The LiPRO HKW50 combined heat and power plant has a total rated electrical output of 50 kW and a rated thermal output of 97 kW.
The typical operating hours amount to approx. 8,000 hours per year with a consumption of wood chips of approx. 300 tons per year.
As a decentralized energy conversion system, the LiPRO HKW50 converts the chemical energy bound in wood chips into electrical and thermal energy.
The LiPRO HKW 50 is a combined heat and power plant that primarily consists of three modules:
The gasworks has its own electrical interface in its own sub-control cabinet. Via this electrical interface, the gasworks can communicate with the higher-level control system in the system’s control cabinet, the E-Control 50, and can be controlled centrally from the system’s control cabinet.
LiPRO Energy enables digital remote monitoring secured against cyber attacks and remote access via the Internet with an alarm function in the event of a fault.
The wood gas plant is a three-stage gasification module. In contrast to the conventional principle of wood gasification, LiPRO Energy separates the process stages into:
This subdivision allows the process-specific conditions to be optimally influenced. As a result, LiPRO Energy not only optimizes the efficiency of the wood gas plant, but also enables more stable process control and a particularly clean wood gas with a very low condensate content.
First, the fuel is fed into the pyrolysis screw via the feed sluice using an automated drive.
During transportation through the pyrolysis zone, the fuel is heated by the product gases passing from the outside in a double-jacket tube in counterflow (gas cooling and heat recovery). The highly volatile hydrocarbon compounds are extracted from the fuel.
Only the pure coke (carbon matrix of the plant cell) and pyrolysis gases remain. While the coke falls directly into the reduction zone, the pyrolysis gases are oxidized in the oxidation zone. In the third stage, the reduction zone, the gases from the oxidation and the coke from the pyrolysis are combined and the actual product gas is produced.
After reduction, the product gas is cooled down. The thermal energy extracted via heat exchangers is fed back into the process via various media such as air and fuel. After gas purification through a fabric filter, the gas is free of solids such as coke and ash particles.
The chemical energy of the synthesis gas is converted into thermal and electrical energy by the combined heat and power (CHP) module according to the principle of cogeneration.
In the start and stop phases, the gas plant has not yet or no longer reached its optimum operating temperatures and parameters. The synthesis gas produced in these phases is of unusable quality and must therefore be burned fully automatically via a gas flare.
The gas flare has a pilot burner and its own control cabinet. It is usually mounted on the roof of the gasworks enclosure. It is used to burn off the synthesis gas during the start and stop phases of the gasworks. The burning process lasts until the gas plant has reached its ideal process temperatures in the process zones for the production of high-quality gas.
The gas flare is a closed gas flare.
The closed design (in contrast to the open gas flare) favors more complete combustion of the synthesis gas in the start and stop phases. This ensures the lowest possible emissions when correctly installed and operated.
As soon as the synthesis gas is of good quality, the gas flare is automatically switched off and the high-quality gas is automatically diverted to the LiPRO HGM50 CHP unit for power generation.
The flare is equipped with an automatically igniting pilot burner. The gas supply of the pilot burner with propane gas as well as the connection must be ensured and carried out on site by a specialist company commissioned by the operator.
The gas flare also has its own electrical interface with ignition transformer and burner control unit in its own base cabinet. In addition, the flame of the pilot burner is permanently monitored by a fast-acting temperature sensor.
The LiPRO HGM50 combined heat and power unit is a combined heat and power unit (CHP) powered by clean synthesis gas. The CHP unit essentially consists of a gas Otto engine and a mechanically coupled synchronous generator. Such a combination of driving combustion engine and generator is referred to as a “genset”.
The synchronous generator provides a nominal electrical output of 50 kW.
The high-quality pipe connections on the motor side are designed with expansion joints for mechanical vibration absorption and mechanical protection of the piping system to ensure a long service life for the CHP unit. The gas Otto engine and the synchronous generator are also mounted on a module base frame with vibration damping.
The CHP unit has an electrical interface in its own sub-control cabinet. Via this interface, the CHP unit can communicate with the higher-level control system of the combined heat and power plant in the E-Control 50 control cabinet and can also be centrally controlled by it. In addition to providing electrical energy, the CHP unit also converts the heat generated from the exhaust gas and cooling system into useful heat. An exhaust gas heat exchanger is integrated into the CHP unit to extract the heat from the exhaust gas into the on-site heating system. In addition, the on-site heating system is separated from the engine cooling circuit via a transfer plate heat exchanger and the heat generated in the gas Otto engine is fed into the on-site heating system for use in this way. A circulation pump integrated in the CHP unit ensures optimum circulation in the engine cooling circuit.
