UK’s Largest Cement Works Fires Up Sustainable New Waste-Derived Fuel Solution

Leading BioEnergy and bulk materials handling specialist Saxlund International (UK), part of the Opcon AB energy and environmental technology group, has collaborated with Hope Construction Materials to install and commission a  new waste-derived fuel solution for Hope Construction Materials, Britain’s leading independent supplier of construction materials.

Located at the company’s Hope Works cement plant in Derbyshire, the largest in the UK, the solution has been designed to provide storage, transportation, weighing and injection of Solid Waste Fuel (SWF) to the two kilns at its Derbyshire site. The goal is to increase the rate at which Hope can replace fossil fuels with waste-derived alternatives to more than 50%, a key part of the company’s long term sustainability targets.

The  project incorporates a 350m3 fuel reception and Push-Floor storage solution, reclaim conveyors, process tower with drum magnet and star screen, together with a weighing and pneumatic injection system to the main burners. The system facilitates stable and reliable process conditions to help minimise build-up in the pre-heater tower, and it offers a future-proof solution with the flexibility to handle changing fuel characteristics, even different types of waste-derived fuels, should suppliers change in the future.

The installation is also designed with low maintenance and high availability in mind, with the emphasis at all times on minimising potential restrictions or blockages. The state-of-the-art push-floor fuel bunker ensuring ‘first in, first out’ fuel delivery is critical to this. Key maintenance areas, where possible, are also external to the system to minimise disruption.

Matt Drew, Managing Director Saxlund International said: “This is a flagship project for us.  Once fully operational, the new solid waste fuel (SWF) system will run on a 24/7 basis delivering fuel at a rate of up to 5,000kg per hour to each kiln. It means Hope Works will soon be operating with a significantly larger proportion of waste-derived fuels, in the process diverting up to 80,000 tonnes of bulk solid waste from landfill each year and representing significant carbon savings to the business.”

Hope Construction Materials’ Projects Engineer,  Richard Worthington, commented: “Saxlund’s project management experience in delivering on time and in budget and the company’s wide European experience with waste-derived fuel systems and bulk materials handling has been crucial. The completion of this multi-million pound project increases the amount of waste-derived fuels we use and forms part of the major investment we announced in January this year to boost efficiency  and improve sustainability at Hope Works.”