Heat network Balterswil - Bichelsee - HEBBAG

Construction and operation of a wood-fired combined heat and power plant with ORC system on the premises of August Brühwiler AG in Bichelsee-Balterswil for the generation of heat and electricity. The most modern and efficient energy generation facility in the Canton of Thurgau.
The system consists of three wood furnaces with different outputs as well as the associated state-of-the-art filter systems. The largest furnace (4 MW firing capacity) is followed by the thermal oil circuit and subsequently the ORC module for electricity production. The other two furnaces (1 and 2 MW capacity) serve to cover peak loads and as "backup". Wood waste and wood chips from the sawmill are used as fuel.

Solution:
For over 100 years, electricity has been produced using steam generators. For this, steam must first be generated. This leads to high CO2 emissions when oil, gas or coal is used as the primary energy source. In the hebbag system concept, a traveling grate furnace with thermal oil waste heat boiler and a downstream Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) module is used for base load supply. Heat is extracted via the condenser and electricity is extracted via the turbine in the ORC module. Peak and emergency load supply is ensured by two additional wood-fired systems. Organic liquids with a low evaporation temperature are used as working fluid. The process is used when the available temperature difference between heat source and sink is too low for the operation of a steam-driven turbine. This process is efficient. It is increasingly used for local electricity generation. The result is high-quality electricity that is produced locally and CO2-neutrally. High quality because the system operates continuously and therefore does not need to compensate for fluctuations, such as those from wind or solar energy.