MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spolana Neratovice, a member of the refinery and petrochemical Unipetrol Group, has commissioned a new heating plant to generate steam needed for its operations. The investment totalled CZK 200 million, said hte company.
“The new gas-powered boiler room has replaced the existing heating plant powered by lignite. It was decommissioned and will be gradually disassembled in accordance with a valid integrated permit,” explains Miroslav Falta, executive director of Spolana. He adds: “After switching from lignite to natural gas and installing modern boilers, there has been a significant decrease in the volume of substances emitted into the atmosphere. Sulphur-dioxide emissions will drop by 99%; emissions of dust and nitrogen oxides will be 90% lower, and carbon-monoxide emissions will decrease by 60%."
The construction of the heating plant was a turnkey project. It contained all construction work, including the installation of two steam boilers powered by natural gas with an output of 2x 35 tonnes of steam per hour, a control system, connection to steam pipelines and preparation of reduction stations. A consortium of CEZ Energeticke sluzby from the CEZ ESCO Holding and Envir & Power Ostrava was responsible for the implementation.
"The coal age in the Czech Republic and in Europe is gradually coming to an end, and the energy companies will also switch to more environmentally friendly fuels with lower emissions of harmful substances and CO2, similar to Spolana. Interest in these solutions is growing, and thanks to them, we are also number one on the industrial energy market in the Czech Republic,” says Kamil Cermak, CEO of CEZ ESCO.
The biggest challenge of the entire project was the installation of two gas-fired boilers with dimensions of 10 m x 5 m, weighing 162 tonnes, in November 2018. The boilers, with an output of 70 tonnes of steam per hour, were manufactured by Bosch Industriekessel GmbH in Gunzenhausen near Nuremberg, Germany. Their transport to Neratovice over 400 km took five days. The entire transport distance was extended to 550 km due to traffic restrictions caused by the cargo’s abnormal dimensions.
“A team of our experts, in collaboration with the Police of the Czech Republic, planned the boiler transport carefully for several weeks. It was carried on a low-floor unit with a special hydraulic trailer for abnormal cargo which helped adjust the current height of the entire unit. It had to fit below ten low bridges on its way. The length of the transport unit was 34 metres,” said Miroslav Falta about the difficult transport and added: “For the cargo to pass our entrance gate, we had to disassemble a section of the fence, lay gravel around the gatehouse and temporarily disassemble stands holding entrance-card readers."
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The Unipetrol Group is the largest refinery and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude-oil processing and on the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. In all these areas, it belongs among the important players on the Czech and Central European market. The Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvinov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo with its Mogul brand in Pardubice and Kolin, Spolana Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvinov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes a network of Benzina filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With 417 filling stations, Benzina is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in terms of turnover in the Czech Republic. It earned over CZK 130 billion last year and employs more than 4,800 persons. In addition to its business development, Unipetrol is proud to be a socially responsible corporation. Therefore, it pays an equal amount of attention to initiatives which focus on the cultivation and support of sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment. In 2005, Unipetrol became a member of the PKN Orlen Group, the largest crude-oil processor in Central Europe.
MRC