Innovative Project Captures Waste Heat from Mill and Converts Thermal Energy into Clean Electricity

KGRA Energy LP, a premier U.S.-based waste heat recovery developer, announced today that civil engineering has begun and equipment delivery continues on an innovative clean energy system being installed at a Greenville, NC area mill owned by Weyerhaeuser Company one of the world’s largest forest products companies.

The project, developed by KGRA Energy, in partnership with Turbine Air Systems Inc., will capture waste heat from the mill and covert the captured thermal energy into clean electricity.

The project will create approximately 20 construction jobs in Ayden, NC, where the mill is located. Roberts Company, a Winterville, North Carolina-based constructor is constructing the balance of plant for the project. When completed, the project will provide Weyerhaeuser’s mill approximately 4.5 million kilowatt hours of 100 percent emission free electricity per year and displace the equivalent of more than 9 million pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

KGRA Energy’s system employs an organic Rankine cycle based power generation skid packaged by Turbine Air Systems at their Houston, TX factory. This skid, scheduled to arrive the first week of August will convert the mill’s waste heat to useable energy. At the Weyerhaeuser lumber mill, heat will be recovered from a kiln where cut lumber enters the drying process.

Organic Rankine cycle technology recovers waste heat from viable sources, such as combustion engine exhausts, furnaces, boilers, and kilns, and converts it into usable CO2-free electricity, which lowers energy costs as well as heat pollution. Organic Rankine cycle has been tested and deployed since the 1960s. It is the primary power generation tool used in the low-temperature heat recovery industry and has been deployed at more than 1,500 sites throughout the US and around the world.

KGRA’s systems are modular and scalable, providing the ability to produce power from smaller and lower-temperature heat sources previously deemed unsuitable for standard cogeneration. KGRA projects are customized for the direct needs and specifications of each customer.

About KGRA Energy LP

KGRA Energy LP is a premier developer of customized renewable energy power generation projects. The company manages the design, construction and installation of organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery systems that create CO2-free renewable energy for business and utility clients. KGRA’s systems are modular and scalable and produce power from waste heat sources deemed unsuitable for traditional cogeneration. KGRA enables pulp and paper, lumber, refinery, cement and power plant clients to convert waste heat to usable electricity, reduce energy costs, lower carbon footprints and create a sustainable future. Visit www.kgraenergy.com for more information.

About Weyerhaeuser Company

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest forest products companies, began operations in 1900. We grow and harvest trees, build homes and make a range of forest products essential to everyday lives. We manage our timberland on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. At the end of 2010, we employed approximately 14,000 employees in 10 countries. We have customers worldwide and generated $6.6 billion in sales in 2010. Our stock trades on the New York Stock exchange under the symbol WY. Additional information about us is available at www.weyerhaeuser.com .

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Posted by Gordon Smith on Aug 6 2011. Filed under North Carolina, Solar Thermal, U.S., Waste Heat to Power. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry