University of California, San Diego Benefits From Compu-NOx

When the University of California, San Diego needed to meet the San Diego Air Pollution District's emission limit of 30 parts per million (ppm) NOx for three identical Erie City "O" type boilers equipped with Erie Ring Burners with 40 hp blowers, it received bids from seven companies.

Benz Air Engineering delivered a winning retrofit bid that was $750,000 less than all other bids, bids which would have required replacing those burners with less efficient Low NOx burners. By awarding the bid to Benz Air Engineering, the Compu-NOx solution reduced fuel consumption as well as NOx and CO emissions with a lower investment. Here's how the Compu-NOx retrofit solution stacked up:

Before Retrofit
Turndown: 3:1
NOx at Full Load: 80 ppm at 3 percent O2
CO at Full Load: 100 ppm at 3 percent O2
O2 at Full Load: 3.5 percent
Horsepower: 30hp

After Retrofit
Turndown: 20:1
NOx at Full Load: 16 ppm at 3 percent O2
CO at Full Load: 10 ppm at 3 percent O2
O2 at Full Load: 0.9 percent
Horsepower: 10hp

The Compu-NOx solution delivered an annual fuel savings of $58,000 per year and an annual electrical savings of $40,000 per year at the time of the retrofit. With the rising costs of fuel, the annual cost savings is now considerably more.

Since, the University of California, San Diego became the first campus on the West Coast to join the Chicago Climate Exchange to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It was also the first university in California to have been recognized by the California Climate Action Registry as a "Climate Action Leader."

UC San Diego's goal is to become a living laboratory for climate solutions by being an early adopter of real-world tools and leading-edge technologies for San Diego and the global marketplace for successfully measuring, certifying and reporting its greenhouse gas emissions to the Registry and the public. For more information about its sustainability programs, visit here.