Waste to Wealth : VYNCKE’s role in the Energy-from-Waste evolution

With a history dating back to 1912, VYNCKE has remained steadfast in its mission to convert industry-specific solid residues into clean energy. Evolving alongside the global technological advancements, the company adapts its offering to meet the changing needs of its customers. Their tailor-made solutions cover a wide range of fuels – such as biomass and residues from the wood industry - with a solution range including steam boilers, hot water heaters, thermal oil heaters, hot gas generators, cogeneration and multimedia energy plants.

Combatting the pressing issue of waste management while promoting circular economy has been the company’s modus operandi. The aim? “Energize the industry while scoring as high as possible on the LANSINK’s Ladder”, answers Hannes DE ZUTTER, Solution Manager Waste-to-Energy at VYNCKE.

In response to the growing demand and environmental imperatives, VYNCKE embarked on a new journey in 2017: Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) combustion. RDF, regularly mistaken for general waste, is in fact the non-recyclable fraction that remains after a stream of industrial, commercial or household waste has been treated or sorted. This “leftover” RDF can be thermally treated and converted to process heat. This fuel type has its specific challenges such as high levels of contaminants, high variability, unique physical characteristics and meeting the stringent emission limits. Yet, VYNCKE’s innovative solutions have paved the way for successful implementations globally. Notable projects across France, UK, Thailand and Sweden serve as testament to this.

Central to the company’s ethos is a preference for local and circular Waste-to-Energy projects, explains DE ZUTTER. “At VYNCKE, we prefer projects in which a waste stream is collected and processed locally and that the valorized energy is also used either in the local facility or put on the local grid. That is why we are currently working on different facilities in France, where there's a strong interest in supporting RDF driven projects, in the context of the France 2030 targets. A prime example of this is the URBASER-TRIFYL Project.”

URBASER-TRIFYL is a comprehensive and unique recycling and waste treatment initiative in the South of France. While TRIFYL provides a public service mission to collect, process and treat local household waste across 350 municipalities in the Tarn region, URBASER ENVIRONMENT brings its broad knowledge of urban waste treatment and directs it towards sustainable environment solutions. The alliance between the two companies resulted in a multi-purpose, state-of-the-art household and waste treatment plant in Labessière-Candeil, a flagship project for all involved stakeholders.

At the heart of this solution is a superheated water boiler engineered and installed by VYNCKE. This plant is fed by RDF mixed with residual digestate from the on-site biogas production. This uniquely specific 50/50 mix of combustibles was a first for the global energy provider. Harnessing years of expertise and craftsmanship into the solution, they built a plant that runs on a firing capacity of 8.5 MW and generates 6.8 MW of thermal energy. This heat is supplied to the plant's drying unit composed of air-drying tunnels and to belt dryers. The purpose is to increase the fuel’s calorific value by removing the water content. A part of the dried fuel is sent back to the boiler feed, the rest are valorized in external dedicated combustion plants (industrial boilers, cement plant, etc...).

In the Vendée region of France, PIVETEAUBOIS, French softwood sawmiller and industrial manufacturer of timber solutions, embarked on a journey of manufacturing expansion at their unit in Sainte-Florence. Naturally an increase in operations meant an increase in their energy needs. Already equipped with a cogeneration plant running on their natural wood process waste, PIVETEAUBOIS opted to enhance their energy infrastructure with a second boiler, this time to be fired by externally-sourced RDF.

The fuel for this solution is a mix of furniture waste wood along with RDF sourced from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). As demolition wood is typically sent away to landfills, furniture waste wood is a less complex, highly combustible and fully CO2-neutral waste stream. Although the use of furniture waste and demolition wood as a solid fuel in incinerators is not so common, VYNCKE is in the realization phase of several demolition wood-fired projects proving their knowledge base and competency.

This unique cogeneration setup yields a firing capacity of 19.9 MW generating almost 13 MW of process heat along with 3.8 MWe of electricity. With 100% of the output exclusively utilized by the sawmiller, the plant achieves remarkable efficiency, driving down the energy costs and reinforcing self-sufficiency.