Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste Moves on with Spring 2013 AD Plant Starts

It is that perfect time of year for starting outdoor projects with significant groundworks. By starting now, you get the best chance of "making hay while the sun shines", and using the best of the UK's (and northern hemisphere) spring and summer weather which can help greatly in keeping construction costs under control, and to programme. So, here is a round-up of a few recent announcements made about new Anaerobic Digestion Plant site construction start ups:

Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste

60,000 TPA Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Plant Approved in Yorkshire

Waste Management World

"The Manchester, UK based waste treatment infrastructure developer said that consent for its North Selby Anaerobic Digestion and Horticultural Glasshouse facility, which will be located on the former North Selby Mine site, was granted by the City of ..." http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2013/04/60-000-tpa-anaerobic-digestion-biogas-plant-approved-in-yorkshir.html

Imtech Announces New Tamesis AD Plant Award from Thames Water

Imtech, as part of the Tamesis team – a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and Imtech Water, Waste & Energy  – has been awarded a £75 million contract by Thames Water to develop two Advanced Digestion AD schemes at Crossness and Beckton in London. By sustainably treating and enhancing sewage sludge – a process known as advanced anaerobic digestion – it is possible to convert sewage sludge into sustainable energy in biogas power plants. This contributes to both the environmental and financial performance. http://imtech.com/EN/corporate/Newsroom/Highlights/Highlights-2013/Imtech-announces-new-Tamesis-award-from-Thames-Water.html

Then there is the go ahead for new anaerobic digestion facilties for North Selby area: Plans Approved for North Selby AD Facility

Resource Magazine

"The City of York Council granted Peel Environmental planning permission to build an anaerobic digestion (AD) and horticultural glasshouse facility on the former North Selby Mine site, Wheldrake on Thursday (25 April). The planning committee voted nine ..." http://www.resource.uk.com/article/News/Plans_approved_North_Selby_AD_facility-3025

CAMBI Awarded Contract for 2 Thermal Hydrolysis Process Projects in UK

Cambi  has been awarded a contract for the thermal hydrolysis process (THP) scope of the Beckton and Crossness (Thames Water) advanced digestion projects, serving two of Europe’s largest sewage treatment works. Tamesis (joint venture between Imtech and Langs) let a subcontract to Cambi in July 2012 for the turnkey supply of 2 separate 2x3 reactor B12 Cambi plants, one for Beckton and one for Crossness sewage treatment works. Both plants are expandable to larger capacities in the future. The works will be completed in 2014.

New  Work Has Also Been Announced on Biogas CHP Plants in the US

Vermont Tech begins work on biogas CHP plant

Biomass Magazine

"After seven years of planning, Vermont Technical College has broken ground on an anaerobic digestion project that will generate heat for the campus, and power that will be sold to the grid. Permitting for the Central Vermont Recovered Biomass Facility, ...Biomass Magazine" http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/8927/vermont-tech-begins-work-on-biogas-chp-plant

Next time we will hope to see more farm based AD Plant starts. For whatever reason there seems to be a lack of those to report at present.

What Every Biogas Plant Engineer Should Know About Contracts

O.K.! In our headline we have to admit that we changed the title to add in "Biogas Plant Engineer", and the course we are recommending here is a general training course, aimed at all engineers. However, the IChemE Forms of Contract are particularly useful for those like Biogas Plant Engineers and Managers, who need a form of contract which is designed for a process plant.

The ICE offers similar courses, but for biogas plant contracts they are generally not nearly as good, because they are all about getting a structure built, and nothing much beyond that.

Biogas Plants (Anaerobic Digestion Plants) are above all process plants. Process Plants are different. A bridge is finished and providing value as soon as the red-tape is cut on opening day, and the road over it, is opened. 

A process plant is different. To have a process plant built and sitting there is no good to anyone. A process plant like a leachate treatment plant, has to be commissioned, and working to produce the treated effluent to the quality specified by the discharge consent.

There are IChemE Forms of Contract for process plant contracts which suit every type of financing as well, so attending this course is really important for those in the leachate treatment industry, and if you are active in this area, we recommend attendance.

The details of the course follow:

The "What Every Engineer Should Know About Contracts" course will provide you with a
detailed understanding of contract law as it relates to engineering and construction contracts. It is taking place twice in the UK this year: 1-2 May in Rugby and 15-16 October in London.

Suitable for engineers of all disciplines, the course examines the law of contract and of tort within which engineering and construction contracts are made and operate.

It also looks at:

• the structure and essential contents of these contracts risk allocation and its links with payments
• the role of the contract administrator why the various standard forms of contract say what they say 

It is ideal for managers involved with contracts, particularly those who have moved into a procurement, project or contract management role, as well as engineers who are developing their skills across the range of business activities.

