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T E C H N O L O G Y & B U S I N E S S R E V I E W

Mechanical-Biological-Treatment : A Guide for Decision Makers Processes, Policies and Markets

Annexe D

Process Reviews S-Z: SBI SRS

Sutco Valorga

VKW Wastec

Wehrle Werk

Juniper

Mechanical-Biological-Treatment : A Guide for Decision Makers Processes, Policies & Markets

Annexe D Process Reviews

Pub l i shed by : Juniper Consultancy Services Ltd, March 2005, Version 1.0

P r inc ipa l Au tho rs : Egan Archer, BEng, MSc, PhD, AMIChemE; Adam Baddeley, MSc; Alex Klein, BSc, MSc; Joe Schwager, BA, MICM, AMIMC, MCIWM; Kevin Whiting, BEng, PhD, CEng, FIChemE

Acknowledgement

This project was funded by UK landfill tax credits provided by Sita Environmental Trust (SET) with additional funding from ASSURRE (The Association for the Sustainable Use and Recovery of Resources in Europe) to each of whom we wish to express our appreciation. We also want to thank Dr Gev Eduljee of Sita, Dr Peter White of ASSURRE, Stuart Reynolds of Norfolk Environmental Waste Services and Andy Saunders of SET, who formed a Technical Advisory Committee. Their insight and many helpful comments were invaluable. We wish to place on record our gratitude to the many process developers, site operators and others who provided information for the preparation of this report. In particular we are grateful to the many individuals who facilitated our visits to reference plants to conduct site appraisals. Many process, product, system and company names cited throughout the text are registered marks. In the interests of legibility, each occurrence is not followed by ©, ® or ™. Nevertheless, we wish to acknowledge the rights of the owners of such marks, and the copyright for figures and pictures used in this report.

Copyr igh t S ta tement

© Juniper Consultancy Services Ltd. 2005. All rights reserved.

This report may not be copied or given, lent or resold, in part or in whole, to any third party without written permission. Specific additional provisions apply to use of the electronic version of this report. We will also always try and meet reasonable requests from those who wish to quote selectively from the data and analysis contained herein in support of their own technical publications. We ask that you agree the basis of such usage with us in advance and that you always reference the source of the material.

Juniper ® is a registered trademark of Juniper Consultancy Services Ltd.

Impor tan t Note The inclusion of a supplier or proprietary process in this report does not constitute a recommendation as to its performance or suitability. Equally, non-inclusion does not imply that that process is not suitable for certain applications. We welcome information to assist with the preparation of any future editions of this report. The opinions contained herein are offered to the reader as one viewpoint in the continuing debate about how MBT can contribute to a modern integrated waste management system. They are based upon the information that was available to us at the time of publication – and may subsequently change. A wide ranging study of this type may contain inaccuracies and non-current information - for which we apologise in advance. We are always pleased to receive updated information or corrections about any of the processes reviewed for possible inclusion in future editions of the report. This Review has been carried out on a completely independent basis. No payment has been or will be accepted from any process company for inclusion of any information or commentary contained herein. As an analyst active in this field, Juniper also provides confidential consulting services to many companies involved in this sector. We have procedures in place to avoid conflicts of interest, to protect confidential data and to provide 3rd parties with dispassionate, independent advice.

D i sc la imer

This report has been prepared by Juniper with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the Terms of the contract with the client, incorporating our Terms and Conditions of Business. We disclaim any responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party interprets or relies on the report at their own risk.

M BT : A G u i de f o r Dec i s i o n M ak e r s - P ro c e s s e s , P o l i c i e s & M ark e t s P a g e D - 2 7 6

A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s S B I - F R I E SLA N D

© J u n i pe r Co ns u l ta nc y S e rv i c e s L t d , 20 05

T + 44 145 3 86 075 0 E i n f o @ j u n i pe r .c o .u k W w w w . j u n i pe r .c o .u k

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SBI-FRIESLAND

Summary of the process

SBI-Friesland operates an MBT process that utilises anaerobic digestion as the core biological processing step to treat MSW. The process produces biogas, RDF and dry recyclables as the main outputs. The technology is based on an original process design by Grontmij (see separate review), which has subsequently been extensively modified.

Type of process being marketed

No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant

Commercial status on MSW feedstock

Advantages Disadvantages

Key advantages & disadvantages

• one commercial reference treating MSW

• operating at relatively large scale

• technology optimised via operational experience

• process is a net energy producer via biogas utilisation

• no current visibility as an MBT supplier and not well known outside of The Netherlands

• commercial plants not yet supplied to others

• as with many other Continental processes, the digestate output would not currently meet UK ABPR requirements

• SBI is more of an operating company than a process engineering firm

Contact details Afvalsturing Friesland, Hidalgoweg 5, Postbus 1622, 8901 BX Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

Tel: +31 58 233 65 65 Fax: +31 58 215 76 42

www.afvalsturingfriesland.nl

Key contact H. Smink

Email: [email protected]

