10 September 2008
Rockwool insulation helps power station save energy
The Rockwool Group is one of the suppliers for two major construction projects at the huge StatoilHydro plant in western Norway. The projects demonstrate the Groups excellence in fire protection solutions for technical installations.
 | Driven by the companies Rockwool Scandinavia and Rockwool Technical Insulation (RTI), the Group is supplying about 85 containers of stone wool products to a huge industrial plant in Norway. The plant, known as the Mongstad complex, is owned by the Norwegian energy company StatoilHydro.The first Rockwool products were delivered in the beginning of August and the remaining part will be delivered gradually until autumn 2009. |
“The order for the Mongstad complex includes 70 containers of pipe sections; insulation products used to insulate pipes. To give an idea of the magnitude of this volume 70 containers represent roughly 20 000 meters of pipe sections. These products will contribute to an energy efficiency of about 70% for the plant,” explains the RTI OPCO Manager, Wolfgang van Loo. The Rockwool business unit RTI, is a leading supplier of stone wool solutions for the process industry, buildings and ships. The oil and energy industry is an important part of the market, and the Mongstad complex is one of several industrial plants, which RTI is supplying insulation for.
Norway’s largest refinery
The Mongstad complex is located north of Bergen at the west coast of Norway. Since the opening in the mid-1970s, the complex has continuously been upgraded. Today the complex comprises a refinery, a fractionation plant and a crude oil terminal. With an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes of crude oil, the refinery is the largest in Norway. It also plays a huge role in the Norwegian export of crude oil to North America, Europe and Asia.
“During many years we have been supplying insulation products to the maintenance of the complex as well as new projects,” explains Key Account Manager in Rockwool Scandinavia, Trond A. Løken. “In this case, we have been assigned to supply products for the maintenance of the refinery. Furthermore, Rockwool insulation will be used for a new combined heat and power station, which is planned to be opened in 2010. The heat and power stations are owned and operated by Dong Energy, one of Europe’s leading energy companies based in Denmark.”
High temperatures and extreme conditions
Back in RTI, Wolfgang van Loo explains that insulating technical installations safely is a complicated process: “In industrial plants, such as the Mongstad complex, RTI’s products are used to insulate installations and processing pipes with high temperatures. The pipes and installations in industrial plants often carry heated materials. These materials need to be kept at a certain temperature for an optimal production process. To achieve this, the materials are heated in different phases of the production process.”
“When the pipes and installations are not properly insulated, heat loss occurs. This results in more energy being used to achieve optimal temperatures. Good insulation, which Rockwool products offer, not only prevents personal injuries and damage caused by fire; it also substantially contributes to the prevention of heat loss. This increases process efficiency and can save enormous amounts of energy thus limiting CO2 production,” Wolfgang van Loo concludes.
