Tripled steam power
Published: 08 July, 2011
Bristol-based steam boiler specialist Fulton Limited has supplied Advanced Plasma Power (APP) with one of its Electropack EP60 steam boilers, which is said to have almost tripled the steam capacity at the company’s Swindon-based Gasplasma test facility.
Founded in 2005 to commercialise its internationally patented Gasplasma technology, APP now claims to offer the optimum solution for converting municipal solid waste into clean, local energy – with minimal emissions and virtually no residues sent to landfill. The Swindon plant, which is essentially a smaller version of the commercial plants APP offers, is a test facility built to evaluate different types of wastes supplied by clients from various countries to optimise the Gasplasma process and, subsequently, the viability of a plant for that specific location.
A spokesperson for APP said: “Given the growing interest in the Gasplasma process and subsequent increases in steam loads, we needed to upgrade our Fulton Electropack EP24 electric steam boiler. As it has been extremely reliable, and the larger EP60 model almost tripled our output to 92Kg per hour, buying another Fulton boiler was an easy decision.” He added that the footprint of both models is identical, and with similar plumbing interfaces also minimising installation costs, the decision was made even easier.
The Electropack EP60 is one of a versatile 7-model range designed for steam loads between 27.5 and 153 kg/h. Fully packaged in an attractive modern case, all services are conveniently connected at the rear for easy installation.
It can be easily moved to provide “point of use” steam wherever required in a plant and the heating elements are individually switched to allow the boiler to respond quickly and efficiently to variable steam demands, such as those at the APP test facility.
The first section of APP’s Gasplasma process creates a fuel, called RDF from the waste by removing all recyclable materials including glass, metals, hard plastics, oversized objects and any other materials that have a recyclable market value. The second section has three main stages. The first stage, where the new Electropack EP60 is installed, uses steam from the EP60 for the vigorous fluidisation of a sandbed in the fluidised bed gasifier, transforming the fuel into a synthesis gas that contains tars and soot. A second separate stage connected to the fluid bed gasifier is a plasma converter that purifies the synthesis gas, vitrifying the ash and inorganic fraction from the gasifier. A third stage then cleans, cools and conditions the synthesis gas before passing it to the final section, a power island, where it is used to drive gas engines to generate renewable, secure, clean heat and electricity. The electricity can be used locally or exported to the National Grid. The vitrified fraction (called Plasmarok) is environmentally inert and mechanically strong and can be used as a building material or an aggregate for pipe bedding.
Typical APP commercial plants boast a landfill diversion rate of 98%; and of the approximately 150,000 tonnes of waste a year processed by the plant, 90,000 tonnes is transformed into RDF fuel for the Gasplasma process. A commercial plant produces 11MWh net electrical output, enough for approximately 15,000 homes. In addition, enough heat is recovered from the process to supply approximately 450 homes.
For further information please visit: http://www.fulton.com/
