Micro gas turbines at Kalkwerk RYGOL GmbH & Co. KG

Micro gas turbines at Kalkwerk RYGOL GmbH & Co. KG

Founded under the name Kalkwerk und Steinbruch Karl Rygol, the company is now one of the leading manufacturers of dry mortar in Bavaria. The company also offers a wide range of burnt lime and limestone products. Rygol has been a licensee and shareholder of the German Sakret Group since 1976. At the Kalkwerk Rygol GmbH & Co KG site in Painten near Kelheim, two micro gas turbines with a total output of 265kW(el) are used to operate the drum dryer. "The hot exhaust air from the micro gas turbines is fed directly into the drying process via a new hot gas generator specially developed by Gammel Engineering," explains project manager Christian Blendl. "This reduces the fuel requirement for the dryer's natural gas burner. The electricity generated is consumed in the plant's own power grid." Gammel Engineering was entrusted with the entire project, from the energy concept to commissioning: system, approval and implementation planning, tendering, project management and construction management. The total investment is around 600,000 euros.

As always with Gammel projects, standard is not enough: "With conventional CHP gas engine applications, a large proportion of the waste heat is generated as low temperature, which cannot be sensibly accommodated in the Rygol lime works over the lifetime of the plant. This is why the microturbine technology was chosen. The innovative aspect of micro gas turbines is the highly efficient technology for decentralized power generation. The great advantage is that only a waste heat flow in the range of 250°C-300°C is generated, which can be used directly in the drying process," reports Christan Blendl. To further increase efficiency, the electronic cooling air is also used as preheated combustion air for the natural gas burner on the dryer, which saves additional energy and costs. The innovative energy and environmental project is the new benchmark in the industry and sustainably improves the competitiveness of Kalkwerk Rygol.