How to get the most from waste to energy and renewable resources

One of the wide range of offerings on show at the RWM expo will be the PMSXpro - Distributed Control System (DCS) by Mitsubishi Electric, supplied and engineered by Mitsubishi Electric's subsidiary company ME-Automation Projects GmbH. This is an example of best-available technology designed and developed as a package for the control of energy from waste facilities and waste water plants; it is backed up by an impressive installed base and TV certification.

Existing customers are complimentary about Mitsubishi Electric's system, including Mr Wolfgang Zieger, from waste to energy plant operator ESWE BioEnergie GmbH. He comments: "Mitsubishi Electric's control system achieves 99.99 per cent availability at our steam boiler plant." He is typical of many well-known energy suppliers who currently trust in the proven and reliable technology of the PMSXpro system.

New at the RWM show in Birmingham will be the PMSXmicro version of the DCS package, designed for smaller field based plants. This system is focused on smaller DCS applications in the field of continuous processes which makes it suitable for a wide range of industries from process to factory applications. Customers will benefit from full DCS functionality, with added cost-efficiency combined with the technology and field knowledge of a proven and mature product.

Managing a combination of power generation sources including variable supply from renewables and coordinating them so that they work as one harmonised virtual power plant is a relatively new challenge; however, Mitsubishi Electric already has a solution. The aim at RWM is to demonstrate how to connect diverse and geographically distributed renewable power sources to a Virtual Power Plant providing an affordable, green and steady power supply to consumers.

Virtual power plant

The virtual power plant is effectively enabled by a range of intelligent and very reliable Mitsubishi Electric products ranging from low-voltage switchgear through variable speed drives, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human machine interfaces (HMIs) up to medium and high-voltage power management and switching products.

Dag Hoeft, Technical Sales Consultant Process Industry, Factory Automation - European Business Group, Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., explains: "There is no readymade solution available for virtual power plants as each scenario around the world is different. Rather every installation is designed to meet individual requirements and is dependent on the specific type and number of control requirements, from traditional fuels to renewables as diverse as geothermal, wind, hydro and biomass. The Vertical Solutions Team from Mitsubishi Electric however is there to support engineers and help develop solutions that can deliver on the effective management of energy supply resources both today and in the future."

Mitsubishi Electric is also attending the RWM show to underline that the scope of the service it offers extends beyond automation and control, to include more than just the provision of technology: Mitsubishi Electric actually offers a full range of Engineering Services from FEED (Front End Engineering Design) studies through to lifetime maintenance support.

To learn more about Electrical, Instrumentation and Control systems, please visit gb3a.mitsubishielectric.com or visit Mitsubishi Electric at the RWM show.