9 July 2014
DEMOXYA is a project led by Babcock Wanson, and stands for ‘DEveloppement et déMOnstration de brûleurs à très faibles émissions d’oXYdes d’Azote’ (Development and demonstration of burners with very low nitrogen oxide emissions). It has been awarded funding by ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, as part of a call for projects in support of Research & Development programmes that are aimed at improving air quality both indoors and outdoors.
Babcock Wanson has a strong range which is one of the best-performing on the market, and is already working on the burners of tomorrow. It is thus investing for the future by launching the DEMOXYA research project in collaboration with the Pprime Institute and Bertin Technologies. Babcock Wanson and Bertin Technologies are subsidiaries of the CNIM Group.
This collaborative project has two objectives – the reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) generated at combustion plants which consume fossil fuels, and the improvement of energy efficiency by virtue of an increase in the modulation rate of the burners.
Each partner in the project is contributing its own expertise and knowhow.
Bertin Technologies is responsible for digital combustion simulations to assist the analysis and understanding of data such as the flame length and the impact of the geometry of the furnace.
The Pprime Institute at Poitiers is carrying out more fundamental research relating to our understanding of the mechanisms by which NOx are formed, by way of techniques of imaging free-radical species. These will teach us about how the chemical processes operate within the flame.
Babcock Wanson is designing and producing the prototypes, implementing them at its 8 MW test station and validating them by way of experiments. As the project leader, Babcock Wanson will oversee the project right up to the industrial production of the high-performance burners of the future.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are produced in particular quantities at combustion plants which consume fossil fuels, have significant impacts on health and the environment. They contribute to the acidification of natural environments, to photochemical pollution (creation of “bad ozone”) and to eutrophization (degradation of aquatic environments).
“This R&D project is part of Babcock Wanson’s strategy; as a manufacturer and designer of boilers and burners, Babcock Wanson offers its industrial and boilermaking clients products and services that are aimed at reducing their environmental impact, improving their energy efficiency and making it easier for them to operate their thermal installations”, explains Cyril Fournier-Montgieux, General Manager of Babcock Wanson.
Numerous industrial firms have already expressed their interest in this project, and they are regularly kept up to date on its progress. GRDF, which is the market leader in supplying gas to industry, has even joined the project management committee.
At the end of this 30-month programme, Babcock Wanson will have a range of micro-modulating burners with unprecedented performance in terms of energy and the environment.
About Babcock Wanson: www.babcock-wanson.fr
Babcock Wanson, a subsidiary of the CNIM Group (www.cnim.com), offers a complete range of products and services for boiler houses. From steam boilers, thermal fluid heaters, rapid steam generators and hot water boilers to VOC (volatile organic compounds) and odour treatment by thermal oxidation, water treatment or heating solutions for industrial processes and premises, Babcock Wanson helps industrial firms to reduce their environmental impact, to save energy and to optimize their operating costs.
About BERTIN Technologies: www.bertin.fr
A subsidiary of CNIM Group, Bertin Technologies can rely on the expertise of more than 400 engineers and scientists to offer consultancy and engineering services that cover the entire innovation spectrum, from R&D right up to the industrialization and marketing of equipment. It applies its multi-disciplinary expertise to a wide variety of sectors in both France and overseas, most notably the Energy & Environment, Defense & Security, Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences and Aerospace sectors.
About the Pprime laboratory: www.pprime.fr/
The Pprime Institute is a laboratory for research in the fields of Physical Sciences and Engineering Sciences. Pprime is an Internal Research Unit (UPR) of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) which has entered into an agreement with the University of Poitiers (Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Sports Science and the École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Poitiers, ENSIP) and the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et d’Aérotechnique, ENSMA. Its activities cover a broad spectrum of complementary subjects and areas of expertise, ranging from the physics of materials to the mechanics of fluids and materials, mechanical engineering and energetics and, in particular, combustion and flames.
About ADEME: www.ademe.fr
The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) is a public institution of an industrial and commercial nature that is under the joint authority of the ministers in charge of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and of Higher Education and Research. ADEME participates in the implementation of public policy in the fields of the environment, energy
and sustainable development. The Agency provides its expertise and advice to companies, local authorities, government bodies and the general public to enable them to develop their approach to environmental issues. It also assists with the funding of projects, from research to implementation.