Since the beginning of January, the metropolis of Rouen has opened a second crematorium. Built in Petit-Quevilly (Seine-Maritime), on the left bank of the Seine, for a total amount of 5.5 million euros, it complements initial equipment which has become insufficient to meet the current needs of the population.
“An oven is a maximum of 2,000 cremations a year. And the crematorium in the Monumental cemetery has two, which was no longer enough, ”recalls Gwenaëlle Salaün, in charge of commissioning the new site. It therefore doubles the capacity in this area of the Rouen agglomeration, where it was not uncommon to have to wait more than two weeks or find a crematorium elsewhere in the department.
More comfortable, with a reception hall to welcome families at the end of the ceremony to honor the memory of their deceased, the new crematorium also benefits from technology intended to recover part of the heat generated by the equipment. to reinject it into the district heating network. "This is a sensitive subject," recognizes Gwenaëlle Salaün. "We have to show pedagogy to explain it, because we are confronted with questions on this point".
A device used at Père-Lachaise in Paris
Because technically, it is not the heat produced by the combustion of the bodies which is used, but that of the equipment intended to cool the fumes of the ovens, which leave at 850 ° C, and which must be filtered before being rejected in the atmosphere. "It's a bit the same principle as a refrigerator which, to produce cold, generates heat, as you can see by touching the back of an appliance."
This innovative device, already used for example in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, therefore makes it possible to use the calories produced by these devices for the benefit of the living. Without disrespecting the dead.
