The CERTUSS UMX industrial steam generator produces 1,500 to 2,000 kg/h of steam and reaches full capacity in three to five minutes from a cold start. It is the top of the CERTUSS gas-fired range, and the unit to specify where a plant needs high output, a wide turndown and a boiler that can be serviced without dismantling half of it. Techmatic Controls is the CERTUSS distributor in Singapore and supplies the range as a turnkey project.

Models and output

All three models share the same envelope: 2,632 mm high, 1,435 mm wide and 2,442 mm deep. Operating pressure is 6/8 to 29 bar, with maximum permissible overpressure from 10 to 32 bar depending on the configuration specified.

Turndown of 20 to 100 per cent

The UMX modulates smoothly from 20 to 100 per cent of output. That five-to-one turndown is the feature that separates it from the rest of the range and it matters most on a variable load: the burner stays lit and tracks demand instead of cycling off and reigniting every time the process eases. Cycling is what wastes fuel, stresses the pressure parts and wears out burner components, so a wider modulation band usually shows up in both the fuel bill and the maintenance bill.

Fuels and emissions

The UMX fires on natural gas or LPG, and is available dual fuel. CERTUSS states that NOx emissions are well below regulatory limits — worth confirming against the specific limit that applies to your installation at the time of purchase, since emissions requirements change.

What is built in

The UMX arrives with the ancillaries that are often bought and piped separately on other boilers already integrated:

• Water pump
• Gas filter
• Hot water filter
• Slide valve
• Steam dryer

That shortens the installation, removes a set of site joints, and means the delivered package is closer to a working plant item than a boiler shell needing a plant room built around it.

Service access

The UMX is designed around maintenance: an integrated crane, a maintenance ladder and optimised access points are part of the unit. This is worth more than it sounds. A boiler that is awkward to service gets serviced late, and late servicing is how a small burner fault becomes an unplanned shutdown.

Control and monitoring

Smart One View control gives single-screen operation with real-time remote monitoring, so the boiler’s condition and performance can be seen without standing in the plant room. For a plant running an unmanned or lightly manned boiler house, remote visibility is the difference between noticing a drift in performance and discovering it at the next service.

UMX or Universal TC?

The two ranges overlap at 1,500 to 2,000 kg/h, so the choice is not about capacity:

• Choose the UMX for a variable load, where 20 to 100 per cent modulation earns its keep, and where integrated ancillaries and service access matter.
• Choose the Universal TC where the load is steadier, where output below 500 kg/h may be needed elsewhere in the same range, or where light fuel oil or bio-fuel is required.

We will make this call with you as part of sizing, against your measured load rather than the nameplate of whatever is installed today.

Applications

• Food and beverage processing with batch-driven steam demand
• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology plants
• Chemical process plant
• Large laundries and central sterilisation
• Plants replacing an oversized shell boiler that spends most of its life at low fire
• Boiler houses adding high-output capacity without a large footprint

Compliance and registration in Singapore

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 a preference for dual fuel
• 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 Junior TC for 80 to 400 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 UMX 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.