BOILERS, PUMPS & VALVES
BIOMASS BOILER MEETS SUSTAIN OF BALLYLIFFIN LODGE AND SPA
Preserving the natural environment was key during the
installation of a new Biomass boiler from REHAU that would be used for heating and hot water at a hotel in Ireland
priority, as the existing building proposed to house the boiler was situated a kilometre away from the hotel on the side of a nearby mountain. The team at CHP Mechanical Services specified a
Herz Firematic 499kw Biomass Boiler with a 50m³ adjoining space within the building from which woodchips are transferred via a spring agitator and screw conveyor. However, to efficiently transfer heat from the plant room to Ballyliffin Lodge’s buildings without disrupting the local landscape, the company needed suitable underground pre-insulated pipework that could offer excellent thermal performance. The distance from the hotel also presented other
logistical concerns. With no roads going up the side of the mountain to the biomass boiler plant room, and very few in the local area at all, the specified pipework needed to be lightweight and flexible. Plus, speed of installation was essential to ensure there wasn’t any downtime.
MEETING THE CHALLENGES “The nature of Ballyliffin Lodge’s business and location presented clear challenges for this particular project,” commented John Smyth, managing director of CHP Mechanical Services. “After all, if you can’t transfer its heat effectively through its pipes, it doesn’t matter how effective and sustainable your boiler is. “We’ve had a long and solid relationship with REHAU, using its PE-Xa pipe, RAUTHERMEX, to connect offsite plantrooms to buildings. The team is very familiar with this pipe system and have always been impressed with its reliability, thermal performance and how easy it is to install.” REHAU’s RAUTHERMEX bonded pipe system
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estled on Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsula, the four-star Ballyliffin Lodge and Spa
offers panoramic views over Malin Head. Dedicated to preserving the area’s natural beauty, the hotel uses green technologies for heat, hot water and to power its 40 rooms, spa, gym and restaurant. To achieve this, a 288kW solar array has been
installed to the rear of the hotel and a natural spring well commissioned to reduce water usage and mains consumption. One of Ballyliffin Lodge’s most ambitious projects, however, involved upgrading its heating system to include a 500kW, biomass boiler, burning woodchips to supply its heating and hot water needs. Supported by a €450,000 investment and grants
from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s Support Scheme for Renewable Heat, this project is crucial to the hotel’s goals of adopting greener practices and reducing operating costs. With Ireland’s carbon tax set to rise annually from
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€56 per tonne of CO2 at present, to €100 per tonne by 2030, installing a boiler that would save up to 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually made clear commercial sense for the hotel. “We’re in an area of stunning natural beauty and
protecting and maintaining that is very important,” said Ron Kerrigan, hotel general manager for Ballyliffin Lodge and Spa. “It’s very cost-effective to carry out these sorts of initiatives, and the installation of this boiler would improve the hotel’s efficiency throughout.”
TRANSFERRING HEAT To carry out this project, Ballyliffin Lodge engaged the services of CHP Mechanical Services, a County Down-based renewable energy and commercial heating installer specialising in Biomass boiler installations, including off-site prefabricated plant rooms. The need to preserve the peninsula’s pristine environment meant this expertise was a
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Winter 2025
consists of a polyurethane foam insulation core and a corrugated outer jacket that keeps operational heat losses particularly low. Its fine-pored PU foam, developed using specialist process technology, offers high thermal insulation, making it ideal for linking Ballyliffin Lodge’s buildings to the boiler plantroom a kilometre away. RAUTHERMEX’s connection technology, EVERLOC,
offered easy installation and reliability. It uses a compression sleeve to create a permanently leak-tight connection between the pipe and the fitting, with no O-rings or other sealants, producing an independently certified cavity-free joint. As the pipe itself is the sealant, the installation is immediately ready for pressure and a simple visual inspection is sufficient to know if the connection is complete. For projects such as Ballyliffin Lodge where swift
installation over long distances of pipework is key, this ability to quickly and comprehensively fit and inspect a flexible pipe system is invaluable. Having worked with REHAU systems for around 13 years CHP Mechanical Services are very familiar with the complete REHAU system. “Being able to quickly procure, transport and fit
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