Newcastle-based fireplace and bathroom furniture manufacturer Be Modern has recently installed a mammoth 2.6MW Mawera biomass boiler in its factory.

The company, which employs 350 workers and has more than 500,000ft² of manufacturing and warehousing space, burns a variety of panel product waste in the Mawera FSR2600 boiler including PVC-edged material and MFC chipboard.

About 40-50 tonnes of wood waste is created by Be Modern’s production each week.

“We needed a boiler that provides the required heat for our vast production and office areas,” said production director Greg Bloodworth.

The plant consists of a new storage silo discharger with transport systems to the boiler house. The boiler features de-ashing and automatic tube cleaning.

The Mawera’s two-stage combustion system re-circulates the flue gases into both primary and secondary combustion stages to ensure positive emission limit control within the Policy Guidance Note 1/12 legislated levels regardless of the size and varying quantities of materials being burnt.

After installation, full EPA and thermal efficiency tests were carried out by independent consultants, resulting in a Enhanced Capital Allowance for the plant.

Continuous monitoring of the EPA emissions is installed, with remote access enabling all the functions of the plant to be monitored remotely.

The installation is Mawera’s first to go through the RHI application process.