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PROCESSING- TECHNOLOGYEnergy from waste and biomass

We burn for the small and big topics

THE COMPANY MAGAZINE OF THE VECOPLAN AG

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w w w.v eco p l an . co m

I n d e x I n d e x

01 Cover Energy from waste and biomass

02-03 Index

04-07 Prologue “Future Vecoplan” Interview with Werner Berens und Michael Lambert

08-17 Human beingsWe give Vecoplan a faceA look behind the scenes at Vecoplan AG

10-13 Social commitment of employees Interview with our volunteers Marco Schuhen, Michael Globig, Tim Becker and Luisa Brückmann.

14-15 Employer Branding Vecoplan offers challenging and exciting tasks for technicians, do-gooders and team players.

16-17 Image film A short portrait in exceptional pictures and fascinating perspectives.

36-59 MachinesWe enable a long recycling life cycle Machines with assertiveness

38-39 Coverstory Energy From waste to value: Energy can be gained from waste with the right technology.

40-41 VHZ 1600 The “big brother” of VHZ series convinces with machine features.

42-45 Biomass power plant Vecoplan supplies dosing, storing and conveying technology for a CHP plant.

46-47 V-ECO Wood The highperformer in biomass shredding.

48-51 Complete plant Irish Cement Case Study: Request-specific Vecoplan solution for Irish Cement.

52-53 RDF processing Maximum benefit at high efficiency. RDF processing line achieves reliably high performance.

54-57 Biomass power plant Burmeister & Wain The furnace is alight and the feed is running. Vecoplan supplies storing, dosing and conveying technology.

58-59 Service With its comprehensive service, Vecoplan ensures and optimises continuous production processes.

Index

24-25 Vecoplan Poland Vecoplan worldwide with focus on customer proximity: Opening of Polish subsidiary.

26-27 User report From logs to fuel: Vecoplan supplies tailor-made chipping line.

28-29 User report Caliqua An extremely climate-friendly option.

30-33 Circular Economy Resource conservation and circular economy are the keys to sustainable business.

34-35 American Market News from US: Vecoplan LLC is pleased about great year 2018.

18-35 MarketsExciting news from the Wood Biomass and Recycling Waste Front

20-23 Expert talk East European market Growth markets Recycling and Bioenergy: An interview with Martina Schmidt and Dirk Müller.

60-69 Materials Tailor-made machines for any input material

62-63 Secure document and data carrier destruction One team: single-shaft shredder VAZ, V-ECO and hard drive shredder VDS 800.

64-65 Material handling Engineering and production for RDF processing and material handling.

66-69 Technical plastics Individual shredding technology for high quality output and high throughput.

Imprint

the VECOPLANThe Vecoplan AG company magazine2019

Publisher:Vecoplan AGVor der Bitz 1056470 Bad Marienberg Phone: +49 2661 62670www.vecoplan.com

Edited by v. i. S. d. P.:Karin Theine, Vecoplan AG

Concept:attentio :: online- & werbeagentur GmbHBahnhofstraße 1857627 HachenburgPhone: +49 2662 9480070www.attentio.de

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Interview with the Management Board of Vecoplan AG, Werner Berens und Michael Lambert

You have both been with Vecoplan for a few years – you, Mr. Berens, since 2012 and Mr. Lambert since 2014. What made you both decide to join Vecoplan?

Werner Berens: At that time I was working for a company where I started as a final- year student and which I ultimately left as managing director. I really enjoyed working there. But the company changed and I had the feeling that I had to make a decision: Should I stay or go to a competitor? I took the risk and started afresh with Vecoplan. The company, the products and the tasks that I was expected to tackle fascinated me.

Michael Lambert: On the one hand, I was fascinated by the interesting market with its great growth potential and the high proportion of internationalization. I was also quickly convinced by the company’s innovative products and vertical range of

manufacture. With all that in mind, I didn’t have to think long when I got offered the job.

What kind of company did you find when you joined?

Werner Berens: Until the economic crisis in 2009, Vecoplan was led by co-founder Irene Scheidweiler in exemplary manner, humanely, in a socially responsible way and with a strong focus on sales. Then Vecoplan was prepared for going public, as a result of which the internal structures changed – and the economic slump also occurred at about the same time. That put a damper on the company as a whole: Vecoplan was about to lose its values, i.e. what the company actually stood for: a pioneering spirit, added value, reliability and profitable business processes. However, Vecoplan found its way back from this state relatively quickly. The recipe for how we achieved that is relatively simple:

listen, do, implement. Leave old paths, which

weren’t leading to success, in order to go

new, promising ways, but also preserve the

tried and tested.

Michael Lambert: The first years of our co-operation at Vecoplan were exciting, but also very labour-intensive and emotional. Many decisions had to be made to get the company back on a robust footing – and some of them were unpopular. First of all, cost transparency and the reporting systems had to be im-proved, structures were reduced, personnel decisions were made and cooperation with our subsidiaries was improved. Thanks to our good cooperation with all the business unit, we were able to implement our measures quickly. This was mostly due to trust and the ability to listen. Today we’re once again a stable, medium-sized company that has worked its way up to become a product leader.

Vecoplan celebrates its 50th anniversary this year! A good reason to seek an interview with the company’s board members, to look back and, above all, to talk about how the company is positioned for the future.

Mr Berens, you mentioned values earlier. Can you describe these briefly?

Werner Berens: It starts with an open error culture. We’re on the right path towards that. For me this means to recognize and admit mistakes and help colleagues to avoid mistakes, but also to correct mistakes together – because the past has shown that it didn’t end well for employees who covered up mistakes. It’s important to listen, to appreciate, to let people talk and above all to allow criticism, to give feedback and to learn from it. We can all be proud of our achievements, but we must keep our feet on the ground.

Are there any essential measures that have led to success?

Werner Berens: There are, and the first one is that over the past five years, we’ve developed more products than ever before. Half of the machines are based on modified, efficient solutions. Without this development offensive, we wouldn’t have got out of the financial crisis. The customer receives a demand- oriented system. That’s a convincing cost advantage. One thing is clear: Plant operators benefit from greater efficiency and this is also reflected in the throughput quantities, in robustness and in the operating costs. I see the second important point as a clear strategic market orientation and the position-ing of the company with a focus on the relevant markets. The markets can be served in a more nuanced and efficient way – not only with regard to sales but also through target group and user-related marketing, which in my opinion has brought us further forward in recent years.

Michael Lambert: Third point: We invest a lot of money and time in personnel development and training. As a rule, we have 40 trainees on site, including five or six students. If their performance is adequate and they’re our kind of people, we’re happy to take them on. In the Westerwald here, the employment rate is almost 100 % and we’re in competition with many good medium-sized companies when it comes to recruiting – so we’ll be strengthening our successful activities in employer branding in the future.

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Werner BerensCEO Vecoplan AG

Michael LambertCFO Vecoplan AG

P r o l o g u e

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P r o l o g u e P r o l o g u e

What do you think distinguishes Vecoplan as an employer?

Michael Lambert: Compared to my previous employers, Vecoplan invests considerably more in its employees, for professional training, further education and in the area of soft factors. For example, we support our employees in health management, offer grants for membership in fitness centres and help them in financial emergencies. We currently have the strongest running team of all the companies in the region. We support our team with running trainers, sportswear and of course with a lot of loud vocal support! One of the few companies to do so, Vecoplan of-fers an employer-financed company pension and we also insure employees on business trips against accidents. Employees can also insure themselves for just a small amount of money if there should be gaps in their health insurance. Work safety is also particularly important for us. The number of accidents in our company is considerably lower than in other companies in the industry. For me, these are very important factors that characterise our corporate culture.

With which technical developments has Vecoplan made the most progress?

Werner Berens: When I look at our history, I have to say that our Vecoplan waste shredder, VAZ for short, must be mentioned first. This trend-setting series enabled us to open up completely new applications and markets in 1983. This was accompanied by the development of our HiTorc drive, which doesn’t require any mechanical elements such as belt drives, flywheels or clutches – so it’s very efficient and much less sensitive to impurities. It also consumes relatively little energy. However, we also successfully optimised some products in the field of storage and conveyor technology, so all in all, we can fall back on a comprehensive and high-quality product range.

How important are investments in the site?

Michael Lambert: In Bad Marienberg, we have been operating one of the most modern technology centres in Europe. The opening was in 2014.

Last year we invested a lot of money in the replacement of the demonstration machines. Yes, our development engineers can carry out product trials here, but when it comes to shredding the input material and assessing the output material for compliance with the requirements, it’s almost more important for us to do it with the customer. What we have created here is a benchmark in Europe. Our goal is to keep the company at a high stand-ard and thus remain competitive at all times, and we are very willing to invest to achieve that goal. Thanks to our good earnings posi-tion, we started an investment programme in 2018 and we’ll continue to invest in the years to come, especially in the areas of production and future IT systems.

What has made Vecoplan so successful over so many years?

Werner Berens: We’ve always been pioneers. Sometimes by chance, sometimes opportunely, but always driven by our intuition. That has made us strong. We’re not cheap, but neither are we overpriced and we are a product leader, “Made in Germany”. We can only support our customers properly by supplying them with future-oriented products that offer significant added value. We give them high-quality solutions with totally-convincing performances, and this also includes a very clear service concept. We don’t simply supply machines, we provide complete processing lines, including conveyor and storage technology – and we also provide competent advice and high-quality after-sales offers. And our partners know that we keep our promises.

What role do foreign markets play?

Michael Lambert: Our export share is more than 80 percent. We’re very strong in Central Europe, North America, neighbouring Eastern Europe and Russia. We’re currently very successful in these markets because of the good economic situation, but also because of our positioning and forward-looking solutions – but this doesn’t mean that we’ve lost sight of other future markets. We see great potential in South and Central America, but we will also conquer Asia as a market in the years to come.

Werner Berens: If I may answer your probable question about China in advance? Yes, there are Chinese manufacturers of shredding equipment whose products adequately meet current requirements, but we have naturally positioned our business development in such a way that we can closely monitor the potential markets, enabling us to react as soon as opportunities arise for us.

The company anniversary is a big event – but you’re only celebrating in a “small” group, why is that?

Werner Berens: Vecoplan is all about employees – that’s what we all are, and that’s why we’re giving a party just for ourselves. It has a lot to do with our character. We’ve invited all our employees with their families, our apprentices with their parents and also our pensioners with their partners. We turn our company anniversary into a family celebration – because it’s the relatives in particular who have to do without our employees if they’re working on important projects.

Michael Lambert: It’s especially at these casual events that we can talk with our employees about other topics in a relaxed atmosphere. Big parties and exaggerated and overpriced events? That’s just not Vecoplan.

50 years now lie behind Vecoplan – where do you see the company tomorrow?

Werner Berens: As members of the Management Board, we’ll continue to expand our product leadership together with the management team. Over the next five to ten years, our core brands will set the pace in Europe, America, Russia and individual Asian, African and South American countries will also have the opportunity to get to know our machines and plants. Our product portfolio will be geared to market needs through in-house developments and acquisitions. Our goal is to differentiate ourselves in the market, not only by the mechanical system or the design of the machine, but by being smart. Intelligence is in demand, and we have put a young team to work, a team that’s playing to its full creative potential.

What are these smart machines?

Werner Berens: Look at it this way: My first car had 50 hp, a four-speed gearbox, no ABS and I wired up my manual radio and cassette drive to the electrical system and fastened it with four screws. Nowadays, vehicles recognise their surroundings, give route recommendations and respond to voice commands, and our machines are no exception. The systems of tomorrow will order their spare parts themselves, plan their maintenance dates and inform us in good time when they are too old for the job. Everything will become more automatic and smarter and will radically change jobs. It’s frightening, yes… but it’s inspiring at the same time.

How do you see the future of your markets?

Michael Lambert: The requirements in the markets will change – so one major point for us is to identify new applications. We have to observe how packaging regulations, consumer behaviour and guidelines regarding thermal and material recycling are developing across all markets – and align our product development accordingly. Only then can we constantly remain one step ahead of our market competitors and secure our position as a product leader.

