Biomethanol plant - Netherlands

Lowest NOx emissions realized for Biomethanol plant

The challenge
Superheated steam at a temperature between 320˚C and 515˚C is needed for a new glycerol reforming plant. To meet this need, Stork engineered and supplied two direct-fired superheaters in which saturated steam is superheated to the required temperature. Availability and turn-down ratio are very high.

Customer profile
The customer is the first company in the world to produce and sell industrial quantities of high-quality biomethanol, a new-generation biofuel. The process converts crude glycerine, a residue from biodiesel production, into biomethanol.

Solution
The system uses a natural gas-fired superheater equipped with a 15 MW Stork Ultra Low NOx Impulse burner combined with a flue-gas recirculation system. To improve system efficiency the combustion air is preheated to 400˚C, increasing the efficiency by approximately 20% compared with a system without air preheating. Even under these difficult conditions the emissions are kept to an absolute minimum. Stork completed this turnkey project including execution with engineering, procurement, in-house production site erection and commissioning of:

• Stork OEM superheaters
• Stork OEM Impulse burners
• Air preheater
• Auxiliary equipment
• Control system

Results & benefits

• Steam flow of 100 t/hr
• Continuous temperature adjustment between 320˚C and 515˚C
• High reliability and availability
• Turndown ratio of 1:50
• NOx < 40 mg/Nm3, even at an air temperature of 400˚C
• CO < 5 mg/Nm3