Del Mar French Laundry in Monterey, CA, has been operating since 1932 when owner/president Cedo Gospodnetich's family came to America and started their new business at the height of the depression. They survived the depression, but could the business survive energy costs that suddenly tripled in 2001?
Del Mar is a commercial laundry that services hotels and motels, laundering linens, towels, bathrobes, blankets, spreads, uniforms, etc. The "French Laundry" designation derives from their specialty -- hand ironing of fancy table linens, such as lace and silk tablecloths. Says Gospodnetich, "We stretch them out on a stretcher and we do them by hand. We have people who ship table linen to us from as far away as Texas and Wyoming."
The company has operated at capacity for years. Del Mar's 48 employees work in split shifts, keeping the laundry running from 4:00 am to 5:00 pm, seven days a week. The 125 pounds of steam pressure that run the plant are provided by two 100 BHP Miura LX-100SG water tube boilers, running one at a time on alternate weeks, so there is always a backup in case one should go down (although this has never happened).
"This Thing Was Just Huge"
The laundry switched from a 100 BHP Firetube Boiler to the Miura water tube boilers in 1996. Miura installations provide steam for a broad range of process industries, as well as aerospace and nuclear industries.
"We had a boiler engineer in the Monterey area who saw one of the Miura boilers down in Los Angeles and he told me about the savings that we could get and how much space we would save," says Gospodnetich. "We had an OSHA insured boiler that was huge. It took up a whole 12 ft by 20 ft room. When he showed me a picture of a Miura, I asked him if he saw one of these work and he said he had. So, I took his word for it and . . . I took a chance. It was the best thing that we ever did. We installed the boiler March 22, 1996."
Engineering design factors account for the savings. Floating headers make this possible without creating thermal shock to the boilers' water tubes and enclosure. These headers allow the water tubes to be short and straight so the whole boiler can be very small -- taking up 33% less floor space. If you compare the available radiant surface area of one 100 BHP Firetube boiler vs one 100 BHP Miura, the Firetube has about three times the surface area, radiating a constant amount of heat whether the boiler runs at 100% or at 10% of capacity. The lower the use of its capacity, the higher the ratio of radiation loss to usable steam production.
Fast Start Slows Energy Consumption
Additional energy savings result from the Miuras' fast start-up capability. Most boilers are turned down, but not off, when steam demand drops. Miuras can be switched on and off like light bulbs, going from a cold start to steam in five minutes.
And, of course, less energy is required on restart because there is much less water to heat. At Del Mar, the old Firetube boiler used 900 gallons for start-up; the Miura takes 60 gallons. The ultra compact boiler's once-through, forced circulation steam boiler maintains 85% fuel-to-steam efficiency.
"We also reuse the steam," adds Gospodnetich. "Once the steam goes through the plant it comes back into a huge tank and then as the boiler needs water, it's heated and ready to go." The low water content water tubes' surface serration optimizes heat transfer. This design is a major contributing factor to their 85% fuel-to-steam efficiencies.
The Energy Crisis of 2001
Back in 1998, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG & E) did an energy and cost comparison for Del Mar. "Up to 2001, I have saved over $43,000 each year and greatly reduced my NOx emissions for Monterey County," Gospodnetich continues. (Miura boilers meet or exceed all USEPA standards.) "And the Miura boiler has saved me a considerable number of headaches. I had assumed from its small size that the Miura would be beneficial since it makes steam within 5 minutes from a cold start-up and saves on fuel with its low water content. However, I did not expect such extraordinary savings. Also, I now have a tremendous amount of increased space in my boiler room for additional equipment and the temperature in there has become normal instead of extremely hot. It was because of these factors that I decided to replace my second Firetube boiler with a Miura for even greater savings."
But that was before the energy crisis of 2001.
"Since we got the Miura boiler, my PG & E had averaged $6,500 -- until the last three or four months," explains Gospodnetich. "Since then, it has gone as high as $22,000 per month."
The PG & E 12-month cost comparison of March 1995 - February 1996 with March 1996 - February 1997 shows that the Firetube boiler's average monthly cost was $10,050. It was using 15,000-18,000 therms per month, compared to the Miura's 11,000-14,000 per month, for an average monthly savings of $3,656. In other words, Del Mar realized a 36.4% cost savings.
With California's current energy cost escalation, if Del Mar still had the Firetube boiler, their high-month bill of $22,000 would have been $34,600 instead.
"The current situation in California is killing me right now," says the beleaguered businessman. "My gas cost has tripled. It's probable that if we didn't have the Miura boilers, our doors would have been closed three months ago."
