Heating and Energy Companies in Poland care about the environment and emit as few pollutants into the atmosphere as possible. Adapting to constantly changing regulations resulting from EU directives, Bolesławiec's ZEC reduced dust emissions to 100 milligrams per cubic metre, even though such stringent parameters will only apply from 2016; ZEC is already prepared for them.
The latest generation of dust-removal equipment
This modernisation took place in two stages. In 2013, it involved two boilers. “Most plants install bag filters; we installed modern dust-removal equipment without these filters,” says Maciej Gancarz_. “Our plant has the latest generation of this equipment, patented by a Polish engineering company and created through domestic engineering expertise. Filters are not always the optimal method under all conditions. We installed dust-removal equipment (batteries of cyclones and multicyclones). They work well and make it possible to achieve dust emissions below 100 milligrams of dust per m³,” adds the head of the Heat Energy Production Department.
Before modernising the dust-removal system, the company analysed which equipment would be suitable under ZEC's specific operating conditions. Bag filters require strict temperature operating conditions, while ZEC operates all year round. This is a specific situation because there are two distinct seasons: summer, when the boilers operate with different parameters, at a lower load and lower temperatures, and winter. Such differences in flue-gas temperatures between the two seasons would adversely affect the filters, causing them to become clogged quickly with damp dust. Bag filters are also expensive to operate, with an annual cost of approximately 20,000 per year. Our equipment essentially generates no additional costs.
Boilers: Pankracy, Serwacy, Bonifacy and Zośka
The modern boilers at the Heating and Energy Company were installed as part of an investment carried out in 2004–2005. They were given names because they are the heart of the heating plant. Importantly, Bolesławiec's heating plant has the best boilers available on the market, built using airtight-wall technology. Although they are coal-fired boilers, they have very high efficiency—up to 85%—a figure comparable to that of gas boilers.
In addition to airtight-wall technology, full boiler automation enables substantial heat recovery from coal. The modern automation system makes it possible to optimise the combustion process. Another saving achieved after the 2005 modernisation was a reduction in electricity consumption. This was a significant decrease of approximately 50%.
As an anecdote, after this change, employees of the Energy Company came to inspect the metering systems because they could not understand why they showed such low energy consumption. This was all thanks to the use of frequency converters and the separation of the boilers' hydraulic system, with separate pumps. The former single boiler and municipal-network system was divided. This made it possible to save energy by reducing the resistance that the network circulation pumps had previously had to overcome.
This modernisation affects the company's economics. More energy is obtained from the same amount of coal. For the city, this means security, price stability and the heating plant operating at a high technological level. The modernisation contractor often brings groups from Wrocław to ZEC. The boiler house is presented to students and industry specialists as a model facility.