SAKO Brno has recently completed a major overhaul of its incineration plant as part of efforts to reduce emissions and increase energy self-sufficiency. The plant, which processes around a quarter of a million tonnes of waste a year, generates around one million gigajoules of heat and 60,000 MWh of electricity.
“The operation of the boilers has been optimised, increasing the efficiency of the combustion process and reducing energy losses,” said Karel Jelínek, CEO of SAKO Brno. The municipal company has improved the control and distribution of combustion air to achieve optimum combustion conditions and reduce the level of high-temperature corrosion typical of waste-to-energy plants.
In addition, a professional audit of the entire flue gas cleaning complex has resulted in a reduction in temperature losses, thereby increasing the efficiency of pollutant removal. “We now use up to 15% less lime products, urea or activated carbon for removal, while complying with stricter emission limits from 2024. The annual savings of these raw materials will amount to approximately CZK 2.5 million,” said Pavel Urubek, chair of the board of directors of SAKO Brno.
The company has also comprehensively renovated the chemical water treatment plant and the condensate block treatment plant, thereby adapting the operation of the Brno waste-to-energy plant to the end of the transition of the heat transfer medium from steam to hot water. At the same time, the compressors will be replaced by modern compressors with frequency converters, which will significantly increase the ability and smoothness of operation control and reduce electricity consumption.
