Putzmeister efficiently moving dense coal ash sludge at largest brown coal plant in Europe

 

Alternative forms of fuel are substances which have a high calorific value like mechanically dewatered sewage sludge, tar, paint sludge or slaughterhouse waste. Putzmeister provides eco-friendly solutions to waste management and on shore drilling that follow a sustainable and efficient process. It provides modern pumping systems and technology that cater to the oil and gas sector, ash disposal process, sludge incineration systems, cement industry and coal sludging process.

 

The Belchatow power station in the Polish province of Łódź has a capacity of 5,420MW, making it Europe’s largest brown coal power station. The landfill site for the ash slurry is around 8km away from the power station unit itself. The former system with centrifugal pumps was overburdened by both the volume and the long pumping distance. The wear rate increased drastically. Failure of the pumps, and hence removal of the flue ash, would effectively cause the power station to shut down. The consequences do not even bear thinking about.

 

The reliability of the pump system, then, is paramount.  In 2013, a total of six HSP 25150 HP seat valve pumps featuring the Putzmeister PCF system, each driven by an 800kW hydraulic unit, were installed for transporting the flue ash of the entire power station. Currently, there are three pump lines in operation and three on stand-by. Some 600m³ of flue ash slurry are pumped every hour.

 

Since Putzmeister pumps are capable of conveying much dryer material, the water consumption is considerably less. The HSP pumps manage a 1:1 mixture of flue ash and water, relative to weight. The old centrifugal pumps required a mixture of 1:10!

Previously, the 420 tonnes of flue ash accumulating per hour had to be mixed with 4,200 tonnes of water. Today, only 10% of this water quantity is required and so the volume flow rate is drastically reduced. As a result, the power consumption is around half as much as that required for the old pump variant.

https://www.mining-technology.com/contractors/roofing/putzmeister-2/pressreleases/pressputzmeister-coal-power-station/