B i o g a s t o e l e c t r i c i t y

& h e a t

R D F

F e

M S W

P r e - s o r t i n g

R e c y c l a b l e s

A n a e r o b i c D i g e s t i o n

W e t p r e -

t r e a t m e n t





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Overview

D3.840 . SBI F r ies land (Sche id ings - en Bewerk ings Ins ta l l a t i e ) i s the name o f the 220 ,000 Tpa MBT p lan t be ing opera ted a t Heerenveen in the p rov ince o f F r ies land . The p lan t i s owned by A fva ls tu r i ng F r ies land ( re fe r red to as SBI i n th i s rev iew) and was bu i l t i n 2002 in con junc t ion w i th the eng ineer ing consu l t i ng f i rm Gron tm i j who has a 25% s take in the fac i l i t y . Or ig ina l l y , t he p rocess in teg ra ted the ‘Waasa ’ d iges t ion sys tem f rom C i tec w i th the same p re-so r t i ng and we t p re - t rea tmen t sys tems used a t the Gron ingen MBT p lan t ( see Gron tm i j p rocess rev iew) . The F r ies land p lan t was bu i l t by Synmet (p re -so r t i ng sec t ion ) and GTI (a l a rge Du tch techn ica l and bu i l d ing se rv i ces company) , who we unders tand i s the l i censee o f the Waasa d iges t ion techno logy in The Ne ther lands .

D3 .841 . The p lan t opera to rs adv ised us tha t subsequen t l y they have made ex tens ive

mod i f i ca t i ons to the fac i l i t y , i nc lud ing remov ing the C i tec techno logy and re -des ign ing

the Vagron process . We unders tand tha t SBI i s now p romot ing the re -des igned concept

as the i r sys tem fo r th i rd par t y MBT p ro jec ts .

D3 .842 . A fva ls tu r i ng F r ies land i s pa r t o f OMRIN – a reg iona l was te management company tha t

opera tes in the no r th o f The Ne the r lands and manages the mun ic ipa l was te a r i s ings o f

i t s 31 shareho ld ing mun ic ipa l i t i es i nc lud ing the p rov ince o f F r ies land . The company has

over 500 employees and repor ted an annua l tu rnover o f c . €100M.

Figure D204: SBI Friesland plant in Heerenveen

Pre-sorting buildingWet pre-treatment building

Digesters

Transporting <50mm Power plant Waste reception

Pre-sorting buildingWet pre-treatment building

Digesters

Transporting <50mm Power plant Waste reception

Sou rce : SB I





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D3.843 . Jun ipe r v i s i ted the SBI p lan t i n November 2004. Dur ing ou r s i te v i s i t we had ex tens ive

d i scuss ions w i th a rep resenta t i ve o f A fva ls tu r i ng F r ies land, who exp la ined v ia a

p resenta t i on and a tou r o f the p lan t , t he p rob lems they had exper ienced w i th the o r ig ina l

p rocess and the ex tens ive des ign changes they had made .

D3 .844 . The p lan t was fu l l y opera t iona l when we v i s i t ed . We observed the housekeep ing to be

be low average ; bu t no ted tha t the p lan t had recent l y undergone p rocess changes and

was s t i l l undergo ing some s t ruc tu ra l mod i f i ca t i ons (ma in l y to the we t p re - t rea tmen t and

d iges t ion p rocesses ) . Th is mean t tha t tempora ry l i nes , conveyors and s to rage a reas

were be ing used to bypass redundan t equ ipment to fac i l i t a te the 3 -sh i f t con t inuous

opera t ion o f the p lan t . I t was exp la ined tha t a l l o f t he p lan t mod i f i ca t i ons were made

wh i l s t t he p lan t con t inued to rece ive was te a t fu l l capac i t y .

D3 .845 . Though we de tec ted some odorous emiss ions f rom the p rocess th i s cou ld pa r t l y be

a t t r i bu ted to the tempora ry a r rangements (wh ich inc luded some ou ts ide s to rage) i n p lace

fo r p rocess ing the we t o rgan ic f rac t i on be fo re i t i s sen t fo r d iges t ion .

Status of the Plant at Heerenveen

D3.846 . The SBI p rocess has so fa r on ly opera ted a t Heerenveen . There a re no o the r p ro jec ts

cu r ren t l y be ing p roposed w i th th i s p rocess .

Figure D205: Work on digesters at Heerenveen

Sou r ce : SB I





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D3.847 . The Heerenveen p lan t began opera t ion in May 2002 . The p lan t was s ta r ted in phases ,

w i th the p re -so r t i ng p rocess coming on-s t ream f i r s t . Th is was fo l l owed in Augus t o f the

same year by the we t p re - t rea tmen t and the d iges t ion p rocesses . The p rocess was then

op t im ised over the course o f 12 mon ths , wh ich iden t i f i ed a number o f p rob lems and

‘bo t t l enecks ’ .

D3 .848 . In l a te 2003, two o f the th ree d iges te rs were taken ou t o f se rv i ce because o f ex tens ive

p rob lems w i th f l oa t ing laye rs ( l i gh t ma te r i a l s tha t i nc luded co rks , p las t i c tubes and

po lys ty rene tha t f l oa ted to the top o f the d iges te r ) . The f l oa t ing laye r can ‘ so l i d i f y ’ t o

some degree and a f fec t the s t i r r i ng o f the d iges te r ’ s con ten ts and thus a f fec t i t s

opera t iona l pe r fo rmance .

