Geseke plant starts WHRs

The Dyckerhoff (Buzzi group) plant in Geseke, Germany, has taken another important step in terms of energy efficiency and towards environmentally friendly and climate-neutral production as it starts up a waste heat recovery (WHR) system.

After six months of construction, the organic Rankine cycle-based facility successfully went into trial operation. The WHR system is an innovative modular system that generates green electricity using previously unused waste heat from the clinker cooler.

At the heart of this technology is a newly-installed heat exchanger weighing around 50t, which transfers the waste heat to the ORC modules via a water circuit. These convert the heat at a lower temperature level than the classic steam turbine into electricity, which is used directly on site. If the plant is operated continuously, it is expected to produce over 1mkWh of electricity per year, which corresponds to the annual consumption of around 250 four-person households. The energy generated purely from waste heat will also avoid around 900t of CO₂ per year.