Heat recovery system helps meet green goals
A
Spirax Sarco product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jul 27, 2007
A Spirax Sarco Engineered System now feeds Tarmac Topblock's steam through a heat exchanger to pre-heat the site's boiler feed water.
Tarmac Topblock is moving closer towards hitting its key sustainability target of achieving a 5% reduction in energy usage by 2010, thanks to the energy-saving benefits of a Spirax Sarco Engineered System that recovers heat from waste steam.
Tarmac Topblock's Alfreton factory manufactures aircrete blocks for the construction industry.
The blocks are mixed and moulded, before curing in a bank of eight autoclaves fed by steam at 12 bar(g).
Instead of sending the vented steam from these autoclaves into the atmosphere, the Spirax Sarco Engineered System now feeds the steam through a heat exchanger to pre-heat the site's boiler feed water.
"Making our operations more sustainable and environmentally efficient is a key focus for us at every level of the Tarmac Topblock business", says Robin Stapleton, Engineering Manager at Topblock's Alfreton site.
"The Spirax Sarco system will help us to further reduce carbon emissions year-on-year and help us to achieve our energy saving targets".
The supply of waste steam and the demand for hot water from the boiler do not always match, so the system also includes a storage tank that acts as a buffer between the heat exchanger and the boiler feed tank.
The ideal temperature of the boiler feed water is 94C, which reduces the amount of energy the boiler uses to raise steam.
Heating the boiler feed water minimises the energy expended and cost of making every 1000kg of steam.
However, the temperature can't be raised beyond 94C without risking cavitation in the boiler feed pump.
Cold water circulates repeatedly through the Spirax Sarco heat exchanger and storage tank, getting progressively hotter.
It may be drawn off at any time to meet demand from the boiler, but if it reaches 94C, excess waste steam is vented to prevent overheating.
If the pre-heated water reaches the boiler feed tank at a lower temperature, Tarmac Topblock's system brings it up to 94C by direct steam injection.
The complete engineered system was built off-site by Spirax Sarco and supplied skid-mounted.
"Fitting it was simple because it all came ready-built".
"All we had to do was lift it over a wall using a crane and put legs on it", explains Stapleton.
"The service from Spirax Sarco has been very good".
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