Acoustic cleaning systems in an olive pomace plant in Andalusia

Soluciones Integrales de Combustión has installed Nirafon acoustic cleaning systems in a new olive pomace extraction plant in Andalusia. The acoustic cleaning equipment installed by the company is operational in the gas recovery boilers of the olive pomace drying furnace, in order to prevent particles from accumulating on the surfaces, eliminating them by striking them with sound waves and optimizing thus the cleaning process in the plant.

In this way, acoustic cleaning systems allow the desired level of cleanliness to be maintained constantly while production processes continue without interruption. The system is called upon to keep the catalytic components of the plant clean, preventing them from becoming clogged and breaking down, in which case the entire plant would have to be closed to make the corresponding repairs.

The integral alperujo treatment plant has two steam boilers from the specialized manufacturer Attsu Teyvi and two  Nirafon NCSD, an innovative acoustic cleaning device developed for temperatures above 1,000ºC, designed for these high-temperature areas of the boiler rooms.  The acoustic cleaning equipment is compact and ready to work with propane gas and compressed air, with a pressure of 2 bars for propane gas and 6 bars for compressed air.

The use of compressed air in its operation allows much lower operating costs compared to other traditional cleaning systems such as steam blowers, which consume substantial amounts of steam, which has significant cost implications.

The acoustic cleaning systems of the pomace plant are responsible for cleaning the ash, dust and particles of matter deposited on the surfaces, while maintaining the efficiency of heat transfer in the boilers and preventing the formation of accumulations and pressure drops, keeping it at the desired levels.

The principle of acoustic cleaning is to keep surfaces clean continuously, without erosion or mechanical wear, which implies that the best result is achieved from initially clean surfaces, so that deposits will not stick to the surfaces. This is especially important in high temperature areas of the boiler such as the furnace and superheater where the ash may be partially molten, hardened and strongly stuck to the pipes.

Alperujo treatment

Spain is the world’s leading producer and exporter of olive oil, with an approximate area dedicated to olives of 2.5 million hectares. This represents half of the EU’s production and 40% of the world’s.

For this reason, improving the treatment of alperujo, the waste obtained in the production of olive oil, and trying to value it is of great importance to improve the competitiveness and profitability of the sector, since in Spain more than one million meters of cubic meters of wastewater from the oil mill processes each year.

Comprehensive Combustion Solutions

Soluciones Integrales de Combustión XXI, S.L. is an Engineering and Thermal Services company, specialized in “turnkey” engineering projects, supply start up and commissioning, maintenance and repair of ALL the elements that make up a Thermal Power Plant.