Newsworthy

Mass burn

Covanta Signs Agreement with Waterbury, Conn.
Covanta Energy Corp., Morristown, N.J., has signed an agreement with the city of Waterbury, Conn., to provide recycling and disposal services. Covanta owns and operates three energy-from-waste facilities in Connecticut: Covanta Projects of Wallingford, Covanta Bristol and Covanta Seconn in Preston.

Under the agreement, Covanta will handle the disposal of 40,000 tons of Waterbury’s municipal solid waste at its Covanta Bristol energy-from-waste facility. Additionally, Covanta will handle 5,000 tons of recyclables collected by the city. The five-year agreement began July 1.

“After a considerable amount of due diligence and negotiation, we are confident that Covanta will be an excellent partner and service provider to the city of Waterbury,” says Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary. “The new agreement saves taxpayers at least $2 million, and we will be handling our waste in a sustainable manner by utilizing Covanta’s energy-from-waste facilities and recycling services instead of landfilling. We make these decisions with our taxpayers’ best interests in mind. The critical importance of these value-added services cannot be overstated.”

As part of the contract, Covanta and Waterbury have agreed to establish an educational outreach program for the citizens of Waterbury that will cover a variety of projects, including recycling education and hazardous household waste collection.

Anaerobic digestion

Kroger to Process Food Waste for Energy
The Kroger Co., Los Angeles, has unveiled a clean energy production system that will convert food that can’t be sold or donated into clean energy to help power its Ralphs/Food 4 Less Compton, Calif., distribution center.

The anaerobic conversion system will process more than 55,000 tons of organic food waste into renewable energy annually and provide power for the 650,000-square-foot distribution center. By diverting that food waste—the equivalent of 150 tons per day—the system also will reduce area truck trips by more than 500,000 miles each year, according to the company. The Kroger Recovery System converts the carbon in organic material into a renewable source of methane.

“We are committed to finding solutions for food waste and clean energy and we believe this is a meaningful step forward,” says Rodney McMullen, president and COO, Kroger. “Investing in this project is a good business decision for Kroger and, most importantly, an extraordinary opportunity to benefit the environment. We want to thank Gov. (Edmund) Brown and his team at CalRecycle and CalEPA, the city of Compton, the SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) and most importantly the team at Feed for making this renewable energy project a reality.”

The Kroger Recovery System utilizes anaerobic digestion (AD), a naturally occurring process, to transform unsold organics and on-site food-processing effluent into renewable biogas. This biogas is then turned into power for on-site operations. The process is carried out in an enclosed, oxygen-free environment, which means the process takes up less space and generates no odors. The system will provide enough renewable biogas to offset more than 20 percent of the energy demand of the Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution center. Combining the use of renewable energy power with more than 150 zero-emission fuel cell forklifts, the Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution center is described by Kroger as one of the greenest and most efficient, advancing the city of Compton as a leading sustainable community.

The Kroger Recovery System is designed and operated by Feed Resource Recovery Inc., a clean technology company founded in Boston in 2007. Feed has designed and implemented a zero-waste solution called R2S for the food industry. Feed’s approach leverages customers’ existing transportation and distribution systems to generate clean, sustainable power for on-site operations, reduces emissions and saves millions of dollars on waste removal costs, the company says.

Kroger, one of the world’s largest retailers, employs 343,000 associates who serve customers in 2,424 supermarkets and department stores in 31 states under two-dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s. The company also operates 786 convenience stores, 328 fine jewelry stores, 1,169 supermarket fuel centers and 37 food processing plants in the U.S.

Mass burn

Council Approves Energy-Recovery Facility in Ontario
Ontario’s Peel Regional Council approved a plan to design, build, operate and maintain the Peel Energy Recovery Centre June 27. The Region of Peel serves more than 1 million residents in the cities of Mississauga and Brampton and the town of Caledon, Ontario.

“The development of the Peel Energy Recovery Centre is a key component of the region’s Long-Term Waste Management Strategy, which aims to recover and effectively use resources from our waste stream so we can conserve natural resources,” says Councillor John Sanderson, chair of the Waste Management Committee. “The Peel Energy Recovery Centre is a responsible choice for managing Peel’s residual waste.”

“In a survey conducted last fall (2012), residents told us they wanted the region to work toward reducing waste generation and increasing resource recovery in a way that protects the environment,” explains Norm Lee, director of waste management for the Region of Peel. “The new energy recovery centre will enable us to safely and reliably recover valuable resources, such as energy and recyclable metals, which would otherwise be lost in a landfill.”

The same survey showed that the majority of Peel’s residents supported the development of an energy-from-waste facility within Peel instead of hauling Peel’s waste to an out-of-region landfill.

