Alternative Disposal Technologies - Northumberland …€¦ · · 2013-06-10•Provide an...

Alternative

Disposal

Technologies

Kerrie Skillen and Jim Archibald

September 11, 2012

Presentation Outline

• Purpose

• Background

• Thermal Treatment Technologies

– Conventional

– Advanced

– Emerging

• Biological & Mechanical Treatment Technologies

• Open Discussion

Purpose

• Provide an overview of Alternative Disposal

Technologies (ADTs)

• Discuss different types of ADTs and the use of

the technologies

• Gather input to be considered during completion

of the County’s Long-Term Waste Management

Master Plan (WMMP)

Background

• Long-Term WMMP initiated in December 2011

• Stantec released Interim Technical Report in May 2012

• Report includes, among other things, a discussion on the

County’s waste disposal needs and residual waste

disposal alternatives

• With approval to expand existing landfills County

expected to consume landfill capacity by 2023

• One disposal option available to the County is to

consider ADTs

• Note no ADT technology can eliminate the need for

landfill in Ontario

Thermal Treatment Technology

• Thermal treatment covers a range of

technologies that extract energy from waste.

• Thermal Treatment can play a number of

important roles in an integrated waste

management system including:

– Reduction in the volume of waste

– Recovery of energy from the solid waste stream

– Recovery of minerals and chemicals which then can be

reused or recycled

– Destruction of contaminates that may be present

Introduction


• In most jurisdictions, thermal treatment is

applied to manage the remaining waste stream

after source-separated diversion of recyclables

and organics.

Introduction


• Single-stage combustion or mass burn

incinerations is the most common type of Waste-

to-Energy (WTE) technology used worldwide

Conventional Combustion

Conventional WTE Approach


Conventional Combustion

• Is a well-established technology developed over 100

years ago to generate energy from municipal solid waste

(MSW).

• Hundreds of facilities in operation worldwide.

• There are currently 7 facilities in operation and one

under construction in Canada (processing greater than

25/tpd).

• Majority of WTE facilities in Europe utilize mass burn

incineration.

• Mass burn incineration requires minimal pre-processing

of MSW.


Conventional Combustion Conceptual Overview of Durham/York Energy Centre


• Advanced Thermal Treatment technologies include

gasification, plasma arc gasification and pyrolysis

Advanced Thermal Treatment

Advanced Thermal Treatment WTE Approach


• Gasification is the heating of waste to produce a burnable gas (syngas)

which is composed of a mix of approximately 85% hydrogen and carbon

monoxide.

• Syngas produced can be used in a second thermal combustion stage to

generate heat and/or electricity.

• There are three (3) primary types of gasification technology used to treat

waste, namely fixed bed, fluidized bed and high temperature gasification.

• Technology recently been using MSW as feedstock.

• Process generally requires a fairly homogeneous feedstock.

• Generally higher operating and capital costs in comparison to conventional

combustion facilities.

• Tends to have higher net costs given less energy is recovered from the

waste stream.

Gasification


Gasification Conceptual Overview of a High Temperature Waste Gasifier

Source: Thermoselect – High Temperature Recycling, 2003. Accessed 2012.


• Plasma Arc Gasification uses an electric current that

passes through a gas (air) to creates plasma which

gasifies waste into syngas.

• Currently, plasma arc gasification is not commercially

proven to treat MSW.

• Limited data available to assess operational success and

MSW feedstock in regards to technical reliability.

• Two technologies which are currently being tested in

Canada are the Alter NRG Process and the Plasco

Process.

Plasma Arc Gasification


Plasma Arc Gasification – Plasco Process

Plasco Trail Road Facility, Ottawa Source: Ottawa Sun, Dec 14, 2011


Plasma Arc Gasification – Plasco Process

Source: Plasco Energy Group Inc. http://www.plascoenergygroup.com/our-technology/the-plasco-process/ Accessed 2012.


• Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of feedstock at a

range of temperatures in the absence of oxygen.

• Pyrolysis applies indirect thermal energy to process the

waste.

• End product is a mixture of solids (char), liquids

(oxygenated oils) and syngas (CO2, CO, CH4, H2).

• The pyrolysis oils and syngas can be utilized to produce

energy.

• The solid residue is a combination of non-combustible in-

organic material and carbon.

• No reliable data available on capital and operating costs.

Pyrolysis


Pyrolysis – Compact Power Pyrolysis Process

Source:

Thomas Malkow. 2004.

In Waste Management 24 (2004)


Pyrolysis

• Waste preparation and pre-processing required.

• Difficulties in accepting variable waste streams.

• Pyrolysis generally takes place at lower

temperatures than used for gasification,

resulting in potentially less volatilized pollutants

requiring management.

Emerging Thermal Treatment Technology

• There is a great deal of flux in the thermal

treatment marketplace.

• Many emerging technologies have yet to

be proven and the financial capacity of

many of the new technology vendors is

limited.

Introduction


• In the Gasplasma® process, all the

organic substances are transformed

into a clean hydrogen-rich syngas,

which can be used directly in gas

engines or gas turbines or for other

purposes.

• The ash and the inorganic elements

are vitrified – turned into a glass-like

product known as Plasmarok®. This

has a number of high-value

applications for instance as a building

material.

Source: Advanced Plasma Power http://www.advancedplasmapower.com/

Gasplasma

Plasmarok® Source:

Advanced Plasma Power


• Thermal cracking involves the rapid

heating of waste fuel in the

absence of oxygen to create

syngas.

• The GEM technology processes

refuse derived fuel that has been

ground to less than 2mm particle

size and dried to 5% moisture.

• Thermal cracking is also described

as “fast pyrolysis” as it involves

rapid heating of the waste fuel in

the absence of oxygen.

