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Boiler-house renovation at Unilever saves 25% energy with VLT® AQUA Drive

17 May 2011
In 2009, Unilever’s research on the efficiency of the existing boiler-house showed that a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions could be achieved by taking an innovative approach to renovate the boiler-house.

Unilever in Rotterdam is one of the largest margarine factories in the world producing more than 200,000 tonnes per year, along with the famous Calvé brand products. The processes are energy intensive and require heat (steam and hot water), compressed air and refrigeration, all taking huge amounts of electrical energy.
A boiler-house provides much of the energy needs of the plant and in 2009, Unilever’s research on the efficiency of the existing boilerhouse showed that a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions could be achieved by taking an innovative approach to renovate the boiler-house. Project E-mission was released in early 2010 and completed in September. The new boiler-house has been in operation for several months now.
Today, 1.6 MW of electric power and 2 MW of thermal power are generated by means of a Caterpillar combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The heat is used to provide the factory’s 90oC process heat supply although there is still a need for a boiler to produce 6.5 tons of steam per hour at 12 bar for many of the production processes. Three intelligently controlled air compressors were provisioned, with a total installed capacity of 500 kW. Six refrigeration compressors have also been installed and the waste heat from these is recovered via a heat-pump adapted to supply the building’s central heating and the hot water system.