New Biomass Boiler installed at Centocor Biopharma Plant
23 Jan 2009

The aim of the boiler installation was to reduce the carbon footprint of the originally designed Centocor facility by 20%. To determine how to achieve this target, engineers on site looked to the largest source of CO2; the boilers which provided steam for the plant. Continuity of steam supply is of utmost importance for a biopharmaceutical facility where it plays a vital role in the continuous production of clean utilities such as WFI (water for injection) and clean steam.

A number of different alternative energy sources were investigated, it was determined that the use of a biomass boiler would be the most effective solution. Gas or oil boilers can be modulated from full fire down to 1/8 firing. This gives them the ability to adjust to fluctuations in steam demand. However biomass boilers using a solid fuel such as woodchips have notoriously low modulation ability. To overcome this obstacle, the site decided to specify a biomass boiler size that matched the base load. The base load is the average load experienced by the site boilers. This would enable the biomass boiler to be continuously firing at a stable rate allowing another gas fired boiler to cycle up and down with demand.

The boiler was manufactured in Austria, then shipped in three pieces and assembled on site. A local company, Natural Power Supply (NPS)was contracted to supply the biomass. The chippings come from forest residues remaining after the timber is harvested from short rotation forestry.

Sisk successfully completed this project in 20,000 accident free man hours. Centocor have greatly benefited from the installation of the Biomass Boiler resulting in significant cost savings and reduced carbon footprint below their already reduced target.