The UK’s new, highly-effective Ensus Biorefinery in Wilton, has started selling biofuels to Shell. It is expected to meet a third of the UK’s biofuel obligations.

The Ensus Biorefinery in Wilton, Teesside has started its production of sustainable bioethanol to be used in the international transport sector. It is the first of its kind in the UK and the biggest in Europe, producing more than 400 million litres of bioethanol per year. It not only helps the UK meet its renewable transport fuels obligations, which requires 3.5 per cent of all transport fuel to come from biofuels in 2010-11, but at the same time, the factory itself has got very low CO2 emissions. This is because it uses wheat from surplus UK production and captures the CO2 produced, which is then used in the food and beverage industries. The plant will also convert parts of the wheat into 350,000 tonnes of high-protein animal feed a year, which will replace imports, so the amount of waste from the plant is, in every sense, very low. Its use of Danfoss variable-speed drives makes it highly effective, with annual production expected to meet about a third of the UK requirement under the renewable transport fuels obligation. The savings in carbon emissions will be equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road, according to Ensus.

High efficiency through excellent technical performance

The plant can reach this production level because it is designed and constructed by Simon Carves Ltd so that it uses the best and most efficient technical equipment on the market. Danfoss variable-speed drives are connected to 50 machines such as fans, pumps and conveyors in such a way that the flow of wheat and subsequent products produced in the plant can be as high as possible. “We chose the Danfoss solution for variable-speed drives because of the high efficiency of the drives and because the company was competitive on price and convinced us that they could offer us what we needed. We are very satisfied with the result,” Rob Simcock, Lead Electrical Engineer from Simon Carves, says.

Danfoss held training courses for the Ensus and Simon Carves electrical team during the construction phase of the plant. On-site training days covered best installation practices and hands-on exercises with VLT® Automation Drive (variable-speed drives). Although they are very reliable products, quality service and support is vital to customers, and in particular to a chemical plant operating 24/7 production.

 

Win, win, win

The Ensus Biorefinery has the benefit of a tailored Danfoss Service Contract, which ensures a fast response to site in the unlikely event of a variable-speed drive failure. “It gives peace of mind, controlled maintenance budgets and maximum plant uptime,” Rob Simcock says. In total, the Danfoss UK projects division supplied the biorefinery with 50 VLT® Automation Drives, over 7MW in total, ranging from 0.75kw to 315kw.

The first cargo of sustainably-produced bioethanol was sold to Shell as part of a long-term deal, which will help Britain to cut carbon emissions from road transport and meet its renewable fuel obligations from UK sources. Alwyn Hughes, Ensus CEO, said: “This is a milestone for UK production of biofuels and a beacon of hope for the burgeoning green industry in Wilton on Teesside. This is a win, win, win for the environment, UK jobs and the economy at large.”