MechChem Africa July-August 2023

⎪ Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies ⎪

Left: A static compactor for on-site waste management. Enviroserv can provide the support customers need to introduce waste recycling at a factory, office building, shopping mall, hospital or other facility. Right: EnviroServ’s 10 kl SuperSuckers are used by its logistics team to provide a safe, efficient and compliant solution for moving liquid, sludge and dry waste from customers’ premises to waste processing facilities.

Automation technology and software from Emerson is enabling recycling of valuable materials from incinerator flue gas residue. The global software and technology leader is helping the Swedish cleantech company HaloSep to optimise its unique process that turns hazardous incinerator flue gas residue from waste-to-energy plants into usable materials. Emerson’s control technology and soft ware is being deployed at HaloSep’s plant for optimisation, research and technology (PORT) in Gothenburg, Sweden, to manage an innova tive chemical separation process that recovers valuable salt, metals and minerals from fly ash. By providing an alternative to landfill disposal, the HaloSep process increases the sustainabil ity of the waste-to-energy industry. Recovering materials from difficult waste streams makes an important contribution to greater circularity. There are over 2 600 waste-to-energy plants worldwide, with an annual disposal capacity of approximately 460-million tons of municipal waste. About 2-5% of the incinerated waste becomes flue gas residue known as fly ash, which is a hazardous material containing contaminants such as heavy metals, chlorides, and sulphates. Millions of tons of fly ash are currently trans ported to landfills by truck, rail or sea, which is costly and unsustainable. "Due to the irregular nature of household waste, fly ash produced from incineration has varying properties requiring different hazardous waste services, waste collection, treatment and disposal services and landfill management. “We were first to market with many waste management solutions, some of which are still recognised as best practice,” he continues. “After more than four decades in business, we remain pioneers because the drive to look for better ways of doing things is deeply em bedded in our culture. We were established

by forward thinkers with a social conscience – the kinds of people we still employ today,” he adds. In addition, by being the first – and for long periods – the only company to tackle complex waste management issues in South Africa, EnviroServ has come to understand that sustainable waste management evolves with society’s needs, habits and awareness of health and environmental prosperity. “We have had to keep evolving to deal with new separation processes. Our PORT plant will analyse fly ash samples from around the world, test specific separation processes and demonstrate circular economy benefits to potential customers,” says HaloSep president Staffan Svensson. “Emerson’s technology and expert advice on implementing automation throughout the plant has played a vital role in optimising these processes which, when deployed, will help increase the sustainability of the waste-to-energy industry.” Emerson has designed and implemented a scalable control system architecture at the PORT facility and worked closely with HaloSep to develop unique separation se quences to efficiently recycle fly ash with variable compositions. Emerson’s DeltaV™ distributed control system is ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the separation processes. In addition, DeltaV Live software provides high performance human machine interfaces for

lifestyles and technologies leading to new and increased waste streams, as well as updated legislation. “We are dedicated to delivering innovative waste solutions that are environmentally responsible, effective and economically viable so our customers can enhance sustainability and achieve environmental peace of mind,” Mahmood Patel concludes. www.enviroserv.co.za operators, with key performance indicator-led dashboards providing intuitive reporting and management and supporting optimised de cision-making and operational performance. “Emerson is committed to helping our customers in industries such as plastics, lithium-ion battery manufacturing and waste to-energy generation to meet today’s growing industrial, processing and energy demands through sustainable innovations that minimise environmental impact,” says Nathan Pettus, president of Emerson’s process systems and solutions business. “Emerson’s technologies and expertise are designed to handle the complexity of HaloSep’s recycling process.” HaloSep, a subsidiary of the Stena Metall Group, provides an on-plant solution that can be built locally at a waste-to-energy plant or placed at sites where fly ash from smaller plants is consolidated, eliminating long-range transportation costs and emissions. www.emerson.com

Innovative recycling increases sustainability of waste-to-energy

Emerson’s control technology and software is being deployed at HaloSep’s plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, to optimise the conversion of flue gas residue from waste-to-energy plants into usable materials.

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