Aylesford Newsprint recycles 500,000 tonnes per annum of used newspapers and magazines in the manufacture of 400,000 tonnes of Renaissance, a 100% recycled, premium grade newsprint which is used by a large number of leading European newspaper publishers.

The used newspapers and magazines are collected in partnership with 200 local authorities throughout the U.K., from kerb side collections, blue paper banks and through Waste Management companies and paper merchants.

A process residue combustor is in operation at their site in Aylesford, Kent. Paper making is highly energy intensive and the combustor contributes a high volume of steam into the manufacturing process. A by product of this process is ash, which when appropriately treated can be used by the concrete industry to manufacture building blocks.

This is where Rapid International was asked to assist Aylesford Newsprint in their ash treatment.

PROJECT
Rapid were asked to provide a safe and environmentally friendly installation to condition the ash ready for transportation off site.

They designed two 700m3 silos, one to be used for conditioned ash and the other to accommodate the storage of dry ash, which is then fed through to the conditioning unit. This unit is required to thoroughly mix the ash to a correct chemical state. To achieve this it was decided that the Rapid R1000 mixer would provide the ideal solution to this problem.

As part of the mixing, water is required to be added to the ash and this produces steam, which then requires filtering. As conventional filtering methods are not suitable for this process, Rapid manufactured a scrubbing unit which uses the principle of spraying the steam with a light mist to remove the dust particles which are then released back into the mix.

The ash is then transported from existing silos to the ash weigh hopper which weighs the exact quantity of ash required before releasing it into the R1000 mixer. Underneath this mixer, Rapid installed a holding hopper and pneumatic conveying system that feeds the conditioned ash silo.

This conditioned ash is then fed from the silo into an automated tanker fill system, designed to fill both rail and road tankers. This required the installation of an adjustable height stair system, adjustable loading bellows and a large capacity screw conveyor.

As a result of the work undertaken by Rapid International, Aylesford Newsprint have an ash conditioning system which meets their requirements to increase recycling of one of their process residues and which will result in reduced landfill and less use of virgin aggregates.

More Information
For more information about Aylesford Newsprint, you can go to their website: www.aylesford-newsprint.co.uk