Figure D206: Changes to the wet pre-treatment process at Heerenveen

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r i n te rp re ta t ion o f SB I ’ s i n fo rmat i on

Before Modifications

After Modifications

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

KEY Further Upgrading

Residue Stream

Wood/Coal Separator

Fraction < 55mm pre-sorting plant

To digestion plant

Sand

Disc Strainer

Fine organics

Thickener Flotation Tank

Coarse particles

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

Fraction < 55mm

To digestion plant

Sludge CentrifugeFine organics

Coarse organics

Coarse organics

Poly-electrolyte

Inert Separator

Coarse inerts

Inert Separator

Rake fraction to RDF

Coarse Inerts

Process water

Process water

Before Modifications

After Modifications

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone


Residue Stream

Wood/Coal Separator


To digestion plant

Sand

Disc Strainer

Fine organics


Coarse particles

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

Fraction < 55mm

To digestion plant


Coarse organics

Coarse organics

Poly-electrolyte

Inert Separator

Coarse inerts

Inert Separator


Coarse Inerts

Process water

Process water

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone


Residue Stream

Wood/Coal Separator


To digestion plant

Sand

Disc Strainer

Fine organics


Coarse particles

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

Fraction < 55mm

To digestion plant


Coarse organics

Coarse organics

Poly-electrolyte

Inert Separator

Coarse inerts

Inert Separator


Coarse Inerts

Process water

Process water





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D3.849 . The in te rna l p re -d iges t ion compar tmen t i n the o r ig ina l C i tec des ign was removed and the

f i xed roo f changed to a f l anged access fo r re la t i ve l y qu ick remova l , i f necessary .

Changes were made to purge the d iges te rs f rom bo th top and bo t tom (o r ig ina l l y th i s was

on ly ca r r i ed ou t a t the bo t tom o f the d iges te r ) to reduce the bu i l d -up o f f l oa t ing non -

d iges t i b le l aye rs o f mate r ia l s and sed imen t respec t i ve l y .

D3 .850 . S ign i f i can t changes have a l so been made to the we t p re - t rea tmen t pa r t o f the p rocess

(see F igu re D206) . SBI i n fo rmed us tha t the changes were necessary as a resu l t o f t he

poor separa t ion o f l i gh t ma te r ia ls tha t con t r i bu ted to the f l oa t ing laye r bu i l d -up in the

d iges te rs and the un re l i ab i l i t y o f the we t p re - t rea tment p rocess . Th is re -des igned

p rocess was fu l l y opera t iona l when we v i s i ted the p lan t .

The Process operated at Heerenveen

D3.851 . The f ron t -end mechan ica l p re -so r t i ng pa r t o f t he p rocess i s the same as tha t be ing

opera ted a t Gron ingen ( re fe r to the Gron tm i j p rocess rev iew) excep t tha t on ly fe r rous

meta ls a re recovered in the p re -so r t i ng p lan t . The opera to r to ld us tha t they had

removed the eddy cu r ren t separa to rs because o f the i r poor ava i l ab i l i t y bu t p lanned to

rep lace them. In the mean t ime some fe r rous meta ls and non- fe r rous meta ls , such as

a lumin ium, w i l l be p resen t i n the RDF s t ream and cou ld be a po ten t ia l i ssue fo r RDF o f f -

t ake c l i en ts .

D3 .852 . The RDF i s t ranspor ted o f f - s i t e i n p ress -con ta ine rs o r ‘wa lk ing f loo r ’ t ra i l e rs , wh i le the

paper /p las t i c f rac t i on (see F igu re D207) i s wrapped as p las t i c ba les be fo re be ing

s to red / t ranspor ted o f f - s i te .

D3 .853 . The mate r i a ls <55mm f rom the p re -sor t i ng p lan t a re sent to an ine r t separa to r ; t h i s

separa tes the dense and less dense mate r ia ls i n an up f low s t ream o f wa te r . In th i s s tage

coarse ine r ts a re a l so removed f rom the p rocess . In add i t i on , and as pa r t o f the p rocess

mod i f i ca t i on , l i gh t f l oa t ing mate r i a ls a re removed by a rake and added to the RDF

s t ream.

D3 .854 . The f i ne r mate r ia ls caught up in the wa te r s t ream a re sent to a wash ing d rum sc reen ,

wh ich separa tes the sand and f i ne o rgan ics f rom the coarse o rgan ics . The coarse

o rgan ics a re sh redded and sent d i rec t l y to the d iges t ion p lan t .

D3 .855 . The sand and f i ne o rgan ics a re passed th rough a hyd roc yc lone, wh ich separa tes them.

The sand i s sen t to s to rage fo r re -use o r l and f i l l , wh i le the f i ne o rgan ics a re sen t v ia a

s ludge cent r i f uge , wh ich removes wa ter , t o the d iges t ion p lan t . The l i qu id s t ream f rom

the cen t r i f uge ( ‘ cen t ra te ’ ) i s then added to the p rocess wa te r go ing to the d rum s ieve

(see F igu re D207) .

D3 .856 . In the d iges t ion p lan t , t he o rgan ics a re m ixed w i th ho t wa te r and ra i sed to an opera t ing

tempera tu re o f about 57 0 C be fo re en te r ing the d iges te r .





