Peels and apple cores fuel a Uniconfort boiler in Moldova
Thanks to Uniconfort you can now create energy from fruit peel and apple cores! At a time when recycling and not throwing anything away is vital, the Padua company, a leader in the promotion of biomass and solid waste, has brought forth an important contribution thanks to a plant installed in Moldova which allows a food company to produce thermal energy by processing waste.
ENERGY FROM WASTE OF FRUITS
Apple cores, apricots and peaches stones, all kinds of peels, seeds and stalks: tons of material to be disposed of at a high price every day. This was a problem for Orhei-Vit, a large company in Moldova that produces juices and fruit concentrates which are then exported all over Central and Eastern Europe. A problem that has been transformed into a resource after Uniconfort technicians, with their Venetian excellence, were able to design, build and install plants that burn standard fuels and waste products of the food industry and the agroforestry world with exactly the same efficiency. This was a technically complex process, since the fuel is made of different materials with very high humidity content, requiring advanced and sophisticated technology. But certainly a possibility.
COMPANY PRODUCES ORGANIC WASTE AND IS ENERGY-CONSUMING: PERFECT FOR THE BIOMASS BOILER!
Orhei-Vit is located in the agricultural district of Chisinau, where the cultivation of fruit is the driving force behind the local economy. The firm uses large amounts of energy since it uses steam at different stages of the production process: cooking, sterilisation, etc. The large amounts of production waste were disposed of in payment landfills and used in part as agricultural fertiliser. “An ideal context for the application of innovative and environmentally friendly technology for producing steam,” continues Zinetti, Uniconfort CEO, “since the strong demand for energy is accompanied by a wide availability of ‘green’ fuel free of charge and at zero kilometres. And not only that. Our plant will have a major impact on the local economy. In fact, increasing the demand for these materials stimulates the launch of a local chain of fuel production, which is currently non-existent but has great potential, given the agrifood vocation of the Chisinau district.”
THE BOILER: TECHNICAL CHOICES TO OPTIMIZE THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
Uniconfort has installed a plant that produces steam by burning the waste production measured so as to not require externally purchased fuel: a Global 400 boiler, fuelled with 2 tons of waste per hour, which produces 4.8 tons/h of steam at 10 bar. The process is optimised in all its phases: the combustion gases, for example, are exploited to pre-dry the very humid fuel, and the ash created is used immediately as fertiliser for their crops.
This is not a new experience for Uniconfort, which has installed boilers that burn horse bedding to heat the royal stables in London and a similar plant serves the largest riding school in Kentucky; some mushroom farms in Ireland use the bedding of mushrooms to heat their greenhouses, while in Italy there are innumerable installations used in farms, nurseries and food companies.
PLANT SPECIFICATION
- Boiler: GLOBAL 400
- Fuel: 2ton/h waste from fruit processing
- Production: 4,8ton/h steam