Biomass CHP for the RCMA Group
Design and construct project
July 2016 – April 2018
The Project
Syn2gen were appointed by the RCMA Group to be the Principal Contractor and Lead Designer for a Biomass CHP plant to provide energy to RCMA’s agri-processing project located near Stratford Upon Avon in Warwickshire. This project includes a 100,000tpa rapeseed crushing plant with all power and heat supplied by Syn2gen’s Biomass CHP plant located alongside the facility. The CHP plant will supply up to 1.8MWe of renewable electrical power, 3.5MWth of heat as steam, and 5MWth of 90°C hot water and meet all criteria required for eligibility to obtain ROCs and RHI support.
Design basis
The principal combustion system is a biomass fuelled thermal oil heater based on ERK corner tube membrane wall design and equipped with a water cooled vibrating gate delivering an output of 11.4MWth. Flue gases pass through a separate free standing economiser and air pre-heater before exiting via cyclones and fabric filters, ID fan and stack. Thermal oil is pumped through the heater and directly to a Turboden ORC turbine system at ~300°C that generates electrical power at 11KV on the site distribution system. Oil leaving the turbine at ~250°C then continues to an oil -steam exchanger to generate steam at 9.5 Barg before returning to the thermal heater at ~190°C.
Timescales
RCMA appointed Syn2gen in early July 2016 and first commercial contracts were placed for the supply of the thermal heater and ORC turbine in that month. Other equipment and civil engineering contractor selection took place over the next two months with civil contractors starting initial site works in October 2016.
Delivery
First delivery of the thermal heater components began on 28th December 2016 and most equipment was on site by the end of January 2017. An intensive M&E program resulted in the thermal heater being fired on 23rd March, generating power and heat. All required compliance and testing for ROCs and RHI was completed by 31st March, an overall time-span of approximately nine months.
Following commissioning of the CHP Plant, Syn2gen provided on-going support to RCMA/Yelo Enterprises as the plant moved into an operational mode and production rates in the CHP plant and Rapeseed crushing plant were ramped up.
Recent Projects
Syn2gen has also been involved in a number of other projects as follows:
- Engineering and design support to the development of waste to energy plants in Australia. Specifically providing technical support to the in-house development and delivery team including conceptual design and plant layouts, civil engineering and building design and engineering integration as well as input to structuring plant performance insurance cover.
- Appraisal of a waste to energy project in Scotland with one of the UK’s leading RDF aggregators. This was conceived as a 120,000 tonnes pa. plant processing Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) and generating some 13MWe from an Organic Rankine Cycle turbine similar to the type used at Atherstone.
- Development of a standalone gas fired CHP solution with UPS battery back-up to allow seamless transfer from island mode operation to grid operation for a customer in the food manufacturing sector.
- Commercial evaluation and technical appraisal of both conventional and renewable power and heat generating options for a substantial agri food processing plant.
- Due diligence on a combined Biomass CHP and wood pelleting plant. Appraising the current engineering status of the plant and advising investors of the risks and additional expenditure required to bring the plant into full operation and its commercial potential.