Award Winning Custom Hurst Boiler Installed as Part of UI Green Energy Initiative

Coolidge, GA. January 24, 2013

Hurst Boiler custom designed the 600 BHP Biomass-Waste-Fuel Boiler/Gasifier, which was installed as part of the University of Iowa’s Green Energy Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to meet 40% of energy needs with renewable resources by the end of 2020. The boiler replaced the campus’s natural-gas boiler, and its creation and installation was a challenge as it had to be retrofitted in order to be placed within an existing structure with fixed barriers and space constraints.  The installation was a success and has proven itself already, having helped to secure the Grand Place Award in the Energy Production category of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa’s 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

A dashboard-driven control and monitoring system (Hurst BIOMASS-TER) for boiler and peripheral equipment controls the system; and because the biomass boiler is capable of combusting hundreds of varying fuels, the UI campus can burn local fuels including oat hulls and woodchips and keep fossil fuels simply as a backup. Completed in 2011, the project was successful in the competition because it exhibited technical advancement, innovation, complexity, social and economic considerations, and met/exceeded the expectations of the client.

Established in 1967, Hurst Boiler & Welding, Inc. manufactures designs, engineers and services oil, coal, gas, wood, solid waste, biomass and hybrid fuel-fired steam and hot water boilers. The company is recognized for innovative design and engineering, the highest code standards, Energy Star rating, and sustainable, renewable solutions for green building design and operational efficiency. Call or visit the Hurst Boiler website for more information.