When people talk about utility workers, professions like landscaping specialists, electricians, plumbers, and street sweeping vehicle drivers usually come to mind.
When people talk about utility workers, professions like landscaping specialists, electricians, plumbers, and street sweeping vehicle drivers usually come to mind. However, the list is much longer. And operators of boiler houses hold an important place on it. On the eve of the Day of Workers in Consumer Services and Housing and Communal Services, a BELTA correspondent visited the Vitebsk Boiler and Heat Supply Enterprise (VPKiTS) to find out how the Vitebsk boiler houses, without which our homes would not have heat, operate today and what future awaits them.
When I was little, my grandfather worked in a boiler house, and his profession was then called "stoker." If he visited us after work, he would bring the smell of smoke with him. To us, his grandchildren, his work seemed very hard due to the physical exertion, as he had to load the furnaces with black peat briquettes – the main fuel used in our area at that time. If my grandfather could see today's boiler houses, he would be happy for his colleagues – the engineers and boiler operators, as these workers are now called.
First and foremost, the fuel has changed. Today, the boilers run on natural gas and local fuels – these are firewood, wood chips, and pellets. In boiler houses that use wood chips and pellets, there is no soot, and sometimes the workers are not even visible, as much is automated and programmed into the computer, meaning constant human control is not required here. "We have long forgotten the times when boiler houses were filled with soot and fumes. Now, our task is to automate the work as much as possible, but this requires significant investment. For example, building a new boiler house running on wood chips with a capacity of 7.8 MW costs about Br4 million. Thus, in 2021, our enterprise plans to reconstruct three gas boiler houses, and subject to financing from the loan funds of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the construction of a new boiler house running on wood chips will begin," said Artur Amosov, Head of the Technical Department of VPKiTS, while conducting a tour of the boiler house, which serves as a model for the creation of similar facilities in the supervised territory.
The "5th Regiment" boiler house is a neat, single-story building, clean both inside and out. There is almost no noise in the boiler house, and any that might disturb the hearing is lost in the operator's room. Two operators work there, and only because some of the old equipment, which requires supervision, has been retained. They monitor the readings on the screen and make entries. I noticed there was no smell of smoke at all.
Next to the boiler house is a wood chip warehouse. This type of fuel is fed into the boilers via an automatic line controlled by a computer. The programmed system regulates the supply of wood chips to maintain the required temperature and ensure an uninterrupted supply of heat to homes.
"Heating with wood chips is more cost-effective from both an economic and environmental perspective. As a rule, we produce wood chips from firewood, but when we receive waste from woodworking enterprises or trees from construction sites for disposal, we shred them into chips using a chipper. We have two such installations at our enterprise. Producing wood chips from firewood is very costly, but wood offcuts, edgings, branches, and twigs are excellent material for this purpose. The price of wood chips is roughly the same as firewood, while pellets are significantly more expensive. However, the heat output of this type of fuel and the level of automation of equipment operating on pellets and wood chips are significantly higher than with firewood," explained Artur Amosov.
He added that the cost of one gigacalorie in boiler houses running on wood chips is the lowest. In those that use natural gas, it is 2 to 2.5 times higher.
The enterprise is actively converting boiler houses to run on pellets. To this end, VPKiTS manufactures its own boilers for this type of local fuel, which allows for boiler house operation without personnel presence and also replaces expensive imported fuel – natural gas.
The Vitebsk enterprise has 62 boiler houses on its balance sheet. Of these, 29 run on natural gas, 21 on firewood, one is an electric boiler house, and the rest run on pellets and wood chips. VPKiTS also has a modular automated transportable boiler house that requires fuel pellets. It is a considerable operation. The distance of some boiler houses from the enterprise reaches 70 km. Therefore, the issue of automation is acute: it will allow distant boiler houses to function autonomously and with almost no human supervision.
Firewood used for heating boilers in the town and district is purchased by the Unitary Enterprise "Vitebsk Communal Energy Systems" (VPKiTS) from the region's forestry enterprises. Approximately 47 thousand cubic meters of firewood are consumed annually. There is a comprehensive set of requirements for such raw materials. The regulations are quite strict, and forestry enterprises take them into account when selecting trees for felling for heating purposes. Commercial timber is supplied to woodworking enterprises, while different types are selected for the needs of boiler houses. Alder, aspen, birch, ash, and others – any species are suitable, as long as they meet the requirements of regulatory acts.
The enterprise annually modernizes boiler houses or reconstructs heating networks to improve energy efficiency and reduce the cost of heat energy production. This year, the "Berniki" and "Vorony" boiler houses will operate in an unattended mode, with one operator managing them remotely. The "Oktyabrskaya" mini-CHP plant is being converted from a four-pipe to a two-pipe heat supply system. This will reduce heat energy losses. The effect will also be achieved through the installation of individual heating substations with plate heat exchangers and the implementation of heat energy flow regulators for hot water supply. The reconstruction of the "Agros" boiler house involves the installation of boiler units with higher efficiency and conversion to wood chips. This boiler house currently uses natural gas, which increases the cost of heat energy. Another reconstruction project will involve heating networks in the Tiraspol microdistrict: decentralization of heat supply for private residential buildings will be carried out here to reduce losses in the heat supply networks.
Explaining the rationale behind these measures, Artur Amosov noted: the state compensates heat supply enterprises for the difference between the amount paid by the population for heat energy and the actual cost of produced gigacalories. The lower the costs of heat production, the less financial burden falls on the state budget. Consequently, more funds can be allocated to other sectors.
"In foreign countries, the population covers the full cost of thermal energy. At the same time, every citizen knows what they are paying for and tries to save as much as possible, calculating the final amount for each service. In our country, not everyone yet thinks about the state's expenses for socially significant services," explained Artur Amosov.
There is a strong reason to consider heat and water consumption and review domestic habits. At the very least, try not to waste unnecessary cubic meters and teach children to do the same. After all, everything starts small – with the family, and then it reflects on the country as a whole.
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