MHIEC Receives Order for Plant Modification Work to Extend Operational Life of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Facility in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture

The incineration plant was originally engineered and constructed by MHI and completed in February 2000; it consists of two 75-tpd stoker furnaces and peripheral facilities. The modification work on order calls for renewal and conversion of the plant's major equipment, including the flue-gas treatment system, ventilation system and electrical instrumentation. Energy saving is to be improved primarily through the adoption of high-efficiency motors, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be reduced by more than 4.9% (approx. 227 tons) per year, thus contributing to curbing global warming. The adoption of MHIEC's patented Hybrid Bag Filter, incorporating Hybrid Bag Filter (HBF)*2, a catalyst bag filter, will eliminate the need for activated carbon, which has been used to reduce the level of dioxins in the flue gas, and thereby enable reductions in the plant's operating costs.

Recently the number of projects to modify and improve existing MSW incineration plants, both to extend their operational lives and make them more environmentally compatible, has been in an increasing trend as local governments face tight budgets that make it difficult to construct new facilities. Moves in this direction have also gathered further momentum with the central government's introduction in 2010 of a state subsidy system created to promote operational life extension and enhance energy savings of waste treatment facilities*3.

MHIEC took over MHI's waste treatment plant business in 2008, acquiring MHI's technological development capabilities in environmental systems and its abundant expertise in the construction and operation of waste management facilities, both in Japan and overseas, built up from the company's long track record in this area. Leveraging these assets, MHIEC is in a prime position to provide comprehensive solutions encompassing all aspects from plant construction to operation.

The order for modification work at the Fukuchiyama Environmental Park represents the second of its kind received by MHIEC during the current business year, following an earlier order for a facility in Hiroshima City. Leveraging these consecutive orders and its solid track record, going forward MHIEC will proactively propose further energy-saving enhancements and system improvements for stable operation at existing waste treatment facilities as well as ways to reduce lifecycle costs, including maintenance and management costs, in a quest to expand its business in this field further.