Werner Berens: I’m convinced that the industry will have to design more recyclable products in the future. Whether it’s Tetra Pak, multi-layer food films or glass fibre-reinforced plastics, the material composites can’t often be separated and returned to the material flows, or only with a great amount of effort. So many manufacturers will have to change their products. The use of biomass to generate energy will also continue to increase. This is the boat we’re in… and we’ll help to shape this topic. We’re not followers, we provide impetus. Our goal is to expand our position as a product leader. And we will remain a product leader in the future.

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T h e m a

Vecoplan - these are not only thought-out solutions for optimized wood processing, waste recovery or ecologically

worthwile recycling. These are approximately 400 smart people, who love technology, are passionate about service

and also stand out by their social commitment.

Sustainable and responsible action is firmly established in our company and we support all those, who achieve great

things with small deeds.

Do-gooders, unconventional thinkers, enthusiasts

Human beings

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S o ci a l co m m i t m e n t o f e m p l o y e e s S o ci a l co m m i t m e n t o f e m p l o y e e s

Interview with Marco Schuhen, Michael Globig and Tim Becker, active members of a volunteer fire service

What motivates you to volunteer in your free time?

Marco Schuhen: I want to help people, and it’s a good way to pursue my interest in technology.

Michael Globig: What I like most is being able to help others in dis-tress, and I enjoy the team spirit. At a fire, I’m especially happy if we can prevent major damage and injuries by acting swiftly. This is a very gratifying experience.

Tim Becker: Comradeship and saving lives.

How long have you been doing this, and where?

Marco Schuhen: Since I joined the youth fire brigade as a child.

Michael Globig: Meanwhile, I’ve been active in the fire brigade for almost 20 years. I joined rather as a career changer, but don’t want to miss a single day.

Tim Becker: I’ve been active for 17 years now, since the youth fire brigade.

Could you describe some special situations or incidents from your time as a volunteer?

Michael Globig: Situations that take on a larger dimension are always special. For example, by large fires at the companies Panthel or Reifen Gundlach, we had to work together with supra-regional forces. Tragic are fatal missions. But for that you’ve got a strong team that helps each other.

Tim Becker: The worst experi-ences are always those in which nothing more can be done.

Usually these are car accidents involving fatalities. For me, it was especially bad last year when an 18-year-old girl died at the scene. It helps to talk with colleagues when something like that happens. We remind each other of the occasions on which we were able to avert a catastrophe through our efforts.

It’s very hard on me when I arrive at the scene and discover that the victims are children.

Three Cheers for VolunteersVolunteer work: unpaid, but priceless

Volunteer work is vitally important in our communities. What’s more, volunteers are outstanding role models – but their numbers are decreasing. Imagine if one third of our citizens were no longer willing to sacrifice their free time in this way, helping people in need, giving comfort, saving lives and supporting countless recreation activities. Our society would be a lot poorer.

In Germany, volunteer work is most common in sports clubs, schools and churches. People volunteer in order to make contact with others, gain new skills or just have fun. They are frequently motivated by a wish to help others who are less fortunate. Volunteers are essential for providing quick, efficient help in many areas of life in Germany, such as food banks, soup kitchens, associations, initiatives and projects.

Clubs and associations remain very important for bringing volunteers together. Sports clubs in particular continue to show strong growth. According to one survey they account for 47 percent of all volunteer work.

A willingness on the part of citizens to become active as volunteers is of key importance in community life. Many social services and political activities depend on volunteer participation – but when these activities lead to absence from work, conflicts can arise with employers.

Absence from the job during working hours is an especially-frequent source of conflict for volunteer firefighters and people who serve on juries. If the members of a volunteer fire service have to respond to an alarm or get additional training during working hours, they must be allowed to do so.

By law, an employer can forbid its employees to do volunteer work at such times, even if it is important for the public good – but Vecoplan will never do this! Many of our employees invest their free time to help others. So Vecoplan will support you, whether you work in a food bank, collect groceries, do jury duty, fight fires or work with young people.

What position do you hold as a volunteer?

Marco Schuhen: I’m a crew leader with responsibility for respiratory equipment (inspection, maintenance and repair). I’m also a member of the hazardous substances unit in the rural district of Altenkirchen.

Michael Globig: I am the extinguisher master in the fire brigade Nistertal. Besides the activities as a trainer in the local authority association, I am member of leading group in my unit.

Tim Becker: I am fire chief and deputy supervisor in Kirburg.

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in charge of a small group of more than 10 boys in their first year of school. That was a big challenge, but I had a wonderful time. When I turned 18, I worked for the first time at a tent camp.

... because there are always special moments

How does it work when you have to respond to a fire or get training during working hours?

Marco Schuhen: When the action is over each firefighter is given a sheet to fill in for continued pay. We enter the length of absence and the type of activity, like fighting a fire or participating in training. I’ve never had any problems.

Michael Globig: Unfortunately I can’t plan my operations. It is a 24/7 volunteering. Due to the release of the employer, I can join missions during my work time. We are happy about every-one, who can be released from work without any problems, because the fire department’s manpower is limited during working hours.

Tim Becker: This year I was released from my job duties for several firefighting operations. You just can’t predict how often this will happen. Maybe the phone will ring five minutes from now and I’ll be on my way. I know of other companies where this can be a problem. Sometimes my fellow firefighters aren’t allowed to leave the job. That of course is bad. I always say that when people themselves are put in danger and no one comes, that’s when they’ll start to rethink this question.

Does your employer Vecoplan support your volunteer work? If so, how?

Marco Schuhen: So far, I’ve never had any problems when I had to take a training course, or when I was called to a fire.

Michael Globig: The same goes for me – no problems with Vecoplan.

Apart from emergency activities, how much time do you have to put in?

Tim Becker: Between 6 and 7 hours per week. Professionally, I benefit from both my jobs: in my Vecoplan job I can sometimes

apply what I’ve learned as a firefighter and as a firefighter I can often make good use of my knowledge as an industrial mechanic. The things that I’ve learned as a volunteer are also important for Vecoplan.

S o ci a l co m m i t m e n t o f e m p l o y e e s S o ci a l co m m i t m e n t o f e m p l o y e e s

here were as many as 50 children between the ages of 8 and 14. These camps always have a motto like Sailors, Romans, Knights or Vikings. Planning and organising this

was always a lot of work. For us employees it usually meant staying up until at least 1 a.m. (for discussions after the children had gone to bed) and getting up again at 7, but the feeling of togetherness was invaluable.

Then when I was 20, I decided to work with young adults because for me it is much more fascinating and enjoyable. I started out with a youth group at the YMCA in Bad Marienberg, which I accompanied to camps. Nowadays many children have difficulties in their families, and we can be a real help in such cases. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, starting at 7 p.m., I work as a volunteer

with a youth group. I spend about five hours each week doing volunteer work (not counting preparation). I enjoy it because there are always special moments when can I make a new friend, encourage someone to try something new or provide help in a difficult situation.

When I want to get further train-ing, I generally use my holiday time. The church congress last year is an example. If I don’t have enough holiday time to go to a youth camp, I apply for special unpaid leave. That’s never been a problem for Vecoplan.

Luisa Brückmann

I work at the YMCA. I joined a church youth group as a child, and in the summers I always went with my group to a tent camp. From the age of 13 I went to youth camps in Corsica, Austria and Denmark. From the very start I was inspired by the feeling of community and warmth that I experienced in the YMCA.

During those years I began to help with children’s church services. On the first Saturday of every month, up to 50 children aged 4 to 11 came to the commu-nity house in Bad Marienberg. I had lots of fun staging plays with the children and setting up games for play streets. Families nowadays have all kinds of problems. For a whole year I was

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VECOPLAN FOR YOU

WANTED! Technology enthusiasts, idealists and team players!Vecoplan’s new career website went online for the first time in 2018, welcoming students, career starters and professionals interested in working in future-oriented markets and becoming involved in topics related to the recycling and processing of residual materials.

An apprenticeship as a mechatronics engineer or product designer perhaps? Dual studies? A position as a project manager, service technician or electrical designer? Or practical training to gain your first professional experience?

Vecoplan offers motivated profes-sionals, school pupils, students and career starters an exciting environment in an international-ly-active mechanical engineering company. On average, Vecoplan trains 40 young people in a craft or commercial occupation. Depending on current require-ments, there are also three to five

dual students whom Vecoplan accompanies on their way to becoming industrial or mechanical engineers. All the vacancies are listed on the job portal with details of the place of work and the starting date.

“With just a few clicks, ap-plicants can find out which requirements they have to meet for the relevant task and what awaits them,” says Stefan Maschel, Human Resources Manager at Vecoplan. “Visitors to our completely-revised career website can now find out more about our services in advance.”

As the market leader for environmental technologies, Vecoplan offers challenging and exciting tasks for technicians, engineers, fitters, skilled

workers, sales professionals and administrative employees – and of course for all those who want to learn these professions.

E m p l o y e r B r an d i n g E m p l o y e r B r an d i n g

The website is at www.vecoplan.de/karriere

The next Vecoplan- Generation Vecoplan focusses on apprenticeshipWe attach importance to quality

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I m ag e f i l m I m ag e f i l m

The Oscar goes to VecoplanCompanies that move the world Image film Rhineland-Palatinate counts on Vecoplan

Pictures move the world. They can touch, delight, engage and capture moments for eternity. Behind extraordinary photos, videos and movies stand clever minds, who are very familiar with the medium picture and its effect...

An image film is the fastest, most memorable, most informative and, if produced correctly, emotionally the best way to get people enthusias-tic about something. An image film is a short and concise film portrait of a company, a brand or a product. In order to achieve a positive per-ception of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate on the international stage, the economics minister Dr. Volker Wissing commissions an image film, that focuses the modern industry, the attractive business location and the diversity of the country.

In addition to well-known companies such as Schott, BioNtec and facilities like the researche centre for artificial intelligence, Vecoplan was selected as positive company example and invited to participate: Vecoplan stands for innovative machines and plant engineering at the RLP business location.

A strong appearance

RLP image film Vecoplan video

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T h e m a

The global environmental goals are clearly defined: Until 2020 CO2 emissions, energy and water consumption as well as waste generation - measured by the adjusted sales and referred to the base year 2013 – should be reduced by 20 percent. For many companies sustainability becomes a matter of course.

As the industry expert we help to implement appropriate measures to achieve the goals set.

Authenticity

Markets

1918

Dynamic market: Recycling in Eastern Europe and Russia

Mrs. Schmidt, how important are the markets in Eastern Europe and Russia for the Recycling | Waste business segment?

Martina Schmidt: These markets are becoming increasingly important for us. Companies based in Russia have recently been working very dynamically on waste and recycling management issues. We have already achieved initial successes in this area and generated a number of orders. We can see interesting potential development opportunities for us in Russia in the coming years, but the country is still in the early stages of both thermal utilisation and material recycling. However, we’ve already been successful for many years in Eastern Europe and we can still see solid development opportunities there. In recent years, companies in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland have clearly increased their focus on material recycling – and this is why we established Vecoplan Polska, our Polish subsidiary, in 2019. Eastern Europe is and will remain an important market for our business unit – in thermal utilisation, too.

How important is Vecoplan Polska for your company?

Martina Schmidt: We look very closely at the countries in which we’re involved. We ask ourselves, “In which development stage are material recycling and thermal utilisation? How are we positioned in a country, what is our sales presence, our customer base, local competition, and how can we improve our marketing activities?” Even before the foundation of the Recycling & Waste business unit, the Polish market was very exciting for us – and we’ve successfully opened it up and are working it even now. Building on the business division structure that we established later, we were then able to strategically expand this, successfully implementing mechanical processing projects for the thermal utilisation of secondary raw materials. However, gradually-introduced, stricter environmental regulations forced companies to rethink waste management. The topics that drive us today are recycling management and material recycling. We have already built up a good customer base in Poland and we expect continuous further development there. This makes Vecoplan Polska a logical conclusion for us, since it enables us to do business in Poland as a partner with a strong personnel presence.

