EPC of 2 thermal oil WHRBs for the glass industry

In 2017, one of the worlds leaders in float glass manufacturing began a project with the objective to decarbonize its production process and reduce its operating costs. The plant located in the city of Düzce (Turkey) has a glass production capacity of 1500 Ton/day.

The project focused on utilising the heat of the flue gases emitted by the float glass melting furnace. Given that the glass industry has high electrical consumption during the various stages of flat glass sheet forming, it was proposed that heat recovery would result in the generation of electricity for self-consumption. AITESA’s scope included: Design, supply and commissioning of two thermal oil boilers, one for each float glass production line, with a power of 8.9 MWt and 14 MWt respectively. The thermal oil then transfers its heat to a secondary circuit to evaporate an organic fluid which is used in an ORC turbine to generate 6.2 MWe of electricity. In addition to the boiler, AITESA supplied the thermal oil recirculation system including pumps, piping, expansion tanks, instrumentation, and the induced draft fan to drive the flow of flue gases through the boiler. The thermal oil boiler includes an external cleaning system which uses a shot blasting arrangement consisting of circulating small steel spheres through the body of the boiler, causing them to disrupt and remove any dust that may adhere to the outer surface of the tubes. This solution can be applied to units that operate in industries with a high dust content in the hot flue gases such as the glass or steel sectors.

The heat recovery installation has been in operation since February 2018. Following the completion of assembly and start-up the industrial end user has made a leap in energy efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness resulting in a reduction of production costs.