RESULT 93

IEA OECD
energy efficiency

UK 90.005/2C.H01

CHP at a paper mill

Paper mill uses combined cycle CHP with landfill gas

Summary
At Purfleet Board Mills paper mill, an increasing power-toheat ratio meant that the original steam turbine-based CHP system was out of balance with site needs. As a result, efficiencies were poor. By installing two new generators - one gas turbine driven, the other steam turbine driven - and modifying the existing water-tube boiler, approximately 80% of the paper mills electrical power requirements have been met. Landfill gas had already been shown to be a suitable fuel for the water-tube boiler and was adopted as one of the main fuels for the gas turbine. Significant energy cost savings were made.

Highlights
2.8 years payback period Multi-fuel including LFG High steam load

The steam turbine.

Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies

Aim of the project

Purfleet Board Mills paper mill manufactures multi-ply paper boards from recycled waste paper. The process requires between 8.4 to 8.8 MWe of electricity and manufacturing is carried out 24 hours/day, seven days/week throughout the year. Approximately 140,000 tonnes of paper is produced annually. Originally, the site was served by a CHP plant comprising a high-pressure Babcock watertube boiler capable of producing 90,000 kg/hour (200,000 lb/hour) of steam at 4.2 MP (600 psig), and a single steam turbine with a design rating of 10 MWe. A change in manufacturing practices reduced the amount of process steam required on site. As a result, the boiler output was reduced to 63,500 kg/hour (140,000 lb/ hour) and the pass-out pressure was increased to 653 kP (80 Figure 1: The CHP Scheme
EEB supply/export

psig). This meant that, by 1985, the turbine was operating at approximately 55% of its design steam throughput and generating only 3.7 MWe of the 7.64 MWe required by the mill. Large quantities of power therefore had to be imported from the grid to meet the demand of the site. A new CHP system was therefore developed to reduce energy costs.

The Principle
The company decided to adopt a scheme incorporating a new steam turbine designed for present steam conditions in conjunction with a gas turbine to give a combined cycle CHP system with a high power to heat ratio closely matching the mill loads. Figure 1 shows the main features. The boiler had been shown to operate satisfactorily on landfill gas and the company wished to

retain the boiler in the new scheme, modifying it as required. Landfill gas was also chosen as the primary fuel for the new gas turbine. Purfleet Board Mills applied to the Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) for assistance under the Energy Efficiency Demonstration Scheme because the project was both novel in being the first gas-turbine-based CHP system to use landfill gas as a primary fuel, and it offered energy efficiency benefits.

The Situation
The new plant is based on a Ruston TB5000 two-shaft gas turbine, an Allen multistage steam turbine, and the original water-tube boiler, modified to allow the high temperature exhaust from the gas turbine to be used as pre-heated combustion air. The gas turbine is operated on either landfill gas or natural gas (with distillate fuel oil as the standby fuel), while the main boiler is fired by natural gas and heavy fuel oil; provision remains for the boiler to fire landfill gas on two of the burners. A pair of multistage Belliss & Morcom compressors raise respectively the pressures of the natural gas and landfill gas supplies to the level required by the gas turbine. The nominal output of the two generators is: 3.7 MWe for the gas turbine; 7.6 MWe for the steam turbine. On average the power output meets approximately 80% of the mills requirements. Any

By-pass vent FD fan

Air

Air

Boiler stack

Gas turbine GTE duct

ID Boiler and fan economiser BFW HFO

Steam turbine 20 PSIG steam 80 PSIG steam 200 PSIG steam

M M

Gas oil Natural gas Landfill gas

To mill 11kV

Landfill gas compressor

Natural gas compressor

Landfill gas(TJ) Unit price (GBP) Combined cycle CHP Boiler Gas turbine Electricity Total 257 204 462 1.27/GJ

Natural gas(TJ) 1.57/GJ

Heavy fuel(TJ) 1.65/GJ

Gas oil(TJ) 3.23/GJ

Electricity(MWh) bought sold

*

0.0247/kWh

210 244 454

780 780

6.4 6.4 12,376 12,376 765 765

Steam cycle CHP Boiler Electricity Total 462 462 454 454 661 661 48,867 48,867 -

Shell boilers Boiler Electricity Total

*

462 462

454 454

463 463

73,108 73,108 -

Total costs:

GBP 3.90 for combined cycle CHP GBP 3.44 for steam cycle CHP GBP 3.39 for shell boilers

Table 1: Energy Consumption of New CHP System Compared with Old Steam Cycle CHP System and System based on Shell Boilers and Purchased Electricity.

imbalance between supply and demand is accommodated by either importing or exporting electricity to or from the grid as required. This aspect of operation has presented no problems. The overall availability of the steam turbine and gas turbine is in excess of 96% and the efficiency of the CHP system at full load is approximately 77% gross (83% net). The gas turbine has operated for

extended periods on both natural and landfill gas and power has been generated in accordance with expectations. Normally, there is a power generation deficit of approximately 1.4 MWe, and this is balanced by importing electricity from the grid.

Economics
The energy consumption of the new system was measured

for the whole of 1988. During that time, the Powerhouse operated for 8,100 hours - 300 hours less than normal because of the installation and commissioning of new equipment within the mill. Consumption figures were therefore modified to consider a typical year of 8,400 hours operation. Table 1 summarizes the energy consumption of the new combined cycle CHP system,

and compares it with the energy which would have been consumed over the same period by the old steam cycle CHP system and by a system based on shell boilers and purchased electricity. The energy costs for the three systems are: Combined cycle CHP: GBP 3,071,400 Steam cycle CHP: GBP 4,074,400 Shell boilers: GBP 4,548,000.

Taking additional maintenance costs into account, cost savings are GBP 971,000 for steam cycle CHP replacement and GBP 1,444,600 for shell boiler replacement. The total capital cost of the modifications to the system at Purfleet was GBP 2,704,000 giving a simple payback period of 2.8 years for the project. If the CHP system is used to replace shell boilers, the capital cost would be greater, probably of the order of GBP 4,700,000. In this case, the simple payback period would be approximately 3.3 years.

Host Company
Purfleet Board Mills London Road Purfleet Essex RM16 1RE United Kingdom

Engineering Contractor
Thermal Developments Ltd. The Whins North End Sedgefield Stockton-on-Tees Cleveland TS21 2AZ United Kingdom Tel.: +44-740-21614 Contact: Dr R. Nicholson

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* IEA: OECD: International Energy Agency Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

IEA The IEA was established in 1974 within the framework of the OECD to implement an International Energy Programme. A basic aim of the IEA is to foster co-operation among the twenty-one IEA Participating Countries to increase energy security through energy conservation, development of alternative energy sources and energy research development and demonstration (RD&D). This is achieved, in part, through a programme of collaborative RD&D, consisting of forty-two Implementing Agreements, containing a total of over eighty separate energy RD&D projects.

The Scheme CADDET functions as the IEA Centre for Analysis and Dissemination Demonstrated Energy Technologies for all IEA CADDET member countries. This project can now be repeated in CADDET member countries. Parties interested in adopting this process can contact their National Team or CADDET. Demonstrations are a vital link between R&D or pilot studies and the end-use market. Projects are published as a CADDET Demo or Result respectively, for on-going and finalised projects.

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March 1992