{"id":15398,"date":"2021-09-24T06:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T04:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/?p=15398"},"modified":"2024-03-12T17:53:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T16:53:29","slug":"efficient-pellet-heating-with-zero-to-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/industries\/heating\/efficient-pellet-heating-with-zero-to-hero_15398\/","title":{"rendered":"Effi\u00adcient pellet heating: With Zero to hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pioneering spirit is at the core of \u00d6koFEN, a family-run company in Austria. In 1997, Herbert Ortner, the founder of the company, launched to market the first type-approved pellet heating system in the world. Pellet condensing tech\u00adnology then followed, which cools the hot exhaust gas, re-uses the energy, and also reduces emis\u00adsions. Today, the current product, the Pellem\u00adatic Condens, is 15 percent more effi\u00adcient than its prede\u00adcessor and has an unprece\u00addented effi\u00adciency level of 98.7 percent.<\/p>\n

So what drives \u00d6koFEN? Their commit\u00adment to not rest on their laurels at such a high level, but to keep advancing in order to draw out the last quantum of effi\u00adciency and clean\u00adli\u00adness from their pellet heating systems. Zero emis\u00adsions here we come!<\/p>\n

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Over the years we have reduced the emis\u00adsions from our prod\u00aducts more and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stefan Ortner, CEO of \u00d6koFEN<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe are working for the energy revo\u00adlu\u00adtion,\u201d says Stefan Ortner, CEO of \u00d6koFEN. \u201cOver the years we have reduced the emis\u00adsions from our prod\u00aducts more and more. With our new tech\u00adnology ZeroFlame, we have even managed to get to the point where they can only be veri\u00adfied using high-tech measuring instru\u00adments in a lab.\u201d \u00d6koFEN is addressing the hotly debated topic of particle and dust emis\u00adsions with ZeroFlame, as ever-decreasing emis\u00adsions values are required for air pollu\u00adtion control.<\/p>\n

The Pellem\u00adatic Condens together with the addi\u00adtional ZeroFlame option has an annual average dust emis\u00adsion value of just two mg\/m3<\/sup> (based on 13 percent oxygen). Comparing this with other sources of fine dust shows that per year it only creates a tenth of what is caused by the tire wear on an average car alone. The aim of zero emis\u00adsions is there\u00adfore within reach.<\/p>\n

Re-inventing fire<\/h2>\n

But how does it work? ZeroFlame gets to work directly in the combus\u00adtion process. This means that the process does not produce the compo\u00adnents that expen\u00adsive partic\u00adu\u00adlate filters have to filter out again at a later point. It is\u200a\u2014\u200aas the name implies\u200a\u2014\u200aflame\u00adless, and there\u00adfore emis\u00adsions free. The resulting heat alone is suffi\u00adcient to burn the pellets. The high\u00adlight is a new, x-shaped flue design and the divided recir\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion of the exhaust air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feed part of the exhaust air back to the supply air from below,\u201d explains Stefan Ortner. \u201cWe inject another part from above directly into the high-temper\u00ada\u00adture zone of our combus\u00adtion chamber.\u201d Getting the ratio of the air fed from below and above right is crucial to ensuring that there is no chance for a flame to develop. What was needed for this was a blower that controls the applic\u00adable draft condi\u00adtions with preci\u00adsion.<\/p>\n

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Supply air \/ 21% O2<\/sub><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Injected into the burnout zone<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Flue has a special geom\u00adetry and surface<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Fed into primary air<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Exhaust air \/ 7% O2<\/sub><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Recir\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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ZeroFlame is inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive because of the special flue design, as well as the divided recir\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion of the exhaust air from the combus\u00adtion process. This exhaust air is fed into the primary air and injected into the high-temper\u00ada\u00adture burnout zone. As a result, you have minimal emis\u00adsions thanks to the specially devel\u00adoped air flow\u200a\u2014\u200awithout the need for any filters. (Graphic | \u00d6koFEN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Effi\u00adciency meets effi\u00adciency<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe topic of effi\u00adciency has always been key for us. It is why we have been working together with ebm-papst for decades,\u201d explains Stefan Ortner, illus\u00adtrating the collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive rela\u00adtion\u00adship. \u201cThe company\u2019s highly effi\u00adcient compo\u00adnents have a posi\u00adtive impact on the current consump\u00adtion of our devices. It means every\u00adthing comes together perfectly.\u201d Tech\u00adnology from ebm-papst can there\u00adfore be found in every Pellem\u00adatic Condens, for example, in the form of the gear motor which drives the conveying screw in the pellet burner.<\/p>\n

The induced draft fan as a special devel\u00adop\u00adment<\/h2>\n

When it came to the ZeroFlame tech\u00adnology, \u00d6koFEN and ebm-papst together opted for an addi\u00adtional special devel\u00adop\u00adment: an EC induced draft fan with special soft\u00adware. This fan can be controlled taking into account the applic\u00adable draft condi\u00adtions, in line with the air flow require\u00adments, and it can also draw the residual combus\u00adtion exhaust gases to the outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cEC tech\u00adnology is ideal for this as it is extremely effi\u00adcient and easy to control. This starts from just ten percent output,\u201d explains Project Coor\u00addi\u00adnator Thorsten Hartl, from ebm-papst Motoren & Venti\u00adla\u00adtoren GmbH in Austria, and adds: \u201cIt also runs really quietly.\u201d This is impor\u00adtant because the flue of the pellet boiler is routed inside the building. The flow condi\u00adtions in the induced-draft housing there\u00adfore have to be perfect so that the air inside travels quietly. The impeller and scroll housing under\u00adwent the appro\u00adpriate noise opti\u00admiza\u00adtion measures to achieve this.<\/p>\n

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EC tech\u00adnology is ideal for this product as it is extremely effi\u00adcient and easy to control.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thorsten Hartl, from ebm-papst Motoren & Venti\u00adla\u00adtoren GmbH in Austria<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Added to this are the higher require\u00adments placed on the compo\u00adnents by condensing tech\u00adnology. The cooled exhaust air condenses on the cooler surfaces, which can cause deposits to form. Ensuring that the design is right is essen\u00adtial to help coun\u00adteract this, espe\u00adcially when it comes to the fan impeller. \u201cIn this case, however, the element that was the most specific was the posi\u00adtion of the motor,\u201d says Hartl. \u201cIf it is placed directly in the air flow, it is put at risk by sulfurous gases and high temper\u00ada\u00adtures. This is why the motor is attached with a shaft outside the air flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stefan Ortner empha\u00adsizes how impor\u00adtant working together with ebm-papst was: \u201cFor our pioneering work, it is absolutely crucial that we have a partner who is brave enough to develop things with us that no one else has done before. When my son is 30, he will come to expe\u00adri\u00adence the conse\u00adquences of climate change. I want to be able to say to him that we did every\u00adthing humanly possible to protect the envi\u00adron\u00adment.\u201d We are looking forward to the next pioneering steps.\u2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pioneering spirit is at the core of \u00d6koFEN, a family-run company in Austria. In 1997, Herbert Ortner, the founder of the company, launched to market the first type-approved pellet heating system in the world. Pellet condensing tech\u00adnology then followed, which cools the hot exhaust gas, re-uses the energy, and also reduces emis\u00adsions. Today, the current [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,8],"tags":[205,167],"class_list":["post-15398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blowers","category-heating","tag-innovation","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15398"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15502,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15398\/revisions\/15502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}