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Figure D207: MBT process as operated at the Heerenveen plant

Coarse materials (>4mm)

Magnetic Separator

>200 mmTrommel 1

Trommel 2

<200 mm >55 mm

<55mm

Fe metals

Mixer

Hot water from the CHP plant

Anaerobic Digester

Gas Engine

Cleaned biogas

Heat & Power

Exhaust gases

KEYEnergyRecyclables

Further Upgrading Emissions Residue

Stream

Belt press

Digestate to ‘immobilisation’plant

MSWAir

Separator

Air Separator

Magnetic Separator

Plastics & paper Fe metals RDF

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

To digestion plant

Sludge Centrifuge

Fine organics

Process water to drum sieve

Digestate

Light plastics to RDFRake fraction

Inert Separator

Coarse inerts

Process water

To wastewater treatment

Wet organic fraction

Coarse materials (>4mm)

Magnetic Separator

>200 mmTrommel 1

Trommel 2

<200 mm >55 mm

<55mm

Fe metals

Mixer

Hot water from the CHP plant

Anaerobic Digester

Gas Engine

Cleaned biogas

Heat & Power

Exhaust gases

KEYEnergyRecyclables

Further Upgrading Emissions Residue

Stream

Belt press

Digestate to ‘immobilisation’plant

MSWAir

Separator

Air Separator

Magnetic Separator

Plastics & paper Fe metals RDF

Shredder

Sand

Drum Sieve

Hydro-cyclone

To digestion plant

Sludge Centrifuge

Fine organics

Process water to drum sieve

Digestate

Light plastics to RDFRake fraction

Inert Separator

Coarse inerts

Process water

To wastewater treatment

Wet organic fraction

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r i n te rp re ta t ion o f SB I ’ s i n fo rmat i on





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D3.857 . The d iges te rs each have a vo lume o f 3000m 3 and o f th i s , 200m 3 i s pu rged da i l y and the

same amoun t o f f resh mate r ia l i s t rans fe r red f rom the m ix ing reac to rs to the d iges te r . A t

Heerenveen the pu rge sys tem has been mod i f i ed to remove 70% a t the top o f the

d iges te r and 30% a t the bo t tom.

D3 .858 . The d iges ta te i s dewate red us ing a be l t p ress be fo re i t i s sen t to the ‘ immob i l i sa t i on ’

p lan t . The ‘ immob i l i sa t i on ’ p rocess i s desc r ibed in the sec t ion on Process Ou tpu ts .

Wate r f rom the be l t p ress i s recyc led as p rocess wa te r to the d rum s ieve and the

rema inder sen t to was tewate r t rea tment .

Process Performance

D3.859 . The mass ba lance fo r the p rocess opera ted a t Heerenveen i s shown in F igure D208 .

Based on th i s ba lance , the was te d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l has been ca lcu la ted and

summar ised in F igu re D209 (a long w i th the re levan t assumpt ions tha t have been made in

the ca l cu la t i ons ) .

Figure D208: Mass balance for the process operated at Heerenveen

Biogas (6 %)

Sand (5 %)

Metals ( 3%)

RDF (40%)

Water + Steam (c. 9%)

Digestate (16%)

to AD plant (36%)

Coarse Inerts (6 %)

Oversized Fractions (56%)

Waste Feed (100 wt%)

Fine Fraction(41%)

Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Wet Pre-treatment

Pre-treatment

Paper + Plastics (16 %)

Refining of Trommel Oversize fractions

Excess Water (14%)

Process water

Rake fraction to RDF(3 %)

Biogas (6 %)

Sand (5 %)

Metals ( 3%)

RDF (40%)

Water + Steam (c. 9%)

Digestate (16%)

to AD plant (36%)

Coarse Inerts (6 %)

Oversized Fractions (56%)

Waste Feed (100 wt%)

Fine Fraction(41%)

Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Wet Pre-treatment

Pre-treatment

Paper + Plastics (16 %)

Refining of Trommel Oversize fractions

Excess Water (14%)

Process water

Rake fraction to RDF(3 %)

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ’ s ana l y s i s o f SB I da ta





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Figure D209: Diversion potential (by mass) based on the process operated at Heerenveen

Divers ion Potent ia l Minimum, %

Maximum, %

Bas is of Estimation

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill

21 90 Min: Inert streams and digestate landfilled. RDF and light plastics & paper also landfilled.

Max: All inerts (incl. sand) landfilled.

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data is available on the biodegradability of the process streams.

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s

D3.860 . The d i ve rs ion da ta in F igu re D209 ind ica tes tha t a s ign i f i can t amoun t o f ma te r i a l s i s

cu r ren t l y be ing d i ve r ted f rom landf i l l by p rocess ing was te in the Heerenveen p lan t . As

w i th the p rocess be ing opera ted a t Gron ingen , a re la t i ve l y h igh d i ve rs ion ra te (90%) i s

ob ta ined i f the RDF i s used as fue l and i f the d iges ta te can be used as land f i l l f i na l

cover . The h igher d ive rs ion ra te ca lcu la ted a t Heerenveen i s due to the rake f rac t i on

tha t i s recovered and comb ined w i th the RDF s t ream tha t i s cu r ren t l y sen t fo r

i nc ine ra t i on .

D3 .861 . No da ta on the b iodegradab i l i t y o f the ou tpu t s t reams was made ava i l ab le fo r th i s rev iew

(c . f . Gron ingen) and hence we cou ld no t de te rm ine the BMW per fo rmance o f the p rocess

be ing opera ted a t Heerenveen.

