RESIDUES TO RESOURCES t RESIDUES TO RESOURCES CEMENT PRODUCTION IS ENERGY INTENSIVE and, depending on the fuels and downstream flue gas treatment systems used, can be heavy on air emissions. Recently Kirchdorfer Zementverk, one of the oldest cement plants operating in Austria, commissioned a new and innovative process for industrial exhaust air cleaning to reduce carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Part of the privately held Kirchdorfer Industries GmbH, what is now a 500 000 tonne-per-annum cement plant has been in operation since its founding in 1888. Given its location just 600 m from Kirchdorf town centre, environmental impact reduction has always been a focal point for the company. Two-in-one concept Developed and supplied by compatriot air emission technology providers, Aurolzmünster-based Scheuch GmbH, the novel “DeCONOx” unit reduces all three pollutants at the same time in a single unit. Furthermore the new process does not require additional heat to operate as it uses residual heat, in this case from the cement production process. – Simultaneous reduction in one unit is the biggest advantage of the new process, explained Alois Hermandinger, Head of Industrial Minerals at Scheuch GmbH. The new process, which recently earned the company an Energy Globe Award, ensures high degrees of CO, NOx and VOC removal from exhaust streams by combining the advantages of a conventional clean-gas catalytic convertor with a regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) plant. According to Hermandinger, other benefits of combining the technologies include minimal spatial footprint, lower operating costs, lower energy consumption through the use of waste heat and lower maintenance requirements. Piloting success At the end of 2010, a twin-tower pilot unit was installed at the cement plant in Kirchdorf to test and verify the process concept under real-life industrial operating conditions. The results of the pilot obviously impressed the decision-makers at Kirchdorfer Zementverk as last summer it contracted Scheuch to install an industrial-scale DeCONOx plant. – The big advantage of the new system is its 8 Bioenergy International No 82, 6-2015 $VUUJOHFNJTTJPOT GSPOUBOECBDLFOE For energy intense industrial processes like cement production, tightening exhaust air restrictions means emission compliance can be a cumbersome and costly affair. An Austrian cement plant is tackling the issue from two directions. It has introduced alternative fuels to replace coal and gas. It has also commissioned a novel and seemingly cost-effective solution - a single unit that simultaneously reduces carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using residual heat. Installation of the modular DeCONOx unit at Kirchdorfer Zementverk. featu re:
Bioenergy no 6 October 2015
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