Gas boiler room in a school in Buryatia, Russia

A heating plant, also called a physical plant, or steam plant, generates

thermal energy The term "thermal energy" is used loosely in various contexts in physics and engineering. It can refer to several different well-defined physical concepts. These include the internal energy or enthalpy of a body of matter and radiation; heat, d ...

in the form of

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

for use in

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...

applications. Unlike

combined heat and power Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

installations which produce thermal energy as a by-product of

electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transmi ...

, heating plants are dedicated to generating heat for use in various processes. Heating plants are commonly used at hospital or university campuses, military bases, office tower complexes, and public housing complexes. The plant will generate steam which is distributed to each building where it is used to make domestic hot water for human consumption, heating hot water in the case of hydronic heating systems, air conditioning through the use of absorption refrigeration units, air heating in HVAC units, humidification, industrial laundry systems, or sterilization at hospitals. The steam may be sold to each customer and billed through the use of a steam flow meter. They feature boilers, either water tube or fire tube, which generate steam for various uses and demands. The plant also hosts all of the boiler auxiliaries such as water treatment equipment, air handling, fuel handling, controls, instrument air, and various other plant systems which support the production of steam. The heating plant can use different fuels: *

Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

Heating oil Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers use for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often a ...

Biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

Refuse Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste produ ...

See also