Supplier news

Impact Bioenergy awarded patent for seasonal digester

Seattle-based Impact Bioenergy has been awarded a patent for what the company describes as “a low-cost, below-grade digester that operates on a one-year cycle for facilities like resorts, parks, islands and farms with a seasonal waste pattern.”

The company says the technology enables seasonal facilities to generate energy from food scraps and other organic waste. According to Impact Bioenergy, the digester can be constructed quickly and contains both anaerobic biomethane production and aerobic feedstock finishing to convert food, paper, landscape material and food production residuals into energy, heat and compost. The system operates with a six-month loading and digestion cycle, followed by a four-month composting and unloading cycle.

The system is designed to generate 2.35 million British thermal units (Mmbtu) of energy and 8 cubic feet of finished compost per ton of waste input. If electricity is generated, this is equivalent to 227 kilowatt hours (kWh) per ton of waste input.

The company says the enclosed, weatherproof system takes up 6 square feet of ground space per ton of waste. A standard system is designed for 2,600 tons of waste over six months, generating 6.1 Mmbtu of biomethane and 22,000 cubic feet of compost. If electricity is produced, this is equivalent to 590,000 kWh of power. The system is scalable to 500 tons per cycle per module, Impact says.

2G Cenergy tapped to supply cogeneration systems for Ohio project

2G Cenergy Power Systems Technologies Inc., St. Augustine, Florida, has announced that it received an $8 million order to supply cogeneration equipment to a waste management facility being built in Grove City, Ohio.

Team Gemini, a sustainable project design and development company based in Orlando, Florida, has entered into an agreement with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) and materials recovery facility (MRF) on SWACO property in Grove City. The company says the facility under construction, the Gemini Synergy Center, could eventually eliminate the authority’s need to use the landfills.

Team Gemini reports that it will build both a waste receiving facility and a waste stream recovery plant including anaerobic digesters. The buildings will have a combined area of over 185,000 square feet. The project is divided into Phase 1 and 2. Initially, the plant will be able to process up to 2,000 tons per day (about 30 percent of the current waste stream), the company says.

According to Team Gemini, plans call for the facility to eventually have the capacity to process the entire waste stream. After recyclable materials such as metals and plastics are recovered, the balance of the organic waste will be preprocessed for use in anaerobic digesters, Team Gemini says.

2G Cenergy’s modular 2G biogas cogeneration system to be installed as part of Phase 1 is rated at 5.55 megawatt (MW) hours and includes three integrated 2G avus series combined heat and power (CHP) systems. The companies say the cogeneration system features “ultra-low NOx (nitric oxide) and CO (carbon monoxide) emissions control technology.” Delivery of Phase 1 is expected in late 2014 with Phase 2 scheduled to occur in 2015.

During Phase 1, landfill gas (LFG) from the adjacent SWACO landfill site will fuel the 2G avus cogeneration modules. Germany’s Enco2 has been commissioned to engineer and construct the 8.4-MW biogas/biomass plant, applying the company’s patented UDR Technology. It will be built by its U.S. contractor partner Manhattan Construction, with corporate offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Naples, Florida. 2G Cenergy also is supplying a gas treatment technology package as well as an advanced combustion management system. The company says the system’s automation and control technology enables the operator to monitor energy efficiency and lower the environmental impact.

Team Gemini also has leased a 343-acre tract of land from SWACO to develop an industrial and research park that it says will serve as a sustainable business cluster powered by the waste stream within a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). According to Team Gemini, an integral benefit for tenants of the industrial park will include access to recyclable byproducts recovered via waste processing which can be used to create new products.

“Historically, we always considered trash something that costs money to get rid of,” says Ronald J. Mills, executive director of SWACO. “We will be turning trash management from a cost center to a true profit center by extracting the value that is intrinsically contained within that trash stream.”

Doug Haughn, one of Team Gemini’s founders, describes the approach as unique. “Team Gemini set out to develop several clusters of technology in an industrial park setting that are fueled synergistically with renewable energy of different types, from solar to anaerobic digestion, biogas, biomass and others, in order to create synergy within the park so that the industry can share off each other’s waste stream.”

Covanta signs agreement with transportation provider

Waste Harmonics, a Victor, New York-based supplier of outsourced waste management consolidation services, has signed a preferred service provider agreement to supply Covanta of Morristown, New Jersey, with transportation and equipment logistics.

The agreement calls for Waste Harmonics to manage the transport and delivery of waste, recyclables and organics to various processing and disposal sites on behalf of Covanta and its customers for a two-year term, with term extension options.

“We are thrilled to enter into this preferred service agreement with Covanta, a company that understands and appreciates the qualities Waste Harmonics brings to all of our customer relationships: honesty, professionalism and an unwavering commitment to stand behind our promises,” says Michael Hess, founder, president and CEO of Waste Harmonics.

“I am extremely excited about our partnership with Waste Harmonics,” says Steve Diaz, Covanta vice president of strategic services. “Waste Harmonics’ well-established infrastructure is well suited to support Covanta’s comprehensive suite of sustainable waste services and will only enhance our reputation for exceptional customer service.”

Lindner-Recyclingtech receives award for RDF shredder line

Austria-based Lindner-Recyclingtech was awarded the Global CemFuels Award during the Eighth Global CemFuels Conference and Exhibition in Vienna, Austria.

It is the second such award for the shredder manufacturer, which operates in the United States as Lindner America. Lindner-Recyclingtech first received the accolade in 2009 when its comprehensive range of recycling solutions was honored.

The Eighth Global CemFuels Conference and Exhibition was held in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 25-26, 2014. More than 190 delegates from more than 30 countries took part in the conference which focuses on alternative fuel for the cement and lime industry.

The annual award was presented during the Global CemFuels gala dinner at Palais Ferstel in Vienna’s historic district. The international Global CemFuels Award, covering five categories, reached a new record this year by receiving 1,200 votes from alternative fuel experts from 42 countries.

Lindner-Recyclingtech’s refuse-derived fuel (RDF) compact line was honored as the most innovative technology for alternative fuel use.

The company says its RDF shredder lines produce a high quality fuel that is fluffy and consistent in size and provide consistent output over the life of the cutting knives, resulting from a unique cutting arrangement and adjustable counter knives. Lindner also says its shredders offer low operating expenses, attributed to the simple and effective adjustment of the counter knives. The shredders utilize kinetic energy in their drive systems, lowering power peaks, the company says. Other highlighted features include maintenance access doors and related operational features.

Lindner-Recyclingtech says it is proud to be nominated and to win these awards, especially for the second time. The company says it is the only shredder manufacturer to receive a nomination or award since the awards were first presented in 2008.

Lindner says its decades of experience have made it a knowledgeable and dependable partner for the industries that process RDF.

Martin Machinery adapts generator units to meet customer needs

Martin Machinery, Latham, Missouri, reports that the company’s electric power generator systems are now custom-designed for landfill and coal mining applications to produce power from the methane gas generated. The company also reports that it has streamlined its design to meet customer demands. Martin Machinery says it has built generator systems since the 1980s.

Harlan Martin of Martin Machinery explains that in prior years, generators were shipped separately from radiators and switch gears. Radiators were mounted outside the building, and the switch gear used to lock the generator to the electrical utility was often located in a separate temperature-controlled room.

More recently, Martin says, end users prefer units installed in “walk-in” type enclosures. “This has become rather popular with customers, because of it being more like a ‘plug-and-play’ system, and thereby reducing the labor at the job site,” Martin says. He adds that the units allow for more rapid depreciation than “site build” buildings and offer better resale value.

For more information, email sales@martinmachinery.com.