Sustainable industry claims its place at Pollutec

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Moving towards a sustainable industry primarily means implementing production methods that have a limited or even no impact on the environment and climate. This is achieved through the development of processes that are increasingly more environmentally friendly, energy efficient and/or eco-designed, through approaches aimed at recovering energy, water or compressed air but also through the design of robust solutions that limit maintenance requirements. Pollutec already features a substantial range of products and services in all these fields but this year it has decided to go even further through a special forum organized in conjunction with the Ministry of the Environment, ADEME and the FIM (mechanical engineering federation) that will host an extensive conference programme.

The main themes of the Sustainable Industry Forum
This new forum is structured around several major themes including mechanisms for financing a sustainable industry (invitations for projects, loans, European finance, new guarantee models); the regulatory context (“eco-design”, “energy efficiency” and “IED” directives; REACH regulations); methodologies and available tools; innovative solutions (substitution, energy recovery, project eco-design,…); systematic approaches (factory of the future, industrial ecology,…) as well as sustainable industry training and trades. See the box for a foretaste of the programme. We would also like to highlight the fact that for the first time the French mechanical engineering federation is coming together in a common space with five professional associations (CISMA, PROFLUID, ARTEMA, FIM énergétique, FABRILABO)(1), two technical centres (CETIM and CETIAT)(2) and the UNM (union for mechanical standardization) to promote the theme of “Mechanics + environment = sustainable equation”.

Innovative solutions for a sustainable industry
Pollutec 2012 is particularly packed with innovations in the field of the eco-performance of processes across all the show’s major sectors (water, air, waste, soils…). A number of solutions allow the use of chemical products to be limited (eg. the use of UV to decontaminate air), others are based on the linking together of processes or multi-function approaches (eg. grinders employing alternating and inline cylinders, installation combining grinder and washing unit, equipment for a membrane bioreactor that handles both the screening and transport of materials). This ‘all in one’ strategy results in a significant reduction in the physical footprint of the equipment and a not insignificant reduction in energy consumption. It’s also clear that the drive to optimize energy efficiency continues to gather pace: besides several processes helping to improve the energy performance of pumps, one exhibitor will be launching a system for packing bio-filters with diffusion rings and blocks of synthetic foam in a solution that combines light weight, high absorption and low load loss.
Energy recovery shows no signs of being left behind. It is to be seen everywhere at the show. There is, for example, a VOC treatment device that can recover energy, a system for the recovery of energy from combined heat and power for drying other waste and an original separation process for dust in grain dryers that combines separation, energy recovery (heat exchange) and water recovery (condensates). Eco-design continues to forge ahead in all sectors and is becoming ever more advanced. This, for example, is the case with an eco-designed pump dating from several years back where it has now been possible to further reduce its use of raw materials (it is 57% lighter than its predecessor) and its energy consumption (-10%). On the service front, new solutions on offer this year include a flow management method and a service for re-designing industrial systems based on system engineering methods and creativity that emphasizes innovation in its entirety.

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