Cuenod selected by Dalkia for the renovation of a boiler room in Tours

Cuenod has just participated in the modernization of an urban heating system for 8500 homes in Tours.

An operation under the banner of environmental and energy efficiency

The Société de Chauffage du Bord de Cher (SCBC, a subsidiary of Dalkia) operates, on behalf of the city of Tours, the management of heating and domestic hot water for a real estate complex made up of condominiums, social housing and buildings for collective use: school, gymnasium, college, etc. This is the equivalent of 8500 homes for a population of approximately 15 to 18 inhabitants. 

To provide this service, one of the energy sources is a boiler room containing four boilers with a total output of 4 megawatts. It serves two districts: one by 43 substations supplied with superheated water at 30°C, the other by 180 substations with hot water at 53°C.

This 40-year-old boiler room, classified as an ICPE (Installation Classified for Environmental Protection), needed to be modernized and brought into compliance with the latest atmospheric emission regulations. Cuenod won the tender issued by Dalkia.

The first phase of work was completed with two CC600 dual-block burners equipping an 8-megawatt gas boiler. A second burner, CC900, is planned to equip a 15-megawatt boiler, following thorough verification by Apave.

Cuenod owes its success to the personalized response guaranteed by a low-NOx combustion system, precise excess air regulation, and an extended modulation range. The combination of these three technologies in a single product is Cuenod 's exclusive expertise.

“Our variable O2 setpoint management system uses excess air based on the presence of an additional probe that continuously measures the CO level. This information, which allows us to minimize the O2 value, is adjusted constantly, regardless of the load, to deliver only the minimum excess air. The observed gain is very significant compared to conventional solutions with a fixed O2 setpoint. For safety reasons, this setpoint is very often significantly oversized, frequently by around 4%, and therefore unfortunately energy-intensive, ” explains Mr. Marks, Director of the Western Region at Cuenod in Nantes, who exclaims :

 "Excess air exists, but with a value below 2% it is controlled and does little to cool the flame. This regulation, combined with a wide modulation range and low NOx emissions, allows our burners to avoid overconsumption that is currently quite unnecessary."

In fact, the control system takes care of safety constraints and the permanent work of the probe generates every eight hours an ideal curve of the O2 setpoint, taking into account the workload assigned to the burner, the humidity, the air temperature and the quantity of energy.

Current regulations on NOx emissions (*) require this type of boiler room to not exceed a threshold of 120 mg/m³. Cuenod boasts a significantly lower score with a maximum of 100 mg/m³. The boiler room's emissions volume has been reduced by 45%. "The planet will be happy to hear this! And so will Dalkia, as demonstrating environmental responsibility is one of their core requirements."

"Dalkia is indeed demanding 'low NOx(*)' scores and, by delving deeper into the superior points of Cuenod industrial burners , their references, their guarantees of results and their low emission levels, these products naturally imposed themselves," says Laurent Buffet of Dalkia, in charge of the renovation of the SCBC installation.

Oxygen and CO regulation appears to him as a major asset to enhance this action and, " ...the results measured in terms of safety, regulations and modulation ranges since October 2008 are very interesting. They also guarantee the essential continuity of service," he continues.

Given the technological advances highlighted in this renovation, where the burner and automation systems manage everything and the interface provides a comprehensive diagnosis, the boiler room operating staff wanted to add components that would allow them immediate support and rapid diagnosis of anomalies. This renovation is fully in line with current environmental issues, in which DALKIA is a major player.

Laurent Buffet sees it as "a good opportunity to show that we are respectful of the environment and regulations."

(*) NOx : Chemical abbreviation for nitrogen and oxygen compounds, which include: nitric oxide ( N₂O ), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), carbon dioxide ( CO₂ ), dinitrogen tetroxide (N₂O₄), and nitrogen trioxide (N₂O₃). The compounds analyzed by air pollution monitoring and alert networks are NO and NO₂, grouped under the generic term nitrogen oxides (NOx).

 Press contacts:

CUENOD

Chiara Bergerone
Phone. : 04 50 87 84 34
sharia.bergerone@aristonthermo.com

DM&A AGENCY

Catherine Pinoteau
Phone. : 01 30 70 68 89
agencedma@wanadoo.fr