PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - How paper factory Vrancart cut its natural gas consumption by 50%. Markus Schranzer, Managing Director, HoSt Bioenergy Systems - Paper Technology International 2026 - Book - Page 117

PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - How paper factory Vrancart cut its natural gas consumption by 50%. Markus Schranzer, Managing Director, HoSt Bioenergy Systems

PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
The solution: HoSt’s RDF-Fired Combined Heat and
Power Plant
What is a combined heat and power plant?
A combined heat and power (CHP) plant, also known as a
cogeneration plant, generates both electricity and usable heat from
a single fuel source simultaneously. Where a conventional power
station converts at best around 35 percent of the fuel’s energy
content into electricity and discharges the remainder as waste heat,
a CHP plant captures that thermal energy and puts it to productive
use. Overall system ef昀椀ciency can reach 88 to 93 percent, and
higher still with the addition of a 昀氀ue gas condenser.
In an industrial setting such as a paper mill, CHP is
particularly powerful because the demand for process steam and
the demand for electricity are both constant and large. Steam from
the boiler drives the production process directly; the steam turbine
extracts electrical energy from the pressure differential before the
exhaust steam is supplied to the factory. The result is a highly
integrated energy system that extracts maximum value from every
tonne of fuel combusted.
Selecting HoSt as a partner
Vrancart approached the market with a clear set of
requirements: a proven technology for combustion and mixed waste
combustion, regulatory compliance with EU waste incineration
standards, and a supplier with demonstrable experience.
HoSt Bioenergy Systems, headquartered in Enschede in
the Netherlands, met each of these criteria. Founded in 1991 and
an independent company since 1999, HoSt has delivered more
than 450 bioenergy installations across more than 35 countries. Its
biomass and waste combustion portfolio spans grate-昀椀red boiler
plants from 8 MWth to 50 MWth and CHP plants up to 12 MWe.
The company’s combustion technology is designed for fuel 昀氀exibility,
handling moisture contents from 10 to 55 percent and fuels with
low ash melting points that include RDF, and straw. Crucially for
Vrancart, HoSt offered a standardised yet con昀椀gurable solution.
Plant design and integration
The plant is built around a 15 MWth water-tube steam boiler
operating at 50 bar and 410 degrees Celsius. The water-cooled
furnace is equipped with a membrane wall that provides optimal
temperature control across the combustion chamber, ensuring
stable, ef昀椀cient combustion even as fuel composition varies.
Image 5: Interior of the CPH plant.
Fuel arrives at the plant having been pre-treated through
shredding and the magnetic separation of ferrous metals (iron).
Vrancart generates the primary fuel supply from its own paper
recycling rejects, and paper sludge. This is supplemented by
externally sourced RDF from for example waste wood, or municipal
waste streams to maintain the consistent capacity of 15 MWth.
The steam generated in the boiler drives a back-pressure
steam turbine that produces 1.7 MWe of electricity. Back-pressure
turbines are chosen in industrial CHP applications because the
steam exhausted at the back-pressure side retains suf昀椀cient thermal
energy to be useful in the production
process. At Vrancart, the exhaust steam is
delivered to the factory at 6 barg and 175
degrees Celsius, supplying 18.5 tonnes per
hour of process steam directly to the paper
production line. This direct integration with
the existing factory steam network was
engineered to be seamless, with the CHP
plant functioning as the primary source of
process heat for the mill.
The plant’s compact design, with
a building height of just 17 metres, was
speci昀椀cally engineered to 昀椀t within the
available footprint on the Vrancart site.
This compactness, achieved without
compromising performance, is a hallmark of
HoSt’s standardised plant con昀椀gurations.
Image 6: Festive opening of the plant.
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