Sustainable energy supply for Dornbirn

Energiewerk Ilg ensures a comprehensive and sustainable energy supply in Dornbirn. In order to expand renewable heat production, a large LIPP Thermal Storage Tanks facility is being built to provide heat and cover peak loads in the district heating network. The supply of heat is to be made possible for the residents of Dornbirn by the end of 2024. The expansion of the heating network is to be continuously extended over the coming years. A growth of 7 km per year is planned, which corresponds to an annual network expansion of around 15%.

Assembly work on the Thermal Storage Tank began here in June 2024 using the patented and automated LIPP welding process.

The LIPP Thermal Storage Tanks sets global standards in tank construction. With a tank diameter of 17 m and a tank height of 28 m, a volume of 5,901 m³ can be provided. This created an impressive weld seam of 2.5 km in length.

An internal steel catwalk was installed to make it easier to carry out maintenance and inspection work at a later date. Triple diffusers were installed at the top and bottom of the tank to create an even distribution and layering.

One of the biggest special features, however, is the cladding, where a photovoltaic system will be integrated. This will be customised and have an area of almost 1,300 m², resulting in a total output of 250 kWp.

Drinking Water Concept of the municipality of Grosserlach

The municipality of Großerlach has been planning and implementing the drinking water concept for some time. Thus, the standard of quality, quantity and security of supply should increase. Another consideration was how to replace the container in Grab, Trauzenbach and Liemersbach. Furthermore, the compensation tank in Hohenbrach should be replaced.

It was also necessary to renew the pumping station and the springs of the Schöntal springs. In order to be able to collect the spring water, a spring collection pit had to be created. One of the biggest challenges was to connect a nearby farm, which had not yet been connected to the public drinking water supply.

The municipality of Großerlach contacted Riker & Rebmann, an engineering office, in Murrhardt. The company LIPP GmbH and its partner company Kurz Leitungsbau GmbH from Stimpfach have been cooperated with the engineering office, for a long time. This meant that the project was implemented together.

In March 2016, the excavation work began, followed by the shell construction in May. The wooden building, in which the two LIPP Drinking Water Tanks are built, was constructed in September. The construction of the LIPP drinking water tank started in October. The containers are turned up on site – for example in the wooden building. The newly developed automated LIPP Welding Process has been operated. Thus, in the drinking water area, a high quality of the drinking water is guaranteed if the tank is made of welded stainless steel. As a result, there is no possibility for germs and bacteria to settle on the inside of the tank.

The two LIPP Drinking Water Tanks have a diameter of 9.8 m and a height of 5.2 m. This results in a container volume of 300 m³ per container. The material is stainless steel (1.4571, A4 quality), an ultrafiltration device and an UV sterilization is installed as well.

Erweiterung der Lagerkapazitäten

Die Axpo Kompogas AG in der Schweiz betreibt insgesamt 15 Vergärungsanlagen und ist damit ein führendes Unternehmen in der Trockenvergärung von organischen Abfällen.

Eine dieser Vergärungsanlagen wird am Standort Chavornay betrieben. Hier werden jährlich 27.000 Tonnen Biomasse verarbeitet. Die Biomasse wird in dem thermophilen Prozess hygienisiert, dadurch wird Biogas gewonnen und ein hochwertiger Naturdünger aus den Gärresten produziert.

Hauptabnehmer der Gärreste sind landwirtschaftliche Betriebe im Umkreis von Chavornay, die Dank der Nutzung dieses Naturdüngers auf den Einsatz von Kunstdünger verzichten können. Auflagen des Bundes und saisonale Witterungsverhältnisse beschränken jedoch die Abnahme der Gärreste, sodass immer grössere Lagerkapazitäten auf dem Anlagengelände in Chavornay notwendig wurden.

Um den gesetzlichen Anforderungen und den Bedürfnissen der Landwirtschaft gerecht zu werden, wurde im Januar 2017 mit dem Bau eines 4.000 m³ LIPP Eco Fermenters der Firma LIPP GmbH begonnen. Entscheidend für die Auswahl der Firma LIPP GmbH war das einzigartige Prinzip der Behältererstellung. Beschränkte Platzverhältnisse auf dem Anlagengelände ließen kaum Freiheiten bei der Montage. Zudem musste der Behälter während des laufenden Anlagenbetriebes erbaut werden, was eine hohe Flexibilität bei der Umsetzung erforderlich machte.

