CASE STUDY
Transforming waste into warmth
A £30 million low-carbon heating network for the new Shawfair Town near Edinburgh is being developed by Midlothian Energy Limited (MEL) using SWEP brazed plate heat exchangers in the substation to transfer 1,200kW using recycled waste heat.
T
he initial phase of the network will supply Shawfair Town’s homes, education and retail properties with heat from
Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre (RERC), an energy-from-waste plant operated by FCC Environment. Millerhill RERC will incinerate tons of waste which cannot be recycled and would normally go to landfills, to create hot water, which will then be transferred to Shawfair Town via the heat network. By using waste energy and potentially
other renewable energy sources, the system reduces carbon emissions and contributes to the region’s sustainable development goals. The involvement of Vattenfall, which has over 100 years of European heat network expertise, should ensure high standards in developing low carbon infrastructure in Shawfair Town. The project, supported by SWEP’s advanced heat exchanger technology and distributed by SWEP’s local dealer HASL, is expected to contribute to energy security, affordability and resilience, with energy produced from mainly local sources, with less reliance on fossil fuels.
Multiple challenges The challenge was to create a solution that met the heating needs of Shawfair Town while each of the five phases were being built. Each substation would be coming online at different phases of the project, with each having to compensate for the fluctuations in temperature and pressure. There was also a need to be able to expand the network to include the heating needs of an additional 600 homes being added to the surrounding region in the near future.
The project is being carried out by
FES Group, a facilities management and energy solutions company based in Stirling, which has been appointed as principal contractor. FES has grown to become one of the UK’s biggest providers of facilities management, building services, and renewable energy solutions. The company offers a wide range
of services focused on development and implementation of sustainable energy solutions, including renewable energy projects and energy efficiency improvements, like Shawfair town.
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● PROJECT OVERVIEW: Development of a £30 million low-carbon heating network for Shawfair Town, Edinburgh, serving over 3,000 homes
● KEY TECHNOLOGY: SWEP brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHEs) for efficient heat transfer (1,200 kW each)
● HEAT SOURCE: Integration of waste heat from the Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre
● ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: Project aims to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 2,500 tonnes per year
● SUBSTATION DESIGN: Each substation features two SWEP BPHE units (one operational, one standby) to ensure reliability
Thermal storage vessels that each store 100,000 litres of hot water (and space for a future 4th) to satisfy peak demand for the heat network
Keeping the substation in safe housing
A 3D simulation is useful in the design phase to test technical aspects of the substation
Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers. Each substation has two units, one in service and one in stand-by, and are designed for approximately up to 1,200kW each. The design was standardised to minimise the number of variants. Currently, four substations are in operation, with a total of ten substations planned to supply the needs of Shawfair Town. The temperatures in the heat network
The futureproof substation solution which uses SWEP B439Hx240 brazed plate heat exchangers
Consulting engineers Hulley &
Kirkwood designed the substation solution which uses SWEP B439Hx240
are 65°C flow and 35°C return on the primary side and 60°C flow and 30°C return on the secondary side. These operating temperatures make the SWEP heat exchangers suitable for the low delta T and stable return temperature, as SWEP BPHEs have no moving parts. Also, operating pressures of up to 15 bar favour brazed plate heat exchangers instead of more traditional solutions. Hulley & Kirkwood chose SWEP
Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers for the solution due to their small footprint and maintenance-free design, as well as
the technical support from software tool SSP G8 and SWEP experts. As the project was being completed in stages, each substation had to handle five different load and temperature scenarios. The ability to standardise the design using SWEPs ‘off-the-shelf’ products makes future maintenance and expansion even more efficient. For consumers, the switch from gas boilers to the heat network system should almost go unnoticed. Paul Steen, head of business
development at Vattenfall Heat UK, says that residents will see little change to their lives as a result of this project: “They still have a thermostat, a meter and a white box on the wall that produces heat,” Paul explains. “Their hot water flows from the shower, and their radiators heat up as usual. The only difference is the absence of a gas meter and gas supply, which has been replaced by a hot water supply.” ■
EIBI | NOVEMBER � DECEMBER 2024
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