Holz- Zentralblatt article

Sinsheim, 2009-Dez-11

More Safety with ORC Power Stations

The new »kontamaxx« detects the smallest amounts of foreign matter in thermal oil systems

Leaks recently occurred in ORC systems that resulted in silicon oil entering the thermal oil circuit and in several cases, causing serious damage (see Germany's leading forestry trade journal "Holz-Zentralblatt" no. 35 from August 28, 2009). Maxxtec offers a system that detects silicon oil leaks early on.

The contamination of the thermal oil system in several biomass-fired CHP stations was first detected very late, thus causing long downtimes. Even the smallest quantities of silicon oil in the thermal oil circuit can lead to the formation of vapour bubbles. These vapour bubbles cause the thermal oil circuit pumps to stall and thus interrupt the flow of the heat exchanger. In individual cases, the thermal oil or the system was damaged due to partial overheating. Silicon oil leaks have now been verified on several ORC systems.

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