Pipe conveyor transport for Linz AG

Pipe conveyors for incineration plant

Linz AG’s waste incineration power plant has been in operation since 2011. It is located in the industrial area of the port of Linz, next to the already existing biomass power plant and the district heating plant on the banks of the Danube. In this plant, the company generates district heat and electrical energy for its networks. The utility company manages the entire waste removal process – from collecting to eco-friendly recycling. “We can guarantee much higher supply security in our district heating network as well as adequate waste disposal”, explains Erich Ehrentraut, engineer and Head of Waste Management at Linz Service GmbH.

Generating energy from waste and residual material incineration is particularly efficient. The produced heat can be used to generate energy or for steam turbine processes. Trucks, ships and trains transport about 150,000 tons of household, commercial and industrial waste to the residual material processing plant located on a neighbouring property of the Linz tanker port. Additionally, approximately 50,000 tons of dehydrated sewage sludge are processed in the wastewater treatment plant in the municipality of Asten located 13 km away. The sludge as well as the screenings are transported directly from the Asten plant to the power plant.

Safe transport with the pipe conveyor

“The residual material processing plant and the heat and power plant are located several hundred metres away from each other”, describes Erich Ehrentraut. To complicate matters further, a public street is crossing the route. “We had to guarantee absolutely safe material transport”, he says. No waste, not even the smallest amount, can fall on the ground. Additionally, the odour of the waste could not be a nuisance to the people living in the area. The people in charge of the project at Linz AG evaluated several different solutions for the bulk material transport. They then opted for our Pipe Conveyor. “The particularly efficient system convinced us”, Erich Ehrentraut reports.

We supplied and installed a pipe conveyor with a centre distance of 475 metres. It conveys up to 40 tons of material per hour. The system is running around the clock, seven days a week. Due to the system design and the required system capacity, the pipe conveyor has been designed with a diameter of 300 millimetres. The difference in height between the feeding and discharging point is 24 metres.

Durable and quiet

The conveyor belts that we use are very durable and were specially manufactured for the pipe conveyor. Based on many years of experience, we have developed proprietary calculation programs that help to dimension all relevant parameters such as curve radii, conveying capacity and all other customer requirements. Another advantage of our solution is the reduced noise emission that the system provides. This is achieved by using special idlers, low-noise bearings, and the correct conveying speed. “This improves the quality of our employees’ day-to-day work environment and ensures the people living near the conveyor line are not disturbed by the noise”, says Erich Ehrentraut.

High level of system availability guaranteed

The system has been in operation for four years now and Linz AG is very satisfied with the results and benefits of our solution. The utility company is also impressed by the high level of system availability, ensured by our customer support. “High-quality systems reduce machine malfunctions and breakdown and therefore minimise long downtimes”, says Josef Staribacher. “This helps Linz AG to provide guaranteed energy supply, because it allows for continuous firing.” But even high-quality systems require maintenance and service. If necessary, our service personnel come to Linz AG to check the system and perform the required adjustments.