Reuse of Chemical Gypsum from Power Plant

Summary

The desulphurisation plant of Asnæs Power Station, which removes sulphur dioxide (SO2) from the flue gas, produces about 200,000 tonnes of gypsum on a yearly basis. Desulphurisation is a chemical process in which sulphur dioxide is removed while forming the by-product gypsum. The gypsum is sold to BPB Gyproc, a company that manufactures plasterboard products for the construction industry. The gypsum from the power station reduces the import of natural gypsum significantly. Being more uniform and purer than natural gypsum, power station gypsum is therefore well suited for plasterboard production (Kalundborg Centre for Industrial Symbiosis 2004).

In addition to the above, gypsum stemming from the municipal recycling station of Kalundborg is also delivered to BPB Gyproc, thereby contributing on a smaller scale to reducing imports of natural gypsum and the amounts of solid waste for land filling.

Industry

Industry Sector	Specific Industry
energy utility	Asnæs power station
building and construction	BPB Gyproc plasterboard manufacturer
recycling	municipal recycling station

Region

Kalundborg, Denmark

Applied Technologies

• desulphurisation

Triple Bottom Line Aspects (direct at operational level)

Economic	reduced landfill costs for power plant reduced energy costs for plasterboard manufacturer
Environment	less wastes to landfill increased resource efficiency reduced energy consumption, resulting in less greenhouse gas emissions
Social	job security / employment

Additional Comments

None.

References

• Kalundborg Centre for Industrial Symbiosis (2004) "Industrial Symbiosis", Retrieved from: http://www.symbiosis.dk/

Last Update

9 August 2006