Page 1 of 2German innovation has, for many decades, played a significant role in helping the industrial sector adapt to changing environmental legislation and practices
In order to target the huge potential that lies in the market for reducing energy consumption in the global industrial sector, Bosch, through its Thermotechnology division, has adopted a universal outlook to promote its large systems business.
The German manufacturer is attempting to tap into the global market for large industrial systems, which it expects to grow at an annual rate of approximately nine percent by 2017. In the Asia/Pacific region, it has predicted growth of 10 per cent in its large-scale plant business between 2011 and 2017.
While Bosch said that growth in the Middle East is harder to predict than in the wider Asian continent, it is nonetheless pushing ahead with its activities in the region.
Harald Bronkal, senior vice-president sales for Eastern Europe at Bosch Thermotechnology, said the company's current position in the global large systems market is difficult to define due to the amount of companies working in individual segments of the sector.
"In a way, it is a new market and Bosch is trying to enter all the segments at once, but the portfolio we have currently will expand," Bronkal remarked.
According to the International Energy Agency, in 2009 the industrial sector was responsible for 31 per cent of global energy consumption. A joint study by the German ?ko-Institut and Bosch has found that industrial energy requirements could be reduced by up to a quarter by the year 2030 by using the best technology available in the market in each case.
Bosch Thermotechnology's large systems portfolio consists of a wide range of systems and technologies, including shell boilers, water tube boilers, ventilation and cooling, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, energy storage tanks, heat pumps, large solar thermal plants and ORC systems.
Bosch KWK Systeme GmbH is the Bosch unit responsible for building a host of equipment and machinery designed to reduce energy usage and improve efficiencies within the industrial sector.
At its plant on the outskirts of Lollar, Germany, its builds ORC plants for the production of electricity from waste heat, customised CHP systems and CHP modules, as well as exhaust gas treatment systems and biogas compression units.
CHP success
Combined CHP steam boiler units are among the products catching the attention of ever more energy-aware customers. Bosch describes the units as "efficient energy systems... that cut energy usage significantly through the combined generation of power and process heat".
The company has highlighted the success of several successful case studies that demonstrate how effective the systems and solutions offered by the department can be in reducing power usage and in helping a business or industrial site become self sufficient in energy generation.
The effects of Bosch Thermotechnology's cogeneration CHP plants are being fully demonstrated at a facility close to the company's production centre in Lollar. Stadtwerke Giessen, the local utility company serving the German city of Giessen, operates a 1,999kW CHP unit, built by Bosch KWK Systeme.
The plant makes use of the heat produced in power generation, resulting in higher efficiency, less use of primary energy and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
Stadtwerke Giessen has a target to generate half of the electricity supplied to households within its jurisdiction by using efficient cogeneration units by 2020. The utility operates currently operates CHP units rated for more than 27,000kW of electrical energy.
In August 2012 Bosch KWK Systeme installed a natural-gas fired CHP system in a separate boiler room at the utility?s CHP station in Schlachthofstrasse, which delivers a total efficiency of at least 95 per cent.
According to the manufacturer, the electrical output is infinitely variable between 50 and 100 per cent, and has a utilisation rate in terms of the gross calorific value at or above 95 per cent.
All of the utility?s cogeneration and tri-generation units taken together saved up to 30 per cent primary energy in 2011 - a saving of more than 148,000MW hours compared to separate generation of power and heat.
Continues on Page 2...