We can now provide support for our Polish customers from Warsaw – and our growth continues. The opening of this new subsidiary is an important milestone for Vecoplan in its expansion of direct customer service in Eastern European markets. Vecoplan Polska is responsible for machine and service sales, while technical development and project support are carried out by our application en-gineers the main headquarter in Bad Marienberg. Projects can often be complex and this facilitates communication within the supply chain. Our Polish branch has ensured sufficient space for growth and we can reach our customers even faster.

Who is in the Vecoplan Polska team?

Martina Schmidt: Maciej Kamola is responsible for paper, document and data destruction, in-house recycling, post-consumer plastic and post-industrial materials. Ireneusz Suszyna manages domestic & commercial waste and RDF for us. These two sales specialists both have an in-depth knowledge of the market and sound technical backgrounds. Tomasz Konieczka is our experienced service technician.

Can you tell us something about the customers in Russia and Eastern Europe? What areas do they come from, and how big are the companies?

Martina Schmidt: The companies are not very different from the others we support in Europe. The company sizes are absolutely comparable – from medium-sized and large waste disposal companies to global players with several sites – they’re all there.

Can you tell us something about the projects there?

Martina Schmidt: In Poland, the recycling market is growing very rapidly. Currently, most of our projects involve modernising existing plants on our customers’ premises. The companies there are also talking a lot about waste incineration in CHP plants – combined heat and power plants – and we see a great opportunity for the future in this respect. Poland has a major challenge to overcome in high-calorific fractions of mixed municipal waste, because Polish law does not allow this waste to be stored on landfills. It must be processed in such a way that it can be used not only in cement production but also in CHP plants.

For the shredding of plastic waste, we mainly supply our Polish customers with our V-ECO 1300 and 1700 series shredders. For the treatment of waste and RDF, we support them with our large VEZ 2500 T and VEZ 2500 TT series equipment.

Martina SchmidtHead of Business UnitRecycling I Waste

Expert talk with Martina Schmidt, Head of Business Unit Recycling | Waste

E x p e r t t a l k E x p e r t t a l k

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Future Bioenergy Eastern Europe – a growth market

Vecoplan has an export rate of 80 to 90 percent. In which countries do you see the greatest potential for the Business Unit Wood I Biomass?

Dirk Müller: The growing global awareness of a hundred percent resources usage continues, so more and more countries are relying on the use of biomass. For a smooth combustion process the biomass needs to be processed mechanically in advance to obtain a homogeneous fuel. To achieve this, we supply systems, which shred, store, dose and convey those various materials. Especially in Germany, this market has grown rapidly. In recent years, we have also been able to supply many plants to England and France. But, on the other hand, there is a pent-up demand in Eastern Europe and Russia. Here, the future lies in bioenergy and we see great potential in these countries.

Have you not been represented active in Russia before?

Dirk Müller: We have been active, and for a long time too, but only through general contractors. So for the last three to four years we have been concentrating on this market and are now doing direct business with customers in Russia. Currently we are managing three projects in Russia. These projects involve the processing of biomass for heat generation in a plywood mill and in a paper mill. The scope of supply includes the transport and processing with screening of wood chips, as well as shredding, storage and boiler feeding

And how do you consider the market in Eastern Europe, in Poland for example?

Dirk Müller: Poland has some very dense forests, which makes the country ideal for this type of energy production. The market is growing steadily here as well. We received two more orders, also for the processing of biomass for heat generation, not to long ago. What we are noticing in Poland is that, in particular, large industrial enterprises rely much more on this type of energy generation than small handicraft enterprises.

Who belongs to your customers in Eastern Europe and Russia?

Dirk Müller: That varies a lot. For example, there are companies based in Europe that want to expand their business with Russia and these companies usually know us well. They rely on our solutions because they are well aware that we know and meet their requirements. We are also gaining many new customers, like sawmill operators, biomass heating plant operators, plywood plant operators as well as pulp manufacturers. We are also seeing a clear trend in the secondary industry, due to the increasing demand for furniture and building products. These customers include companies from the pallet, furniture and kitchen industries as well as manufacturers of doors and prefabricated houses.

Dirk MüllerHead of Business UnitWood I Biomass

Dirk MüllerHead of Business UnitWood I Biomass

Expert talk with Dirk Müller, Head of Business Unit Wood | Biomass

E x p e r t t a l k E x p e r t t a l k

The processing of wood waste into biofuel and recycling of material continues to increase in Russia and Eastern Europe. For a very long time, Vecoplan was only active through general contractors in Russia in particular. But that has changed now. More and more Russian and Eastern European wood processors and biomass heating plant operators are relying on Vecoplan solutions. Dirk Müller, Head of Business Unit Wood I Biomass, is well aware of what Vecoplan customers value the most.

What is the competition like in Russia?

Dirk Müller: Of course there are local manufacturers and suppliers – but what our customers in Russia and Eastern Europe really appreciate about us is the fact that they know they are receiving everything from a single source – from the lay-out all the way to on-site installation and maintenance. We also provide services such as planning, consulting, integrated project management and further extensive services – and of course our 100 %-reliable systems. High throughput capacities and robust machines are in demand in these countries, so availability also plays an increasingly important role. Bark and waste wood are very inhomogeneous masses, which can also contain various impurities like small minerals and metals. This places high demands on shredding and processing technology. If a machine fails because, for example, the cutting knives have to be changed, everything comes to a halt – and a plant that’s at a standstill is expensive. This is why we design our systems in such a way that they can continuously feed the customers’ boilers with biomass.

Martina SchmidtHead of Business Unit

Recycling I Waste

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Focusing on customer proximitypositive growth trend continues with the opening of its Polish branch

Vecoplan has been successful in the Eastern European market for many years now. In order to provide its Polish customers with even better customer care, the leading supplier of machines and plants that crush, convey and process primary and secondary raw materials in the production and recycling cycle has opened a branch in Warsaw. The Vecoplan Polska sp. z.o.o. team includes Maciej Kamola, who is responsible for the destruction of paper, documents & data, in-house recycling and post-consumer plastic. Ireneusz Suszyna manages Vecoplan’s domestic & commercial waste and substitute fuels on the Polish market.

These two experienced sales specialists have an in-depth knowledge of the market and sound technical backgrounds. The third member of the team is service technician Tomasz Konierczzka, who has been working for Vecoplan for more than five years and is consequently very familiar with the company’s products. Michael Lambert, CFO of Vecoplan AG, is the nominal CEO of the Polish operation, the coordination of which is managed by Martina Schmidt, Head of the Recycling and Waste Division.

In November 2018, Vecoplan continued its positive growth trend with the establishment of a Polish branch office for recycling and waste in Warsaw. Headquartered in Bad Marienberg in Germany’s Westerwald, Vecoplan is the leading international specialist for environmental and recycling technologies – and thanks to the branch, the company can provide even faster support for its Polish customers.

Veco p l an P o l an d Veco p l an P o l an d

Vecoplan Poland

Maciej Kamola is responsible for paper, file and data destruction,

in-house recycling and post consumer plastic.

Service technician Tomasz Koniecza knows Vecoplan

products inside out.

Ireneusz Suszyna manages Vecoplans domestic and commercial

waste and substitute fuels on the Polish market.

The opening of this new branch is an important milestone for Vecoplan in its expansion of direct customer service in Eastern European markets. Vecoplan Polska is responsible for machine and service sales, while technical development and project support is carried out by Application Technology at the main plant in Bad Marienberg, facilitating communication within the supply chain, since projects can often be extremely complex. This approach guarantees the implementation of optimal customer solutions.

“Our Polish branch has given us sufficient space for growth – and we can reach our customers even faster”.

Michael Lambert, CFO Vecoplan AG

Vecoplan worldwideNew subsidiary company in Poland

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T h e m a

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B i o m as s C H P

Everything from a single sourceFor the CHP plant, the team of application engineers and project management specialists designed an individual feeding and processing system for fresh and waste wood. The team also took over the engineering, supplied the plant systems & electrical controls and supervised the steel construction and assembly, subsequently instructing the employees in the correct operation and maintenance of the plant.

The team began assembly work in 2017. “Just twelve months later, we were able to commission the entire plant,” says Vecoplan expert Jochen Pfeil. This was achieved despite the tight time window, because the assembly and electrical installation were scheduled for completion in six months at the most.

Smooth feedingTrucks transport the processed waste wood fuel material from the factory gate to a storage facility. A crane picks up the logs from the truck beds and places them in a box for intermediate storage. A second crane continuously places the material on a cross conveyor, which transports it in metered quantities to a conveyor belt. The belt then feeds the logs to the drum chipper.

The chipper line is equipped with a metal detector to prevent foreign bodies like metals from getting into the machine. If the detector finds anything metallic, a crane removes that particular trunk.

Two disc screens are installed on the conveyor section to the boiler to separate overlong logs before they are fed into the combustion process – these logs are then fed into two re-shredders. Re-shredding is carried out by two quickly-rotating hammer mill. “The shredding technology is the heart of the processing plant,” explains Steffen Krämer, Vecoplan Area Sales Manager Wood I Biomass, “because the quality of the wood chips depends on the composition and especially on the amount of fine material in the wood chips”.

“Vecoplan developed and supplied a tailor-made chipper line that includes processing with boiler feeding for the UK site. The team dimensioned

all components in accordance with material intake cycles and fuel requirements. “Thanks to our shredding technology, the customer can produce the required quality

of wood chips for thermal utilisation in its CHP plant.”Steffen Krämer, Vecoplan Area Sales Manager Wood I Biomass

From logs to fuelVecoplan supplies a complete chipping line including preparation and boiler feeding for a biomass CHP plantA new biomass CHP plant in England produces most of its own fuel in the form of wood chips. For a safe combustion process, the supplied input material must be processed into a homogeneous mass free of impurities – and to achieve this, the operator relies on Vecoplan, the specialist company for shredding technology that was responsible for planning, manufacturing, delivering, installing and commissioning of a chipping line, including preparation with boiler feeding. “This plant currently supplies around 50,000 households with energy,” says Jochen Pfeil, Head of Installation-Electrical Engineering at Vecoplan AG in Bad Marienberg, Westerwald. His team was instrumental in equipping the new CHP plant.

Demand for high-quality fuelThe plant works in accordance with the principle of combined heat and power generation, meaning that when biomass is burned, heat is produced that can be used to supplement the electricity supply, enabling efficiency levels of between 80 and 90 percent to be achieved. To provide the enormous amount of electrical energy required, the CHP plant must operate reliably, efficiently and safely around the clock, seven days a week. “The fuel to be used is precisely defined for each plant,” explains Vecoplan project manager Christian Jung. A small part of the material is delivered as waste wood, but 85 percent is produced by the plant operator in the form of high-quality wood chips from logs.

“To ensure a safe combustion process, the input material must be processed into a homogeneous mass free of impurities,” explains project manager Christian Jung. “Fuel in P63 or P100 sizes is required.” The mass must also be free of foreign substances that contain iron, such as nails or residual wood pieces of excess length, as these can damage the machines and disrupt the combustion process.

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Material reception, storing and dosing The project partners rely on the tech- nology of Vecoplan AG to receive the bulk material from the trucks, store it and feed it into the fuel furnace in metered quantities. “Our tasks encompass services like planning, consulting, integrated project management, comprehensive service, installation, commissioning and maintenance,” explains Michael Müller, project manager at Vecoplan, the recycling specialist company which supplied all of the machinery. Vecoplan experts carried out the mechanical assembly of the individual units, installed the electrical control systems and commissioned the entire plant.

“There were several challenges in-volved in this project,” says Müller. For example, the engineers had to create a storage facility with a sufficiently large volume for the supplied fuel, enabling the boiler to be supplied around the clock. The various conveyor components also had to be precisely matched to each oth-er and to achieve this, the technicians modified the original crane concept, for example, and developed a variant with loading and unloading conveyors.

