Trigeneration for the chemical industry:
Intergen builds a tailor made system for the Zanica plant of Lamberti Spa
The MWM engine of 1200 kWe produces electricity, steam, hot water and chilled water used in production processes.
Lomagna (LC), July 2015 – Lamberti Spa, one of the leading Italian groups operating in the field of specialized chemicals, has selected Intergen, the energy division of IML Group, for the construction of the trigeneration plant at its facility in Zanica (BG). Lamberti Spa and the Group IML share the same tradition of industrial development: two companies with over a hundred years of history come together to build up efficiencies. Lamberti Spa is a company that has evolved; it has a clear view of the advantages cogeneration provides to production, and it continues to go down this road. As a matter of fact, the trigeneration system at Zanica is the third co-generation plant installed at its own plants in Italy. The other two, located at Albizzate (VA) and Viguzzolo (AL), are respectively a gas turbine and a MWM 400 kWe engine, also supplied by Intergen.
Established in 1911, Lamberti Spa was founded as a family business and has evolved until becoming an international company, today present with production plants in Italy and in Brazil, China and the United States. In the Zanica (BG) factory, specialized chemicals are produced, which are then used as components in various industrial applications in different industries, such as textile, leather, paper, construction, paint and varnish, oil extraction, agriculture and cosmetics.
The workings of the plant require large amounts of electricity and thermal energy, the latter in the forms of steam, hot water and chilled water. In order to meet the client’s needs, Intergen has provided a system with a MWM TCG2020V12 (500 NOX) natural gas engine with an output of 1200 kWe. The MWM cogenerators have a high potential for heat recovery from exhaust fumes and in general a high electrical and thermal efficiency. The electricity is used for the electric operation and the utilities of the establishment. From the flue gas, 585 kWt are extracted via a heat recuperator, which are then used in a generator that generates steam for 725 kg/h. The steam is fed into the distribution network of establishment.
From the cooling circuit of the engine, heat is recovered in the form of hot water, for 711 kWt. Part of this water in turn feeds an absorption refrigeration unit, also provided by Intergen, which produces chilled water at 7 ° C for 537 kWf.
The system was built by Intergen, following the concept of tailor made requirements to meet the client’s needs. The company achieved all interconnections with existing internal networks and built the system, sub-dividing the components in different locations, in order to optimize the use of the limited space available in the factory. Moreover, all the components have been appropriately soundproofed in order to meet the established limits of 55dB (A) at 10 meters.
The choice of the cogeneration unit based on the MWM engine for an application such as Lamberti Spa is evident based on its fundamental characteristics, among the best performing in the 2020 range. The model chosen, in fact, is one of the most efficient from the point of view of electrical efficiency, which comes to 43.6%. The thermal efficiency for recoverable energy is 44%, bringing the total plant to 87.6% which is very high for the sector. Furthermore, the exit temperature of exhaust fumes is approximately 50 ° higher than that of competing engines.
