5th August 2008
Energy Technology & Control 20th Anniversary
August 2008 marks 20 years of ETC private ownership. Originally part of the Eurotherm Group, ETC was the subject of a management buy-out in 1988. The Company has remained under the same ownership since then and has become a world leader in combustion control technology.
Extensive experience and expertise in the control of industrial burners has enabled ETC to develop a range of products that are the choice of OEM burner makers. Early ETC products enabled boiler operators to optimise combustion by analysing the flue gas oxygen content and adjusting the fuel and air mix to ensure that combustion was as efficient as possible without risking harmful flue gas emissions. This technique, referred to as Oxygen Trim, reduced fuel usage, CO2 emissions and maintenance downtime.
Since then, ETC’s ethos, to produce innovative burner controls to help reduce energy costs and combustion emissions, has remained constant and has been reflected in the Company’s product development programme. With ever increasing media awareness and pressure on industry to monitor and control carbon emissions, and with the recent dramatic increases in fuel prices, never before have ETC’s basic beliefs been more in tune with today’s hot topics.
Realistic cost savings and carbon emissions reductions of up to 10% can be achieved by using modern electronic burner controls such as the ETC6000 over conventional mechanical controls.
The latest ETC6000 family of Integrated Combustion and Fuel Air Ratio Controllers are complemented by a range of dedicated ancillary devices that includes CANbus servo motors, self-checking temperature and pressure sensors and a choice of user interfaces. An innovative 10.4” dedicated touchscreen interface has recently been launched.
Oxygen Trim, using ETC’s market leading zirconia oxide in-situ flue gas oxygen probe, is still a popular option. By applying oxygen trim burner control becomes ‘closed loop’ compensating for combustion variables such as barometric pressure, humidity, fuel quality and burner wear.
The ETC6000 is extremely flexible enabling most burner applications, including dual fuel and twin firing boilers, to be addressed. In addition, industry standard communications protocols including Modbus and Profibus are supported.