Industry Focus Renewable Energy
Turning waste into energy T
Recycling and waste management company FCC Environment is using the latest energy efficient compressor and filtration solutions from Atlas Copco to help turn waste into energy at its Nottingham waste processing site
he energy from FCC Environment’s commercial and domestic waste processing facil- ity in Nottingham produces heat and steam to generate power without using fossil fuels. Since the facility opened 39 years ago, it has reduced the amount of Nottinghamshire’s waste going to landfill sites by five million tonnes.
The FCC facility needs quality compressed air for a number of process applications, from emission monitoring equipment to the pulsing of filtration bags employed in the Flue Gas Treatment stages of the operation. Air quality is extremely important since any contaminants in the air supply would affect the instrumentation that is vital to flue gas monitoring and risk non-compli- ance with the company’s Environmental Licence stipulations. To help meet these high quality standards, FCC turned to Atlas Copco
to meet its compressed air needs. Equipment installed at the site includes two GA 90 screw compres- sors - one fixed speed and the other a VSD machine, (capable of matching output to user demand for optimum energy savings). The system was aug-
Above: Atlas Copco’s efficient filtration
solutions are helping FCC
Environment turn waste into energy
Reverse osmosis at the core of energy savings
estons Cider is saving around £42,000 per year in fuel and water costs following the installation of a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment unit from Spirax Sarco. The new RO system has reduced water and energy losses by cutting the amount of boiler blowdown and water needed. Accurate metering of fuel oil and water has pinpointed the savings, including 3,800 litres of oil saved over a 15 day period. What’s more, the savings are likely to be even higher than these measurements suggest because of reduced CO2
W emissions and a lower
Climate Change Levy (CCL), although these have yet to be quantified. There are also other clear signs that confirm the sav-
ings, according to Westons Cider’s, Jason Roberts. “Before we installed the RO system I could put my hand on the boiler blowdown pipe and it was warm, so there
must have been hot water being discharged frequently into the blowdown vessel from the boiler. Now it’s almost always cold, so we’re definitely losing less water and energy.” Regular boiler blowdown is needed to prevent dis- solved solids from accumulating in the boiler, where they can cause problems such as foaming and scale. The RO system from Spirax Sarco treats water before it reaches the boiler feedtank and removes more than 98% of contamination to produce high quality, low conduc- tivity water. The project has shown a step-change in control and efficiency and has enabled an increase in the boiler cycles of concentration, resulting in reduced boiler make-up and boiler blowdown. A cut in blowdown from three percent to less than one percent has been achieved, saving oil, water and boiler treatment chemicals. Roberts reported that the RO treated water is so clean that it has effectively descaled the boiler. He added, “It started out by descaling and cleaning-up the steam sys- tem, but the blowdown rate soon dropped back to a much lower level than before. “Westons is a very environmentally conscious compa-
ny. When Spirax Sarco suggested that installing RO could save boiler blowdown water we were very interested. The installation was quick and easy and the RO system is compact. We’re very pleased with the results and we may well consider using RO again in other applications.” Spirax Sarco
www.spiraxsarco.com T: 01242 521 361
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mented with three vertical air receivers, and to ensure first class dry air at the point of use, three BD desiccant dryers with a guaranteed dew point of -70°C. These were then fitted and connected to Atlas Copco’s latest particulate and coalescent fil- ters. Environmental protection was also ensured with the installation’s EWD condensate management system that prevents any possible drainage contamination.
When the Atlas Copco team sur- veyed the installation site they found a great deal of external pipework between the location of the compres- sors and the various points of use throughout the production facility. It was therefore essential that pressure drop within the air net had to be kept to a minimum. FCC was one of the first compressor customers to have Atlas Copco’s brand new filter range units installed. The design of these filters means a pressure drop of only half of that associated with conven- tional coalescing or particulate filters is incurred. This translates into sig- nificant energy savings.
Alan Burkill, Atlas Copco CTS sales engineer, the principal liaison on the FCC project, outlined the core benefits to be derived from the com- pressed air system, “When we sat down to discuss potential require- ments, lifecycle costs and energy efficiency was at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Our proposal was a solution that delivered the lowest lifecycle cost to our customer and energy efficient filtration was an integral and indispensable part of the installation.” FCC’s Eastcroft plant generates steam used by many public buildings in Nottingham such as the National Ice Centre. In addition, it keeps 5,000 families warm while keeping the cli- mate a little cooler. Atlas Copco was seen to be on the same page in an endeavour to make sure that no energy is wasted. From Philip Eyre, FCC Environment’s maintenance manager’s perspective, the whole system is a perfect fit with FCC’s ethos, “I have known Atlas Copco for over 23 years and have always had a good quality service from them in all respects. The quality of their products definitely fits with what FFC requires in this facility.”
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Atlas Copco
www.atlascopco.co.uk T: 0800 181 085
Enter 210 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 Automation
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