Quasar Energy Group completes project in Ohio wastewater treatment plant

Quasar Energy Group (Quasar),  a Cleveland-based waste management and renewable energy firm, has recently completed a project at the city of Alliance, Ohio’s wastewater treatment plant to provide technology and equipment so that biosolids generated at the plant can be designated as a Class A/EQ Quality product. 

Class A material is primarily used for agronomic benefit on area farms as natural fertilizer for crops like corn, wheat and soybeans. The Class A biosolids help area farmers offset the need for commercial fertilizers, which are derived, in part, by burning fossil fuels or mining of minerals.

This project was delivered to the city through a design-build agreement and completed under budget. These improvements support the city’s environmental responsibility and sustainability goals, making it energy-efficient, Quasar says.

Forward thinking by the Water and Sewer Advisory Board, along with the service director and plant superintendent, has led the city to become an early adopter of a movement across the country to produce Class A/EQ Quality biosolids. The Alliance wastewater treatment plant system is designed to treat approximately 12 dry tons of biosolids per day, which is generated from the domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater processed by the plant. Class A biosolids save on operational costs because they don’t need to be disposed of at a landfill and they provide more flexibility in their beneficial use. 

The Class A thermal treatment process is achieved through a series of heat exchanges and batch thermal treatment tanks where it is held to satisfy a time and temperature formula per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements. The methane generated by the plant’s digesters is combusted and predominantly used as the source of heat for this process, making the plant sustainably energy efficient and financially viable.