Drag chain dischargers

A safe and reliable processTrucks deliver the biomass to the plant’s reception area. The unloading process only takes 15 minutes, during which the bulk material is deposited onto two Vecoplan drag chain dischargers. These devices move it to the discharge side, dose it and transfer it to the next stage,

the conveyor system. The conveyor system then transports the biomass into four storage boxes, en route to which an overbelt magnet frees the fuel from metal objects like screws and nails and a disc screen removes pieces of wood that are too long. These excess lengths are transported to a container. Vecoplan also installed two stations at which samples of the processed material can be taken.

Conveyor belts

The loading and unloading conveyors in the four loading boxes consist of dis-tribution and discharge conveyor belts, which can be moved up and down on steel wire ropes via rope deflectors by means of a lifting device. Dosing screws gradually feed the fuel onto the conveyor system, which then transports it into the feed hopper of the furnace. From there, the boiler is continuously fed with fuel by discharge screws. “We dimensioned all the components of the processing line to match acceptance cycles and fuel requirements,” emphasises Michael Mützel of Vecoplan Sales. “By individu-ally combining high-quality components, we have ensured efficient and safe operation in the plant.”

Vecoplan also impressed the plant operators with the rapid implementation of the project – Vecoplan received the order in Bad Marienberg in July 2017 and assembled the plant between February and June 2018. The first material was delivered at the beginning of October and the plant went into operation at the end of November.

Convincing resultsWith an overall efficiency of 86 percent, the wood-fired CHP plant in Sisseln exceeds the requirements of a main VUE (Association for Environmen-tally-Friendly Energy) condition for “Naturemade-Star Certification”. This Swiss seal of approval is used to certify installations that generate energy in an environmentally-friendly manner. The plant operators can now look forward to a climate-friendly future, because every cubic metre of wood that replaces fossil fuels prevents the release of 600 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide into the environment. In Sisslerfeld this amounts to around 35,000 tons of CO2 per year, which equates with the use of roughly 58,000 cubic metres of wood over the same period. The wood ash resulting from the incineration is disposed of in landfills in accordance with the law.

Screw conveyors

The project partners are very satisfied with the new plant: “The highest priority for us was to ensure that the specific requirements were met and that the system had a very high level of availability with low power consumption,” says Roland Dietler, Project Manager at Caliqua AG. “And that’s what we have been able to achieve.”

Wo o d - f i r e d p o w e r p l an t S i s s e l nWo o d - f i r e d p o w e r p l an t S i s s e l n

Renewable biomass instead of fossil fuels? Energy production with wood is CO2-neutral in the long term, because in contrast to oil, gas and coal, the carbon dioxide released when wood, pellets or wood chips are burned is reabsorbed by the renew-able forest. With the aim of massively reducing CO2 emissions, one of Switzerland’s largest wood-fired CHP (combined heat and power) plants was built in the Sisslerfeld industrial estate in Sisseln. The project was developed and implemented by vitamin manufacturer DSM Nutritional Products, Caliqua AG, one of Switzerland’s leading suppliers of thermal plants for industry and municipal service providers, and by ewz, the electric power supplier for the city of Zurich. The new wood-

fired CHP plant replaces a DSM CHP plant, which the vitamin manufacturer operated with natural gas and heating oil.

The new plant will produce around 48 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year and supply around 17,500 households with electricity. 221 gigawatt-hours of steam will also be produced for district heating for the three project-implementing companies and other customers. The required fuel consists of wood chips fresh from the forest, delivered by suppliers within a maximum radius of 100 kilometres – yet another measure to protect the climate.

An extremely climate-friendly optionMateriall reception, storing, conveying and dosing technology

for the wood-fired power plant Sisseln

There are many energy sources that can be used to generate electricity – and wood is one of them. Forestry biomass and industrial waste wood can be used for the cost-effective and

climate-friendly supply of electricity and heat. This is exactly what has been done in Sisseln. The canton of Aargau is home to one of the largest wood-fired power stations in Switzerland. Commissioned at the end of 2018, it will supply around 17,500 households with electricity and

many more customers with district heating. In order to receive, process, store and convey the chips from waste wood into the fuel furnace in dosed quantities,

Vecoplan supplied the complete machine technology and carried out the installation & commissioning – and it was all done on a very tight schedule.

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C i r cu l ar E co n o m yC i r cu l ar E co n o m y

The demand for plastics is increasing worldwide, and more and more waste is consequently being generated. However, it can be recycled and returned to production with a high degree of quality. Recycling will be a main theme at the K in Düsseldorf, the international trade fair for plastics, rubber and plastics processing & production. Vecoplan will also be there, showcasing machines and plants that shred, convey and process primary and secondary raw materials – enabling a closed cycle economy. The search for alternative sustainable raw materials for the production of plastics is becoming increasingly impor-tant – as is the efficient recycling of plastics. This can be returned to production in high quality. Recycling will be a central theme at K in Düsseldorf, the international trade fair for plastics, rubber, plastics processing and plastics production. Vecoplan will also be present with machines and systems that crush, convey and process primary and secondary raw materials – thus enabling closed-loop recycling.

More and more industries like the automotive, aircraft and mechanical engineering sectors are relying on plastics nowadays. For example, engineering thermoplastics are extremely temperature-resistant and are characterized by their strength, toughness and damping properties – and this is why they are increasingly replacing metal in the automotive industry. Plastics are also increasing-ly used by beverage and food manufacturers. PET, for example, is particularly abrasion-resistant and resistant to diluted acids, oils, fats and alcohols. Used as packaging, this tough plastic protects the food against spoilage,

contamination by germs and many harmful substances. However, the more the population increases worldwide and prosperity increases in many regions, the more plastic is produced – plastic that often ends up as waste in nature after use and pollutes the environment to a considerable extent. Against this background, the EU Commission presented its new plastics strategy in January 2018. “Unless we change the way we make and use plastics, by 2050 there will be more plastic swimming in our oceans than fish,” said Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans. “The only long-term solution is to reduce plastic waste by increasing recycling and re-use. With the EU Strategy for Plastics, we are driving a new, more circulation-oriented busi-ness model onwards,” was the core statement. Plastics must therefore be designed and manu-factured in such a way that they can be recycled. The K 2019 trade fair in Düsseldorf will show how this can be done. Recycling management will be a main topic at this international show. A large special exhibition, presentations and exhibits will show visitors how plastic is produced, collected, cleaned and recycled. Vecoplan AG will give a presentation and show its products at the Vecoplan stand.

With Vecoplan technologyto a seamless recycling economy

Recycling production waste

In Europe as a whole, 41 percent of plastic waste is in- cinerated; only 31 percent is recycled and used a second time – and that’s not much. “The demand for recycled materials is still too low,” says Martina Schmidt, who head of business unit at Vecoplan. For this to change, manufacturers of consumer goods, building materials and furniture must rethink their approach. According to

forecasts, global demand for plastics will double in the next 20 years.

Today, most plastics are still extracted from crude oil, the

primary material. However, according to EU policy and European recycling companies, the future should see the proportion of recycled plastic in-crease noticeably. “The

increasing demand for plastics can also lead to

a tense supply situation,” explains Martina Schmidt.

“For example, delivery times for engineering plastics can be up to four

months. This also increases prices. It’s an unsatisfactory situation for processing companies.” The recycling of plastics is an economical solution for companies.

Quality must be absolutely perfect

However, the quality must be right. The purer the recyclate is, the easier it can be processed and used to produce high-quality products. “Without consistent quality, there’s no process reliability, so we won’t have a good end product,” says Martina Schmidt. Production waste in the form of purgings or rejects is therefore an economical alternative. The producing industry can directly process these into granulate and return it to the smallest possible production circuit – the granulate possesses the same quality as pure material, since contamination and material mixing are excluded. This means that no waste is produced in the first place, and the circuit is closed. This “in-house recycling” offers a number of advantages: Companies spend less on expensive new goods and there is no need for disposal in external recycling facilities.

In the case of collected plastic waste, however, this is not as simple as this – and it can even become expensive. This is also because recycling collected plastic waste is much more complex, since it is often soiled and arrives unsorted from the collection points. Lots of water and energy are required to process this material in such a way that it can all be processed into a high-quality regranulate – and only comparatively small quantities are usually produced. “In the ideal scenario, however, regranulate possesses the quality of pure material, so it can be replaced one to one in the final application”, explains Martina Schmidt.

C i r cu l ar E co n o m yC i r cu l ar E co n o m y

This is not quite as easy as it sounds, however – the keyword is “shredding”. Ms. Schmidt cites glass-fibre reinforced plastics as an example. “The fibres added to this material must be of a certain length to ensure the required rigidity, she says. “If the fibres are too long, the quality suffers and the same is true if they’re too short.” Viscosity also plays a role when other materials – such as PET – are to be compounded in the extruder. Material flow behaviour is improved if shredding takes place in a single-stage process rather than in a multi-stage process. Vecoplan works closely with its customers to find the right solution for the application in question. The machine manufacturers develop plants which they adapt to the individual applications in numerous tests carried out in their in-house technical centre.

Martina Schmidt repeats the question: “What distinguishes a machine that’s necessary... and which components are important? “This depends on the subsequent processing steps, which can be washing, sorting, extruding, etc. As pre-treatment experts and with our maximum degree of flexibility, we can optimally adapt our shredding technology to the materials in question and to the subsequent processes. This lays the foundation for efficient and high-quality further processing. In the case of our shredders, it’s the cutting geometry that is decisive. We can exactly adapt our plants to input and output requirements by changing the rotors and cutters and selecting the right screen. The drive technology and a sturdy design are also very important, because they prevent premature wear when shredding abrasive materials like glass fibre-reinforced plastics.

At the K in Düsseldorf, the international public will see exactly how the cycle can be closed. Exhibitors like Vecoplan will be showing that the material quality of today’s regranulates can be almost pure. “Machine manufacturers in Europe have the world’s best technologies and the necessary process engineering know-how to produce high-quality recycled materials,” says Martina Schmidt. The companies at the trade fair will be presenting the technical solutions that are available today for recycling requirements and introducing approaches for future tasks.

The right technical solution is in demand

How the future will look“Unless we change the way we make and use plastics, by 2050 there will be more plastic swimming in our oceans than fish.” Frans Timmermanns

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News from US Success report of the Vecoplan LLC

At Vecoplan LLC, 2018 was a great year. Our sales exceeded budget, our production volume and quality increased dramati- cally, and our staff worked diligently to keep the equipment moving out the door. Credit for this success of course goes to everyone in the Vecoplan family – “It takes a village”!

f.l.t.r.:Luc James,

Greg Parent, Bob Gilmore and

Matt Davidson

Several key factors played a part in our results – most notably a perfect storm of trade fairs and the rollout of our new equipment for our key markets. Our largest exposure for the year was our participation in the National Plastics Exposition (NPE), which is held every three years. This event allows Vecoplan to showcase our latest equipment for the plastics processing industry. As usual, our booth was the talk of the show. Existing and new customers had the opportunity to see six of our most popu-lar models, including the introduction of the new VTH 65/12/3 horizontal plastics sheet shredder. Adding to our success for 2018 was the all-new Vecoplan PT24 and PT24-XL shred trucks. Introduced to the market at the annual NAID trade fair, the PT-Series is the first pierce

and tear truck built entirely with Vecoplan equipment. Our new Workmate 600 shear shredder has surpassed expectations in both quality and performance. The PT-Series trucks provide Vecoplan, LLC an attractive product to compete in the competitive mobile document destruction industry.

Lastly, our wood division has benefited from introducing the new VHZ-Series to the secondary wood market. We displayed four of these machines at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in August. The results were immediate and astonishing, with like-size machine sales increasing by 450 % as compared to 2017.

A m e r i can m ar k e t A m e r i can m ar k e t

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Machines

Trendsetting technologies characterize our range of services in the sectors Wood | Biomass and Recycling | Waste.

With simple integration and optimal design, our high performers stand for innovation and individuality.

Whether as the basis of an intelligent energy management or in complete cycle management in a plastic-based material

systems – our smart machines focus on maximum quality and are our reminiscence of the environment.

