Gerresheimer has commissioned the world’s first partial-flow exhaust air purification system. This will ensure that the glass manufacturer’s existing system complies with the much more stringent clean gas values that apply after a glass tank replacement – and all for half the investment cost of conventional methods. The cost-efficient solution is based on the new Ecopure® CCF developed by Dürr.
The Gerresheimer Group, one of the leading international manufacturers of glass and plastic primary packagings for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, uses two melting tanks at its site in Essen. The planned modernization of one of the furnace and the higher production capacity associated with this means that the existing exhaust air purification system may no longer be able to achieve the clean gas values for dust and nitrogen oxide (NOx). In order to efficiently and cost-effectively prepare the existing system for the future increase in output, Luft- und Thermotechnik Bayreuth (LTB), a subsidiary of Dürr, developed an innovative concept with this special Ecopure® CCF.
The high melting temperatures required during glass production result in large quantities of pollutants. Gerresheimer merges the contaminated exhaust air from the two glass furnaces into one exhaust air purification system. In the future, half of the exhaust air will be treated in an Ecopure® CCF. This technology combines the three individual processes of exhaust air purification, enabling one system to precipitate dust, absorb sulfur, and reduce nitrogen oxides from the exhaust air. This is done using catalytic candle filters, whose ceramic fibers can withstand temperatures of up to 900°C. The exhaust air, treated in the Ecopure® CCF, is then returned to the existing system, where it mixes with the exhaust air purified there. The Ecopure® CCF ensures that the exhaust air as a whole complies with all required clean gas values. The investment costs for partial-flow treatment are therefore half of typical alternatives. This would have involved replacing the existing system completely with a new one or upgrading the existing system with a downstream system.
The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading mechanical and plant engineering firms with extensive expertise in automation and digitization/Industry 4.0. Products, systems and services offered by the Group enable highly efficient manufacturing processes in different industries. Dürr supplies sectors like the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical and woodworking industries. The Group generated sales of € 3.71 billion in 2017. In October 2018, Dürr acquired the industrial environmental technology business of US-based company Babcock & Wilcox, comprising the MEGTEC and Universal brands. Since then, the company has over 16,000 employees and 108 business locations in 32 countries. The Group operates in the market with five divisions:
- Paint and Final Assembly Systems: paint shops and final assembly systems for the automotive industry
- Application Technology: robot technologies for the automated application of paint, sealants and adhesives
- Clean Technology Systems: air pollution control systems and noise abatement systems
- Measuring and Process Systems: balancing equipment as well as assembly, testing and filling technology
- Woodworking Machinery and Systems: machinery and equipment for the woodworking industry
