Posted by Mike Pilling on October 24, 2001 at 14:29:46:
In Reply to: cost of steam generation posted by Fred Ruepp on June 02, 2000 at 06:17:59:
Here is a rule of thumb for a "ballpark" estimate on cost of steam, which assumes the following:
* natural gas as fuel
* saturated steam
* watertube boilers
Take cost of gas per mmBTU X 1.3 X boiler efficiency = cost/1000 lb.
eg: Gas $6.00 mmBTU X 1.3 = $7.80
$7.80 X 0.85 efficiency = $9.18 per 1000 lb.
As I said, this is a very rough method, but it comes pretty close in the vast majority of industrial non-superheated steam plants.