Is it more cost-effective for the company to operate its own boiler or to have a company supply gas? Please help.

I’m not entirely sure what steam pressure your facility requires, but a 4t/h boiler generally reaches a pressure of around 1.6 MPa at most. I think steam from ordinary thermal power plants and large boiler rooms can achieve this pressure, with little pressure loss along the way. Especially with the calculation you did, I think it’s better to buy steam. Also, the boilers you use seem to have a rather low thermal efficiency. This post was last edited by ztsqklmtw on 2009-3-11 15:08.]

If you can afford it, it’s better to buy it! As you said, cooking it by yourself is troublesome, and it’s not cost-effective either! But when buying someone else’s car, one often ends up being controlled by them as well, having to keep everything in sync with theirs!

Yeah, so it’s a bit troublesome; I don’t know how to decide. We need the pressure to reach 11 kilograms. When the pressure is too high, the temperature also drops.

It depends on your company’s own needs. Mathematically speaking, it’s necessary to make the purchase, but practical considerations must also be taken into account, such as pressure, consumption, pipeline installation, and most importantly, whether the gas supply from the other party can meet your company’s daily production requirements. If you have to adjust your operations to fit the gas supply, then it loses much of its meaning.

You might consider having a smaller boiler on standby. If the gas supply meets the requirements, purchased gas is used; if it occasionally fails to meet the requirements, the own boiler is used to provide additional gas.

If you buy a smaller one, the corresponding staff will also remain, and there will be associated costs as well. The biggest concern at the moment is dealing with gas issues; our corrugation production line operates 24 hours a day without interruption.

In large-scale socialized production, there is no need to maintain those secondary operations that do not generate profits; it is better to focus entirely on the main business, as this is the path to development. Industrial boilers represent a specialized field, and for your company they function as auxiliary facilities. In terms of leadership attention, staff management, and operation and maintenance, they fall short compared to thermal power companies; therefore, it is better to let them supply steam, as their service is more stable and reliable.

I’m not sure how far your factory is from the thermal power plant. If it’s too far, it will be difficult to maintain the required steam pressure and temperature, as the turbines in thermal power plants are usually of the extraction type, and a suction pressure of 1.27 megapascals already represents a relatively high value. Therefore, practical considerations must be taken into account; if the conditions permit, external steam can be used, but if that’s not possible, then a 6-ton or 7-ton boiler will have to be installed.

The thermal efficiency of the boiler is too low; only 3 tons of steam are produced per ton of coal used. The owner should have the boiler inspected and repaired

My opinion: If possible, it’s better for the company to operate its own boiler! Using external steam: 1. Is the connection fee high or low? 2. The price of steam is under control. 3. What about the quality of the steam supplied? Can you make the decision?

Here are a few personal opinions for your reference. 1. Only 3 tons of steam per ton of coal? The efficiency of such boilers is unimaginably low! 2. With a rated evaporation capacity of 4 tons, trying to operate at 5 tons means operating 25% above capacity – this is practically impossible! 3. When obtaining steam from an external source, technical feasibility must be considered first! Do the pressure and temperature of the surrounding steam sources meet the requirements of your factory? And what about the stability of the steam supply? 4. In terms of costs, I’m not sure whether the price of 180 includes the investment and depreciation costs associated with steam pipelines. 5. Is the price of coal 720 yuan per ton? I’m not aware of your location or the type of coal you use; but as far as I know, the current price of coal is lower than that. 6. When calculating your own steam production costs, you include depreciation. But if you have to rely on external steam, and if you can’t sell your old boilers, you’ll still have to account for depreciation. Therefore, when comparing the cost of steam produced in-house with the price of external steam, you should exclude depreciation and consider only the impact on cash flow. 7. What will happen to your 4 boiler operators? Should they be reassigned to other positions or laid off? You need to take into account the legal consequences of violating labor laws. This post was last edited by you*ng on 2009-3-12 at 14:28

Could it be that there’s a problem with the steam flow meter?

As the saying goes, it’s better to rent a ship than to build one, and it’s better to rent a ship than to buy one; for small heating units, the economic efficiency is considerably lower.

If there are nearby facilities that can provide a stable steam supply, such as thermal power plants or chemical plants where the temperature and pressure of the steam are guaranteed, it is more cost-effective to purchase steam from outside.

If there are thermal power plants in the vicinity with a stable steam supply, then currently, it is certainly appropriate to make such a purchase. But if you can’t guarantee that others won’t raise prices and will still be able to supply you with gas steadily, then that’s not good. It seems that there’s an issue with the efficiency of your furnace. In the long run, you should modify your boiler to improve its efficiency.