Using an established energy-from-waste technology, the Peel Energy Recovery Centre will process 300,000 metric tons per year of Peel’s residential garbage to produce usable energy, such as steam or electricity, and recover recyclable metals. It will allow the region to reduce the overall volume of waste going to landfill by up to 90 percent, decreasing its reliance on landfill disposal and its impact on the environment, according to the council. “Over its lifetime, the new centre will reduce greenhouse emissions to as little as half the greenhouse gases that are currently released by hauling our garbage to an out-of-region landfill,” says Lee.

To ensure that the centre’s workers, surrounding area residents and the environment as a whole are protected, the Peel Energy Recovery Centre will use advanced technologies to control and monitor emissions. The region also says it will undertake a provincially regulated environmental screening process to identify the potential environmental effects of this project and determine how best to address them, which will include conducting detailed studies on air quality, health, ground and surface water, traffic and noise among others.

In 2012, the region disposed of more than 250,000 metric tons of residential garbage, which remained after residents reduced, reused, recycled and composted household waste. Even with planned diversion programs, such as biweekly garbage collection, enhanced recycling programs and the implementation of extended producer responsibility initiatives, current waste and household growth projections show that when the new centre opens in 2020, the region will need to dispose of more than 270,000 metric tons of garbage per year, with as much as 400,000 tons per year over the facility’s life span.

Gasification

Ohio EPA Extends Public Comment Period for Proposed Gasification Plant in Cleveland
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended the public comment period for an Air Draft Permit for a proposed municipal solid waste gasification plant in Cleveland.

Ohio EPA says it extended the public comment period by 12 days after receiving requests from the community for an extension. Citizens had until July 1 to submit their comments.

If the permit is issued as final, it would allow Cleveland Public Power (CPP) to construct a waste-to-energy facility at 3727 Ridge Rd. in Cleveland. According to Ohio EPA, the facility would house three municipal solid waste gasifier processing lines to produce syngas. The syngas would be burned in a furnace to produce heat, which would in turn be converted to steam in a heat recovery system generator.

A meeting held June 12 with Ohio EPA and Cleveland Division of Air Quality (CDAQ) drew nearly 60 Cleveland residents who spoke out in opposition to the proposed permit, citing air emissions from the plant. The application submitted by CPP was reportedly a revised version of an earlier application.

The new application reduces the number of gasifiers from four units to three units. It also increased the height of the smokestack. The modifications classify the plant as a “minor source” of emissions.

Citizens also had an opportunity to submit comments in writing after the public hearing. Ohio EPA says a decision on issuing a final permit will be made after considering all questions and comments submitted by July 1.

A copy of the draft air permit is available by visiting www.app.epa.ohio.gov/dapc/permits_issued/ 1010783.pdf.

Transportation fuels

Pictured from left: Rocky Di Rico, deputy commissioner, New York City Dept. of Sanitation; Joanna Underwood, Energy Vision; Chuck Feinberg, president, New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition; Joel Sonkin, Newark, N.J., chief of energy and environment; Anthony Orlando, president and CEO, Covanta; Hank Asher, Covanta Essex business manager; and Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO, Clean Energy.

Clean Energy, Covanta Open CNG Fueling Station in New Jersey
Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., and Covanta Energy Corp., Morristown, N.J., have jointly announced the opening of a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Newark, N.J. The station is the first fueling station built as part of a nationwide partnership between the two companies.

The station, built and maintained by Clean Energy, is located at Covanta’s energy-from-waste facility in Newark. The station will supply CNG fuel to refuse trucks serving communities and businesses in northern New Jersey and New York City.

The companies say CNG fueling, combined with Covanta’s energy-from-waste facility, creates a compelling economic and environmentally friendly refuse management model they plan to replicate across the U.S.

Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO, Clean Energy, said during the opening ceremony, “This partnership is expected to enable more fleets and customers around the country to take advantage of the economic benefits of natural gas while reducing their carbon footprint in the community—a true win-win.”

Anthony Orlando, president and CEO, Covanta Energy, said, “Covanta is proud to partner with Clean Energy and the New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition in the installation of the new fueling station at our energy-from-waste facility. CNG is the perfect complement to our work in converting postrecycled waste into clean electricity.”

The Newark fueling station project has been partially funded by a U.S. Department of Energy Federal Stimulus Grant through the New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works to educate the public about the environmental benefits of switching to vehicles powered by alternative fuels.

Transportation fuels

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US Energy Initiatives Corp. Receives Biofuel Patent
U.S. Energy Initiatives Corp. (USEI), based in Santa Clarita, Calif., has received a patent assignment for a biofuel patent titled Green Recycled Derived Biofuel (RDBF). The fuel was designed for automotive, aviation and stationary electrical power applications. According to USEI, the fuel has been extensively tested by a university laboratory.

Anthony Miller, USEI CEO, says, “This is a game-changing event for USEI because we now have a proprietary product that, once fully commercialized, affords significant options. We can market the fuel or we can license it to a significantly larger firm for royalties.

