MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
to Energy Power Resources Ltd. High-Precision In-Line Weighing System Accurately Measures Biomass Fuel Consumption
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science has further demonstrated its commitment to customer loyalty and service delivery with the recent installation of a Thermo Scientific Ramsey Series 14 conveyor belt scale at Thetford-based Energy Power Resources Ltd (EPR). Supplied to the largest chicken litter fuelled plant in Europe within a few weeks of being ordered, the high precision system, comprising a 10-14 weighbridge and 61-12C belt speed sensor, was chosen to provide more accurate measurement of fuel consumption and ensure better management of stock levels.
EPR Ltd is a group of companies that uses renewable sources to generate electricity for the national grid. The Thetford operation burns biomass fuel (chicken litter) to power a steam-driven turbine and generator producing approximately 40 megawatts of exported power. The plant had been experiencing some inaccuracies in the measurement of biomass fuel consumption, which had occasionally resulted in either over or under stocking of chicken litter. This caused significant disruption to production and fuel procurement activities.
It became obvious that the current belt scale no longer offered the levels of accuracy required for such a critical function. The loss of confidence in the data being provided and the need to more tightly manage stock levels, prompted EPR Thetford to enquire about upgrading to a more precise system.
Garry Smith, C&I technician at EPR Thetford comments: “The accurate measurement of fuel consumption is of paramount importance as it allows us to successfully manage the procurement of chicken litter within storage limitations and ensures we have adequate supplies for sustaining operations. The business can incur considerable financial penalties if stock levels are allowed to be either too high or low.
The Ramsey™ Series 14 precision belt scale is specially designed for high accuracy applications. It is extremely accurate to within 0.125% and the most widely certified
electronic Board of Trade OIML Class 0.5 belt scale in the world. Delivered within a few weeks of the order, the new high performance system was installed approximately a third of the way along the plant's 40-metre fuel delivery system – just before the furnace and some 10 to 15 metres above ground level. Calibration was completed a few days later.
Garry continues: “Thermo Fisher responded promptly to our initial request for a more accurate belt scale. This enabled the new unit to be installed and calibrated during a planned station shut down and just a few weeks after our first discussions about the project. It has been operational for a few months now and during that time performance
has been consistent with confidence in the recorded fuel consumption data. Routine visits have been easy to plan with Thermo Fisher's service teams and work on site has been well delivered.”
EPR Thetford plant is conveniently located at the heart of England's poultry producing region and consumes some 420,000 tonnes of litter each year. It collects the litter from many of the major poultry producers in the UK, preferably from close to the site of the power station, but availability means that some is collected from further afield. Other fuels, mainly horse bedding and forestry waste, are supplied from relatively local sources.
In addition to the newly upgraded system, EPR Thetford has three other Thermo Scientific Ramsey belt scales, all comprising a 10-20 weighbridge, Ramsey Micro-Tech 2001 integrator and 60-12C speed sensor. These scales are being used to measure fuel received and conveyed by the storage reclaim system.
Thermo Scientific is part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science.