Challenge, innovation, success

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Not everything that lands in the waste bin is valuable. But waste paper, textiles and plastics can be used to generate energy. For example, they can serve as alternative fuels in CO2-intensive cement production. In addition, biomass combined heat and power plants are creating an increasing demand for these fuels. Plastic can be used to generate energy in other ways as well. Vecoplan develops the mechanical components for processing a wide variety of waste materials.

“Alternative fuels offer a win-win situation for cement producers, local communities and the environment. This is

because they not only conserve fossil fuel resources but also actively reduce CO2 emissions during production.”

Werner Berens, CEO Vecoplan AG

Vecoplan’s solutions are also being applied in another cutting-edge sector, biomass CHP (combined heat and power) plants. In these plants the biomass must be mechanically processed in advance to obtain homogeneous matter that is free of impurities, ensuring that combustion runs smoothly. Vecoplan provides dosing, conveying and storage components for this process. Demand is increasing not only in Germany and Europe but also in China, which could soon

become the most important market in this sector. One important reason is the dramatic rise in air pollution; another is the attractive feed-in remuneration for electricity generated from biomass. Vecoplan has implemented international projects worth many millions in this segment, and its customers have benefited from extensive know-how and comprehensive project management.

Plastic waste can be used to generate electricity in a totally different way. When heated to 800°C it can be converted through a thermochemical process into synthesis gas (syngas). Dust, solid particles, tar compounds and liquids are removed. The gas is cleaned and used to produce hydrogen, which can then be fed to a fuel cell. This process was invented by the swiss Marco Simeoni, engineer and founder of the Race for Water Foundation, which is devoted to protecting the oceans from pollution. “We must prevent plastic waste from getting into the oceans,” he says. “For this reason the fight against

plastic must take place on land.” Simeoni’s foundation developed a system that can generate energy from plastic waste. One has been operating in France and reliably generating electricity for several months. It is able to process some 1,500 tonnes of waste per year and produce about 3,700 megawatt-hours of electricity – enough to cover the needs of some 30,000 people. Vecoplan supplied the equipment necessary for shredding the plastic into a homogeneous mass.

Throughout the world, major infrastructure projects are creating an increasing demand for building materials. Global cement production has almost quadrupled since 1990. The United States Geological Service estimates that some 4.1 billion tonnes of cement were produced in 2017. This growth can be attributed largely to developments on the Asian markets. China in particular is experiencing the fastest rate of urbanisation in history.

More than 400 million people are expected to migrate from China’s countryside to the cities in the coming years – many of which still have to be built. In 2014, China produced more cement than all other countries of the world combined. “But cement production releases huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2),” says Werner Berens, CEO of Vecoplan AG. CO2 emissions could be substantially reduced through the use of alternative fuels. Waste – such as paper, textiles and plastics – could be used as a source of energy instead of coal and gas.

Moving towards cleaner air Food for fuel cells

Energy from waste

E n e r g y f r o m w as t e an d b i o m as sE n e r g y f r o m w as t e an d b i o m as s

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With the ESC-Drive, Vecoplan has been able to develop machines with an energy-efficient, cost-effective and economical drive of 11 to 37 kW motor power. The asynchronous drive motor with a powerful frequency converter works together with a high- performance belt drive featuring sophisticated slip control and tramp metal protection. The patented drive technology ensures productive and durable operation of the shredder with a convincing economic energy profile.

ESC®-Drive – an investment, that pays off

Output material

■ Shredded particles for energetic use

■ Material for briquette production

Input material

■ Particle board ■ MDF board ■ OSB board ■ Hardwood waste ■ Softwood waste ■ Solid wood waste ■ Bark

Energy savings up to 25 %

Optimum efficiencyTramp metal protectionMaximum throughput

Low maintenance costs

Product Launch VHZ 1600Energy efficient wood shredding

Following the launch of the VHZ 600-1100 XL series (Vecoplan wood shredders), Vecoplan has expanded the series by two stronger machines: the VHZ 1300 and VHZ 1600. Since this shredding technology can be used to

reliably process waste wood, the compact VHZ series is particularly suitable for applications in the woodworking industry as well as for carpenters, cabinetmakers and joiners. The patented ESC-Drive technology sets new standards in the area of energy efficiency and ensures minimal operating costs.

In response to market demands, Vecoplan has designed and constructed the VHZ 1600, the “big brother” of the small, compact and sturdy shredders. In particular, medium-sized companies in the woodworking industry had requested a heavier series of shredders for a wide variety of applications.

Wood-processing companies can use this sturdy shredding solution to process chipboard, hard and solid wood waste, bark, cardboard and softwood, turning them into wood chips and material suitable for producing briquettes. The special feature of these compact units is their patented ESC-Drive: With a motor power of 55 to 90 kilowatts, the asynchronous motor with a powerful frequency converter is energy-

efficient, cost-effective and economical in operation. Due to the improved efficiency, customers can save up to 25 % in energy compared to competitors’ products.The belt drive features a sophisticated slip-control as well as an tramp material detection – fast reversing and restarting makes the ESC-Drive very dynamic. Customers can easily regulate the throughput during operation, because the speed range of the drive is variably adjustable.

In the course of developing the VHZ 1600, the Vecoplan engineers made further enhance-ments and combined, among other things, the functional areas of the machine. The hydraulic drive as well as the ESC-Drive are mounted on a central position of the machine body, which

allows simple and fast maintenance. The cutting unit consists of a profiled rotor with easy-to-change profiled counter- knives that can be used on both sides. The arrangement of the cutters and the optimized rotor configuration ensure a homogeneous output particle size.

With single-shaft shredders, companies have universal and frequently used machines at hand, which, in most applications, can manage without additional feeding systems. With the VHZ series, the costumers can feed the collected materials directly and without dosing into the machine. The hydraulically operated ram feeds the material quickly and easily into the shredding mechanism.

V H Z 16 0 0V H Z 16 0 0

B i o m as s p o w e r p l an t

Biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants produce electrical energy from biogenic solids – and also generate additional heat which can be used efficiently. If the combustion process is to run smoothly, the mass must first be mechanically processed. The Elektra Baselland (EBL) cooperative develops, builds and operates CHP plants. The Swiss energy supplier relies on Vecoplan’s intelligent technology to supply and process waste wood and forest chips for the boiler of the large-scale heat network in Pratteln, a municipality in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft.

Sustainable, renewable and emission-free – our energy supply is changing. The phaseout of nuclear energy is underway – but what about conventional energy sources such as lignite (brown coal)? The answer is that CO2 emissions from brown coal are simply too high. Sources such as wind, water, photovoltaics and of course biomass are on the increase. The combustion of untreated wood chips, waste wood, agricultural waste and branch cuttings at over 1,000 degrees Celsius not only makes it possible to generate environmentally-friendly electricity in biomass CHP plants without generating additional greenhouse gases, it also generates huge amounts of heat. EBL is building on this efficient and ecological combination in Liestal in the Swiss canton of Baselland. For decades now, this energy supplier has been specifically promoting the use of renewable energies. EBL’s noble vision? To improve our quality of life and enable future generations to enjoy an intact en-vironment that is worth living in. EBL develops, builds and operates several CHP plants at various locations, one of which is Pratteln. The supplier feeds the generated heat into its district heating network and supplies it to several municipalities.

A huge amount of warmth

Vecoplan supplies waste and fresh wood dosing, storing and

conveying technology for a CHP plant

The CHP plant is fired with wood chips from the forest and with quality class A1 and A2 waste wood. The source material is available in size P 100, so the maximum length of the particles is less than 350 millimetres.

B i o m as s p o w e r p l an t

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B i o m as s p o w e r p l an tB i o m as s p o w e r p l an t

Correct storing, conveying and dosingEBL relies on Vecoplan AG to store, convey and dose the various bulk materials. “Our tasks encompass services such as planning, consulting, integrated project management, comprehensive services and installation, plus commissioning and maintenance,” explains Michael Mützel, Area Sales Manager, Wood I Biomass Business Unit, Vecoplan. Several challenges had to be overcome in this project. “With the limited space available, we had to develop a solution that would allow a large storage volume and efficiently convey the material to the boiler.”

This meant that off-the-shelf systems were out of the question. To transport the old and

fresh wood safely and reliably, the various conveyor components had to be precisely matched. “We changed the original crane concept for the intermediate storage of the delivered material and developed a variant with loading and unloading conveyors,” says Michael Mützel. To enable the necessary large-scale implementation, all the documents for the building permit had to be changed. Vecoplan supplied all the machinery, from material intake and storage to the boiler, including the control systems. The company’s specialists supervised the engineering, steel construction and assembly operations and subsequently instructed the employees in the plant’s operation.

A safe and reliable processTrucks with a loading volume of 90 cubic metres deliver the biomass and deposit it on a push rod discharger. This consists of hydraulically-driven push rods which lie next to each other and alternately move forwards and backwards slowly, transporting the biomass to interim storage in boxes at a volume of 270 cubic metres per hour. On its journey to the boxes, foreign bodies such as metals or excess lengths must be removed from the biomass. To achieve this, a power-ful magnet was installed above the moving biomass to pull screws and nails out of the material. A disc screen then removes wood pieces that are too long. The sorted excess lengths go directly to a container.

The processed material is stored in a storage structure with a volume of three times 1,000 cubic metres. Dosing screws then feed exact quantities of the material to the conveyor system. A drag chain conveyor transports the material to the boiler house, where another conveyor deposits the bulk material into a feed hopper equipped with a discharge screw at a volume transfer rate of 50 cubic metres per hour. The screw then feeds the boiler with the fuel at a rate of 25 cubic metres per hour. “By individually combining high-quality components, we have ensured that the plant operates efficiently and safely,” says Vecoplan project manager Michael Müller. “We dimensioned all the components of the processing line to match material intake cycles and fuel requirements.”

Markus Vögele, Project Manager Heat at EBL, is very satisfied with the result. He particularly praised Vecoplan’s efficient project management: “In October 2014 we approved the plan, the technicians installed the plants from March to August 2015 and in December we were able to start the controlled boiler operation.”

“ EBL now benefits from an efficient conveyor system and from efficient use of space. For us as operators, it’s vital that the plant runs well... and it does,” says Vögele.

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V-ECO

The extensive work carried out developing the V-ECO will pay off in all aspects of your business – performance, quality, reliability and profitability. The

Vecoplan shredder offers you outstand-ing advantages, from which you will

benefit in the short, medium and long term.

■ Maximum throughput

■ Low operating costs

■ Highest availability

■ Consistent output quality

■ Low fine fraction

■ Proven rapid return on investment

V - E C O Wo o d

V for various materials

■ Wood

■ Straw

■ Biomass

■ Bark

The V-ECO is the high-performance specialist for biomass shredding with maximum flexibility. Based on the latest, reliable technology, the V-ECO shreds a wide range of materials into appropriate homogeneous output.

Thanks to its variable usability you only need one shredder for all your applications, saving you space and investment costs. The V-ECO can be easily integrated into existing systems and adapts quickly andeasily to changing fractions by changing the screens.

Particularly in combination with the Vecoplan 5-row W rotor, the V-ECO gives you a perfectly-optimised throughput, even for low-density materials at high speeds. The system runs extremely quietly, continuously and reliably, delivering homogeneous output in the required sizes.

E for efficient process

The V-ECO series is a robust and powerful Vecoplan solution that can be used for a wide range of applications. Our development engineers focused on maximum customer benefit. Each detail has been designed to make the system consistently high efficient in terms of performance and profitability.

■ Continuously developed for efficiency in all details

■ Particularly low energy consumption due to input speed adjustment and economical, frequency-controlled, direct belt drive (ESC)

■ High process efficiency thanks to modern cutting and rotor technology

The highperformer in biomass shredding

Extremely powerful

O for outstanding performance

Completely trimmed to maximum performance. All V-ECO components are extensively designed and devel-oped to combine high throughput with maximum output quality, regardless of the input material. The control system, drive, rotor, knives, floor and ram are consistently adapted to each other in the shredding process. You will benefit from maximum value creation.