“This fuel was developed and patented by our Chief Technology Officer Harrison McCoy III. This is one of the reasons we joined forces again; to commercialize this patent and to produce biodiesel profitably.”

Miller continues, “In the coming weeks more exciting revelations will be unveiled about this patented product,” which he says is a biodiesel and ethanol product.

McCoy says the company’s biodiesel patent involves a combination of recycled waste products from industries such as fast food restaurants and food processing operations. “These recycled waste products are repurposed to a biofuel such as biodiesel,” he says. “The ethanol is taken from noneditable recycled waste from companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co., wineries and all outdated sugar products. These products are distilled to produce a recycled repurposed ethanol. The two finished products are blended in different percentages.”

The patent can be viewed at www.usenergyinit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/US20030126790.pdf.

Plastics to fuel

JBI Completes Assembly of Third Plastics-to-Oil Processor
JBI Inc. has finished assembly of its third Plastic2Oil (P2O®) processor at its Niagara Falls, N.Y., facility.

The designs behind the third processor have undertaken significant upgrades since the previous generation of processors, according to the company, including the addition of a real-time residue removal process that the company says could increase processor uptime, as measured by the amount of time the processor is at full capacity producing fuel. All individual subsystems, including burners, kilns, towers, off-gas, cooling and flue gas systems have been tested and are operational, the company reports.

Processor 3 is now undergoing initial plastic feeding, fuel production and process debugging, which will address any initial problems and any parts that may potentially fail under the full heat of the process and plastic loads. This testing is consistent with the company’s standardized new processor startup protocol.

“Hands down, we believe that this processor will be recognized as the world’s most technologically advanced and efficient piece of machinery in the emerging plastic-to-oil market,” says John Bordynuik, chief of technology and company founder. “We have addressed the residue removal challenge head on with the addition of the continuous removal system. In addition to the towers being larger than those of the previous generation processors, we have also used operational data from previous generation processors to make a significant number of upgrades to the rest of this processor. We believe this processor is positioned to be second-to-none in terms of fuel product, emissions, process efficiency, automation and operating cost.”

JBI President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Bogolin says, “We believe that this new processor will significantly improve our production and will be our flagship for use at future P2O sites.”

Gasification

GE Power & Water and PHG Energy Collaborate on Gasification Project
GE Power & Water, Schenectady, N.Y., and PHG Energy (PHGE), a Nashville-based alternative energy equipment company, have announced they have successfully collaborated on a project to produce electricity from waste material by employing gasification technology to power GE’s Clean Cycle heat-to-power generator.

The Clean Cycle heat-to-power generator, a product manufactured by GE Power & Water, is used worldwide to convert waste heat into electricity.

The new system PHGE developed starts with gasification of waste wood chips or other biomass to provide a clean-burning producer gas. That fuel is then combusted in a heating unit which supplies the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) with the thermal source it needs to operate efficiently, producing enough electricity to supply approximately 50 homes.

“This system integrates three proven technologies: GE’s heat-to-power generator, PHG Energy’s gasifier and a standard heat exchanger,” says PHG Energy President Tom Stanzione. “The project is simple and elegant in its straightforward design, capable of operating on multiple and varied waste streams, and offers operating costs far below existing waste-to-energy generation systems in the marketplace.”

“Innovation such as this, involving our equipment, is exciting and opens doors to many applications,” says Brad Garner, president of GE’s Heat Recovery Solutions Division. “Our company is constantly seeking new technology to add to our array of distributed power systems. This is an area of waste utilization that offers tremendous potential, and we believe also can help our customers meet today’s pressing environmental challenges and energy demands.”

The combined GE and PHGE project is being conducted in Gleason, Tenn., at a facility owned by Boral Brick Corp.

Innovations

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Vexor Engineered Fuel Meets NHSM Criteria
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued Vexor Technology, Medina, Ohio, a “comfort letter” for Vexor Engineered Fuel (VEF) under the Non-Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) rule, the company says.

The letter legitimizes the fuel process and recognizes the use of VEF as a nonwaste alternative fuel, according to the company.

“This is great news for us at Vexor and another win in our push to pave the way for a sustainable alternative fuel produced from various feedstocks,” the Vexor website states.

Vexor defines VEF as “a manufactured product with a commercial application used as a coal substitute in a combustion unit where coal is burned, such as a cement kiln, lime kiln or utility boiler. This alternate energy source is manufactured from various nonhazardous industrial and commercial materials that hold no value and have historically been disposed of in landfills. This includes but is not limited to various plastics, paper and cardboard that cannot be further recycled by traditional means, as well as industrial wastes such as soy-based inks, chemicals and oleo chemicals.”

To be considered a nonwaste fuel under the NHSM rule, the fuel product must meet specific processing and legitimacy criteria outlined by the EPA.