Steam system design and equipment selection are dictated by good engineering practices, applicable codes, utility and insurance requirements, operating requirements, fuel requirements, and electrical requirements. The design of an economical system is affected by the complex relationship between design water temperature, design water pressure, flow rate, piping layout, pump selection, terminal unit selection and control method. The size and complexity of the system determines the importance of these relationships, affecting the total system's success. Any system is only valuable when it is operating efficiently. To operate efficiently, the boiler must combine chemical elements with the exact temperature, time and turbulence to produce the highest level of reaction and achieve the maximum amount of transferable heat using the least amount of fuel.
Heat loss is the primary characteristic of inefficiency and can be caused by numerous reasons.
Fireside tubes are usually subject to direct flames. Soot will collect on the exterior of the furnace tubes and may not allow for the designed heat transfer. More often this is caused from a burner operating inefficiently. If a burner is suffocating due to lack of oxygen, the exhaust will contain heavier compounds of carbon monoxide and noncombusted fuel. This weight will accelerate soot build-up.