New SRF plant in Wales raises recovery rates to new level
The new processing plant designed and built by STADLER for Hywel NMP Ltd. is unique in its capacity to treat fines below 50mm, achieving exceptionally high recovery rates with a process that has a remarkably high yield for producing Solid Recovered Fuel, depending on the infeed material.
The increasing urgency in the pursuit of alternatives to fossil fuels and the push for reducing the amount of waste going to landfill, are driving a growth in the
Demand for Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). The low cost and high calorific value of this fuel makes it an excellent, environmentally friendly solution for high-energy facilities such as cement kilns, as well as Energy-from-Waste plants and Urban Heat Networks. “This sector is now well established in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and in Scandinavia. It is expanding and we expect it to continue to grow,” comments Dr. Benjamin Eule, Director of STADLER UK.
STADLER is in the process of commissioning a brand-new SRF plant in Nine Mile Point, in Wales, United Kingdom for Hywel NMP Ltd., which will have the capacity to process 25 tonnes/hour of residual waste. STADLER designed the plant in collaboration with the Customer to process a wide range of input materials with particular attention to the recovery of SRF out of fines, optimizing the overall recovery rate.
The input material is fed into a front end shredder, followed by a waste screen to remove fines. The material goes through a Ballistic Separator to create 2D, 3D and fines fractions. Overband magnets and eddy current separators remove remaining metals. The resulting material mix after NIR detection and air separation is further reduced in size by a secondary shredder to produce 40mm SRF. The process extracts mixed plastics, fibre, non-ferrous and ferrous materials, which will be sold on to secondary processes.
“The plant is specifically designed to treat fines, which is unique. This has the great advantage of recovering the more difficult calorific value materials, therefore reducing the amount of residue produced by the plant,” explains Dr Eule. “The process has a very high yield for producing SRF, depending on the incoming material.”
Another important advantage of STADLER’s design for Nine Mile Point facility is the extensive access to the conveyors and processing equipment for maintenance and operation, which maximises the plant’s uptime and efficiency.
The installation of the plant started on schedule on January 22, 2022 with Cold Commissioning scheduled to be completed in early May, and Hot Commissioning is planned for June. “The global supply chain issues and travel restrictions due to Covid-19 were challenging, but we were able to deliver on time,” concludes Dr Eule.