Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is a contributor to renewable energy production all over Western Europe with about 400 plants. In Norway, WtE stands for almost half of the district heating produced, with 2.3 TWh/year (2013).
Energos AS has developed a unique WtE technology, being a clear successful story of a spin-off company founded after tight cooperation with the R&D sector. Energos' WtE technology is the only one that can achieve low NOx emission levels without secondary gas cleaning measures. This is achieved through a two-stage combustion process, with gasification of the waste in the first stage, followed by combustion of the syngas in a separate secondary combustion chamber. Energos is a leading supplier of small-to-medium scale (15 – 50 MWth) WtE plants and technology, having several plants in operation across Europe.
In the OptiCom project, generic gasification and combustion knowledge will be coupled with advanced CFD modelling to achieve an improved secondary combustion chamber design aiming at improving the combustion performance and the plant efficiency, reducing harmful emissions, reducing the size of the secondary chamber and hence the construction cost.
In the first phase of the project, phenomena like the mixing of syngas with secondary air and recirculated flue gas, the residence time and the temperature level have been studied through advanced CFD modelling of the existing secondary combustion chamber. The simulation results combined with Energos' experience have revealed potential for improvement. Investigations of these potential improvements will be carried out through new simulations. This work will lead to recommendations for a new design of the combustion chamber.
The innovation will be realized combining the long-term industrial experience and value creation gained by Energos AS during the last 17 years with the mathematical modelling and experimental expertise contained within SINTEF Energi AS.
This will be essential in order to overcome both the operational and economic challenges faced by the WtE community in general and Energos AS in particular. The modified combustion chamber will enable Energos AS to commercialise an improved process with better performance, lower emissions and improved competitiveness, but also a process that may reach new niche markets in, for example, specific waste fractions.
Project partner: Energos AS
This is an Innovation project with support from The Research Council of Norway