grabowski
0a4f47a5cc
- README reduced to overview with linked document index - docs/equipment/pressing-line.md: fleet strategy, Newbilt plan, site reqs - docs/suppliers/vendor-landscape.md: researched vendor narratives - docs/sustainability.md: solar, zero-discharge water, materials - docs/worker-safety.md: training, clean rooms, PPE - docs/facility-security.md: access control, CCTV, archive/audio protection, fire and life safety, plant monitoring, Thai compliance anchors
74 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
74 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
# Sustainability
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Two commitments are fixed design requirements for this plant, not aspirations
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to be traded away during engineering: run on as much renewable energy as
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possible, and discharge no contaminated water. Both are decisions we can
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actually make, because the two biggest utility systems (steam and cooling)
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are explicitly excluded from the Newbilt scope and will be sourced and
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installed locally in Thailand. That gives us a free hand to spec them green
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from day one.
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## Renewable energy: large solar installation
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The pressing machinery itself is a modest electrical load: 32 kVA connected,
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~21 kW average for a full Duplex line. The real energy demand sits in the
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utilities around it, above all the steam generator (400 kg/h saturated steam
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at 10 bar / 180 °C) and the 250 kW cooling system.
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- A large rooftop/ground PV installation is planned. Northern Thailand's solar
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irradiance is favorable, and daytime-heavy production shifts align well with
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PV output.
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- The chosen hardware direction: multiple large **Deye** three-phase hybrid
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inverters (30 to 80 kW class, parallelable up to 10 units) paired with a
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**Gobel Power** high-voltage LiFePO4 battery stack at **271 kWh** (15
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stacked 18 kWh packs, LFP 314 Ah cells, rated 8000+ cycles). Deye is an
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officially supported protocol on the Gobel BMS, and Deye has established
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Thai distribution. Two engineering checks are open: matching the battery
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rack's DC voltage window to the specific Deye model (a full 15-pack rack
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can exceed the 800 V window of the smaller Deye series), and obtaining
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Gobel's safety certifications (not published) for a Thai commercial
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install. At 271 kWh the stack is a peak-shaving and ride-through buffer,
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not full off-grid autonomy, against loads like the 250 kW cooling system.
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- The machine load and cooling system are straightforward PV targets.
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- Steam is the open engineering question. Options under evaluation include an
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electric boiler (maximizes the solar share), a biomass boiler (locally
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abundant fuel), and solar-thermal pre-heating of boiler feedwater. No
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technology choice has been made yet; it will be driven by honest numbers on
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load profiles, storage, and grid backup, not by what sounds greenest.
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- System sizing (kWp, storage, grid-connection model) is open until the site
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is chosen.
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## Zero contaminated water
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The reference process schematic shows a conventional open "dirty water"
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cooling loop. We will not build it that way.
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- Cooling (up to 250 kW, 220 l/min peak, roughly 98% of it mold cooling) will
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run as a closed loop with a cooling tower/chiller, so process water is
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recirculated rather than discharged.
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- Steam condensate will be recovered and returned to the treated feedwater
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cycle instead of being dumped.
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- The planned in-house galvanics line (silvering and stamper electroforming)
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involves plating chemistry: silver solutions and nickel baths. This is the
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hardest part of the zero-discharge commitment. Rinse water will need
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closed-loop treatment and metal recovery, designed in from the start rather
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than retrofitted.
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- Solvent handling (flagged in the site requirements) will be contained and
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disposed of as controlled waste, never via wastewater.
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- Target: no process-water discharge to the local environment. Detailed water
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balance and treatment design are pending site selection.
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## Materials
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The plant design already includes a PVC recycling loop: an in-house grinder
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returns trimmings and rejects to the extruder, with the standard feed mix at
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80% virgin / 20% recycled compound. Record scrap becomes feedstock, not
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landfill.
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For the virgin compound itself, the preference is **local (Thai/regional)
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PVC sourcing if the quality meets vinyl-record specifications**. The current
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supplier list (2021) is almost entirely European, with one US option;
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qualifying a local compound would cut shipping distance, cost, and the
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carbon footprint of the feedstock. European suppliers remain the fallback
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where quality demands it.
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