Intergen reinforces the leadership in energy efficiency with two new projects
The Sofidel Group, one of the largest manufacturers of sanitary and domestic paper, has commissioned to Intergen two natural gas cogeneration plants for its Delicarta paper plants at Val Fegana and Monfalcone
Lomagna (LC), July 2015 – With the commission to Intergen to design and build two natural gas cogeneration plants for an overall electric generation capacity of almost 4.8 MW, the Sofidel Group leads the paper industry in energy efficiency, one of the industries with the highest electric and thermal energy consumption. Sofidel, mostly known in Italy for the Regina brand, is one of the main international players in the tissue paper niche, the one used for sanitary and domestic paper.
The new natural gas cogeneration plants will be built at the manufacturing plants of Val Fegana (Lucca province) and Monfalcone (Gorizia province) respectively. Both will have a system for the recovery of heat from different sources such as exhaust fumes, the oil cooling circuit and the engine’s water. The high temperature heat is then used to generate steam that is injected in the distribution circuit of the plant at 15 bar, while the heat recovered from the engine cooling system is used for further energy efficiencies in the manufacturing plants. The steam is mostly used for the paper drying processes. The electric energy is mostly used to supply the manufacturing plant and particularly, the paper machine and its auxiliaries.
The Val Fegana plant is equipped with a MWM TCG 2020V16 (250 NOX) engine of 1560 kWe, built in in a sound proofed enclosure that was assembled inside the plant itself, in order to optimize the spaces of the paper plant in the site. The heat recovered from the exhaust fumes amount to 648 kWt, and it will be used to generate more than 1,100 kg/h of steam, while the energy collected from the oil circuit and cooling water system will amount to almost 1,050 recoverable kWt. The plant at Monfalcone is larger and it uses a MWM TCG 2032V12 (250 NOX) of 3200 kWe engine, also built in a soundproof enclosure built on site. The heat from the exhaust fumes will provide 1,430 recoverable kWt that will allow the production of 2,430 kg/h of steam. The energy collected from the oil circuit and the cooling water system will amount to almost 2,000 recoverable kWt for water heating.
With these projects, the MWM cogeneration units, exclusively distributed by Intergen in Italy, are confirmedly competitive in those projects that include the production of steam from heat recovered from the engine. As a matter of fact, the MWM engine’s exhaust fumes have highly elevated energy content (almost 20% more than the competitors). Thus, these engines have a distinct competitive advantage to feed industrial steam generators that operate at high temperature and high pressures. In addition, the MWM cogenerators also provide an electric efficiency over 42%.
