New bio-fermentation plant for Ecoson
Ecoson, a subsidiary of Darling Ingredients, processes waste flows from the food industry to convert them into renewable energy. The company already has a processing unit for waste flows in the Dutch town of Son, but also wanted to service its Belgian customers with a local facility. Ecoson came to Agidens for the engineering, construction, automation, and commissioning of a new bio-fermentation plant at its Denderleeuw site.
Ecoson is a European bio-digestion specialist and pioneer in the production of renewable gas and electricity, biofuels, and organic, phosphate-based fertilizers in accordance with a zero-waste philosophy.
The brand-new bio-fermentation plant in Denderleeuw (East Flanders) processes organic waste as a raw material to produce renewable energy. The final product of this fermentation process is methane gas that fires two (1500 kW each) Combined Heat & Power (CHP) units to produce green electricity and heat. This can power nearly four-thousand Belgian households. The remaining waste product is a dry powder that is used in the cement industry.
SCOPE
Ecoson found in Agidens a turnkey partner for the software, mechanical and E&I engineering, automation and commissioning of the fermentation plant. Ecoson took care of the process engineering and the purchase of a number of package units (Belt dryer, Biogas engine, Decanters, Filtration, Gas scrubber, Membrane bioreactor).
Based on the process concept and the associated P&IDs, Agidens provided the missing elements such as valves, pumps, instrumentation, piping, electrical cabinets, and the transformer.
- Software Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- E&I Engineering
- Safety engineering
- Construction (Mechanical, E&I)
- Automation/System integration
- Testing & Commissioning
- Maintenance & Service Support
“From the very start of the project, Agidens’ strength was shown to be their multi-disciplinary approach and in-depth knowledge in all disciplines. They were also flexible throughout the entire project and solved any issues quickly and efficiently. Ecoson was looking for a reliable turnkey partner and we are sure we found that in Agidens”.
CHALLENGES
- Flexibility to build on Ecoson’s existing process concept.
- Installation of the co-generation transformer.
- Programming of Wonderware (Schneider Electric) SCADA package on Siemens TIA Portal PLC.
- Very short lead time with a 7-month deadline for the start of Phase 1.
Results
- The new bio-fermentation plant is the first of its kind in Belgium and guarantees a more flexible service for Ecoson’s customers. The first co-generator already provides very high efficiency, which makes the ROI from this project extremely short.
- The steam generated is used at sister company Rendac, and the electricity is fed back to the grid, saving a considerable amount of fossil fuels.
- In a second phase, another fermenter with co-generation was commissioned for even higher efficiency.