Thermal Cracking

GEM Converter Source: GEM Canada Waste to Energy Inc.


• The gasification-oxidation process is a two stage process using

limited oxygen and high temperature.

• The system gasifies the fuel source to produce primarily Carbon

Monoxide and Hydrogen.

• This synthetic gas forms the building blocks for the transformation to

liquid fuels such as diesel.

• Zero Technology Holdings uses Energy Recycling Oxidation

System, a closed system using pure oxygen for the oxidation

process. There are currently no Zero facilities in operation.

Thermal Oxidation


• Generally based on the concept that rather than use the

syngas produced through gasification as a direct energy

source, it is used as a feedstock to generate liquid fuels

to be used off-site.

• Enerkem converts mixed waste and residues (i.e.

biomass, agricultural residues and/or forest residues)

into syngas which is suitable for the production of

biofuels and chemicals using available catalysts.

Enerkem has one demonstration plant operating in

Quebec and three commercial facilities under

development.

Waste-to-Fuel


Waste-to-Fuel – Enerkem’s Technology

Source: Enerkem. http://enerkem.com/en/technology-platform/process.html Accessed 2012.

Air Emissions and Control

• The most stringent set of guidelines in Canada for thermal treatment of

waste is Ontario’s Guideline A-7 Air Pollution Control, Design and

Operations Guidelines for Municipal Waste Thermal Treatment Facilities.

Guideline provides in-stack emission limits for a wide range of parameters.

• Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) recommends

that any system that thermally treats wastes for the purpose of disposal be

subject to Canada-Wide Standards (CWS) for Dioxins, Furans and Mercury.

Current requirements under CWS specify annual testing for all incinerators

processing more than 26 tpy of waste.

• The European Union has established air quality guidelines to limit the

emissions of Contaminants of Concern (CACs) and improve air quality.

• Operational controls and Air Pollution Control (APC) systems are used to

meet these standards.

• To ensure a WTE facility will meet current emission limits, vendors are often

willing to guarantee their facility will meet certain emission figures.

Health Effects

• Emissions of CACs and other air contaminants have the potential to cause

health effects, depending on concentrations emitted and the duration of

exposure to these contaminants.

• Health related concerns are considered negligible if thermal treatment

systems adhere to the appropriate emissions guidelines.

• A detailed understanding of potential health risks can only be determined

using risk assessment methodologies once facility-specific emissions are

provided, based on a selected thermal treatment technology and

manufacturer.

Mechanical & Biological Treatment

Technology

• Mechanical treatment technologies use mechanical means to sort input

materials into different fractions based on physical characteristics of the

material.

• Biological treatment technologies use biological means (the use of

microorganisms) to treat input materials for the purpose of stabilizing the

biological fraction of the input material.

• Typically, mechanical and biological treatment technologies are combined

at a single facility known as a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility

which processes MSW. MBT facilities function to capture recyclable

materials from the waste stream and stabilize the biodegradable fraction of

the input materials prior to being disposed at a landfill or further processed

at a thermal treatment facility.

• There are instances when only mechanical treatment or biological treatment

alone is used to process MSW.

Introduction

Biological Treatment Technology

• Aerobic composting is an biological

process whereby naturally

occurring microorganisms in the

presence of oxygen convert

organic materials into CO2, water

and heat.

• Best suited to process the source

separated organics fraction of the

MSW stream.

• There are multiple different

composting technologies that have

been employed across Canada to

process source separated

organics.

Aerobic Composting


• Produces high quality

compost

• Odour control

management and/or

infrastructure required

• Capital costs associated

with development and

continued operations

• Requires source

separation of organics

stream

Aerobic Composting


• Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process

that treats organic materials in the absence of

oxygen

• Producing biogas (typically 50-55% methane) as

a by product.

• Energy production through the combustion of

methane.

• Higher capital costs than aerobic composting.

Anaerobic Digestion

Mechanical Treatment Technology

• Mixed waste processing (MWP) technologies do not

require source separation of organics from the

waste stream.

• Garbage bags are mechanically separated at a

central processing facility producing recyclable

material, compost and residue for final disposal.

• Currently there are 4 MWP facilities operating in

Canada – Edmonton, AB, Sorel-Tracey, QC, Otter

Lake, NS and Westmorland-Alberta, NB.

• All of these facilities service municipalities that have

recycling programs in place.

Mixed Waste Processing


• Received garbage is placed

in a horizontally sloping

bioreactor where is it is

processed for 2-3 days.

• The material is then

screened. The organics

fraction has been partially

composted, recyclables

such as metals are

recovered and the residual

material is sent for final

disposal.


Aeration Hall – Edmonton Composting Facility Source: City of Edmonton



• Does not require residents to source separate the

organics fraction of the waste stream.

• Technology can also process biosolids with the MSW.

• Wide range of capital costs depending on the level of

infrastructure required to achieve separation and odour

control.

• Lower quality compost produced due to higher

contamination rates. Compost from this process does

not meet the Ontario composting quality guidelines,

therefore could only be used for daily cover, restricted

landfill applications or disposal.

Questions? Comments

Kerrie Skillen, M.E.S. Associate

Environmental Services

Stantec Consulting Ltd. 3430 South Service Rd. Suite 203

Burlington, ON

Tel: (905) 631-3923 Fax: (905) 631-8684

Email: [email protected]

www.stantec.com

James (Jim) Archibald, P.Eng. Managing Leader

Water

Stantec Consulting Ltd. 49 Frederick St. Kitchener, ON

Tel: (519) 575-4115 Fax: (519) 579-8806

Email: [email protected]

www.stantec.com

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