ATS has been awarded of the contract of the new flue gas treatment system in Poznan (Poland)

O-I is the worldwide leading manufacturer of container glass, operating in 21 countries with 75 plants and more than 21,000 employees, and has over a century in the production of clean, sustainable glass packaging and able to confer recognition the major brands of food and beverage. The production of O-I is focused on glass containers for beer, wine, distillery products, foods and drinks.

In Poland, in which it was present since 1993, it has 2 factories including Jaroslaw plant, that is still considered the worldwide biggest plant owned by O-I, and Antoniniek; for a total of 6 active furnaces, from which every day are shipped standard and customized bottles to the main players of the European "food & beverage" market. Some of these have also become testimonial of the campaign "Glass is Life" aimed to demonstrate the unique qualities of glass packaging and its ability to create successful brands in the food and beverage industry, showing the love consumers have for this type of material.

View of Antoniniek O-I Manufacturing production site

Glass is a 100% natural material; the raw materials from which it is composed include sand and limestone. It can be used and recycled over and over again. But not for this reason its production is totally painless for the environment: the high melting temperatures of its components may in fact lead to the formation of dust and sulphur oxides (SOx), which besides being a greenhouse gas, are also one of the main causes of acid rain.

Once again, O-I has proven itself to be a company that stands out for its strong respect for the environment, so much so that it wants to equip, after the first two lines at Jaroslaw, also its Antoniniek plant of an efficient flue gas treatment system. This system, among the first in Poland with regard to container glass production sites, involves the injection of hydrated lime into a dry reactor placed upstream of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The lime, then, will react with sulfur oxides present in the flue gases, thus transforming pollutants into sulphates and sulphites that can easily be captured by the electrostatic filter placed downstream.

ATS intervention will therefore be focused on the integration of this system upstream of the energy recovery plant that is nowadays under construction; by ensuring, through appropriate modifications, that the FGT, in its final configuration, has no impact on the maintained pressure, and, on the other hand, guarantees even better stability even during the reversal phases typical of a melting glass furnace.