Steam Plant

Steam generation at The Medical Center Company is produced with the implementation of six water tube boilers. Total steam capacity of the boilers is 500,000 lbs of steam per hour at a pressure of 150 psig. Steam is delivered to our customers at a pressure of 70 psig. Two of the six boilers are coal fired. The other four are fired with natural gas.






An average of 40,000 to 50,000 tons of coal are burned at this facility each year. Coal deliveries to the plant are by truck. The coal is emptied into an outside hopper which is then transfered to an overhead coal storage bunker. This is accomplished by means of conveyors and a bucket elevator system. The capacity of the coal storage bunker is 900 tons.





Coal Delivery


The two coal boilers are rated at a production rate of 100,000 lbs of steam per hour. The coal is gravity fed down from the storage bunker to the boilers. It is then spread onto a 15ft wide, adjustable height, grate bed. Then it is fed into the furnace at various speeds depending on steam demand conditions.The coal is burned as it moves through the boiler. The flyash that is produced as the coal is burned is drawn up through the boiler breeching and then filtered out through a baghouse. The baghouse consists of 10 modules, each containing 100 bags apiece. When the burned coal reaches the back of the boiler it is dumped off as ash and retained in an ash hopper below the boiler. The ash is then removed from the ash pit by means of a vacuum system and stored in an ash silo until removal.


Traveling Chain Grate Coal Boiler




The gas fired boilers consist of two 100,000 lb/hr, and two 50,000 lb/hr. All the gas fired boilers incorporate low Nox gas burners. These boilers utilize special gas nozzles and also use a flue gas recirculation system to keep emissions within the EPA limits. Both 100,000 lb/hr boilers have Nox and Co2 analyzers to record these emissions.

100,000 lb/hr Gas Boiler with a
Low Nox Burner and recirculation
fan inlet to the left.
50,000 lb/hr Gas Boiler with a Low
Nox Burner and recirculation fan
inlet at the top right.


Replacement options for the two abandoned 45,000 lb/hr boilers is now in the planning stages. This is necessary to insure our customers a reliable source of steam, with anticipation of their future expansion plans.