,
This report has been cleared for
submission to the Board by the
1
FROM:
DATE:
Sean 0 Donoghue
1 4 May 2008
Technical Amendment to the following licence holder:
R E G . N O . PO778-01
Centocor Biologics (Ireland) Limited
Amendment Request
Following discussions with the OEE, the licensee wrote to the Agency on 27th
February 2008, requesting an amendment to its licence under Section 96 of the EPA
Acts 1992 to 2007. The licensee requests the amendment of licence Reg. No. P077801 to allow for the operation of a woodchip fuelled boiler at the installation.
Boiler and associated facilities and operations:
The boiler has a rating of 2.47MW thermal input, and will reduce natural gas use on
site, allowing one of the 8.5 MW natural gas boilers to go on standby mode. An
abatement system consisting of a cyclone followed by a ceramic particulate filter is
incorporated in the boiler, and will achieve a particulate emission of 50 mg/Nm3.NOx
emissions will be less than 300 mg/Nm3. The woodchips, which are made from
forestry thinnings, will be stored in 4 enclosed woodchip containers, each of 80 m3
capacity, which will be rotated to a docking system for delivery to the boiler, thus
minimising fuel handling. Boiler tube de-ashing to protect against corrosion, and to
maintain boiler efficiency, is done by automatic delivery of high velocity exhaust gas
at preset intervals. De-ashing of the combustion chamber will also be automatic, and
the ash collection system will be enclosed. The operation of the boiler will be
controlled using a SCADA system which will also record operational data.
Proposed Amendments:
The licence currently allows for four boiler emissions, represented by emission points
Al-1, A1-2, A1-3 and A1-4. The two natural gas boilers emit through Al-1 and A1-2,
and the woodchip boiler is proposed to emit through A1-3. It was originally envisaged
that the boiler associated with A1-3 would operate on biodiesel, and there are
Emission Limit Values (ELVs) of 50 mg/Nm3 for particulate and 150 mg/Nm3 for
NOx for this emission in Schedule A, with a volumetric flow limit of 10,000 Nm3/hr.
The licensee has requested that the NOx ELV be increased to 300 mgNm3, and the
volumetric flow limit decreased to 8,5-00 Nm3/hr. No change is requested to the
I
particulate ELV. In mass flow terms this equates to a 28% increase in NOx emissions,
and a 15% decrease in particulate emissions.
Assessment
The licensee has provided &I assessment, based on air dispersion modelling
conducted for the licence application, of the impact of these alterations to emissions
with regard to the relevant Air Quality Standards, which found that predicted
maximum concentrations would remain significantly below the relevant Air Quality
Standards.
The particulate abatement system described above and associated particulate emission
level, the proposed NOx emission level, as well as energy efficiency aspects and fuel
and ash handling systems, can all be considered to represent BAT for an installation
of this size.
-Recommendation
I recommend that the requested licence amendments be approved as set out in the
attached Recommended Technical Amendment. The EPA OEE inspector has been
consulted in relation to this application and her views are reflected in the
recommendation.
Signed:
OCLR.