Hartlepool site set for carbon trial plan
Nov 10 2010 by John Hill, The Journal
A MANUFACTURING site in Hartlepool will be home to a trial of a new low-carbon technology that could save between 600 and 750 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
The DRD Power project will be road-tested at the Huntsman Pigments site at Greatham in Hartlepool from March next year, and aims to use hot water from the plant to generate up to 200kW of electricity.
The site develops titanium dioxide pigment for use in paints, but DRD believes its technology can also be used in a variety of industrial sites including steel and cement works, petrochemical complexes, refineries and paper mills. It can also work with biomass and waste to energy plants.
Stuart Johnson, site development manager at Huntsman, said: “We are very pleased to host the trial of this cutting-edge technology on our site. It demonstrates our continuing commitment to develop sustainable, energy efficient manufacturing and to reducing our impact on the environment.”
The £1m project has received £248,000 in investment from One North East as well as a grant toward development and demonstration from the Carbon Trust totalling £250,000.
DRD Power has spent four years working on the technology, which can recover the low-grade heat generated by the process industries that currently escapes into the atmosphere. The unit will use the waste water to heat a fluid with a lower boiling point, driving a generator with the ensuing pressure.
DRD Power is part of DRD Consultants, a chemical engineering consultancy based in Redcar. DRD Consultants director Clive Whitbourn said: “It’s like a refrigerator running in reverse. This uses electricity to move heat from one place to another, whereas this uses heat to make electricity.
“It’s been a matter of identifying the opportunity and developing appropriate technology to use it for low-grade waste heat sources. There are a few people working on things like this right now, but not many. We’ve had a lot of interest in it.”
The North East has heard news of several projects in the recent past aimed at turning waste products into fuel. Last week, plans were unveiled for a £5m national research centre in Middlesbrough to develop such technology for the process industries, while Ineos Bio has announced it is creating a plant to convert waste to bioethanol and MGT Power has consent to create its £500m Tees Renewable Energy Plant in Teesport which will use 2.4million tonnes of woodchips a year. Teesside’s Wilton 10 power station was the first large-scale biomass power station to use wood as a renewable fuel source.
Ian Williams, director of business and industry at One North East, said: “The technology that DRD Power is developing is highly innovative”.
