HRS Optimises Scraped Surface Evaporation Technology

SPAIN - HRS Heat Exchangers S.L.U., the Spanish arm of HRS Heat Exchangers Limited, a leading heat transfer specialist for the process industry, has been selected as part of the EfficientHeat consortium to develop an integrated and cost-effective solution to treat pig slurry.
calendar icon 18 October 2012
clock icon 3 minute read

Livestock waste management is a huge environmental issue in Europe. In response to manure handling problems such as odours, pollutant leaks, emissions and inefficient management of this waste, the EU has introduced more strict requirements on pig slurry and other livestock waste management.

With 1200-1500 large-scale pig farms operating throughout Europe it is becoming increasingly important for these facilities and external waste treatment agencies to install sustainable treatment solutions to cope with EU regulations.

The EfficientHeat solution aims to come up with two innovative solutions for pig slurry treatment. The first solution involved is a nutrient recovery process where valuable nitrogen and phosphorous is extracted from the slurry and made available as fertiliser. Also ammonia is recovered in this step. The second solution is an optimised evaporation process where the pig slurry is evaporated to obtain very high concentrations.

HRS Heat Exchangers have designed a special version of its scraped surface heat exchanger (called the Unicus) for evaporation applications. The principle: a shell and tube heat exchanger with scraping rods in the interior tubes which are moved back and forth with hydraulic action. During evaporation, fouling and reduced heat transfer can become a problem for traditional evaporators. The Unicus, ensures that the scraping action keeps the heat transfer surface clean and maintains heat transfer high allowing the evaporator to concentrate to levels where traditional technologies fail.

“The Unicus is the ideal solution for concentration of environmental waste where volume reduction is vital. The Unicus evaporators can be applied in a multi-effect setup or in combination with mechanical vapour recompression. Also vacuum concentration is not a problem for the Unicus evaporator. The scraped surface operation allows continuous operation and reduces downtime of the plant,“ said Arnold Kleijn, Business Development Manager, HRS Heat Exchangers.

The EfficientHeat technology is expected to become available to the market from 2014 onwards and will initially be focused towards the EU market. It is estimated that the EfficientHeat technology will generate a possible revenue of €48 million in the fifth sale year. The EfficientHeat solution will not be targeted for pig manure applications only. It is expected to be highly applicable to the anaerobic digestion industry. The AD / Biogas industry has been identified as a major growth market for the EfficientHeat solution and other heat transfer solutions that HRS can supply.

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