How do I reduce power consumption by a factor of 2.5?

At Nordjyllandsværket – Vattenfall A/S in Vodskov, Denmark, three old hose pumps were replaced by three new LSM50 hose pumps during the summer of 2015.

The coal-fired power plant uses lime to clean the exhaust gases of sulfur. The hose pumps are used to pump the lime slurry through the system.

With a total capacity of 334 MW electric power and 450 MJ/s district heating, one might think energy is not an issue. But the fact is that Nordjyllandsværket is at the forefront worldwide when it comes to efficiency. Up to 91% of the energy in the coal is utilized. And the energy must be sold, not used internally. To remain competitive, savings must be made wherever possible.

“We acquired our first LSM hose pump in 2012. We have had good experiences with it. Among other things, we can document a halving of repair costs over a 17,000-hour operating period,” says Chief Engineer Svend Mølbach, Nordjyllandsværket.

“We use 4 hose pumps to dose chalk slurry with a density between 1200 and 1350 kg/m³ and a pH above 10. We use the chalk slurry to maintain a constant pH of about 5.35 in our 1100 m³ absorber.”

“This year, we replaced 3 old pumps with new LSM50 pumps. We were curious whether the new LSM pumps with only a quarter of the motor size we had before would be sufficient. But we achieved the prescribed 6 m³ per hour per pump without any trouble. The pumps run smoothly and efficiently, and we have significantly reduced our energy consumption per pumped cubic meter. For us, an additional bonus is that it is easy to change a hose on an LSM pump. It improves our working environment. Furthermore, we prefer a local North Jutland supplier due to short delivery times and fast service. We are very satisfied with all four of our LSM hose pumps,” concludes Svend Mølbach.

Leo Sørensen, CEO of LSM Pumps, commented: “We almost always see significant energy savings when replacing old pumps with new LSM hose pumps. Hose pumps with sliding shoes are real energy wasters. Moreover, LSM hose pumps have the largest displacement on the market, which means they run slower and smoother. So we not only have low energy consumption but also a long service life for the pump.”

The article was written by Henning Andersen (LSM Pumpen GmbH) and prepared in cooperation with Svend Mølbach, Chief Engineer at Vattenfall – Nordjyllandsværket.

Read more about Vattenfall – Nordjyllandsværket at the following link:
http://produktionsanlaeg.vattenfall.dk/powerplant/nordjyllandsvaerket