Research developments

The Cadmus Group taps Burns & McDonnell for US EPA waste-to-energy project

Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Mo., has been tapped as part of a team to work with Boston-based The Cadmus Group Inc. for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Assessment of Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Infrastructure project. Technical consultants from Burns & McDonnell’s Solid Waste Practice Group will work with the project team lead, Cadmus, a social good consultancy with areas of specialization in environmental sustainability and energy program planning and design. As part of the project, they will assess WTE recovery technologies and end products, such as energy and biofuels. The assessment is designed to provide tools for community decision-makers across the country to make comparisons relevant to them, while enabling them to leverage waste as an energy resource.

“We’re excited that our expertise in established and emerging waste-to-energy technologies has been identified for this project and we are proud to be working with Cadmus in evaluating approaches to foster sustainability for communities throughout the United States,” says Robert Craggs, department manager of the solid waste practice at Burns & McDonnell. “With a number of conversion technologies becoming potentially viable along with public policy incentives to foster renewable energy, it’s crucial for communities to determine which technology best suits their sustainability needs for the future. Through this project the EPA intends to help empower them in making informed decisions.”

The Assessment of WTE Infrastructure project is comprised of a set of key tasks. These tasks include the creation of a database of existing and proposed WTE technologies and projects, high-level technical and environmental analysis of the WTE technologies, and a written report for federal, state and local regulators. Specifically, the report will highlight the state of readiness and include environmental and economic consequences for deployment of each technology.

By providing information about existing infrastructure as well as commercial or near-commercial innovative processes, the database will allow community leaders to compare and contrast the various WTE options, such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration to energy, liquefaction and plasma arc.

Technical consultants involved on the project work within the Burns & McDonnell Solid Waste Practice Group that provides expertise in planning, financial analysis, services procurement, feasibility, permitting, operations and program assessments, design and construction oversight, as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. The firm says it plays a critical role in the successful implementation of solid waste projects and programs across the country.

PEAT commissions plasma thermal waste-to-energy system in China

PEAT International Inc., Northbrook, Ill., a developer of plasma-thermal waste destruction systems, says it has successfully commissioned a Plasma Thermal Destruction and Recovery (PTDR) system in Shanghai.

The 132-pound-per-hour system designed for medical waste and oil refinery sludge was installed for Abada Plasma Technology Holdings Ltd., an Asia-based renewable energy project developer.

PEAT’s PTDR single-stage plasma-thermal process transforms hazardous waste through molecular dissociation at 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit into recoverable, nontoxic end products, synthetic gas and heat (sources for energy recovery), metals and a vitrified glass matrix.

Emissions from the process are below the most stringent environmental standards used anywhere, according to the company.

“This is end-stage technology. Only with plasma can you achieve temperatures high enough for waste destruction in a single-staged process,” says Joseph Rosin, PEAT International chairman. “It’s a 21st century solution that addresses three important needs: significant volume reduction, full pollution control and competitive pricing. We are currently preparing for other projects already under contract.”

More information about PEAT and its PTDR systems are available at www.peat.com.

RES Polyflow concludes scale-up campaign

RES Polyflow, based in Akron, Ohio, reports that it has successfully concluded the scale-up campaign for its energy recovery technology. The project sought to convert end-of-life plastics, rubber, carpeting and electronic scrap into renewable transportation fuels. A grant from Ohio’s Third Frontier helped to support the program.

RES Polyflow, which designs, markets and manufactures the recovery system, says its end products are renewable transportation fuels, octane enhancers and aromatics.

According to RES Polyflow, the demonstration campaign, conducted throughout the summer of 2013, proved the company’s waste-plastic-conversion process is stable and efficient in a full-scale production environment and all material inputs and outputs are able to be managed on a continuous process basis.

Jay Schable, CEO of RES Polyflow, says, “The RES Polyflow team has a rich history of achieving the goals set before them in proving out the technology through the classical steps to commercialization. We prove our capability with our results and are now excited to construct our first continuous operation plant with profitability at the forefront.”

He continues, “As we achieve this critical milestone we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Third Frontier program, our operating team and shareholders, and the strategic partners who have been by our side for nearly five years.”

The company says it intends to pursue various avenues of next-stage growth, including the possibility of converting its Perry, Ohio, demonstration site into a fully operational production facility over the next 12 months. A number of independent plant owners and operators attended demonstrations in 2013 and are now in negotiation with RES Polyflow to license the technology for implementation in North America and overseas, the company says.

The company previously announced a joint venture agreement with a Las Vegas-based group under the name Enretec to commercialize the technology in several western U.S. markets.