Jim Kelly, Maintenance Manager, Centocor Biologics (Ireland)

Switching to an alternative fuel source -

Case study on installation of a Biomass Boiler

• Part of Johnson and Johnson since 1999.

• Cork site chosen as Green field Biotech site.

• Capable of manufacturing medicines for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns disease and psoriasis.

• 2004. Engineering design

• 2005. Construction

• 2006. Commissioning

• 2007. Equipment Validation• 2008. Engineering runs, Consistency lots

• 2009. Process Validation and IMB licence

• 2010. FDA approval.

Centocor Biologics (Ireland) - History

• 5 buildings covering 25,000 sqm.– Manufacturing– Warehouse– Labs and Admin– Central Utilities Plant (CUP)– Waste water treatment plant

• CUP– Utility generation

• Plant Steam• Chilled water• Compressed air• WFI• Clean Steam

Site layout

• Two 12 tonne, 8.5 bar gas fired boilers.

• Burning approximately 17 GWhrs of gas per year.

• Steam demand varying from 2 to 5 tonnes/hr.

• Annual CO2 emissions of 3100 tonnes.

• Main steam users– WFI generation– Clean steam generation– Heating hot water for space heating

Steam usage

Existing Gas boilers

• Main driver for project – carbon neutral.

• Carbon emitted from boiler cancelled out by carbon absorbed by trees that are used for woodchip.

• Second driver was fuel cost, wood is cheaper than gas – up to 15% savings have been achieved.

Reasons for choosing Biomass

• Project budget - €2.5M

• Project duration - 5 months

• Project Managers – Sisk

• Payback – 10 years

Project Summary

Boilerhouse

• Manufactured by Binder, AG, Austria.• Have 3000 boilers worldwide.

• 2.1MW, 2.5 tonne/hr, 8.5 bar output.

• Efficiency 87-90%.

• Fuel must be <= 50% moisture will go out.

• S02 150 mg/m3.

• NOx 250 mg/m3 .

• CO 150 mg/m3.

• Total Particulate matter 50 mg/m3.

• TOC < 5 mg/m3.

• Ash 1% of fuel volume. 0.8 m3 / day.

Boiler details

• Moving floor design, similar to old fashioned chain grate coal boilers.

• Ash removed by cyclone on boiler exhaust, also removed by auger at the end of the moving floor.

• Hot gas recirc used to clean boiler.

• Glosfume filtration unit downstream of boiler for removing particulates.

Boiler design

Boiler front

Boiler rear

• Supply contract with Natural Power Systems (NPS), Waterford.

• Supply woodchip to G100 standard at < 50% moisture.

• Range has been 36% to 50%.

• 24/7 supply maintained.

• Cost of woodchip based on Steam consumption of boiler.

• Fixed price for kWhr output of boiler.

• Ash removal once per week, two 200 litre drums per week.

Woodchip Supply Contract

• Four specially adapted 40 foot containers.

• Moving floor, hydraulically driven.

• Feed into auger supply system that feeds boiler.

• Each container carries up to 18 tonnes of woodchip.

• Delivery every 1.5 days, from Fermoy 25 miles away.

• Wood from Munster.

• Best results when wood is left to dry for 4 months, moisture will drop from 60% to 36%.

Woodchip containers

Container delivery

Container docked in position

Container hydraulic ram

Glosfume exhaust gas filter unit

• Exhaust gas particulates filtered by a Glosfume filter.

• Particulates filtered down to 0.1um.

• Particulates removed by banks of ceramic filters elements.

Glosfume exhaust gas filter unit

Questions?