A £1m upgrade of our biomass heating systems currently taking place at our Oldham HQ will make them even greener and more efficient.
We were one of the first businesses to join the government's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) programme - set up to minimise the effects of climate change - when it was launched almost 10 years ago. The scheme works by rewarding firms with financial support when they employ renewable energy technologies.
The work to install two new, more powerful and efficient boilers, and associated extractors, has already started and the state-of-the-art system is expected to be fully operational later in the autumn.
The new installations will combine to work in the same way as our existing biomass systems, which reduce our carbon footprint by collecting wood waste via an extraction system. It is then stored in huge silos to fuel boilers heating production warehouses, in addition to supplying heat needed for the manufacturing process.
Our Marketing and Business Development Director, Dan Mounsey, says: "Our infrastructure was ageing so we wanted to update it for greener, more efficient options. These new boilers will reduce our carbon footprint to the point that we don't use any fossil fuels to heat those warehouses at all.
"The big difference between old and new is the new feature ceramic filters that extract exhaust gases before they leave the boiler. It means the emissions are much lower, which is better for the environment, while creating more heat output."
Overcoming logistical and production challenges
The new systems are replacing existing boilers and extractors serving our door production and panel production warehouses, with work now well advanced and according to schedule.
Both installations have involved huge logistical and production challenges - we've worked around various schedules to ensure continuous production, with safety cordons in place to ensure staff and contractors could remain working, only the heavy lift operations requiring total yard shutdowns and production area restrictions.
And we've put together a team made up of members from maintenance, health and safety, site and production - the four areas that need the most planning and coordination - to work with the contractors to ensure a smooth transition.
The project manager is Colin Taylor, our Chief Engineer, who says: "We're working with the installers to ensure the project runs as smoothly as possible. There's a lot of re-wiring involved, removing old control panels, preparing for the new one and laying wiring where it needs to go to ensure that connections are available where we need them.
"We've also had to extend the boiler building at the Door Production warehouse to accommodate the larger boiler. Although the new boilers are more efficient, and create fewer emissions, they are bigger with greater heat output than the old ones."
One of the biggest challenges of the first phase of the project was the removal of a redundant silo, which took two cranes to manoeuvre it onto a low-loader HGV before it was transported for scrap.
The second boiler installation also presented some challenges: given the restricted access cranes weren't an option, calling for an internal wall to be removed and the two old boilers hauled out with a 26 tonne Versa-Lift forklift truck. Once they were out of the way, the new boiler was slowly inched through our Board Production warehouse with the giant FLT, a combined weight approaching 50 tonnes. Some expert manoeuvring from machinery relocation specialists
D Turner & Son from Middleton ensured precise positioning of the new boiler and its ancillary filter units.
Renewing long-standing partnerships
The project means we're renewing our partnership with the two firms that installed the existing system -
Talbott's Biomass Energy Systems, which is supplying the boilers, and Air Plants Dust Extraction, which is providing the extraction systems.
The new 999KW biomass system will feature modern PLC (programmable logic controller) touchscreen controls, including full remote monitoring and maintenance via a LAN connection.