University of Michigan
Commonwealth provided commissioning services for the Hoover Heating Plant. The Hoover Heating Plant includes four steam boilers, which supply steam to several buildings in the University of Michigan’s south campus area, including many Athletic facilities. The existing 1500 BHP Boiler 4 at Hoover Avenue Heating Plant was replaced with a new 500 BHP dual fuel unit, including new combustion air fan installations. The existing Boiler 4 and affected systems were demolished to make space for the new boiler and its systems. An exterior building wall was temporarily opened to remove the existing boiler and install the new 500 BHP boiler. The existing Boiler 3 was also retrofitted with a new Fireye-Nexus controller.
Among the commissioning activities was verification that the boiler was installed in the proper location and that required clearances for maintenance and safe operation had been maintained. After installation and before startup, the boiler was cleaned of scale, grease, etc., and the boil was performed in a manner and for the duration recommended. During the commissioning of the boiler, the Contractor demonstrated the operation of all boiler controls after startup and a written record of startup performance, including percent CO2, CO, and O2, stack temperature, and combustion efficiency. The instrument verification included those provided with the boiler package and those supplied by the contractor. Additional items to confirm before start-up included all control system functions for Boiler 4 and all interlocking systems are programmed and operable, piping system flushing complete, water treatment system full and operational, punch list items corrected, functional test procedures have been developed and approved, safety relief valves are installed and operating ranges confirmed.