Energy Balance

D3.862 . No energy ba lance da ta was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

Availabi l i ty and Rel iabi l i ty

D3.863 . The pe r fo rmance o f the p rocess a t Heerenveen i s shown in F igure D210 . Based on the

capac i t y o f the p lan t , the des ign th roughpu t o f the p re -so r t i ng sec t ion i s 55 ,000 Tonnes

pe r quar te r (220 ,000 Tpa) . The des ign th roughpu t o f the we t p re - t rea tmen t pa r t o f the

p rocess , based on F igu re D208 , i s 22 ,550 Tonnes per quar te r (90 ,200 Tpa) .

D3 .864 . The da ta summar ised in F igu re D210 shows tha t the p lan t on ly reached i t s des ign

capac i t y i n the 2 n d quar te r o f 2004, a f te r the ex tens ive p rocess mod i f i ca t i ons .

D3 .865 . The des ign mod i f i ca t i ons a t Heerenveen have on ly been fu l l y opera t iona l i n the las t 3 -6

mon ths and the re fo re the p rocess has no t ye t opera ted fo r a su f f i c ien t pe r iod o f t ime to

be c lass i f i ed as fu l l y p roven on a commerc ia l bas is .





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Figure D210: Actual plant throughput at Heerenveen

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Sou r ce : SB I

Process Outputs

D3.866 . F igu re D211 l i s ts the quan t i t i es o f ou tpu ts tha t can be ob ta ined f rom the p rocess a t

Heerenveen .

D3 .867 . Biogas: The b iogas y ie ld i s repor ted to be abou t 110 Nm 3 /Tonne o f i npu t to the d iges te r

( i . e . c . 40 Nm 3 /Tonne inpu t to the p lan t ) . No da ta was made ava i l ab le to a l l ow an

assessment o f whe the r the mod i f i ca t i ons to the p lan t changed the b iogas y ie ld .

D3 .868 . The methane compos i t i on i s be tween 55 and 60% (by vo lume) and the gas i s used to

p roduce e lec t r i c i t y v ia gas eng ines .

D3 .869 . The gas eng ines a re coo led w i th wa te r and the ho t wa te r p roduced i s used in the p re -

d iges t ion mixe r .

D3 .870 . A t Heerenveen , the gas eng ines u t i l i se bo th l and f i l l gas f rom the s i te ad jacen t to the

p lan t , and b iogas . The b iogas i s c leaned us ing s ludges (c . 60 Tonnes pe r week) f rom

d r ink ing wa te r p repara t ion . The s ludge con ta ins i ron hydrox ide , wh ich removes hydrogen

su lph ide (H 2 S) by p rec ip i ta t i on . The res idues f rom the b iogas c lean ing s tage a re sent to

the d iges te rs . Fo l l ow ing H 2 S aba tement , t he b iogas i s coo led to remove wa te r and then

p ressur i sed fo r use in the gas eng ines . No in fo rmat ion was p rov ided abou t the





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compos i t i on o f the c leaned b iogas go ing to the gas eng ines o r the compos i t i on o f the

exhaus t emiss ions .

D3 .871 . The land f i l l gas i s separa te l y t rea ted in sc rubbers be fo re be ing m ixed w i th the c leaned

b iogas .

D3 .872 . We were in fo rmed tha t the gas eng ines on the Heerenveen s i te a re owned by a power

genera t ion company, wh ich pays ‘g reen ta r i f f ’ ra tes fo r the o f f - take o f b iogas f rom the

Heerenveen p lan t ra the r than the more usua l power o f f - take cont rac t .

Figure D211: Outputs from the process at Heerenveen

Products Tpa Applicat ion

Biogas 12,110 utilised in gas engines in CHP configuration

Ferrous metals 6,900 recycled

Coarse inerts 12,110 may be recycled but may have to be landfilled

Fine inerts (sand) 10,092 may be recycled but may have to be landfilled

RDF 80,734 sent for incineration and as a secondary fuel

Rake fraction 6,055 sent for incineration and as a secondary fuel

Paper & light plastics 32,294 used as a co-fuel in cement kilns and CHP plants

Digestate 32,294 sent to landfill after ‘immobilisation’ to be used as landfill permanent cover

Wastewater 28,257 treated and discharged

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r c a l cu l a t ion f r om da ta supp l i ed by SB I

D3.873 . RDF: We were in fo rmed tha t the RDF i s cu r ren t l y be ing d i sposed o f i n an inc ine ra t ion

p lan t i n The Ne the r lands and be ing ‘ so ld ’ as a secondary fue l i n Germany. SB I i n fo rmed

us tha t the con t rac t fo r i nc ine ra t ing the RDF wi l l exp i re on the 1 s t January 2005 a t wh ich

t ime a l l o f t he RDF ou tpu t f rom the Heerenveen p lan t w i l l be sent to Germany .

D3 .874 . No fu r the r de ta i l s were p rov ided abou t the spec i f i c use o f the RDF in Germany, bu t we

ga the red f rom our d i scuss ions w i th SBI tha t the RDF i s mixed w i th o the r secondary fue ls

be fo re use . No da ta on the compos i t i on o f th i s s t ream was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

D3 .875 . We were to ld tha t the recovered paper and p las t i c f rac t i on i s a l so be ing sent to Germany

as a fue l , bu t we were unab le to ob ta in de ta i l s o f t he o f f - take cont rac ts tha t m igh t be in

p lace fo r th i s ou tpu t .

D3 .876 . Because o f the lack o f compos i t i on da ta fo r the RDF and the paper /p las t i c f rac t i on f rom

the Heerenveen p lan t we a re unab le to assess the qua l i t y o f th i s ma te r i a l aga ins t marke t

requ i rements .





