Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Automation technology and services from Emerson Process Management have helped ensure the successful start-up and operation of a waste-to-energy plant in Bydgoszcz, Poland, according to an announcement from the company. The new plant, the announcement added, enables the region to dispose of waste effectively and helps Poland meet its obligations under the European Union’s 2020 climate and energy directive.

The announcement explained that the municipal waste incineration facility, operated by Miedzygminny Kompleks Unieskkodliwiania Opdadow (MKUO) ProNatura, will generate 100,000 megawatts-hours of electricity per year – enough to power 50,000 homes – from 180,000 metric tonnes of household waste. During winter months, it added, the facility will also provide an additional 27 megawatts of thermal energy to the local District Heating loop.

Emerson, the announcement informed, was engaged early in the project by Aster, a joint venture between two Italian companies: Astaldi, a general contractor specialising in big infrastructure; and TME, an engineering, procurement and construction firm. The announcement said that the Emerson automation experts provided control system design, engineering and commissioning services that were critical to the successful and on-schedule completion of the project; in addition to providing training to help control room operators, engineers and maintenance personnel gain experience before the plant began operation.

To optimise operations, Emerson said that MKUO ProNatura will use the company’s Ovation distributed control system to oversee plant equipment and processes, including boilers, steam turbine, water heating system and balance-of-plant operations.

“The Bydgoszcz project is one of the largest energy-from-waste developments in Poland, helping to keep waste out of landfills, reduce emissions and increase the use of recoverable energy sources,” said Giovanni Bonanini, Contract Director of TME. “Emerson’s systems engineering and project management experience were crucial to delivering the project on time, and its technology is now ensuring continued efficient and reliable power generation.”

Bob Yeager, President for Power & Water Solutions at Emerson, added: “Emerson is committed to providing a path to better performance for its customers undertaking large-scale projects, and the successful start-up and operation of the Bydgoszcz municipal waste incineration plant is an excellent example of this. Critical to its success was the support provided by our engineers, as well as our cloud-based engineering environment that made it easy for supplier, contractor and customer personnel to access important information from any location.”