Upgraded boiler system saves time and money for Valley Fig Growers.
The old system, a 300 BHP firetube boiler, could not be used to its full capacity due to California's strict limitations on the amount of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) that gas-fired boilers can emit. "We would have had plenty of capacity if we could have used the boiler's full potential," says Roy Ziegenfuss, Valley Fig Growers' maintenance superintendent, "but then we would have been in violation of the local smog laws. We had to derate our old boiler down so much that we weren't able to get 300 BHP. We were getting around 175 BHP, which sometimes made it hard for us to maintain proper steam pressure."