BUSINESS: 295 PRACTICES
HELLAGROLIP S.A. is a Greek Commercial and Industrial Company which distributes its own fertilizers as well as fertilizers by the Greek Industry of Chemical Fertilizers ELFE S.A., at Nea Karvali, prefecture of Kavala.
Read more: www.hellagrolip.gr
The goal of this action is energy saving and more specifically the reduction of primary energy consumption (oil, gas, electricity) in the production process. The chemical fertilizer production process is, generally, energy intensive. On the other hand, the production process itself releases large amounts of chemical energy as heat that is, generally, discharged into the environment.
HELLAGROLIP SA implements practices for the recovery of this waste heat, by converting it into high pressure steam, which is converted into electricity and mechanical energy with simultaneous production of a different grade of steam like medium and low pressure steam that is used for heating purposes in the production process.
The action is targeted to:
This is a constantly improving methodology certified as a High Efficiency Cogeneration System of Electricity and Heat, that was recently, in 2015, certified according to the international energy management Standard 50001: 2011.
During the production process of production units of Ammonia, Nitric and Sulfuric acid of the plant, a triple cogeneration is performed.
This means that, besides the production of products by chemical processing (A production), also heat (B production) and mechanical - electrical power (C production) are produced without the use of fuel, but only using waste heat of the waste gases coming from exothermic chemical reactions.
The recovered heat is consumed in the form of high, medium and low-pressure steam, in various production units of the plant, such as the production unit of ammonium nitrate solution, the production unit of Nitrogenous fertilizers or in the units of the neighboring company’s production plant and, finally, in auxiliary services or more general uses.
The mechanical energy of waste gas with an amount of high pressure steam are used in two separate compressors of the nitric acid production unit, saving electricity, while the electricity produced in electric generators which are connected to steam turbines, is consumed in house for electricity needs of other production units of the plant.
With this system, which ensures the recovery of waste heat, HELLAGROLIP SA has saved about 70% of its electricity needs, almost all of the heat required by the various stages of production and, also, large amounts of the necessary mechanical energy, that otherwise should be consumed either by the national electricity network or by using fuel supply. The system of recovery of waste heat is not a steady state situation, but it is constantly in an expanding and improving situation.
By this action, about 4000 TJ of primary energy are saved annually, a fact leading to the country’s approach to the goal of 20-20-20 and to a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The company's factory in Nea Karvali of Kavala (Greece).
There is a continuous cooperation with the fertilizer Europe Association so as to exploit the knowledge and experience on the specific technology and for the competitiveness of companies in order to continuously improve energy efficiency.
For the process of waste heat recovery, the installation and operation of sensitive and specialized equipment is required. In this way specialized jobs in the plant are created, where employees are in many cases required, to decide on the most appropriate way of the equipment’s operation, in order to save the maximum possible amount of energy.
The company saves about 100,000 MWh of electricity and, also, about 2,000 TJ of thermal energy per year. So it manages to avoid the use of large quantities of fuel for the production process, a fact that shows a benefit of several million euros for the company annually. The most important thing for an industry with a complex production process as HELLAGROLIP SA, is that it ensures a high percentage of its energy autonomy, while avoiding unexpected shut downs of production units with high costs for the company.
The installation of equipment for the recovery of waste heat requires the knowledge and the application of particularly innovative technologies, in order to provide uninterrupted and reliable operation of the production process.
No Connection with Global Goals found