BABCOCK WANSON, WITH ADEME’S SUPPORT, LEADS PROJECT ON THE BURNERS OF TOMORROW

Babcock Wanson, a provider of products and services for boiler houses and other process heating needs, is leading the new DEMOXYA research project which aims to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency of burners.

DEMOXYA stands for ‘DEveloppement et déMOnstration de brûleurs à très faibles émissions d’oXYdes d’Azote’ (Development and demonstration of burners with very low nitrogen oxide emissions). It has been awarded funding by ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, as part of a call for projects in support of Research & Development programmes that are aimed at improving air quality both indoors and outdoors.

Babcock Wanson has a strong range which is one of the best-performing on the market, and is already working on the burners of tomorrow. It is thus investing for the future by launching the DEMOXYA research project in collaboration with the Pprime Institute and Bertin Technologies. Babcock Wanson and Bertin Technologies are subsidiaries of the CNIM Group.

This collaborative project has two objectives – the reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) generated at combustion plants which consume fossil fuels, and the improvement of energy efficiency by virtue of an increase in the modulation rate of the burners.

Each partner in the project is contributing its own expertise and knowhow:

Bertin Technologies is responsible for digital combustion simulations to assist the analysis and understanding of data such as the flame length and the impact of the geometry of the furnace.

The Pprime Institute at Poitiers is carrying out more fundamental research relating to our understanding of the mechanisms by which NOx are formed, by way of techniques of imaging free-radical species. These will teach us about how the chemical processes operate within the flame.

Babcock Wanson is designing and producing the prototypes, implementing them at its 8MW test station and validating them by way of experiments. As the project leader, Babcock Wanson will oversee the project right up to the industrial production of the high-performance burners of the future.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are produced in particular quantities at combustion plants which consume fossil fuels, have significant impacts on health and the environment. They contribute to the acidification of natural environments, to photochemical pollution (creation of “bad ozone”) and to eutrophization (degradation of aquatic environments).

“This R&D project is part of Babcock Wanson’s strategy; as a manufacturer and designer of boilers and burners, Babcock Wanson offers its industrial and boilermaking clients products and services that are aimed at reducing their environmental impact, improving their energy efficiency and making it easier for them to operate their thermal installations”, explains Cyril Fournier-Montgieux, General Manager of Babcock Wanson.

Numerous industrial firms have already expressed their interest in this project, and they are regularly kept up to date on its progress. GRDF, which is the market leader in supplying gas to industry, has even joined the project management committee.

At the end of this 30-month programme, Babcock Wanson will have a range of micro-modulating burners with unprecedented performance in terms of energy and the environment.

For more information, please contact Babcock Wanson on 020 89537111 or info@babcock-wanson.co.uk or go to www.babcock-wanson.co.uk.