“With an installed coal-fired generation capacity of 10 x 550 MW, Taichung Power Plant is amongst the five largest coal-fired power stations in the world. Six of the older units so far reclaim their ash by-products by mixing the ash with water to form slurry which is then further conveyed to ash retention ponds. The ever growing need to conserve water due to stricter land usage regulations made Taiwan Power Company, the owner of the plant, consider a conversion to dry ash handling. In May 2018, Clyde Bergemann GmbH in Wesel, Germany (CB) received the order to supply their patented, environmental friendly dry ash conveying solution “DRYCON“ for lower costs and emissions and increased efficiency to convert the first of six units.

The turnkey contractor for the removal of the old Submerged Scraper Conveyor and the installation of the new dry system, ATE Energy International Co., entrusted Clyde Bergemann as its exclusive partner with the overall system design, the delivery of the DRYCONTM and peripheral devices as well as installation and commissioning supervision.

Clyde Bergemann’s solution consists of a fabric compensator, a transition hopper with isolating gates and the DRYCONTM steel plate conveyor. DRYCONTM automatically transports and cools the bottom ash by drawing ambient air along the conveyor and effectively transferring heat back into the boiler. The fully enclosed system with a width of 1.8 metres and a total conveying length of 42 metres completely eliminates the use and treatment of water. Therefore the system is a significant upgrade dramatically improving the local environment. The DRYCONTM also increases combustion efficiency by reducing thermal energy losses, re-entraining unburnt carbon and therefore reducing CO2 emissions and subsequently operating costs.

Deliveries are already scheduled for January 2019, with letters of intent received for the conversion of a further five units.”