■ Intelligent technology down to the last detail

■ Designed for high throughput

■ Maximum output quality

C for compact design

The entire V-ECO machine design is adapted to use in practice. Particular importance was laid on the compact machine design. Reducing its design to only the essential parts minimises component failure, optimises material flow and facilitates the servicing and maintenance work for users thanks to its highly accessible design.

■ Compact machine design

■ Low space requirement

■ Quiet running

■ Low noise emissions

■ Large maintenance doors

■ Optimal accessibility

■ Easy to clean

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In efficient cement production, the use of alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil is absolutely essential. Vecoplan develops ideal solutions for processing and handling waste and packaging materials in RDF quality (refuse-derived fuel). The machines are used by waste recyclers and cement manufacturing companies, one of which is Irish Cement Ltd.

The company is the leading cement supplier in Ireland and has stood for customer-oriented quality in cement production for over 75 years. Sustainability is also a keyword of Irish Cement Ltd. As a member of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the company is committed to manufacturing its products under environmentally, socially and economically-responsible conditions. In order to comply with these commitments and to save primary energy and CO2, Irish Cement Ltd. decided to convert its own plant in Platin/Drogheda to use RDF in cement production. The conversion and implementation took place in 2009. The main task was the fast and permanently-secured conveyance of RDF with a high daily output in order to reliably supply the preheating tower and main burner. Irish Cement came to Vecoplan AG in search of a suitable supplier.

Tasks and requirements

Irish Cement had high demands on its systems in terms of throughput, storage volume, availability, energy efficiency and the possibility of mixing different RDF qualities. The objective was to achieve a material mix that was as homogeneous as possible and that achieved a high substitution rate.

The management required a complete handling line that could unload the delivered material from the trucks (with particle sizes of < 80 mm for the preheater and < 30 mm for the main burner) at a high throughput, store it in various warehouses, remove impurities such as excess lengths and ferrous parts, safely transport the fuel over a total distance of around 400 metres and ultimately feed it into the combustion process of the preheater and main burner in metered quantities. It was important to ensure the continuous supply of the waste fuel to the preheating tower and the main burner. The daily requirement of RDF material at the plant is around 840 metric tons. The system must be available around the clock, and on 330 days a year. Other important factors were low maintenance requirements and reliable service.

Vecoplan designed the entire plant using detailed engineering, supplied the required plant components and, together with Irish Cement, erected it under the supervision of Vecoplan’s assembly supervisor. The plant was then commissioned. Central components were supplied by Vecoplan and supplemented by a specific percentage of local production in accordance with the engineering concept.

C o m p l e t e p l an t I r i s h C e m e n tC o m p l e t e p l an t I r i s h C e m e n t

High-Performance Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Handling Line Case Study Irish Cement Ltd.

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C o m p l e t e p l an t I r i s h C e m e n t C o m p l e t e p l an t I r i s h C e m e n t

The Vecoplan solution for Irish CementTrucks deliver the input material of different grain sizes to the plant. A traffic light tells the driver when he can dock at the truck receiving station. If the truck passes a light barrier, the doors of the station automatically open. With a throughput of 300 m3/h, the fuels flow safely and cleanly into the receiving sta-tion. A high-performance conveyor belt with a levelling roller extracts the material. The homogeneous material flow enters a down-stream drag chain conveyor, which brings the material to the filling level of the downstream storage at a conveying angle of approx. 45°. The drag chain conveyors run in an endless chain with feed dogs in a closed trough – they can move the material horizontally, on an

incline or vertically, depending on the type of feed dog and trough. Thanks to their closed design, the conveyors protect the material from wind and rain and no material can escape into the environment. Once in storage, horizontal drag chain conveyors transport the material to the appropriate chambers, which are filled by means of motorised slides. A filling level control always shows the current level. A sample of the RDF material can be taken at any time for quality control via an automatic sample extraction point in the drag chain conveyor behind the truck receiving station. The space available on the company premises was limited. To safely accommodate the large amount of material, a warehouse

with a total volume of 4,000 m3 was required (in 2013, another warehouse was added to the storage system, expanding the total storage volume to 5000 m³). Vecoplan succeeded in implementing the requirements in a compact manner, using the proven storage system of loading and unloading conveyors with a storage height of ten metres. The storage unit is divided into five chambers: three for the < 30 mm fine material with which the main burner is fed, and two for the < 50 mm coarser pre-burner material.

The material is discharged behind the five loading and unloading conveyors via a twin screw in each storage box to homogenise the material flow. Each material discharge has a Y-chute to select the next conveying section, either in the direction of the main burner or that of the preheater. For quality assurance and to remove impurities, these two lines are each equipped with a drum magnet for separation of ferrous material and a Vecoplan disc screen for excess length separation. Downstream, the materials are conveyed per line via drag chain conveyors and the VRF pipe belt conveyor system up to the gravimetric metering point where they are fed to the combustion process in the preheater or in the main burner.

The bottom lineFor this project, Vecoplan supplied a balanced and complete RDF handling line with coordinated components to Irish Cement. The heart of the system is the storage technology with loading and unloading conveyors and the energy-efficient pipe belt conveyors of the VecoBelt series. Materials of different quality can be optimally mixed according to the combustion requirement profile in order to achieve the required calorific value. The reliable plant is extremely energy- efficient, requires little maintenance and provides a very high level of process safety. A continuous supply of preheaters and main burners with high-quality RDF material is therefore ensured at all times. The special feature? Thanks to the modular design of the system, the operator can expand it at any time and increase performance to react to market developments and trends. Ongoing developments in the market strengthen the continued pursuit of the use of alternative fuels. Vecoplan will continue to advance the development of the necessary technologies.

Safe and energy-efficient transportThe pipe belt conveyors of the VecoBelt (VRF) series are particularly noteworthy in this project. Thanks to their closed design, they transport the prepared material mix to the preheater and to the main burner safely – with neither losses nor emissions. In doing so, they travel a total distance of up to 500 metres with only one belt. The VecoBelt pipe belt conveyor is ideal for the horizontal or inclined conveyance of bulk material over long distances, up to an angle of 18°. The conveyor belt slides on an air cushion in a closed steel tube. Since the belt is supported by this cushion, both in the belt feed and in the belt return, the idlers in the feeder and the return rollers are no longer required – and that means little or no roller maintenance. Only very minor frictional losses occur during operation – and the conveyor also runs very quietly. Its conveying capacity achieves up to 1200 m³/h.

Each drive station is equipped with two scrapers. Operators can adjust the front head scraper and the carbide scraper from the outside. The front head scraper is flexible, yet strong enough to remove impurities from the belt. The carbide scraper provides even more thorough cleaning and also removes firmly- adhering belt dirt. Belt tension is achieved by means of efficient weight tensioning. With more than 90 installations worldwide, the VecoBelt has become indispensable for conveying bulk materials in RDF handling.

Vertical drag chain conveyors convey the fuel from the unloading station to the warehouse. Thanks to their closed design, the conveyors protect the material from wind and rain – and the environment cannot be polluted.

A continuous quality control procedure with automatic sampling is carried out while the truck is being emptied.

Vecoplan supplied an unloading station for trucks. A traffic light tells the driver when he can dock. When the truck passes a light barrier, the doors of the station open automatically.

After the material mix has been processed, the pipe belt conveyors of the VecoBelt series convey it to the preheater and the main burner – transport is safe, loss- and emission-free.

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R D F P r o ce s s i n g R D F P r o ce s s i n g

1. Pre shredder VVZ

■ Two shaft shredder with high capacity ■ Pre shredding down to < 200 mm ■ Exchangeable cutters and counter

knifes for a homogenous particle size distribution

■ Energy efficient HiTorc-Drive (2 x 155 kw) ■ Two solid steel rotors grant a smooth

machine operation and high power ■ Easy to maintain by lateral maintenance

doors

2. Conveyor belts VFB

■ Through conveyor belts installed in the complete plant

■ Robust design ■ Modular design ■ Adjustable conveying widths to different

volumes ■ Easy to clean due to modern scrapers

3. Overbelt magnet VÜB

■ Reliable separation of ferrous metals after pre shredding

■ Electro magnet can be switched off for maintenance

■ Consequent reduction of tramp material increases the output material’s quality

4. Wind sifter

■ Separated the high and medium caloric fraction

■ The fuel quality improves because the heavy fraction is separated

■ Protects the re shredding from tramp material

■ Reliable separation of fractions

6. Re shredder VEZ

■ Especially developed for the RDF production

■ High efficiency cutting system for maximum throughput

■ Homogenous particle size distribution ■ Robust design and high availability ■ Easy to maintain

7. Drag chain conveyor KKF

■ Discharge conveyor of both re shredders type VEZ 2500 TT

■ Transfers the RDF to the storage boxes

■ Closed and clean system ■ Proven technology, reliable,

trouble free and almost free from maintenance

8. Screen

■ Reliable separation of oversized material from the target fraction

■ Exchangeable screens ■ Easy to maintain

5. Pendulum distributor

■ Disposes the material to the two re shredders

■ Safes conveyor belts for the feeding ■ Closed, clean system

Maximum benefit at high efficiency

RDF processing line achieves reliably high performanceVecoplan has designed and installed a RDF processing line forHelmut Westarp GmbH & Co. KG at their waste management facilityin Aschaffenburg provided with latest technology. The wastemanagement facility had to be designed in such way that it achievesreliably high performance, but also high quality. The customer wantsto use the marketing opportunities best possible. Subsequently hedecided to produce different RDF qualities. Vecoplan convincedWestarp not only by the extensive engineering and by projectexperience in the implementation of RDF processing lines worldwide,but also because of the clear advantages of the high-tech shreddersVVZ 250 as heavy duty pre shredder and the VEZ 2500 as re shredder.

In the project Westarp Aschaffenburg the existing structural conditions had to be considered. The installation of the new RDF line had to be carried out in an existing hall, where sorting systems were in operation – a particular challenge for the Vecoplan project management.

Various output

Vecoplan has designed a waste management facility for RDF for Westarp GmbH & Co. KG, which offers the operator the opportunity to produce the output material in different fractions. The wind sifter as well as the screening technology are perfectly adjusted to the on site requirements. These components make the difference when it comes to classifying the factions. The plant can be adjusted easily via the operator panel.

The powerful pre shredder feeds two re shredding lines. The separation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals as well as the heavy fraction separation contribute to quality assurance. The complete conveying technology, pendulum distributor, drag chain conveyors, double-screw conveyor – everything out of one hand from Vecoplan.

The project requirements: ■ An overall system based on high performance and state

of the art technology ■ The system achieves high profitability based on availability,

output-capacity and quality and energy efficiency ■ Production of high calorific fraction (disposal), medium

calorific fraction (thermal utilization in waste incineration/ cement plants) and high calorific fraction (cement plants)

Focus on quality and quantityVecoplan has proved how much a modern RDF processing plant is able to achieve, when it is provided with world-class technology. The waste management facility had to be designed in such way that it achieves reliably high performance, but also high quality.

Design of the heavy duty system with high availability

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B i o m as s p o w e r p l an t B u r m e i s t e r & Wa i n

Natural wood chips, waste wood, agricultural waste and branch cuttings are burned in biomass CHP plant boilers at over 1,000 degrees Celsius to heat water. The resulting steam drives a turbine which is coupled to a generator to produce electricity.

Some steam is left over and is used to heat water for district heating by means of a heat exchanger – so the energy of the biomass is used twice, to produce electricity and to generate heat. In Germany in 2016, around 13 % of all electrical energy was obtained from renewable sources such as this, and also from wind, water and solar power. Around 80 % was obtained from fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, and approximately 7 % from nuclear power.

Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S is a Danish machine manufacturer and CHP plant operator. Vecoplan supplied complete systems to the company, meticulously planned down to the last detail and optimised for the individual charging and processing of fuels at a total of five locations.

The furnace is alight and the feed is running

Vecoplan supplies storing, dosing and conveying equipment

for the preparation of material mixtures.