The control cabinet assumes the function of the higher-level master controller for the entire system and all its modules.
A high-quality touchscreen is integrated into the door of the E-Control 50 for intuitive control of the entire wood-fired heating plant. The touchscreen is a robust screen for industrial use. It can be operated intuitively with a finger and is connected to the control PC and the software PLC integrated in the PC. The abbreviation “PLC” stands for “programmable logic controller”.
For the operator, the touchscreen is the central control unit and therefore the state-of-the-art “cockpit” of the entire system.
The virtual buttons on the touchscreen can be used to switch to different system modules and other screen content.
In this way, the operator receives real-time information on all important data, modules, sensors and actuators in the system (e.g. operating statuses, measured values, alarm logs).
The industrial PC is a high-quality industrial computer from the Beckhoff brand. Beckhoff is one of the leading manufacturers of industrial control solutions and, like LiPRO Energy, has been setting trends and standards in its field for many years.
The industrial PC is mounted inside the control cabinet on a top-hat rail. The system is controlled fully automatically during normal operation.
In the LiPRO E-Control 50 control cabinet, all connections of the sub-control cabinets of all individual modules come together via EtherCAT (Ethernet for Control Automation Technology). With its protocol, the EtherCAT network standard enables reliable signal transmission in real time in harsh industrial automation environments.
The control cabinet also contains a software PLC based on TwinCAT (The Windows Control and Automation Technology). The PLC is thus integrated into the high-quality industrial PC. The industrial PC is connected to the touchscreen on the outside of the control cabinet door.
LiPRO Energy uses high-quality components. Hardware and software are perfectly matched.
With proper use, correct operation, regular maintenance and care of the system, continuous operation (24/7) with approx. 8,000 hours per year is possible.
The screen content of the touchscreen can also be made available on a remote PC via the Internet using a password-protected login. This makes it possible to operate the system via secure remote maintenance.
All process data permanently recorded in the industrial PC is visualized on the touchscreen and can also be analysed in diagrams via remote maintenance.
The secure connection of the system to the Internet allows LiPRO Energy to conveniently and therefore cost-effectively install security updates and provide initial supportive fault diagnostics without expensive travel times.
The complete automation of the system ensures a high level of safety. Critical system states are automatically detected and reported by the system control.
In particularly critical operating states, the system is switched off fully automatically and the fault is reported. For this purpose, the operator can optionally be notified via an alarm call (optionally also by SMS / e-mail) via the mobile phone network. If the electrical power supply fails, the entire system reverts to a safe state (fail safe). All safety-relevant flaps and valves are returned to their initial position by spring return and the pressure in the system is relieved via the wood gas flare as an emergency flare.
LiPRO Energy uses a very high-quality synchronization unit for the genset (Deif AGC-4 Mk II). The intelligent synchronization unit (the genset controller) is also located inside the E-Control 50 control cabinet.
The synchronization unit is an intelligent and fully automatic control and regulation unit for synchronizing a combustion engine with an electric generator. The synchronization unit monitors and synchronizes the operation of the LiPRO HGM50 combined heat and power unit when providing and feeding electrical energy into the on-site power grid. During operation, the high-quality synchronization unit (genset controller) monitors all parameters fully automatically to ensure that all target values between the combustion engine, generator and the connected power grid are maintained and regulated.
The combined heat and power plant is used in premises that are protected against environmental and weather influences and are well ventilated and vented. Depending on customer requirements, the system can be operated in a building suitable for this purpose or in a LiPRO Mobile Cube supplied by the manufacturer, e.g. a 40-foot container for enclosure. The LiPRO Mobile Cube option can be customized in terms of many features and adapted to the system operator’s requirements.
If you would like to have the investment for your system subsidized by the state, you need the Heat Plus option. This feature provides you with the necessary amount of process heat to make your LiPRO HKW50 CHP plant eligible for subsidies.
© LiPRO Energy - Alle Rechte vorbehalten - 2024
