Background

Dennert Poraver GmbH is a leading manufacturer of expanded glass granules with locations in Europe and North America. 

Expanded glass granulate is made from recycled glass. It is used as a lightweight, environmentally friendly aggregate and insulation material, e.g., in plasters, screeds, mortar, lightweight concrete, backfill, insulation systems, and in industrial applications (e.g., fire extinguishing agents, chemicals). 

Dennert Poraver plans to build a new expanded glass granulate plant at its Schlüsselfeld site. The plant is designed to incorporate the latest advancements in manufacturing processes, automation, and energy efficiency. The plant is intended to be expandable in stages as needed. 

Dennert Poraver commissioned Projektingenieure (PI) to design the new plant.

Results

• Multi-stage plan for expanding the plant
• P&ID diagram and plant concept in 3D for the new production facilities
• Process optimisation and productivity enhancement
• Logistics plan, including storage and transportation equipment
• Implementation of the highest standards of occupational safety, environmental protection and energy efficiency

PI services

Factory planning, process planning, logistics planning

Concept design
analogous to VDI 5200, phases 1 to 3

• Target process defined across the entire chain 
  • Clean waste glass / recycled glass 
  • Grind glass into fine glass powder 
  • Add blowing agent and binder to the glass powder 
  • Granulate the material, i.e., shape it into small, round pellets (>“green pellets”) 
  • Heat and foam the green granules in a rotary kiln (>“expanded glass granules”) 
  • Cool the expanded glass granules 
  • Screen the expanded glass granules by particle size 
  • Fill the expanded glass granules into sales containers and store 
• Piping and instrumentation flow diagram (P&ID) created 
• Plant systems dimensioned 
• Variants of the plant expansion created and evaluated 
• Plant concept and building created in 3D 
• Personnel and utility requirements dimensioned 
• Investments determined 
• Process costs and unit costs calculated 
• Master plan for implementation created

Topics

Factory planning: Value stream, production segments, material flow, layout, scalability, step-by-step expansion, facilities/infrastructure/buildings, cleanliness, environmental protection

Process planning: Process engineering, plant engineering, simulation of capacity requirements, automation, interlinking, energy efficiency, IT, control technology, machine and process data acquisition, Industry 4.0

Logistics planning: Movements/inventories, conveyor technology: Warehouse technology/transport technology

Trades

Dosing technology, weighing technology, mixers, spray towers, rotary kilns, classifiers, screens, filling systems, extraction systems, filtration systems, conveying technology, automation, control systems, storage technology (silos, tanks, big bags, high-bay warehouses), gas turbines for combined heat and power generation