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 Vol:11 | Issue:2 Engineering (HVAC)

 

Ajax Boiler
Distinct Design
For eight decades this family-owned company has designed and manufactured one of the most comprehensive lines of boilers and commercial water heating products. Now, the release of its new atlas series solidifies its already excellent reputation. Pat Whiteman reports.

Customers of Ajax Boiler, Inc. depend on the reliability, exceptional service and cost effective operation of this innovative company’s diverse product line. Located in Santa Ana, Calif., all of Ajax Boiler’s products are designed and engineered by its in-house engineering department. “Our vibrant and energized team of engineers combines the disciplines of combustion and heat transfer technology, pressure vessel design, control and systems engineering and computer aided drafting,” says Ed Camcilla, Ajax Boiler’s Chairman of the Board. “We have an on-site R&D facility that has the capacity to test fire boilers up to 21,000,000 BTU an hour under load conditions with calibrated test equipment that meet all UL certification testing requirements.” All of the company’s products are manufactured in a 120,000-square-foot, high bay, heavy crane way facility.

Ajax Boiler, Inc. currently offers three distinct product lines; the Ajax Series for the commercial boiler market, the Ace Series for the water heating market, and the Atlas Series for the high-efficiency, condensing boiler and water heating markets. Product lines are distributed by more than 70 sales representatives located throughout the United States and Canada.

ATLAS SERIES CONDENSING BOILERS
The company’s latest offering is its newly redesigned Atlas Series Condensing Boiler. Launched in 2003, the Atlas represents the company’s most extensive R&D project to date. Adding condensing boiler applications to the company’s capabilities, the new
Atlas Series boilers are currently available in 1 and 1.5 MMBTU/hr. sizes and provide high performance, as well as feature rich, low NOx operation.

Ajax engineers worked diligently for several years to perfect the company’s first condensing boiler. According to Jane Terry, president of Ajax Boiler, Inc., the company’s dynamic engineering crew worked extensively with application experts to refine the Atlas GS project. “The Atlas Series combines solid engineering and innovative design with the highest quality components in the industry. The result is quite an impressive machine.”

The Atlas features 97 percent thermal efficiency, 4 to 1 turndown, a fully modulating PID controller, a brushed stainless steel and enameled jacket, zero-clearance installation size and top, a front removable heat exchanger assembly for easy serviceability. A powerful blower allows for up to 100 feet of combined horizontal venting, and the single pass coil construction allows for complete dellming. A sealed combustion chamber offers increased efficiency and reduced emissions. The Atlas is also ETL listed to UL 795; is CAN1-3.1 and CSD-1 compliant and available with a variety of options and configurations.

UP TO THE CHALLENGE
Like the Atlas, Ajax Boiler’s Ace and Ajax Series of products are meeting customer needs as well. Every day, schools, hotels, spas, hospitals, laundromats and a host of other customers rely on Ajax’s team of engineers to meet tough challenges. “We’re always ready to meet whatever our customers’ needs are. No matter how difficult the task may seem, we will devise a way to see to it that their problems are solved and their needs are met and preferably, exceeded,” says Terry.

Such was the case at the San Francisco Marriott, a 1.5 millionsquare-foot, 1,500-room structure that averages 165,000 gallons of water use a day. Peak loads average 9,500 to 12,500 gallons per hour. The static hydraulic pressure created by locating the boiler room at the basement level of the 39-story high-rise required the use of high-pressure vessels.

To solve the problem, a total of seven Ace products were used to meet the parameters of this demanding project. The equipment features high-pressure, double-walling heating tube bundles to keep the hotel’s water usage operation at maximum efficiency and safety. Domestic hot water is supplied by two 10,000-gallon storage water heaters. Two 770-gallon storage water heaters supply the banquet and ballroom facilities. Water heating for the pool and Jacuzzi is provided by two Ace heat exchangers. According to the Marriott’s Bill Kane, director of energy management, “The Ace products require little more than daily meter readings and some control adjustments,” he reports. “Temperatures are tracked closely and Ace equipment continues to perform on target. The Marriot actually conducts regular tours for visiting engineers from around the world.

Ajax was called upon to tackle another tough job – keep football players warm during uniquely inclement weather. To prevent the new Cleveland Browns stadium from freezing in the region’s infamous icy temperatures, Ajax definitely had some planning to do. Cleveland Browns stadium rises 12 stories above Lake Erie and seats 72,500. Luckily, the stadium was equipped with a state-ofthe-art turf conditioning system consisting of more than 40 miles of sPEX pipes installed beneath a playing field of natural, fully irrigated turf.

“The turf conditioning system designed and distributed by Rehaul, Inc. out of Virginia distributes heated fluid from nine Ace B15 Series "G" boilers with 36 BHP and 1,500,000 BTU's per hour,” explains Camcilla. “From the boilers, the fluid moves through an underground piping network. The heat radiates through the soil to keep the grass root zone at a constant temperature, preventing the field from freezing.”

Camcilla added that there’s an added bonus. The turf conditioning system combined with Ajax’s boilers successfully enables healthy green turf to grow long after the normal growing season and allows the facility to host year-’round outdoor football.

DRIVEN BY COMMITMENT
Providing solid products, great value and outstanding customer service is the hallmark of Ajax Boiler, Inc. Part of that commitment includes recent investments in an information systems infrastructure. By working alongside customers and end users, the company has developed a series of powerful Web-based tools.

The company’s Web site is rich with product information and offers two distinct areas. The public areas highlight products, case studies, product specs, submittal and sizing tools, wiring and piping diagrams. A representative area maintains the same look and feel but offers more information tools.

The STAR family of Web-enabled sizing and submittal tools was expanded and the latest version of the Ajax product configuration program was launched in 2004. New fully Web- enabled, version 2.2 offers great functionally and flexibility. “The interface was designed with help from industry experts who wanted an Ajax configuration tool that was fast, simple and easy to use,” says Terry.

Another innovation is the development of Ajax’s computerized, online sizing program, which combines a powerful sizing engine with a simple user interface. “In just two minutes and a couple of clicks a customer can optimally configure a product that is right for their application,” says Terry.

ALIVE & VIBRANT
Ajax recently put in CAD operated plasma machines that can cut steel plates up to two inches thick from CAD drawings. The company is looking to change over to computer aided drill presses.

“The plasma machine can call up the drawing from the engineering department to the computer server and cut the part that we want tin the shop. It also has a nesting program so it can cut the pattern to get the maximum utilization of the plate,” says Camcilla.

Technology is key at Ajax, but people are driving its success. “There is a lot of great movement going on in the company right now. We have a young, energized staff,” says Terry. “We are an organization that is moving forward, staying current with trends, modeling ourselves after the very best and readying ourselves for future demands.”

Ajax Boiler: [ Web ]



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