Reducing energy consumption is a key objective of modern building refurbishment. To Guido Jobst, this simply isn’t enough. ”This also includes factors such as efficiency, conserving resources, and the overall energy balance of a measure,” notes the Managing Director of the German company ATEC Abgas-Technologie who then offers a practical example of this. If a low-temperature boiler has already been operating in a single-family home for ten to fifteen years, the typical energy consultant would recommend replacing it with a condensing or combi-boiler, perhaps including solar support, to increase energy efficiency. ”What they don’t consider, however, is that boilers that are replaced are generally high-quality products that would do the job for up to another fifteen years,” Guido Jobst explains.
The head of ATEC, who has been active in the flue gas technology industry for 25 years, therefore decided to convert a method taken from large boiler technology and adapt it to private homes. In industrial plants, condensing gas boilers are suspended behind the large boilers within the flue gas outlet in order to use the high flue gas temperatures to generate energy. By doing so, condensing boiler technology is upgraded, and the existing boiler can still be used.
Up until now, this technology was not available for small boilers. However, ATEC developed a solution. To achieve these results for small boilers, a heat exchanger ensures that the water vapor condenses around the special glass tubes that contain exhaust gases of up to 270 degrees Celsius and does not escape through the chimney. The heat that is obtained through condensation then heats up the heating water that flows through the tubes.
The DURAN® borosilicate glass tubes that are used here serve as key components of this system. They are extremely strong and corrosion-resistant to sulfuric acids and other combustion residues that result from this process. ”Neither metals nor plastics could be used in these components. And because we wanted to offer a high-quality product, we were looking for a premium supplier of glass solutions with experience in systems engineering,” Jobst explains. SCHOTT convinced him thanks to its decades of experience as a supplier to the heat exchanger industry, which includes large brewery plants. In addition, the technology company provides precise and solid finishing of the glass tubes’ ends and thereby made the system’s much needed tightness and performance possible – a must for flawless operation and the product guarantees that are given to customers,” adds Jobst.
