We Produce All the Electricity We Need with the Cogeneration Facility
Having started their business life by producing yarn in the textile industry, Anadolu Yarn continues its production activities in their factory in Çerkezköy which covers a space of 80.000 m2.
Anadolu Yarn, which began their business activities in the second half of the 1940s by producing textiles and have kept stably growing ever since, initiated their industrial investments in 2004 and gained momentum in 2011. Investing in the factory in Çerkezköy covering a space of 80.000 m2, Anadolu Yarn also produces their own electricity with the cogeneration facility they commissioned in 2013 and meet all its consumption with this facility. With a total installed power of 8.6 MW, the cogeneration facility has two MWM-brand gas engines. Tarık Terzi, the Cogeneration Facility Manager with whom we have met to discuss the monthly energy consumption amount of Anadolu Yarn factory and the advantages of the cogeneration facility to the enterprise, said: 'In our cogeneration energy facility, there are two gas engines. The facility has a total installed power of 8.6 MW. We produce all of the enterprise's energy from these engines. From this perspective, our capacity seems sufficient for the factory.'
Can you tell us about the general structure of the Anadolu Yarn factory and its production activities?
Anadolu Yarn continues its production activities in an indoor space of approximately 50.000 m2. The total land of the factory, however, is about 80.000 m2. Within the factory, there are five different facilities: cotton yarn, texturing, POY, Polyamide and Energy Production. We supply all the electrical energy required by the facilities from the Cogeneration facility. The cotton yarn facility has an annual production capacity of 12.000 tonnes. Likewise, the production capacity of the texturing facility is 40 tonnes/day.
Can you inform us about the monthly electricity consumption of the factory?
Anadolu Yarn factory consumes an average of 5.5 million kWh of energy per month. The amount of energy consumption varies seasonally depending on the process requirements. Especially in the summer months, with the activation of chiller (cooling) units, an increase of 5-10% occurs.
What are the other benefits you reap from the cogeneration facility besides electricity production?
We use stack gas, the heat that comes out of the engine's exhaust, as steam energy in processes of our other facilities. Moreover, we transform the heat energy of the jacket water of the gas engines into cooling energy through Absorption Chiller and use it in the processes. In this way, we use the Absorption Chiller unit instead of the mechanical chiller unit that works with electrical energy, thus increasing the efficiency of the gas engines and economising on the electrical energy alike.
What was your objective to reach when establishing the cogeneration facility?
When establishing the cogeneration facility, our objective was to remove production losses that occurred due to power shortages. In particular, we have to ensure the production continuity of Polyamide and POY facilities.
For this reason, we have decided to establish this cogeneration facility which is under our control and the continuity of which we can ensure.
Were there other advantages of the cogeneration facility for you?
This facility has brought us important benefits regarding costs as well. Normally, if the electrical efficiency of the engine is 43%, the mechanical efficiency is 44%. The more you utilise the mechanical efficiency (heat energy), the more the total efficiency increases, reducing the Energy Production Costs at the same rate. Therefore, reducing energy costs, which is a major input for our facilities, help us increase our competitive power in the market.
Are there reports you have prepared for the energy monitoring of the factory? Can you give examples from these reports?
To implement the Industry 4.0 technology in our enterprise, we have initiated our energy and process efficiency monitoring work by choosing some machines for a trial process. In this way, both the unit energy consumption amount and production amount are reported and we see our unutilised capacity and losses. With this system, thanks to which we can foresee the duration of interruptions that may occur due to power shortages, the importance of continuous energy provided to our enterprise by the Cogeneration system has once more come to the fore.
Are there any practices you apply in your factory for energy efficiency?
We are working on different projects to ensure energy efficiency. We are one of the firms that have submitted projects for the government-backed Efficiency Increasing Projects 'EIP' before commissioning the facility. We submitted the project in 2009 and completed it in 2011. This project was one that would amortise its investment within a year. Besides this project, our work on energy efficiency continues with different projects for the Cogeneration facility and the other facilities.
For how long has the Cogeneration facility been producing electricity? Has it amortised itself within this time?
We completed this facility in 2012 and commissioned it in 2013. Studies on the feasibility report show no deviation. As I have said in my previous remarks, the more efficient you use the Waste heat, the quicker the Cogeneration facilities can amortise themselves.
When does the periodic maintenance of the facility take place? Do you perform the maintenance and repair operations yourselves?
Periodic maintenance of the gas engines is performed by a firm with whom we concluded a service agreement. Engines are expected to receive periodic maintenance once every 4.000 hours. These are monitored together with the service provider firm and should a problem occur, there is an instant intervention. We have not experienced any serious problems to date. The maintenance of other equipment is performed by both our own personnel and the service of the relevant brand.
Can you talk about the energy agenda of the factory?
A few important headings constitute the energy agenda of Anadolu Yarn and Textile Factories Industry Company in 2018. First, heat recycling projects that we have prepared at previous times are among the topics of this year. Moreover, we continue to conduct studies and develop projects to increase the energy efficiency of the cogeneration facility. We aim to invest in utilising the waste steam or all of the hot water.
