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Petro Bio helps Renova replace fossil fuels with renewables

In an effort to further reduce climate-impacting emissions, the Swedish waste-to-energy (WtE) operator Renova has decided to upgrade its eight start-up- and support burners to be able to operate with bio-oil instead of fossil oil at its WtE plant combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Sävenäs, Gothenburg. Thanks to this adaptation, fossil emissions at the facility will be reduced by approximately 960 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually.

Renova has selected Petro Bio to upgrade its eight start-up- and support burners to run on bio-oil at its waste-to-energy (WtE) combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Gothenburg, Sweden (photo courtesy Petro Bio).

The primary task of the start-up and support burners is to heat Renova’s four waste heat boilers after annual auditing or when needed. An example of the latter case is when the moisture content of the incoming fuel is particularly high. Then a support burner is needed to ensure that waste heat boilers reach and maintain the correct operating temperature in compliance with the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) – 850°C for 2 seconds.

Replace fossil fuel oil

The task of updating the eight start-up- and support burners along with the existing fossil fuel oil system for operation with RME oil (rapeseed oil) is being performed by Gothenburg-based combustion technology providers Petro Bio, a subsidiary of Belgium-headed biomass to energy specialists, VYNCKE. Since RME is more aggressive than fossil oil, several different parts need to be replaced and the burners adapted.

The waste power plant currently consumes about 550 cubic meters of fossil fuel oil annually. We are incredibly proud to be part of converting it to biofuel. We delivered our first burners to Renova as early as 1972, and now we are making a joint journey towards a more sustainable future here in Gothenburg, said Johanna Lindén, CEO Petro Bio.

At the Renova waste-to-energy facility, approximately 550 000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is thermally treated annually. The recovered heat is used in the city’s district heating accounting for around one-third of the heat supply, making Renova the largest supplier of district heating in Gothenburg. The plant also produces about 5 percent of Gothenburg’s electricity needs.

The transition from fossil oil to bio-oil in the start-up and support burners is an important step in Renova’s ambition to minimize fossil use and actively contribute to long-term sustainable development.

We feel very confident about Petro Bio’s delivery. They supply trouble-free burners, regular service delivery, and 24-hour on-call operations. And their solid experience with flame combustion technology and bio-oil makes the transition from fossil to renewable energy painless and secure, said Malin Bruhn, Process Engineer at Renova.

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