From potatoes to power

Turkish foodstuffs producer Seydibey T.Ü.İ.E.T. has known for a long time that potatoes contain not just starch but also great potential for producing energy.

The company processes around 70,000 metric tons of potatoes a year – and then sells them as frozen products in a wide variety of forms. A happy by-product of this process is green electricity - produced with mtu gensets.

A tale of two cities

Whether it's french fries, croquettes, potato lattices or potato wedges Seydibey products are very popular and lead the market in this sector. Seydibey T.Ü.İ.E.T. is a subsidiary of foodstuff conglomerate Konya Seker. Its production site is in the southwestern province of Konya, halfway between the cities of Seydişehir and Beysehir. So, it's no coincidence that its name is a cross between the names of the two cities. Seydibey has been processing potatoes there since 2009.

“Large production volumes also create large amounts of waste, which at Seydibey consist mainly of potato peelings. As Turkey's largest producer of frozen potato products, we see it as our duty to recycle these sustainably"

Erman GÜMÜŞ, Director of Seydibey T.Ü.İ.E.T. plant.

Turning waste into biogas

For this purpose, the company has set up a biogas plant on its production site, turning the organic waste into biogas.

An mtu 12V4000L32FB combined heat-and-power plant (CHP plant) then converts the biogas into electricity and heat at a rate of 1,169 kW per hour. The process really pays off, with the ability to produce 9,000,000 kW of electricity per year which is then fed into the public power grid. The Turkish government rewards the production of green electricity, paying 0.133 dollars per kilowatt. An integrated heat recovery system ensures that waste heat from the biogas plant becomes usable.

The 'tropical' variant

The mtu CHP selected was the "tropical variant" of the 12V4000L32FB model.

This refers to the special robust qualities of the engine used. It is deployed in places where the temperatures are particularly high. And a good thing too, because even though the Turkish province doesn't have a tropical climate, temperatures can quickly soar in the summer.

Back in 2013, parent company Konya Seker installed a biogas plant with an mtu CHP plant on another production site, which runs on a combination of biogas and fossil-based natural gas. Now the plant has been transported to Seydibey and put into operation there, together with the new unit. Both plants are now biogas-only.

So when the french fries are sizzling in the fryer, the power for them may be coming from the skins of the potatoes that are just becoming wedges and fries at Seydibey T.Ü.İ.E.T.

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