Date Published: 19/04/2018
This is the sixth issue of Cochran’s company magazine, ‘Energy’ we start with a feature highlighting our leading-edge boiler management systems, ‘Synergy’ and its new sister, ‘Eclipse’.
Based around a premium quality high resolution touchscreen, Synergy is very much the ‘Rolls-Royce’ boiler management option, providing impressive remote operation capabilities and a mind boggling array of stats for the expert operator of a complex system. Drawing on the key features of Synergy, Eclipse has been developed to meet the day-to-day requirements of most boilerhouses. Like Synergy, it offers impressive connectivity and future-proof expandability and it still provides ALL the key information of its big brother, but in a streamlined ‘push button’ interface ideal for general boilerhouse use.
The stringent new MCPD emissions legislation is something that’s causing real consternation in the industry. I’m pleased to see our Technical Team have put together an informative article that explains in simple terms exactly what the new lower limits on NOx and other key pollutants will be for new plant at various outputs. However, it is important to note that under MCPD, even if you are operating existing plant, there are also some tough limits coming into force over the next few years... Limits that our Aftermarket Sales Team will usually be able to meet for you without the need for an entirely new boilerhouse setup.
Next, we include a case study on Begg & Co, the famous Scottish manufacturer of some of the world’s finest cashmere clothing and blankets: I was surprised to read that they’ve been in business even longer than Cochran! Of course you don’t stay on top for more than 150 years without making good business decisions, and when it came to replacing their trusted old Wee Chieftain with a substantially larger capacity boiler to feed their ongoing expansion, they thought long and hard... And then bought ANOTHER, more powerful Wee Chieftain!
After last issue’s profile of our craftsman Platers, this time we don our goggles to shine the spotlight on Cochran’s highly skilled Welders as they join the raw elements of our boilers together. You might assume ‘welding’ is just a case of firing up a blow torch and getting on with it, but in fact the expert team uses FIVE completely different specialist welding processes, each of which suits specific applications.
This issue of Energy also covers our excellent Boiler Hire operation. Hiring is a great way to avoid the high capital costs of buying a new boiler during a business startup, to cover a catastrophic breakdown, or simply to meet a short term peak in demand for steam or hot water... I also like to think of it as the ultimate ‘try before you buy’ opportunity, with all that you need for rapid plug ‘n’ play installation and operation arriving in a neat, fully containerised package. The Hire team can also provide operator training to ensure maximum operational efficiency, and will even embed our own, highly experienced operators at your site, if required.
We round off the features with a profile of our work for Greenergy, over in Middlesbrough. They called Cochran in recently when their steam boiler failed its annual inspection. Discussions initially centred on replacement but their Thermax was SO crucial to production that, despite a catalogue of major issues, the refurb option was selected to achieve a speedy return to production. The boiler was transported to Cochran, numerous key parts were replaced and it was back in service in half the time required to build and commission a new unit.
That’s about it from me, except to mention that, on the training front, we’ve streamlined our ‘Operation and Maintenance’ and ‘Safety Awareness’ training into the comprehensive ‘BOMSA’ course. Following on from our MCPD feature, we also have an Open Day coming up in June for boiler operators. Supported by Calor and the CEA, this event will be a great opportunity to get the inside track on what the new rules will mean for you.
If you would like a copy posted, please email info@cochran.co.uk giving your name and address and number of copies.