Heat exchangers bring 34% higher capacity to new energy transfer station

The Danish transmission company VEKS choosed SWEP brazed plate heat exchangers

VEKS (Vestegnens Kraftvarmeselskab I/S) is a Danish transmission company that supplies heat to 21 local district heating companies in Vestegnen, Copenhagen. These then sell the energy to private consumers, companies and public institutions. VEKS was founded in 1984 to utilize surplus energy from combined heating and power stations and from waste incineration. VEKS meets the heating and hot water needs of 170,000 families. The transmission network includes a large number of pumping and energy transfer stations to ensure reliable distribution and operation.

When VEKS commissioned Damgaard A/S to build a new energy transfer station in Glostrup, brazed plate heat exchanger technology was their preferred choice. VEKS already has good experience with brazed plate heat exchangers, and considers them to provide safe operation and major savings on maintenance. In the past, however, the maximum capacity of approx. 4-6 MW has been a limitation.

Unprecedented opportunities

The scope for the Glostrup site was to install 12 MW with sufficient redundancy to guarantee 2/3 (67%) capacity in the event of critical component failure. The initial specification called for a cluster of three heat exchangers plus pumps and valves: 2 x 4 MW (67%) + 1 x 4 MW (33%) = 12 MW (100%).