B i o m as s p o w e r p l an t B u r m e i s t e r & Wa i n

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B i o m as s p o w e r p l an t B u r m e i s t e r & Wa i nB i o m as s p o w e r p l an t B u r m e i s t e r & Wa i n

“Renewable energies are becoming ever more important for coping with the increasing demand for electricity worldwide. Oil is coming to an end and is also more expensive, the combustion of coal gives rise to greenhouse gases, and nuclear waste is difficult to dispose of,” says Ralf Rosenkranz, citing three examples. He is a Sales Engineer at Vecoplan AG. However, availability plays a major role when it comes to regenerative energy sources. Wind and water power cannot be used everywhere, and solar energy is highly dependent on the sun’s radiation. The importance of biogenic fuels for generating electricity reliably and continuously therefore increases further, as mature timber in particular is available in sufficient quantities in the short, medium and long term. The main markets for BMCHP are currently still to be found in Europe – but Africa, the USA and Asia are on the way up.

Efficient processing before combustion Demands on power stations which have to provide an increasing amount of electrical energy are therefore escalating. They must work reliably, efficiently and safely, often around the clock and seven days a week. For smooth and economic combustion, the biogenic solids must first be homogenised, that is to say mechanically processed before combustion. “For example, the charging material may have a very high water content. Also, there are often foreign materials such as nails which contain iron, or leftover wood with over-long pieces in the mass. These can damage the machines and disrupt the combus-tion process,” explains Rosenkranz. Vecoplan develops the necessary systems and components to prevent this.

The machine builder’s tasks also include services such as planning, consultation, overall project management, and comprehensive service as well as installation, commissioning and maintenance work. This enables the Westerwald-based company to adapt its technology to the particular application. “Biomass power plants are usually designed for long-term operation,” reports the Sales Engineer. “The fuel which is to be used is exactly defined for every plant.” Although the type of material is known, its source and therefore its quality may vary, particularly when transport service providers do not always deliver the biomass from the same suppliers.

Free from extraneous materialWhen the pre-shredded biomass arrives at the BMCHP, Vecoplan provides various components, such as pull rod dischargers, bunkers, and the patented Toploader storage system, for receiving the material depending on the way it is discharged. These are filled, for example, from the open side by semi- trailers, tilting containers or wheel loaders on a flat floor surface. Discharging to the subsequent conveyor equipment takes place on the opposite side via an inclined ramp.

In most cases, the fuel is transported in sizes P63 or P100. The maximum length of the particles is therefore less than 200 or 250 mm. Foreign bodies, such as metals and minerals, must be removed in order to obtain a homogenous mass. For this purpose, Vecoplan installs magnets in the lines to remove ferrous metals such as screws and nails from the mass. Depending on the material, non-ferrous separators are also incorporated into the line. “For example, a high aluminium content can significantly impair the combustion process,” explains Rosenkranz. Disc or star screening machines are used to separate over-length wooden slats from the biomass. The excess lengths removed go directly to slow-running single or double shaft shredders from the VAZ or VNZ ranges. These work particularly energy efficiently.

The processed biomass is usually trans- ported by open trough belt or closed drag chain conveyors. “In the case of drag chain conveyors, an endless chain with feed dogs runs in a closed trough. Depending on the type of feed dog and trough, they can move the material horizontally, on an incline or vertically. For storage, Vecoplan supplies different systems, such as pull rod discharg-ers, loading and unloading conveyors, top loaders, concrete silos or open-air storage, to suit the volumes transported. “We size all components of the process line according to the charging cycles and the fuel requirement,” explains the Sales Engineer.

Individually matched technologyBurmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contrac-tor A/S also has faith in these systems. The Danish manufacturer and operator of biomass combined heat and power plants has tasked Vecoplan with designing an individual charging and processing system for new and mature timber at five locations in the United Kingdom. “We carried out the engineering, supplied the machines and the electrical controls, took responsibility for the steelwork and installation and subsequently trained the staff,” explains Rosenkranz.

As well as high availability, technical safety presented a particular challenge. One of the sites is in Snetterton in the English county of Norfolk. Vecoplan incorporated pendulum rod dischargers in order to be able to tip the already shredded material safely. The suspended rods enable bulk and free-flowing material with a maximum grain size of 40 mm to flow uniformly and controllably onto the removal station. Lumpy material is diverted by the oscillating bars, and dust development is reduced by the low drop height.

At three other locations, the material is loaded via push rod dischargers. From here, the biomass goes either directly to a vibratory conveyor, which serves as a discharge conveyor, or directly to a conveyor belt. Dosing conveyors are used at the fifth plant. As intermediate bunkers, these are capable of depositing different materials in exact quantities onto the conveyor system. In order to remove foreign materials, the lines in all plants are equipped with magnets and non-ferrous separators. The mass passes to star or disc screens via drag chain conveyors. In Snetterton for example, samples are also taken automatically to ensure that the quality is right.

Here – unlike in the other BMCHPs – the material is buffered in boxes. These are equipped with loading und unloading conveyors. A controllable distribution and

discharge conveyor suspended on steel wire ropes fills and empties the containers evenly. The two adjacent storage boxes can be handled by means of a chassis. Worm con-veyors and drag chain conveyors transport the biomass onward to the boiler. “We have also implemented dryer charging in one of the plants,” says Rosenkranz. The material is received via a push rod discharger and the dryer is fed via worm conveyors and drag chain conveyors. A drag chain conveyor is also responsible for discharging the dryer.

A single source and a single point of contactWhen it came to equipping the new biomass combined heat and power plant, Burmeister & Wain placed its entire trust in Vecoplan. Design, planning and implementation were carried out almost simultaneously from a single source. There was therefore only one point of contact responsible for all projects. Meetings could be combined, installation and commissioning staff were able to service several sites, and spare parts and consum-ables are suitable for all Vecoplan systems. “We have developed an efficient and tailor-made solution for each site,” explains Rosenkranz. “We were also able to comply with the strict quality standards which are typical of the country as well as meeting the high demands on project management and documentation.”

Processing for biomass power plant

“We have developed an efficient and tailor-made solution for each site. We were also able to comply with the strict quality standards which are typical of the country as well as meeting the high demands on project management and documentation.”Ralf Rosenkranz, Sales Engineer Vecoplan AG

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S e r v i ceS e r v i ce

Fire protection

Vecoplan also performs service checks and carries out all maintenance work. Its employees check wear parts and spare parts at regular intervals and make sure that replacements are delivered on time. Users can also opt for fire protection for machinery.

This includes locating possible sources of ignition in the material during the shredding process and providing automatic extinguish-ing systems for quick response. But, what is the best service option for a given application? “We’re familiar with our machines and our customers’ needs,” says Claudy. “Thus we can recommend service agreements that are appropriate to the specific application, ensuring safe operation and maximum operating time.”

Vecoplan AG offers shredding, screening, dosing and conveying solutions for a vast range of materials, including plastics, waste wood, scrap wood, files and data storage media. The high-quality output can then be recycled. Vecoplan designs its machinery and systems for continuous operation. However, parts can wear out, machines can fail and machines must be modernised. Vecoplan’s service ensures that its systems stay up and running throughout their working life. In addition to replacement parts and maintenance packages tailored to each customer, the company offers, inter alia, an Industry 4.0 service tool.

What is the key to a good manufacturer–customer relationship? “There’s a clear answer: trust,” says Markus Claudy, Head of Business Unit Service I Parts at Vecoplan. “We adapt the machines to customer’s applications in our in-house technical centre,” explains Claudy. “We install them, commission them and see to it that they operate reliably throughout their service life.” Vecoplan offers users a variety of contractually agreed service plans that can be customised for their applications.

Along with the Wood | Biomass and Recycling | Waste Business Units, the Service | Parts Business Unit plays an important role at Vecoplan. Markus Claudy’s team of 30 employees supports customers beyond commissioning. “Preventing malfunctions and machine downtimes is only one of the tasks of our after-sales service,” he explains. “Our customers often also have to modify their machinery in accordance with changed production conditions or to increase its capacity.”

Vecoplan Service Maximum support and machine availability

And what if a user’s system suddenly shuts down? “Our hotline is open around the clock, every day of the year,” says Claudy. “We provide help over the phone right away.” Vecoplan’s technicians first try to rectify the problem via remote diagnostics. In many cases the systems can go back online very quickly. In addition, the causes of the malfunction are determined in order to prevent a recurrence. But not every fault can be remedied over the phone. “In such cases we prevent prolonged downtimes by sending a colleague to the customer to solve the problem, and in some countries, such as the United Kingdom, we give the job to one of our licensed service partners.”

Vecoplan’s Live Service is a more cost- efficient alternative. Users can request direct online support from anywhere in the world. Vecoplan’s experts can access the controller or the control panel and identify, analyse and eliminate errors in real time. Live images can be transmitted via web cams and complex technical issues can be explained using chat or video/teleconfer-ence technology. “Moreover, relevant data and documents can be called up online,” explains Claudy. “All the service measures are also listed. Users are reminded in good time when maintenance activities are due.”

To increase the user-friendliness Vecoplan has also developed a service app so that customers can send their enquiries via smartphone. It can be downloaded free of charge for iOS and Android. Thanks to the Live Service link, all data relevant to the machine components, such as filling level, speeds, operating hours, drives and current consumption, are displayed on the customer’s smartphone or tablet. This gives the responsible plant superintendent or works manager an overview of the system functions, enabling him to monitor them and take action in good time. The application can also be used without the Live Service package. Customers can respond immediately in the event of operating faults and trigger a request without delay. “We also offer virtual reality headsets,” says Claudy. “When an employee uses one, our service engineer can display all the relevant information in the employee’s visual field.” The employee has both hands free to follow the expert’s instructions. Thanks to this service tool, Vecoplan’s maintenance personnel need to make fewer site visits. This cuts costs and saves time.

Boosting the performance of existing machineryVecoplan also helps its customers to meet increased capacity requirements. Its specialists retrofit existing machinery from end to end. Besides benefiting from greater operational reliability, users improve their processes and minimise risks. “For example, we upgraded a VAZ 2500 T re-shredder for a customer, enabling it to double its throughput while consuming the same amount of power,” says Claudy. “What’s more, the output material was more homogeneous.”

The user is a processor of industrial waste that produces refuse-derived fuels with a high calorific value for power plants, cement works and lime works. The quality of the material was improved by minimising the overlengths in re-shredding. The customer also wanted to increase its capacity, originally 4.5 to 5 tonnes per hour, up to eight tonnes per hour. “We replaced the U-rotor with a W-rotor, which was more suitable for this material,” says Claudy. “In this project we were in charge of overall planning, project management, installation and commissioning. We also provided proof of performance.”

Reliable support around the clock

“We’re familiar with our machines and ourcustomers’ needs,” says Claudy. “Thus wecan recommend service agreements thatare appropriate to the specific application,ensuring safe operation and maximumoperating time.”

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MaterialsEven without legislative pressure, topics like sustainability and resource conservation are in high demand. EU initiatives for a better use of raw materials make a significant contribution to international rethinking. The benefits speak for themselves, the use of recyclates or processed alternative fuels are worthwhile. From economical and ecological point of view, efficient processing and safe material handling pave the successful way into the future.

Vision, innovation, reality

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A k t e n - u n d D a t e n v e r n i ch t u n g S ecu r e d o cu m e n t an d da t a car r i e r d e s t r uc t i o n

Cleanly and safety shreddedThat‘s how Vecoplan does document and data carrier destruction. Our engineers are specialists in the subject. Every new development undergoes intensive testing at our Technical Centre. The results produce high-performance Vecoplan document and data carrier shredders adapted to the highest level of security requirements down to thelast detail.

V-ECO – the latest technology

Latest generation shredder technology! The V-ECO series document and data shredders are a brand new develop-ment. The systems are particularly highly efficient for paper shredding in that they adjust their speed to the input and have a frequency-controlled direct belt drive (ESC-Drive). At peak performance, the shredders can achieve a paper through-put of up to 9 tonnes per hour (V-ECO 1700). The compact machine design minimizes the need for space and ensures smooth running and low noise emissions. Systematic reduction - system reduced to only the essential elements. Large maintenance doors and a swivel machine floor provide excellent accessibility and facilitate the servicing and maintenance work for the users.

