A waste incinerator coupled with an electricity production plant is a common combination in the Belgian energy landscape. In Schaerbeek, the time had come to renovate the power plant and its emergency air condenser in order to guarantee continuity of service. EQUANS was involved in this task, using all its expertise to design and build an EPC installation in just under two years.
In an incinerator, the energy released by the combustion of waste is usually recovered to produce steam, which is then released in a turbine in order to generate electricity. It is also possible to recover this heat by feeding it into a heating network. In Schaerbeek, however, the two functions – incineration and energy production – are currently split and managed by two different companies: Brussels Energy incinerates the waste and delivers steam to ENGIE, which produces electricity.
A new emergency air condenser
In order to extend the life of the Schaerbeek power plant by 25 years, it had to be renovated. A new emergency air condenser was therefore required. Romain Crehay, Project Manager in the EQUANS Contracting Solutions Department, explains the principle and usefulness of this piece of equipment: “It is used in the event of a technical failure of a turbine – what we call a ‘turbine trip’ – to condense and dissipate the accumulated energy (anywhere between 65 and 130 t/h of steam), and also during the maintenance of a turbine or during the start-up and shut-down of an incinerator boiler. The steam has to meet specific criteria to be expanded in the turbines, and during start-up or shut-down phases, these criteria are no longer met. In this case, the steam cannot be sent to the turbine and the emergency condenser can take over this role. This is an ideal solution to allow the incinerator to continue burning the waste of the city of Brussels while keeping the water of the process in a closed circuit.
Why EQUANS was selected
EQUANS was chosen for this project “because we work as a Turnkey Contractor, we carry out all the disciplines required for this EPC installation”, explained Romain Crehay. “For these turnkey installations, we take care of all phases. Our Process team defines the working process. We then move on to the purchasing phase, where we draw up all the specifications for the main equipment (condenser, pumps, expansion and desuperheating stations, etc.), and then our design office designs the structure, piping, electrical system and automation. We then start on construction. The electrical work was completed by EIAD Industrie Sud and the piping by our colleagues in the Boiler department. This was followed by commissioning, safety tests, adjustment of the automation parameters to the programming, performance tests and finally, the delivery of the facility. All the customer has to do then is ‘turn the key’”.
Specific expertise
This particular project was made possible thanks to the expertise of the Contracting Solutions department, which forms part of the new Energy Transition & Integrated Solutions division of EQUANS, which in turn groups together all the activities relating to the energy transition. This department provides systems or installations of all sizes to enable industries to make the best use of energy while achieving energy, environmental and financial savings.
The design, which took one and a half years to complete, started in October 2019 and commissioning began in June 2021.
