Application: Boiler Process Heat – Biomass Heat Recovery
Power Output: 46 kWe
Thermal Input: 500 kWth
Hot Water Inlet Temperature: 110°C
Hot Water Flow Rate: 10 l/s
ElectraTherm commissioned a Green Machine (now Power+ Generator) to generate emission-free electricity from biomass heat recovery in Badia Prataglia, Italy. The facility operates a biomass boiler burning a mix of sawdust and ground up waste wood from a saw mill. The site was challenged with a large amount of wood waste and no means of disposal or storage. Hauling it away proved too expensive, and the facility’s only option was to burn the wood with a biomass boiler.
ElectraTherm’s Power+ captures the waste heat from the boiler and converts it to electricity that is sold to the utility for profit. ElectraTherm’s Power+ Generator using an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to convert sources of low temperature heat into electricity. At this site was a first generation Power+ Generator 4400 with electrical output up to 65 kWe, which feeds off the hot water from the boiler to generate sustainable energy from heat that would otherwise go to waste. At the site, hot water enters the ORC system at 110°C, where it heats a working fluid into pressurized vapor. As the vapor expands, it drives ElectraTherm’s patented twin screw power block, which spins an electric generator and produces power. The site generates approximately 46 kWe gross.
Italy and many other countries offer attractive incentives for biomass heat recovery as well as for integrating sustainable technologies that increase efficiency. Through feed-in tariffs and various energy credits, such as the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, ElectraTherm’s ORC heat recovery (also know known as heat to power) solutions provide a quick payback and an attractive return on investment. ElectraTherm can capture heat as low as 70°C to generate up to 125 kWe of clean electricity. With a 250 kW model in the pipeline and the Active Cooler offering net-zero cooling to power solutions, ElectraTherm offers solutions for any size project.