Beacon managed a unique project at a 45,000 sf industrial building! We increased the natural gas pressure from 6.5 inches of water column to 57.3.
We installed a paint booth at this property last year. Even though the paint booth functioned, it wasn't getting as hot as it should during the bake cycle to cure the paint. The heater in the booth was being starved of fuel. In the winter, the shop heaters essentially stopped working when the paint booth was running the heater. Therefore, we set out to solve the problem. Solving the problem would require understanding where we were at and figuring out how to get where we needed to go.
Audit
The first step was to figure out exactly where we were. We hired a Mechanical Engineering company to complete a BTU audit. A BTU is a British Thermal Unit and is a measurement of the heat content of a fuel or energy source. The higher the BTUs the more heat can be generated. Unless you are running out of fuel!
We found the maximum BTUs for all of the appliances was over 3 million. The paint booth called for a maximum of nearly 1 million by itself!
The current pressure was 6.5 inches of water column. What does that mean? In a low-pressure situation, like a natural gas line, there is a way to measure the static pressure in smaller increments. As it turns out 27.7 inches of water column is equal to 1 pound per square inch (PSI). I told the engineer, "Well, that sounds like nothing. I am used to having my air compressor set at 100 psi." The engineer told me when it comes to natural gas, this is a high volume of gas but that we needed more considering all of the appliances.
Long story short, we need to increase the pressure by more than 880% to 2 PSI, so this was a big deal in the world of natural gas.
The engineer was able to confirm with another engineer that the sizes of the steel gas lines would handle the BTUs that we needed.
The next step was to figure out how to increase the pressure.
Local Utility Provider
We contacted Xcel Energy and were passed around to a few departments before finding the right people. This department advised that we needed to have regulators installed at each appliance in order to safely increase the gas pressure.
Collecting Bids
With a basic understanding of what needed to happen, we started making calls and meeting with contractors to walk the job. We found a dramatic difference in the pricing for the same job.
We selected a local small business to do the work even though it would be a month before they could come out. As we approached the project start date, we started making calls to confirm the details of when they were coming. Unfortunately, the contractor took four new construction homes from a larger client, so they decided they didn't want to do our project anymore.
We went back out to bid and found a HVAC company that knew how to install the regulators.
Here is a picture of one of the regulators that was installed.
Pressure Increase
With the regulators installed, we contacted Xcel to increase the pressure! We had a great technician come out, and he took the time to answer all of my questions. I tend to have a very curious mind, and I enjoy learning from people.
The technician was able to create a bypass loop while working on the regulator for the entire building.
Here is a photo of the main regulator and the replacement spring. The regulator spring needed to be changed in order to allow more pressure to come through the main line into the building.
The last step for the technician to verify the inches of water column at the meter. Here is a picture of the final pressure at 57.3 inches of water column (2 PSI).
Before Gas Pressure Increase:
This PSI gauge couldn't even read inches of water column.
After Gas Pressure Increase:
It can read 2PSI!
Wrapping Up
Whoever said, "Where there is a will, there is a way" was right. We took on a unique project and found very smart people to help me understand what we were dealing with and what needed to be done. It started with an audit and led to a conversation with Xcel about how to accomplish the goal. Once we understood how to safely increase the natural gas pressure by adding regulators, we were on our way to getting the job done. Then we met with contractors on different ways to accomplish the goal and had the regulators installed. Finally, the building has the appropriate gas pressure, so the heaters are not starved for fuel! Overall, this was a great project for Beacon to work on and increased my understanding of the built environment that we live in. Win-win!