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D3.877 . Digesta te : The d iges ta te ou tpu t f rom Heerenveen i s sen t to an on -s i te ‘ immob i l i sa t i on ’

p lan t , where i t i s m ixed w i th ‘wa te r g lass ’ 1, bo t tom ash and s ludges be fo re be ing used as

land f i l l pe rmanen t cover .

D3 .878 . In the UK, th i s me thod o f u t i l i sa t i on wou ld p robab ly count as recyc l i ng , p rov ided tha t the

ma te r i a l sa t i s f i es the UK APBR c r i t e r i a . A t p resen t , t he d iges ta te ou tpu t f rom

Heerenveen wou ld no t sa t i s f y UK ABPR because , among o the r fac to rs , t he p rocess ing

cond i t i ons do no t mee t the spec i f i ed c r i t e r i a i n the regu la t i ons . In l eng thy d i scuss ions

w i th the p lan t opera to r , i t i s apparent tha t some changes to p rov ide ex t ra hea t to the

p re -d iges t ion m ix ing reac to r wou ld have to be made in o rde r to ach ieve UK ABPR

p rocess ing requ i remen ts . Such changes cou ld have ‘ knock -on ’ e f fec ts on the opera t iona l

pe r fo rmance o f the d iges te r and may requ i re complex cont ro l s to ensure tha t the ac t i ve

m ic ro -o rgan isms in the d iges te r a re no t des t royed .

Envi ronmental Impact

D3.879 . Gas c lean ing: A l l was te gases f rom the p rocess and the p lan t a re captu red and p iped

to a b io f i l t e r . The company c la ims tha t th i s m in imises any r i sk o f b io -ae roso l , dus t and

odorous emiss ions .

D3 .880 . Wastew ater : Much o f the was tewate r genera ted w i th in the p rocess i s re -used in the we t

p re - t rea tmen t s tage. However , some was tewate r i s con t inuous ly pu rged because o f the

bu i l d -up o f ch lo r i des and n i t ra tes , wh ich i s sa id to a f fec t the pe r fo rmance o f the d iges te r

when they a re above ce r ta in l im i ts . The pu rged was tewate r i s t rea ted and some o f i t i s

re -used in those pa r t s o f the p rocess tha t requ i re c lean wa te r , such as the s ieve sc reen .

No da ta was made ava i lab le o f the qua l i t y o f the wa te r tha t i s sen t to sewer a f te r

t rea tmen t .

Footprint & Visual Impact

D3.881 . The ta l l es t p rocess e lements a re the d iges te rs , wh ich a re 25m h igh . The p lan t i s l oca ted

in an indus t r ia l a rea and as a resu l t i t s v i sua l impac t was no t an i ssue .

D3 .882 . The land- take appeared to be s ign i f i can t , bu t the fac i l i t y , l oca ted ad jacen t to the

opera to rs ’ own land f i l l s i t e , a lso inc luded o f f i ce bu i l d ings , on -s i te was tewater t rea tmen t

and s to rage a reas fo r ba led RDF. We were no t p rov ided w i th quan t i ta t i ve land- take da ta

fo r the Heerenveen fac i l i t y .

1 wa t e r g l as s i s t he c o mm on n a me f o r s o d iu m m e t as i l i c a t e ( N a 2 S iO 3 ) , a c o l ou r l es s , j e l l y - l i k e s ubs t an c e t ha t d i s s o l ve s re a d i l y i n wa t e r us e d f o r p r es e r v i n g e ggs a n d f i r e p r oo f i n g p o ro us m a t e r i a l s , s uc h as c l o t h , p ap e r a n d wo od . I t i s a l s o us ed i n t h e m an u fac t u re o f s oa p an d s i l i ca ge l .





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Figure D212: Two of the three anaerobic digesters at Heerenveen

Sou rce : Pho tog raph t aken by J un ipe r du r ing s i t e v i s i t

Costs

D3.883 . A b reakdown o f cos ts p rov ided by SBI i s summar ised in F igu re D213 .

Figure D213: Breakdown of investment costs for Heerenveen

Products € (mi l l ion)

Separation Unit (pre-sorting process) 9

Washing unit (wet pre-treatment process) 6.2

Digestion unit 19.8

Miscellaneous (planning, design, infrastructure) 3

Total costs 38

Sou r ce : SB I

D3.884 . The company has a l so pub l i shed (see F igu re D214) the cos t p r i ce fo r manag ing ou tpu ts f rom the p rocess .





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Figure D214: Current and projected costs (/Tonne) for managing outputs from Heerenveen

Sou r ce : SB I ( Taken f rom pape r ‘ Su s t a inab l e was te management by an i n teg ra ted so l i d wa s te t r eatment p l an t i n F r ie s l and , the Ne the r l ands , p re sen ted a t I SWA, Rome 2004 )

Outstanding Quest ions

No compos i t i ona l da ta fo r the RDF ou tpu t and the p las t i c /paper f rac t i on was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew;

We are unab le to ve r i f y where these mate r ia ls a re be ing used in Germany and have no t rev iewed any con t rac ts tha t m igh t be in p lace ;

No energy ba lance da ta was p rov ided;

Data on b iogas y ie ld ove r a reasonab le pe r iod o f t ime was no t p rov ided ;

The qua l i t y o f the was tewate r d i scharged to sewer a f te r t rea tment was no t p rov ided.

