The Vetreria di Borgonovo glasswork in Piacenza, Italy, covers 52.000m2 and produces about 45.000 tonnes of glass per year using two modern melting furnaces.
The system realized by Zuccato Energia involves the operation of an ZE-200-LT ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) module to produce up to 200 kW of electricity, recovering 1400 kWt from the furnace’s fumes. The module recovers the waste heat and through a closed process produces clean electricity to use in the overall plant.
The recovery is carried out employing a heat exchanger which intercepts the flue gases from the furnaces and uses them to heat some water, the vector fluid necessary for the operation of the ORC system.
The electricity production is zero emissions: the glasswork can avoid emission of 274 TOE and 376 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Waste heat recovery through ORC technology becomes the means to achieve the goal of “environmental sustainability”: recovering heat at medium and low temperatures indeed, allows to reduce the environmental impact of industrial processes and at the same time to reduce their economic impact allowing them to exploit their waste and to convert them into electricity, with high flexibility, minimal maintenance requirements and with custom made components.
