A District warmed by the unavoidable energy of a foundry

An innovative system for heat recovery. At the end of 2017, the city of Charleville-Mézières launched a call for tender to renovate the district heating of La Citadelle area using more than 50% of renewables. The project included a network extension up to the new local hospital to supplying heat to citizens at lowest fares. EDF, through its subsidiary Dalkia, won the contract proposing to fuel the new district heating with a biomass boiler coupled to a heat recovery system linked to the foundries of the nearby PSA plant.

 

The Dalkia’s solution

Not far from Charleville-Mézières, on a 55 ha site, PSA automotive owns and runs the biggest automobile foundry of Europe to feed Group’s factories with engine blocks and other metal spare parts.

Using the huge heat potential of the site, Dalkia suggests to recover the heat stemming from the factory’s furnaces injecting then into the district heating of the city. The project suddenly attracted the interest of PSA that wished to limit the environmental impact of its activities.

Heat recovery resulting from the factory’s furnaces allowed an energy mix with more than 60 % of energy from renewable sources and recovery for the Citadel site.

At the same time the Citadelle heating network tripled its size, increasing from 932 house-equivalents warmed to 3 290. This 6 km pipelines extension will so allow to feed the whole Manchester district where the local hospital is based.

 

How does it work?

To set up this system of recovery of unavoidable energy, an internal network of heat exchangers will be installed to recover the heat of the 6 aluminium furnaces (300°C) and 3 sand regeneration ovens (400°C). Recovered heat is thereafter injected in the network (Valued at 28 a year).

To complete the green energy supply of La Citadelle district heating, an 800 kW biomass boiler system will be installed on PSA’s site. A gas boiler coupled to a CHP system will guarantee complementary heat supply during the winter. 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Thanks to this project the local district heating capacity will be multiplied by 3 because its length will increase from 3 to 8,9 km.
• This project will allow to divide by three the CO2 emissions of the network, namely 7000 tons of avoided CO2.

 

Entry into service of La Citadelle’s district heating is planned on January 1st, 2019.