Westenergy refines waste into heat, electricity and recovered materials.
1) Tipping hall
Every day some 30 waste trucks tip their waste into the waste bunker.
2) Waste bunker
There is room for five million trash bags in the bunker, and an automatic grab mixes waste so that the plant’s fuel remains as consistent as possible – this is important for the stability of the entire process.
3) Grate and furnace
Waste is incinerated at 1000 degrees Celsius on a grate of some 80 square metres. Temperature remains high as air is continuously blown onto the grate.
4) Boiler
In the boiler, heat transfers from hot flue gases into boiler water that becomes steam. Steam is heated up to 400 degrees at a pressure of 40 bars.
5) Flue gas treatment system
Flue gases are purified in several stages. Lime and activated carbon bind acidic impurities and heavy metals which are filtered out in the fabric filter. Lastly flue gases are purified in flue gas scrubber, and heat is recovered in heat exchangers.
6) Generator and turbine
Steam rotates the turbine that makes, in turn, the generator rotate. The output of the generator is 15 megawatts.
7) District heat unit
In the district heat unit, hot steam heats up the cold district heat water. The temperature depends on the weather and the time of the year and is some 65-115 degrees Celsius. The output of the district heat unit is 40 megawatts.
8) Bottom ash
Bottoms ash consists of ash and metal. It is shoveled onto conveyors under the great, and from conveyors into containers that change automatically