The CERTUSS Junior TC industrial steam generator produces 80 to 400 kg/h of steam and reaches full output in about five minutes from cold. It is the small end of the CERTUSS range, and the unit to specify where a plant needs a modest, reliable steam supply without the footprint, water volume or standing losses of a shell boiler. Techmatic Controls is the CERTUSS distributor in Singapore and supplies the range as a turnkey project.

Sizes and output

Operating pressure is 5.5 to 29 bar G, with maximum permissible overpressure from 10 to 32 bar depending on the configuration specified. Construction is vertical, so even Size III occupies well under a square metre of floor.

No fire brick, no thermal insulation

The Junior TC’s pressure envelope carries no fire brick and no thermal insulation. That is what keeps the unit light and compact for its output, and it is the reason a cold start takes five minutes rather than the best part of an hour. There is very little mass to heat before steam is available — which also means very little heat sitting in the boiler doing nothing between production runs.

Burner and fuels

The Junior TC uses a single-stage burner and fires on natural gas, LPG or light fuel oil.

Single-stage means the burner is either firing or it is not — there is no modulation. On a steady load that is entirely appropriate and keeps the package simple. On a sharply variable load it will cycle, so if your demand swings hard it is worth either running multiple Junior TC units and staging them, or stepping up to a modulating range. We will tell you which applies once we have seen your load; it is not a decision to make from a brochure.

Efficiency

Thermal efficiency is above 93 per cent. On the intermittent duties this unit usually serves, the bigger saving is not the burner efficiency at all — it is the standing loss that disappears when you stop keeping a large boiler hot overnight for a process that runs six hours a day.

Control and integration

Operation is through a touch screen with automatic start, stop and blowdown. The controller connects over Profibus, CAN bus, Modbus and BACnet, so a small boiler still reports into the plant control system or BMS rather than being the one item nobody can see remotely.

Multiple units

Junior TC units can be combined where more capacity is needed than one unit provides, or where the load varies enough that staging two smaller units tracks it better than one larger one. Multiple units also give partial redundancy: a fault takes out part of the capacity rather than all of it, which for some processes is worth more than the efficiency of a single larger machine.

Junior TC or Universal TC?

• Choose the Junior TC below 400 kg/h, on steady or modest loads, and where floor space and installed cost matter most.
• Choose the Universal TC from 500 kg/h upward, or where a two-stage modulating burner is needed to follow a variable load.

Applications

• Small food and beverage processing and central kitchens
• Laboratories, pilot plants and research facilities
• Sterilisation and autoclave supply
• Small laundries and dry cleaning
• Humidification and process heating on a modest scale
• Standby or top-up capacity alongside a larger boiler
• Plants replacing a shell boiler that is far larger than the load it now serves

Compliance and registration in Singapore

The Junior TC is built to PED 2014/68/EU. In Singapore, a steam boiler is a pressure vessel under the Workplace Safety and Health framework: it must be registered with the Ministry of Manpower and examined by an Authorised Examiner, with a Certificate of Fitness in place before it is operated, and re-examined at the required intervals thereafter. The manufacturer’s design, material and test documentation required for that submission is supplied with the boiler.

Sizing and site survey

Steam generators are not sold from a catalogue. The right size depends on your actual steam load and how it varies through the day — not on the rating of the boiler being replaced, which is why so many existing installations are oversized. An oversized boiler cycles, wastes fuel and wears its burner. So before we quote, we size the unit against your load and survey the site.

To size the unit we need:

• Steam demand — peak, average, and how it varies across the shift or batch
• Required steam pressure at the point of use
• Fuel available on site: natural gas, LPG or light fuel oil
• Operating pattern — continuous, single shift, or campaign production
• Feedwater supply and whether condensate is returned

The site survey covers:

• Space, access route and floor or mezzanine loading for the unit
• Flue route and termination
• Fuel supply and gas train, and the electrical supply
• Water treatment, feedwater and blowdown arrangements
• Steam distribution from the boiler to the point of use

How we supply it

Boilers are supplied as turnkey projects — sizing, supply, installation, commissioning, in-service optimisation & MOM Approvals— with servicing, upgrades and maintenance afterwards.

Techmatic has an in-house Singapore Certified Energy Manager and carries out boiler efficiency monitoring, so the performance of the installed plant can be measured rather than assumed. Our processes are aligned to ISO 50001.

Related equipment

Techmatic also supplies the CERTUSS Universal TC for 500 to 2,000 kg/h, the UMX for 1,500 to 2,000 kg/h, and electric steam generators from 6 to 320 kg/h where no combustion is wanted. We also supply the steam system around the boiler — Miyawaki steam traps, pressure reducing valves, separators, strainers and flow instrumentation — and carry out steam trap surveys.

Arrange a sizing review and site survey

Talk to us before you fix a boiler size or a budget figure. We will size the CERTUSS Junior TC against your steam load, survey the site for installation, and quote the installed scope.

Frequently Asked Questions

How efficient are CERTUSS steam generators, and what does an economiser add?

CERTUSS quote a standard thermal efficiency above 93 per cent, and around 94 per cent from their three-stage combustion air preheating design. Adding a CERTECON exhaust gas heat exchanger (economiser) raises this to 98 per cent, and a second heat exchanger to 102 per cent.

Figures above 100 per cent are quoted on a net calorific value basis — normal for condensing heat recovery, but not directly comparable with gross calorific value figures. Always confirm which basis a supplier is quoting before comparing.

Should I choose an electric or a fuel-fired steam generator?

Electric suits small to medium loads, intermittent duties, sites with no flue route available, and clean or sensitive environments — laboratories, cleanrooms, upper floors and tenanted units. It removes the flue, gas train, combustion air and fuel storage from the installation entirely.

Gas or oil fired suits larger continuous loads, where fuel cost per kilogram of steam usually favours combustion, and where a flue and gas supply already exist. On carbon, electrification moves emissions from your site to the grid; whether that reduces total emissions depends on the carbon intensity of your supply, so it is a calculation rather than an assumption.

Does a steam boiler need MOM registration and a Certificate of Fitness in Singapore?

Yes. In Singapore a steam boiler is a pressure vessel under the Workplace Safety and Health framework. It must be registered with the Ministry of Manpower and examined by an Authorised Examiner, with a Certificate of Fitness in place before it is operated, and re-examination at the required intervals thereafter.

This applies to electric steam generators too — the absence of combustion makes no difference to the requirement. The manufacturer’s design, material and test documentation needed for the submission is supplied with the boiler, and we handle MOM approvals as part of our turnkey scope.

How do you size a steam boiler, and what information do you need?

Sizing is done against your measured steam load, not against the nameplate of the boiler being replaced. Working from the old rating is the most common cause of oversizing, and an oversized boiler cycles, wastes fuel and wears its burner.

To size a unit we need your steam demand (peak, average, and how it varies across the shift or batch), the steam pressure required at the point of use, the fuel or electrical supply available on site, your operating pattern, and your feedwater supply and whether condensate is returned. We then survey the site before quoting.

What feedwater treatment does a steam generator need?

Feedwater quality is the single most common cause of early trouble on small steam plant, and it is the item most often left to someone else to specify. Water treatment, feedwater and blowdown arrangements are part of every survey we carry out.

Packaged water treatment assemblies with softener and blowdown vessel are available pre-piped, pre-wired and factory tested on some ranges. Ordering that with the generator is usually better than assembling the same items on site: it arrives tested, and it removes a set of site joints.