■ TÜV-certified document and data carrier shredder (security levels P-1 to P-5)

■ Peak performance up to 9 tonnes of paper per hour (V-ECO 1700)

■ U-rotor or W-rotor with 40 mm knives made from high-alloy special steel

■ Security level P-1 to P-5 in one step ■ Hydraulically operated floor flap ■ Highly efficient (ECO!)

VAZ – proven high performance

The VAZ series offers document and data shredders in various sizes and drivepowers. The robust, tried and tested single-shaft shredder can be used fordestroying nearly all types of data carrier. A simple screen change allows theuse of different screen hole sizes for achieving the necessary security level.

■ The U-rotor with 40 mm cutting tools made from highalloy special steel enables a particularly high through put. A VAZ 2000 shreds up to 12 tonnes of paper per hour safely, securely and reliably. In combination with the Vecoplan HiTorc-Drive, the system is extremely energyefficient and saves up to 50 % in energy costs compared to standard drives.

■ Security level P: P-1 to P-5 ■ Security level O: O-1 to O-3 ■ Security level T: T-1 to T-4 ■ Security level H: H-1 to H-5 ■ Security level E: E-1 to E-3

VDS 800 – the hard drive specialist

If you want to shred hard drives or magnetic, optical and electronic data carriers such as magnetic tapes, CDs or USB sticks reliably in batches, theVDS 800 is the perfect solution. The mechanical shredding process destroyssensitive data effectively and irreversibly. The use of different screen sizes also enables different security levels to be applied. All components inside the machine that come into contact with products are made from anti-magnetic steel to prevent hard drive magnets from sticking to them. The machine is loaded simply through a closable in-feed shaft.

■ High flexibility thanks to wide area of application

■ Security levels: O-1 to O-4, T-1 to T-4, H-1 to H-5, E-1 to E-4

■ Simple adjustment thanks to quick screen change

■ Low labour costs thanks to batch-by-batch loading

■ With anti-magnetic stainless steel lining

■ Ready to plug in, CE-compliant delivery

■ Can also be used on a mobile basis

With the single-shaft shredder VAZ, V-ECO and hard drive shredder VDS 800 Vecoplan offers three complete systems for the different requirements of a safe and efficient secure document and data carrier destruction.

Vecoplan solutions meet the very special needs of operators. They benefit from systematic security, top shredding performance, continuous system efficiency and overall profitability.

One team: single-shaft shredder VAZ,V-ECO and hard drive shredder VDS 800

Our systems can really do:

■ Highly secure and efficient document and data carrier shredding

■ TÜV-certified security levels, in accordance with DIN 66399-2

■ Implementation of complete systems according to DIN 66399-3

■ Wide range of Vecoplan machines: VAZ, V-ECO, VDS 800 ■ Solutions tailored to your exact requirements ■ Flexible shredders ■ High reliability ■ Safe investment ■ Know-how and technology from the market leader

Secure document anddata carrier destruction

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M a t e r i a l h an d l i n g M a t e r i a l h an d l i n g

Engineering and production for

RDF-Processing and Material handling

Vecoplan competence all along the line

Vecoplan dosing, storing and conveying components aresynchronized in detail so that a continuous material flow

in your system is guaranteed. This enables a high profitability of your system.

Vecoplan has years of experience in the engineering and production of state-of-the-art and high-performance processing plants

for the production of alternative fuels (RDF) from domestic and industrial waste as well as for the handling of material

streams for thermal utilization in power plants and the cement industry.

Material receptionEvery process for thermic material use starts with the material reception. To secure for an optimized flow of the material we design customized material reception solutions for your processes, conveying routes, the required conveying capacities and local conditions.

The material reception systems are variably adaptable, for material supply with dump trucks, trailers with push floor or wheelloaders – depending on the local conditions, the input material and the required conveying capacity – Vecoplan will receives your material safely.

Material conveyingDifferent feeding materials form special requirements to the conveying technology. Vecoplan possesses numerous innovative, technical solutions to receive, store or trans-port material economically and efficiently.

To cover a wide range of material handling requirements, Vecoplan designs and manufactures conveying units to meet a wide range of requirements, such as the type of material and the particle size, as well as the conveying distance and the degree of inclination of the conveyor line.

Material storageVecoplan offers customized solutions for the storage of a wide variety of materials and material volumes. Different conveying systems depending on the required storage volume and material consistence are applied.

Storage of material by Drag Chain Discharger System

Storage of material by Toploader System

Storage of material by Screw Bottom Bunker

Storage of material by Loading and Unloading Conveyor Type VBE

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Tech n ica l p l as t ic s Tech n ica l p l as t ic s

As good as new – or even better

Technical plastics – Vecoplan develops individual shredding technologies for top quality output and maximum performance

Thanks to their high degree of mechanical stability, engineering plastics are true all-rounders, used in almost every industry through-out the world. The interaction of supply and demand is shown clearly in a classic example of excess demand: The goods are in short supply and prices are rising constantly. The solution? Recirculate process waste to the production cycle. However, powerful technology is needed to reprocess these materials – and Vecoplan offers individual shredders that are precisely matched to materials, forming the very heart of successful recycling processes. “More and more industries are relying on technical plastics,” says Martin Klotz, who has studied the market for years. “In particular, the shredding of these materials is becoming an increasing challenge,” the Area Sales Manager says. Why should that be? “It’s precisely because of the very characteristics which make them so useful.” He cites polyamides (PA) as an example, large quantities of which are processed into fibres. These engineering thermoplastics can usually withstand permanent temperatures of up to 130 degrees Celsius.

However, they are above all characterised by their high strength, toughness and damping properties. “In the automotive industry, these materials are more and more often replacing metal,” explains Klotz. Increasing electrification is increasing demand, whether it is for battery protection, reducing dust in interiors or for modern lighting technology with LEDs.

PA, like polyoxymethylene (POM), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Cast Polyamide 6, with their excellent mechanical properties, are also used in the construction of machines. PET is also very popular in the beverage and food industry, another important market that relies on engineering plastics – because in Europe especially, consumer awareness of sustainable packaging has improved. PET is particularly abrasion-resistant and resistant to diluted acids, oils, fats and alcohols. “But the increasing demand for engineering plastics in very different industries is leading to a tense supply situation,” says Klotz. “It can now take up to four months for an order to be delivered. Prices are also rising. This is an unsatisfactory situation for processing companies.”

Turning the old into high-quality new

One solution for processing companies is to return material back into the production cycle in the form of purgings or rejects. This ‘in-house recycling’ offers a number of advantages: Companies spend less on expensive new goods and there is no need to dispose of them in external recycling facilities. Less space is required in the factory hall where the reject material is stored, and the material only needs to be stored temporarily before a clean preparation of the raw material takes place. “And with the right technology, a quality can be produced that is comparable to – or even better than – the original material,” says Klotz.

This is not as easy as it sounds, however – and that is where shredding comes into its own. He cites GF 30 glass fibre-reinforced plastic as an example: “The fibres inserted in this material must have a certain length to ensure the required rigidity”, says Klotz. “If they’re too long or too short, the quality suffers.” Viscosity also plays a role when other materials – such as PET – are to be compounded in the extruder. Material flow behaviour is improved if shredding takes place in a single-stage process rather than in a multi-stage process. The output quality and the throughput performance must both be efficient enough to enable companies to work economically.

It all depends on the system technology

Vecoplan’s developers work closely with the company’s customers to find the right solution for the various engineering plastics. “In recent years, processing companies have constantly presented us with new challenges,” says Klotz. “In some cases, these materials were extremely difficult to process and had to be shredded into high-quality granulate at a high throughput.” Among the customers were companies that had recently asked other manufacturers for a solution, but they were not satisfied with the answers they got. “We develop plants which we adapt to the individual applications in numerous tests in our in-house technical centre”, explains Klotz. “And we constantly exchange information with the customers.”

So what is it that distinguishes a machine like this, and which compo-nents are important? “It’s the cutting geometry that’s mainly decisive,” says Klotz. “We can exactly adapt our plants to input and output requirements by changing the rotors and cutters and selecting the right screen. The performance can be precisely determined by the interface. Depending on the requirements, for example, we might select a larger rotor diameter, which can be equipped with hardened tools that can also be used several times and changed quickly. For a more stable and tougher tool design, the core can be increased, and their mounting can be adapted to the task at hand. The Vecoplan technicians can also use bolted and hardened counter-knives to make the counter knife bar more solid.

“We develop plants which we adapt to the individual applications in numerous tests in our in-house technical centre and we constantly exchange

information with the users.”Martin Klotz, Area Sales Manager

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Tech n ica l p l as t ic s

“Depending on the application, we develop completely new components or optimise existing ones,” reports Klotz. “In this way, we can always respond effectively to the different materials and throughput requirements of our customers. That’s important, because the availability of new materials is not expected to improve in the coming years.”

Tech n ica l p l as t ic s

Electric motors without gears considerably increase the energy efficiency and consequently the productivity of plants. In recognition of this, the HiTorc was awarded the environmental prize of the Deutsche Bundess-tiftung Umwelt (German Federal Foundation for the Environment) in 2017.

A dynamic, robust and safe drive

For the rotors, Vecoplan uses the HiTorc drive, which is available in various performance classes, depending on the requirements. It works dynamically, with a strong start-up phase and a high torque. No mechanical elements such as gearboxes, belts, clutches or hydraulic units are required. In contrast to units with gear drives, the strong vibrations and shocks that occur during the often-difficult shredding process pose no great challenge for the HiTorc direct drive.

“Compared to mechanical and hydraulic drives, wear is significantly lower and maintenance work is less”, says Klotz. “And thanks to the direct mounting of the drive on the rotor shaft, there is no loss of power in the power train and that means the HiTorc can achieve a higher level of efficiency.” The high torque available over the entire speed range also enables a trouble-free start-up under load. Fast and dynamic reversing processes are also possible in the event of overloading. For safe operation, the braking resistor enables a fast rotor stop if there is a risk of an accident occurring (emergency stop) and if impurities are detected. PTC thermistor technology protects the main motor from fire. “The Oswald Elektromotoren GmbH company has introduced our HiTorc as a main drive in its direct drive technology. This has revolutionised electric motor construction,” says Klotz enthusiastically.

A reinforced design where required

The developers can strengthen the machines with a reinforced design to prevent premature wear during the shredding of certain materials, such as glass fibre-reinforced material. The housing can be constructed with thick-walled ribs, for example, with more solid sidewalls and a more robust base. “In one of our plants, we increased the distance between the rotor end face and the side wall, in both the rotor area and screening chamber. This prevents tapes and wires from winding on to the rotor shaft,” says Klotz. The free passage of material downwards also reduces wear between the rotor and the sidewall. A revised adjustment between the drive shaft and the rotor bearing, plus robust, exchangeable sealing elements on the rotor and side wall prevent materi-als from penetrating and adhering to the bearing area. This increases service life and improves ease of maintenance.

Customers include companies from various industries – from the electrical industry, for example, another important buyer of engineering plastics. “We developed a shredding technology for a company that processes glass fibre- reinforced material containing compressed connectors and circuit boards,” explains Klotz. The material is tipped into the plant in boxes. The brass parts are first sorted mechanically, and then shredded into a high-quality output material thanks to the Vecoplan technology. Another customer manufactures road delineators, which have a normal lifespan of around 15 years. “Together with the customer, we worked out a solution to recycle the material,” says Klotz. One important thing here was that the material had to be washed intensively after shredding, because the posts can be considerably soiled by road salt, for instance.

The cutting unit is all-important. Depending on the application, a large rotor diameter equipped with hardened concave tools can be used.

Vecoplan’s powerful shredders provide for efficient processing of technical plastics. Users save time and optimise their profitability with regard to the implied raw material costs and quantities.

The robust screen can be easily replaced to match different output particle sizes.

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Vecoplan AG Vor der Bitz 10 56470 Bad Marienberg | Germanyphone +49 2661 62 67-0 fax +49 2661 62 67-70 welcome@ vecoplan.de www.vecoplan.com

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