April 2016 Chapter Event

The University of Cincinnati recently renovated one of its coal-fired boilers and found an alternative to burning fossil fuels.  The original boiler was manufactured in 1985 by the Keeler/Dorr-Oliver Boiler Company, designed as a solids fuel boiler with 80,000 lbs/hr capacity.  Once used as a coal burner, it is now being converted to burn biomass - specifically paper pellets and wood pellets.  A spout was added to the feeders to allow the additional flexibility for the boiler to burn alternative fuels.  The new spout is an "air swept spout", a type proven to be more versatile in distributing fuel into a boiler.  Fuels tested to date include paper pellets, various biomass types and even biomass and coal mixes.  

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SW Ohio AEE's Joe Harrell will be our host for this tour of the biomass pellet boiler.  A long-time leader in AEE and our chapter, Joe is the current Director of Utility Services at the University of Cincinnati, responsible for the operation of a 50mW cogeneration plant, over 30,000 tons of chilled water capacity and over 600,000 pounds per hour of steam capacity.

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Best place to park for this event is the Eden Avenue Garage, located in orange on the map below.  Enter the garage from Eden Avenue, across from the East Campus Utility Plant.  Parking costs $7.