Japan's Largest RDF Power Plant Delivered

 Kawasaki delivered the largest refuse-derived fuel (RDF) power generation plant in Japan, which has a gross efficiency of over 30%, to Omuta Recycle Power Co., Ltd.* in January 2003.

 The new plant is the main facility at Omuta Eco-Town** in Fukuoka Prefecture, one of a national network of environmentally conscious communities. It has an RDF processing capacity of 315 tons/day and generates 20,600 kW power output.

 The plant’s incinerator features Kawasaki’s internal circulation fluidized bed boiler, which circulates heated sand that is produced during the RDF incineration process inside a low-hydrochloric heat absorption cell. Within this cell, boiler vapor — with a temperature of 503? and an atmospheric pressure of 83 hPa — is collected by a superheater. The revolutionary facility is capable of achieving gross efficiency levels comparable to those of coal-fired power plants.

 Kawasaki and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries previously delivered Japan’s largest RDF production plant to Omuta at the end of 2002. It processes general refuse collected from Omuta and nearby Arao in Kumamoto Prefecture, producing 40 percent of the RDF used at the Omuta power plant.

 With these achievements under its belt, Kawasaki plans to further expand its RDF-related activities as well as to actively develop expertise in the management of environmentally friendly equipment.

 * Omuta Recycle Power Co., Ltd is a public-private enterprise jointly financed by Fukuoka Prefecture, Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. , Omuta City and others.

** Omuta Eco-Town is an initiative of Omuta City, a previously flourishing coal-mining area. A revolutionary urban development scheme aimed at promoting the growth and development of the environmental and recycling industries, Omuta Eco-Town houses such facilities as the RDF power plant, the RDF production plant, a recycling plaza and a recycling industrial park.