Posted by john on January 05, 2002 at 10:47:00:
In Reply to: Cleaver brooks coil tube boilers posted by ERIC B. on January 04, 2002 at 16:43:15:
:Eric, I believe these units were built as hot oil heaters. If your unit has a water or steam application, I have the wrong unit. The idea was to circulate oil through the coil tube (about 3 inch dia) with an expansion tank directly on top of the coil tube heater. An impeller was mounted in the back of the heater for oil circulation. The unit typically ran 400-550 deg F at very low system pressures (20-50 psig).
Benefits: lots of heat with little or no operater certificates, much lower piping problems, steam traps, superheaters, or pipe thickness,. etc.
Concerns: Warm up carefully, no water in system. Must check oil for thickness and contaminants, to burn or coke up oil in heater is a mess. Can damage coil, may overheat require replacement. seal for impeller can fail causing oil leak onto belts from drive motor. Very good chance of fire and all the action of same.
I think the market for these units would be fairly small and oil having fire and enviromental concerns could stop production. I don't know if they are gone for good. Hope this helps.
Does anyone have any history information on the cleaver brooks coil tube boilers (CTB)? Production of these boilers was changed/discontinued and I need to find out information regarding possible reasons. Are there any known lawsuits or documented incidents with these units? Possibly with coil failures.