RDF spec i f i ca t i ons requ i red by cus tomers no t p rov ided .

Summary

D3.885 . OMRIN i s owned by 31 mun ic ipa l i t i es , wh ich a re shareho lde rs i n the company. Wh i le

th i s may he lp SBI pu rsue oppor tun i t i es fo r the i r was te t rea tmen t p rocess in the

Ne the r lands , the company has no v i s ib i l i t y as an MBT supp l ie r ou ts ide o f The

Ne ther lands . Un t i l we v i s i ted the company in November 2004, we were unaware tha t





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t hey were p romot ing an MBT p rocess tha t they have deve loped f rom the o r ig ina l des ign

supp l ied by Gron tm i j .

D3 .886 . Wh i le the mod i f i ca t i ons to the p rocess appear to have had a ma jo r e f fec t on

pe r fo rmance , the re -des igned p rocess has no t ye t opera ted fo r a su f f i c ien t amoun t o f

t ime to be regarded as commerc ia l l y p roven.

D3 .887 . I t i s unc lea r whe the r SB I themse lves w i l l ac t i ve l y marke t the techno logy ou ts ide The

Ne the r lands and whe the r they wou ld p romote a s im i la r concep t as tha t be ing opera ted

a t Heerenveen , w i th wh ich they have re levan t opera t iona l exper ience. Whi le we had

some concerns about who owns the In te l l ec tua l P roper ty R igh ts ( IPR) due to the

invo lvement o f a mu l t i p l i c i t y o f p rocess and techno logy deve lopers , we were in fo rmed by

SBI “ tha t the re i s no ex te rna l IPR in re la t i on to the SBI i ns ta l l a t i on ” .

D3 .888 . SBI has an eng ineer ing consu l tancy d i v i s i on tha t w ishes to deve lop oppor tun i t i es to

bu i l d on the i r exper ience ga ined in adap t i ng the p rocess a t Heerenveen . They a re

i n te res ted in adv is ing po ten t ia l cus tomers and a lso in deve lop ing ‘ t a i l o red ’ so lu t i ons fo r

i nd i v idua l p ro jec ts . Bu t they a re a l so exp lo r i ng the poss ib i l i t y o f o f fe r i ng tu rnkey

p ro jec ts .

D3 .889 . We a re no t i n a pos i t i on to comment on the ex ten t to wh ich SBI , as a mun ic ipa l l y -owned

was te management company, has the capab i l i t y to suppor t commerc ia l i sa t ion o f the i r

MBT con f igu ra t i on on beha l f o f t h i rd pa r t y cus tomers ; espec ia l l y fo r p ro jec ts i n o the r

count r i es , l i ke the UK. Wh i l s t t hey c lea r l y have the exper t i se to op t im ise and deve lop

the o r ig ina l p rocess to be t te r mee t the i r own on-s i te requ i rements , SB I wou ld need to

sa t i s f y po ten t ia l use rs o f t he techno logy tha t they had su f f i c ien t resources , e i the r

i n te rna l l y o r th rough appropr ia te pa r tne rsh ips , to be chosen as the p re fe r red con t rac to r

i n a compet i t i ve tender .

This review was prepared in November 2004 based on information received during our site visit to the Heerenveen plant in

the same month. The review was finalised in December 2004, following further clarification discussions with SBI.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s S R S



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SRS


SRS markets a range of waste treatment technologies, including an in-vessel composting technology developed by the Canadian company Wright Environmental. This composting technology has been incorporated in an MBT configuration at two plants in Scotland, where the main output is a bio-treated solid which is being used for landfill restoration and final cover for closed landfills.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plants




• simple low cost approach

• operating plants in the UK

• relatively low mass diversion because outputs are sent to landfill

• process concept used in Scotland is different from that developed in North America

• does not maximise resource recovery

Contact details Sustainable Recycling Solutions Ireland Ltd., c/o Turmec Engineering Ltd, Rathcairn, Athboy, Co Meath, Ireland

Tel: +353 46 943 2243 Fax: +353 46 943 2226

Key contact Phil May-Brown

[email protected]

P r e -s o r t i n g

I n - V e s s e l C o m p o s t i n g

F e - m e t a l s

B i o - t r e a t e d s o l i d s f o r u s a g e

o n l a n d f i l l M S W





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Overview

D3.890 . Sus ta inab le Recyc l i ng So lu t i ons I re land (SRS) and i t s s i s te r company Sweeney

Env i ronmenta l a re agen ts fo r a range o f was te t rea tmen t techno log ies inc lud ing an in -

vesse l compos t i ng p rocess deve loped by the Canad ian company Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l .

We were in fo rmed tha t SRS i s l i censed to marke t and bu i l d the Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l

t echno logy ou ts ide o f the Amer i cas .

D3 .891 . Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l was founded in 1992 , and i s repor ted to have supp l ied more than

55 in -vesse l compos t i ng p lan ts i n the Un i ted S ta tes , Canada , and the Un i ted K ingdom.

The company does no t p romote an MBT p rocess bu t the i r compos t i ng techno logy i s the

co re b io log ica l t rea tment s tep be ing used a t two p lan ts i n Scot land , con f igu red as MBT,

to t rea t unsegrega ted MSW. The ma in ou tpu t f rom these p lan ts i s cu r ren t l y be ing used

fo r l and f i l l res to ra t ion .

