Miura’s New Quick Ship Xpress Boiler Program Ends the Need for High Cost Rental Boilers

When the call for help came into Jason Bell, Miura America’s Regional Manager for the Southeast Division, he knew that he was about to make his customer very happy.

“We received a call from a popular soft drink manufacturer in Southern Florida.” recalls Bell. “They were having major issues with a boiler they had purchased from another company. Since we had already replaced another boiler from that company with a new one from Miura, we weren’t surprised that they would be calling us.”

But this request was different. The company had waited too long to change out their old, inefficient, problematic boiler, and needed a new one fast. Typically, that might mean looking into a rental boiler, which could usually be delivered and installed in a week or two, but the company was hoping to avoid that and reached out to Miura to see what could be done.

“The customer was trying to find out if there was any way to get a new boiler delivered and installed in much less time than the industry-standard of a few months,” said Bell. “They were really in a bind, since their current boiler was scaling up badly, and causing them all sorts of issues.”

Scaling up is a term that describes what happens when hardness in the water basically turns to hard calcium or scale, and then slowly destroys the inside of a boiler, minimizing the efficiency and increasing service calls along the way.

“They were getting all sorts of alarms, and while they could keep running the boiler to meet production demands, the fuel costs were becoming unmanageable because the boiler had become totally inefficient,” stated Bell. “They needed a new boiler fast and they figured they would just give us a call before biting the bullet on a costly rental unit.”

What the customer didn’t know was that Miura, the world’s largest industrial boiler manufacturer, had recently launched the first-of-its-kind Quick-Ship Express (QSX) boiler program, and could deliver and have installed a new unit in a week or two.

“Miura’s Quick-Ship Express program is a game changer,” states Paul O’Donnell, Miura’s VP of Support Operations. “Now customers can have a new ‘zero to full steam in 5 minutes’ Miura boiler, from 50 -600HP, in the time it usually takes to install a rental unit.”

Typically, boiler rentals had been the solution to minimize downtime, when the current boiler had been pushed to the limits or required extended repair. But rentals boilers are often used boilers, usually less than 50HP, housed in large trailers and driven to the renter’s facility where they require full installation as well as uninstallation. This is often costly and time-consuming.

“Rental boilers still have to be wired and piped to a very similar piece of equipment that is already installed in your building,” adds Bell. “Of course, there was always a downside, since you’re basically installing a temporary piece of equipment with the same funding that you could be installing a permanent piece of equipment.”

An article in HPAC Engineering explains it this way: “The cost of a rental boiler could add tens of thousands of dollars per month to overall project costs and many more thousands of dollars in connection costs.”

Miura’s unique Quick-Ship Express program changes all that, while making one soft drink company in Florida, and other customers very happy.

“It took a moment for the plant manager to realize that we could meet his expectations and have a new Miura boiler shipped and installed in the time it normally takes for a rental,” added Bell. “When he asked if there was any chance we could make this happen and I told him about our new Quick-Ship program, his big smile said it all.”

In addition to eliminating much of the need for rental unit costs, Miura’s QSX program also makes it easier for buyers to “move on” from old inefficient boilers that burn too much fuel and need constant service.

“Some users just can’t let go of their aging, inefficient boiler, because they’d rather have some steam than lose productivity due to downtime,” said Bell. “It used to be a tough choice, but now instead of reaching for the duct tape, you can call Miura and get the most reliable, efficient and safe boiler in the time it would take to order and install a rental.”

And there was another benefit, since the soft drink company was so happy to hear that they could free themselves of their aging boiler without any real downtime, they decided to move ahead with another plan to step-up production.

“They took this opportunity to couple two ideas into one,” recalls Bell. “They replaced the scaled boiler (a 100HP) in rapid fashion as well as increased their production capability. We were able to deliver and install our LX-200 boiler to them within two weeks.”

LX-200 SG LX Gas/Low NOx Series, Low and High Pressure Steam Boiler use natural gas or propane and are available in a range of steam options (300 MAWP, 170 MAWP or 15 MAWP). Their compact size allows them to fit through a standard doorway, while their naturally low NOx (nitrogen oxides) ratings are as low as 9ppm depending on model. Hot water boilers are available depending on models.

The Miura LX Series design (available in boilers from 50 -300HP) consists of rows of vertical tubes sandwiched between two rectangular headers. Both headers are encased in a castable refractory with only the tubes exposed to flame and/or combustion gases. The upper header is attached to the lower header only by the tubes. As the tubes expand and contract, the headers float up and down accordingly.

This ’floating header’ concept greatly reduces stress and allows for the use of cold feedwater without the fear of significant thermal shock. The ’leaky tube’ problems associated with firetube and bent watertube designs have been eliminated.

Miura boilers have a range of impressive benefits that are attracting a growing number of customers in a range of industries. Among these are: improved efficiency (fuel savings average about 20% based on customer comments); enhanced reliability through their modular design; advanced controls and advanced monitoring; and a best-in-industry safety record with zero catastrophic vessel failures resulting in casualty.

Plus Miura’s unique design and smaller size provides a number of key advantages including reducing the amount of costly square footage required, and making installation and standard maintenance that much simpler.

“As one soft drink manufacturer learned, doing business with Miura offers many advantages,” adds O’Donnell. “Plus, Miura manufactures virtually every component needed for an on-demand steam solution. That includes a Colormetry Hardness Detection System that can be used with any boiler to extend its life.”

Typically, water-hardness levels are checked manually through the use of chemical reagents. Such measurements are time consuming and can result in incorrect readings.

Colormetry solves all these problems by offering automated reagent injection, mixing and evaluation integrated into the boiler control system. Compactly-designed, self-calibrating units automatically monitor water quality, control Miura’s water softeners’ regeneration if hardness is detected and provide alarm and fault history logging. Reagent replacement is easy, while the units connect to Miura’s remote monitoring system (MOM) for added security and protection and interfaces with the boiler’s micro-controllers.

About Miura America Co., Ltd.

Miura Boiler was founded in 1927 and has grown to be one of the largest industrial steam boiler manufacturers in the world. Forward-thinking companies in North America, who want to conserve oil and gas resources while saving money and reducing emissions have embraced Miura Boiler technology resulting in the accelerated growth of Miura’s market share. The company is already the market leader in Asian countries.