
- Heat loss in the blow down3%
Radiator Sludge, inefficiency and cost
Assume the radiator sludge reduces the boiler efficiency by 35%,
for a 300kW boiler, that means
- Radiator sludge cause a lost of (0.35 X 300) 105kW of
energy.
- Boiler inefficiency and radiator sludge lost a total of
(0.60X300) 180kW of energy
Assuming 11c per kWh and
the
boiler is used for 5 hoursfor 6 months of the year |
Radiator
inefficiency
Unnecessary expenses for energy loss |
Boiler and radiator
inefficiency
Unnecessary expenses for energy loss |
| Per day |
|
|
| Per month (20 days) |
|
|
| Per Year (6 months) |
|
|
| 2 years |
|
|