Energy efficiency and cost savings through precisely sized heat exchangers

Katronic’s portable heat meters help a leading British supplier of large-scale steam heating systems to accurately measure and monitor heat flows in hospitals, large food factories and other major energy consumers, as an integral part of their service offering and pre-sales process. The information recorded by the meters gives the company the assurance that total energy demand is captured and peak demand is measured, ensuring that the new systems it proposes precisely meet customers’ requirements and enable them to achieve significant energy and cost savings that justify the investment.

Katronic’s KATflow 230 is a non-invasive clamp-on ultrasonic flow and heat meter. A compact pair of stainless-steel transducers is simply clamped onto the outside of the hot water pipe, as close as possible to the main heat exchanger. Ultrasonic signals are emitted across the width of the pipe, both upstream and downstream, to measure the flow velocity, which is then converted into a flow volume. The recorded temperature is combined with the flow measurement to provide a direct measurement of the heat in the system, total heat consumption and, most importantly, peak demand across the entire network.

A sales engineer at the company has used a KATflow 230 on a number of projects. He says: “The flow meter is a really important tool for me. We’ve had several projects where it was really difficult to assess boiler house operations, but with the KATflow meter we were able to record the flow rates, see the figures and the peak demand, and make accurate proposals.” 

As the proposals are backed up by relevant data, the heating manufacturer can demonstrate to its customers that the systems it offers are based on actual heat demand. In many cases, this has led to significant savings in energy consumption, amounting to annual savings of more than £500,000 in at least one instance.

The KATflow 230 measurements have now been used by this company in almost twenty large-scale heat exchanger studies, across sectors as diverse as healthcare and general hospitals, food and drink factories, confectionery and dairies. They offer customers significant opportunities to achieve real cost and carbon savings that benefit everyone.