PuK - Process Technology & Components 2024

Compressors and Systems
Sustainability
Compressed air specialist committed to the climate
and customers
Sustainability on the rise
The use of compressed air consumes
a lot of energy. However, work is also
being done on the ecological balance
in this area. Manufacturers such as
BOGE support their customers in
saving electricity and CO 2
and are
involved in cross-industry projects
that contribute to environmental
and climate protection.
BOGE is also involved in the Haru Oni
project. The Bielefeld-based manufacturer
of compressors and compressed
air systems supplies the compressed
air required to operate the
system. It is required as instrument
air - for example to control pneumatic
valves - but also to generate the nitrogen.
The generator works according
to the pressure swing adsorption
(PSA) process and supplies nitrogen
with a purity of 99.99 per cent. BOGE
has also developed a system for compressing
the carbon dioxide extracted
from the air. “Unlike usual, the CO 2
is not stored in a solid container, but
in a bubble made of rubberised fabric
that inflates to the specified filling
level,” explains the Senior Project
Manager at BOGE. Many of the sys-
One of these projects is “Haru Oni” - in
the language of the indigenous people
of Chile, this means “strong wind”.
There is more than enough of it in the
southernmost region of Chile. In the
“Haru Oni” pilot project, wind energy
is to be used to produce e-fuel. In
other words, the substance that will
power some cars, ships and airplanes
as well as countless machines in the
future. Companies from several countries
have joined forces under the
leadership of the Chilean project company
HIF (Highly Innovative Fuels). The
common goal is to initially produce
130 cubic metres of the green fuel. In
a second phase, production is to be increased
to 55,000 cubic metres and
from 2026 to 550,000 cubic metres.
The climate-neutral fuel is obtained
from hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
To do this, water is split into its
components hydrogen and oxygen
using electrical energy. The hydrogen
is mixed with carbon dioxide, which
is absorbed and collected directly
from the air, to form a synthesis gas.
This is then processed into methanol
and finally into synthetic petrol. The
companies involved in the project,
including Siemens Energy, are trialling
various new processes for this.
Fig. 1: As part of the Haru Oni project, BOGE has developed a system for compressing the
carbon dioxide extracted from the air. The CO 2
is stored in a bubble made of rubberised fabric,
which inflates to the specified level.
Nitrogen with a purity of
99.99 per cent
Fig. 2: With the new components for screw compressors, up to 94 per cent of the energy
used can be recovered.
88 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2024