Article originally published in 2.2.2021
Lindström’s new laundry facility required steam for washing roll towels. Limited space had been allocated for the equipment in the new building’s mechanical room. The customer’s original idea was to purchase two steam generators, but Finess designed a single steam generator solution for the site that is both efficient and compact. The delivery also included steam piping, a condensate and feedwater tank, and a boiler chemical feed system.
Lindström is one of Europe’s leading textile service companies, with over 170 years of experience in the textile industry. The new laundry facility built in Turku required a steam generator solution to produce steam for the roll towel washing machines. The equipment was to be in a machine room on the second floor of the new building, where space was limited. This imposed requirements on the size of the unit.
Lindström’s core principles are operational responsibility, process efficiency, and minimizing water consumption, which were key factors in this procurement. The idea was to purchase two small steam generators for the washing machines that would fit well in the space reserved for them in the machine room. However, Finess designed a solution for the site that included a single, powerful, and compact steam generator. Its capacity was sufficient to meet the steam demand, and the investment was lower than purchasing two steam generators.
Finess delivered an efficient and compact LPG-fired once-through steam generator for Lindström’s new laundry facility
Finess supplied a liquid-fuel-fired steam generator to Lindström’s new laundry facility. The delivery package also included all steam and condensate piping, a condensate and feedwater tank, and boiler chemical dosing.
The steam generator is a once-through type and produces 6 bar steam for the washing machines. The advantages of a once-through steam generator include very fast startup and adjustment. The steam generator features a modulating burner, which allows steam production to be started and adjusted quickly according to steam demand.
Since steam is generated in a coil in the flow-through steam generator, it has a very small water capacity of less than 100 liters. Although the unit’s steam capacity is 750 kg/h, thanks to the small water volume, the equipment is not classified as pressure equipment requiring registration and annual inspections by the authorities. Read more about the pressure equipment register on the Tukes website.
Another advantage of the coil’s small water volume is minimal corrosion. Often, steam generators must be kept running to prevent corrosion, for example in the evenings and on weekends when production is at a standstill. Thanks to the small amount of water in a once-through steam generator, the unit does not need to be kept running continuously to prevent corrosion, and it can also be started up quickly after a shutdown.
The steam generator is equipped with a Siemens PLC control system, which is connected to the remote-control system for the laundry’s water treatment system previously supplied by Finess. This allows steam generation to be controlled via the same remote monitoring system, which improves energy efficiency and user convenience.
