Corrugated Packaging Manufacturing Facility

Replacing an Unreliable Boiler with a High-Pressure Steam Solution

A corrugated packaging manufacturer relies heavily on steam for its production process. One of the plant’s existing boilers was undersized, while the other had become increasingly unreliable. Superior Mechanical led a negotiated design-build project to replace the failing boiler with a high-pressure steam system designed around the plant’s needs.

Challenge

The plant uses a significant amount of steam to manufacture corrugated packaging. Its existing boiler plant included one unit that was still operating but lacked sufficient capacity and another that had become unreliable despite continued repairs.

Installation presented another challenge. The new boiler and related equipment had to be rigged into a tight mechanical space, making the physical installation particularly demanding.

Analysis and Solution

Superior worked with Boiler Tech, the client’s corporate team, and a local engineering partner to develop the system. The client also wanted the new boiler installation to align with design criteria used across its other plants.

Superior and its engineering partner reviewed the existing system to determine what could be reused while keeping project costs under control. The team removed the failing boiler and installed a new high-pressure steam boiler with a high-pressure condensate return system.

The new configuration brings high-pressure condensate back to the boiler while retaining more of the heat and pressure already in the system. Superior also added an economizer, which captures heat from the boiler exhaust and uses it to preheat makeup water before it enters the system.

Because the configuration was uncommon, startup required extensive coordination and adjustment. Boiler Tech and Cleaver-Brooks handled the factory startup, with Superior assisting as the team spent approximately a month getting the system fully dialed in.

Results

Once commissioned, the new boiler system provided the plant with a reliable source of high-pressure steam for its corrugated packaging operations and has continued operating successfully.

The high-pressure condensate return and economizer also allow the system to retain and recover heat that would otherwise be lost through the steam and exhaust process. For a specialized configuration that required extensive coordination to install and commission, the project gave the facility a dependable long-term solution for a critical part of its manufacturing process.

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