Olive oil manufacturing is complex and the treatment of oil sludge, a by-product, requires a reliable solution to ensure TROIL’s plant in Valdetorres can operator continuously.
According to the manufacturer, the initial mass of by-products processed from oil mills derives with a humidity range of approximately 65–70%. This mass is then poured from the rafts and is stored. About 50% of the mass weight is separated as vegetal (from plants or vegetables) water and the rest accounts for the remaining seedless olive pomace oil with 60% humidity.
To make best use of the by-product, Cummins proposed a combined heat and power (CHP) application. Hereby, the power generated by the existing two gas generators and the Cummins QSK60G generator, installed within the oil treatment plant, is used to dry the pomace and evaporate most of the vegetal water.
At the same time, the power from the exhaust gases is used to heat air in a gas/air exchanger reaching a temperature of around 360ºC. This excess heat is utilised to dry the wet pomace produced in the mill.
Through this cogeneration application, the facility can now gain significant fuel and financial savings by also exporting any excess power generated to the Spanish national grid.