Click here for full course details and to register

Download the course brochure

You may also be interested in: 

IChemE Forms of Contract

12-13 June 2013, Redcar, UK
19-20 June 2013, London, UK

Helping those who will prepare, tender or manage a contract using the IChemE forms to understand their structure, main provisions and features, and the key differences between them. Fully updated to cover the new 2013 suite of UK contracts. Find out more here.

Please note that this is not a sponsored recommendation. We make no money from the course promoter if you attend.

Biowaste Collection Seen By Press as Forcing Extra Bin Collections on UK Public

My goodness! The poor British Public are supposedly in danger of being overworked, stressed, and presumably oppressed by the EU's extra work burden involved for them to comply with the proposed additional Biowaste Food Waste Collections. There is no mention of the fact that additional collections would actually provide additional good quality feedstock material for Anaerobic Digestion Plants and thus spur on further adoption of AD and greatly benefit renewable energy production from waste.

The following is the short item:

EU considers proposals which could force more bin collections on householders

The EU is considering proposals which could force thousands of extra bin collections on British householders, council leaders will warn. The European Commission recently unveiled a series of ideas for reducing the carbon emissions that are created from people’s leftover food and garden waste. These include measures which would force new targets on councils for collecting so called ‘bio-waste’ and result in extra bin collections for thousands of householders.

http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1781815

For the specific proposal on separate collection obligations, see point 5.5.3 on p16.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0811:FIN:EN:PDF

What do you think about these proposals? Is the waste management industry in danger of asking too much of the public?

Do You Agree With Cardiff University's Assessment of the Potential AD Renewables Contribution?

Cardiff Univerity's Waste Research spin-off has a page which is vying with Anaerobic-Digestion.com for its place in the first page of the Google SERPS results. Sometimes our site is just above them and on other days it is a listing or two below.

The page to which Google sends us to at Wasteresearch contains in my view really quite a negative and disencouraging analysis of the potential of Anaerobic Digestion to become a significant player in the renewable energy scene.

Here is the paragraph to which I refer:-

An analysis can be conducted for anaerobic digestion in a similar manner to the previously used technique to estimate the potential of generating electricity by using all the UK's available waste. There is about 90Mt of waste produced in the UK each year. 62% of this waste stream is said to be biodegradable (DETR, Limiting Landfill, 1999). This biodegradable waste will produce about 150m3/tonne of biogas at 60% methane concentration (Warmer Information Sheet, 1998). Using a 70% process efficiency, 70% load factor, and the known 37GJ/tonne energy content for methane, an estimate can be produced. After accounting for the 20-40% of energy needed to maintain the digestion is accounted for, anaerobic digestion could provide the UK with about 1.4GW. This represents about 1.9% of the UK's installed capacity.

It is really good to see people carrying out a reality check on Anaerobic Digestion, but I wonder if this data does not underestimate the amount of waste produced in the UK currently if all industrial and commercial waste is included? I also suspect that the compounding of percentages is excessively reducing power output.

There is no mention of combined heat and power (CHP) use, which when included in projects, ups the efficiency greatly.

There is also no comment here on the benefits of AD in providing local power close where it is consumed, meaning vastly reduced distribution losses in the power grid, or potentially from the products of AD when markets are found.

I believe that HAASE for example produce an RDF from the dried residual fibrous material (Luebeck Plant), and I am sure that factors like this are begining to alter the picture painted by Wasteresearch, as AD technology advances

So, if as I suspect we have some regular readers of this blog who are knowledgeable about such things, here is your challenge to email us at info@anaerobic-digestion.com with your comments in a form in which we can publish them, or use the blog commenting system, and stand up for AD!

Welsh Assembly Funding Boost for Anaerobic Digestion Plants

The Welsh Assembly Government is offering funding support for the development of new anaerobic digestion plants in Wales.

The Materials Action Programme is willing to provide 30% of capital costs for any digestion facility set up to process commercial and industrial waste in Wales before March 31, 2009.
The Materials Action Programme has allowed Bank Farm in Powys to convert its existing anaerobic digester to generate electricity from industrial organic waste Anaerobic digestion involves the treatment of organic wastes by bacteria in controlled conditions with limited access to oxygen. The process generates a bio-gas, a form of methane, which can be used to generate electricity.

The capital support programme can support either a fixed plant or a mobile facility, land and infrastructure. The project can involve a new or expanded facility, and must use proven technology in commercial operation elsewhere.

The input material for the plant must be source-separated biodegradable waste, with at least 60% from commercial or industrial sources. The project must be dependent on the programme's funding, but be commercially viable in the medium-to-long term.

Full details of how to apply for funding is available on the funding section of the WRAP website.
Bank FarmOne of the first digestion projects to benefit from the Materials Action Programme has been Bank Farm in Powys, which has now secured a £60,000 grant to convert its existing small anaerobic digestion facility to generate electricity from industrial organic waste.

More at LetsRecycle here.