Die Innovation im Anlagenpark der Axpo Kompogas AG stellt zudem der im LIPP Eco Fermenter integrierte Gasspeicher dar, welcher sich unter dem Doppelmembrandach befindet. Bisher werden die Vergärungsanlagen ohne die Einbindung eines Gasspeichers betrieben. Somit unterliegen die Strom- und Wärmeproduktionen des nachgeschalteten Blockheizkraftwerks (BHKW) entsprechend der inhomogenen Input-Substrate einer grossen Fluktuation.

Durch die perfekte Integration eines Gasspeichers im LIPP Eco Fermenter, kann nun eine Entkopplung der Strom- und Wärmeproduktion von der Gasproduktion erfolgen. Damit ist ein kontrollierter Betrieb des BHKWs möglich, womit die Vergärungsanlage in Chavornay in der Lage ist, bedarfsgerecht Strom und Wärme zu produzieren.

Ein besonders wichtiger Schritt in eine Zukunft voller Flexibilität, sowohl in der Abgabe von Gärresten als auch von produzierter Energie!

Ein rundum gelungenes Projekt also, welches wegweisend für weitere Vergärungsanlagen der Axpo Kompogas AG werden könnte.

From food waste to electricity

The mayor of Makinohara City in Japan recommended biogas plants because they are not very common in Japan, he supported the planning and implementation of the LIPP biogas plant.

There is a very large food industry in the Makinohara district, with its waste the biogas plant will be fed. So there are possibilities for the industry to dispose their waste meaningfully and the Makinohara City gets electricity through the fermentation of waste. About 600 private households are supplied by the electricity generated.

The biogas plant had been opened by a great ceremony with about 70 people, tv station and newspaper.

Manuel Lipp, the managing director of LIPP GmbH, was interviewed in Japan at the N-Expo 2017 fair: “We focus not only the biogas plant market in Japan, we focus as well the ever-growing woodchip chip silos”.

The company does not only build biogas plants, it also builds biomass silos in Europe up to 12,000 m³. The demand for biomass silos is growing steadily.

Manuel Lipp reported that high demands were placed on these biomass silos, some of them are higher than those for biogas plants several years ago. It gets impression that the inquiries on the Asian market are growing steadily.

The demand for electricity generation by biomass will probably increase as the oil and gas market price will increase. LIPP GmbH would like to build up a strong cooperation with partners in order to achieve the highest possible market share, as is the case with biogas plants as well.

Initial situation and solution searching

Initial Situation and solution searching

In a Swiss company, called Emmi, which is specialist in producing of milk powder and cream cheese, a tank should be exchanged at the plant’s internal waste water treatment plant.

This was, amongst others, a challenging task because it had to be ensured that the corroded container should be out of operation for a maximum of 10 days. This strict timetable had to be adhered to, otherwise the biology of the sewage treatment plant would have been destroyed and thus the load on the subsequent sewage treatment plant would have become much too much.

There were lots of meetings and visits at Emmi. At these meetings it had been determined that a pipe diversion of this important buffer storage tank has to be built at first, so the tank could be taken out of operation for these few days without disturbing the clarification operation.

The planning of this diversion was made more difficult by the fact that no design drawings or pipeline plans were available.

The first approach of a solution was a lining of the tank’s inner side, which would have been very complex, however, since the HdPE panels had to be glued to the entire inner side and the seams should be welded afterwards.

This is the big advantage of a LIPP container. Steel coils, machines and accessories are transported to the building site where the tank is then constructed – the process is fast, efficient and flexible.

The awarded duplex material VERINOX, developed by Lipp, combines stainless steel and a galvanized sheet with the aid of a separating layer. Thus, the outer side of the container is made of galvanized sheet metal and the inner side is made of stainless steel. Since stainless steel is very expensive, only a small amount is needed here, so costs will be saved and the quality of the medium side will be guaranteed.

However, Emmi decided instead to remove the old container and build a new container. The main reason was the cost savings due to the decommissioning of the buffer storage tank for only 10 days. Lipp GmbH was entrusted with this task.