Status of Technology

D3.892 . The two ex is t i ng re fe rence p lan ts have been opera ted by Aberdeensh i re Coun ty Counc i l

s ince 2001. The p lan ts a re loca ted in Inve rboynd ie and Min t law and a re des igned to

p rocess 26 ,000 Tpa and 32 ,000 Tpa o f m ixed MSW respec t i ve l y . We unders tand f rom the

Counc i l t ha t bo th o f these p lan ts have exper ienced s ign i f i can t downt ime ove r the las t

few years . We were in fo rmed separa te l y by SRS and the Counc i l t ha t the downt ime was

due to op t im isa t i on t r i a l s to reduce the quan t i t y o f b iodegradab les be ing re jec ted in the

p re - t rea tmen t s tage to l and f i l l and the d i scuss ions tha t were be ing he ld w i th SEPA wi th

regards to the u t i l i sa t i on o f the b io - t rea ted mate r i a ls .

Figure D215: Waste pre-treatment plant at Inverboyndie

Sou r ce : Wr igh t Env i ronmen ta l webs i te





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Descript ion of the MBT processes in Scotland

Waste feeding

D3.893 . The incoming was te i s v i sua l l y i nspec ted to remove overs i zed and unsu i tab le ma te r i a l s .

The was te i s then sen t to a mod i f i ed pu lve r i se r , wh ich b reaks opens the was te bags and

reduces the s i ze o f the pa r t i c les .

D3 .894 . The mate r i a ls f rom th i s s tage a re then passed th rough an e lec t romagnet i c separa to r to

recover fe r rous meta ls and then sp l i t i n to two s i ze f rac t i ons , >30mm and <30mm by a

t rommel . The >30mm f rac t i on goes d i rec t l y to l and f i l l w i thou t any fu r the r p rocess ing .

Figure D216: Schematic of the Wright Environmental technology as configured in Scotland

bulkywastes

Mixed MSW

In-Vessel Composting

KEY EffluentStreamRecyclables

Further upgrading

Trommel

Fe-Metals

air

Sent to landfill

>30mm

Magnetic Separator

<30mm

water

Wastewater to sewer

water

Waste gases to biofilter

‘Compost’ for landfill cover

Pulveriser

Mixing

Residue Stream

‘structure’ materials

bulkywastes

Mixed MSW



Further upgrading

Trommel

Fe-Metals

air

Sent to landfill

>30mm

Magnetic Separator

<30mm

water

Wastewater to sewer

water

Waste gases to biofilter

‘Compost’ for landfill cover

Pulveriser

Mixing

Residue Stream

‘structure’ materials

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f SRS i n f o rmat ion





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Compost ing

D3.895 . The sc reen unders i zed f rac t i on (mate r ia l s <30mm) i s conveyed to a mix ing s tage where

i t i s homogen ised and p laced on t rays , wh ich a re mechan ica l l y moved th rough the fo rced

ae ra ted compos t i ng un i t (a l so re fe r red to as compos t i ng tunne ls ) . Each compos t i ng un i t

has 30 t rays and each t ray can ho ld a capac i t y o f f i ve Tonnes o f separa ted was te ( i . e .

150 Tonnes pe r un i t ) . The Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l i n -vesse l compos t i ng p rocess usua l l y

takes about 14 days t o comp le te the b io log ica l ac t i v i t y depend ing on the s i ze ‘ cu t ’ a t t he

t rommel . Dur ing th i s t ime the was te i s usua l l y he ld a t abou t 60 0 C fo r the f i rs t t h ree

days ; a f te r seven days i t i s tu rned by mechan ica l ‘ sp inners ’ , wh ich move the pa r t i a l l y

d iges ted mate r ia l i n to the second zone o f the two-zone compos t ing sys tem where the

was te i s compos ted fo r a fu r the r seven days a t a tempera tu re o f 30 0 C .

D3 .896 . We unders tand tha t , a t the t ime o f wr i t i ng , on ly the f i rs t zone o f the compos t ing sys tem

i s be ing used a t the Sco t t i sh p lan ts and as a resu l t t he was te i s cu r ren t l y be ing

compos ted fo r on ly seven days .

D3 .897 . Ha lv ing the t rea tment t ime inc reases the th roughput o f the p lan t bu t a t t he same t ime i t

reduces the l eve ls o f pu t resc ib le degrada t i on and pa thogen k i l l . I f t h i s happens , the

ou tpu ts used as l and f i l l cove r m igh t con ta i n s ign i f i can t quan t i t i es o f pu t resc ib les

(po ten t ia l l y caus ing concerns abou t odour and o the r env i ronmenta l impac ts ) and

poss ib l y h igh leve ls o f pa thogen ic bac te r ia . We assume tha t an ind ica t i on o f the qua l i t y

o f the ou tpu t s t ream p roduced a t the shor te r compos t i ng t ime has been rev iewed by

SEPA, bu t we have no t been p rov ided w i th any da ta fo r rev iew.

D3 .898 . Usua l l y a f te r the mate r ia l has been exposed to the 14 day compos t i ng cyc le , a fu r the r

fou r weeks o f ma tu ra t i on i s requ i red to p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ‘ compos t ’ . Th is i s the

method o f opera t ion used in Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l ’ s Nor th Amer i can p lan ts . We were

in fo rmed tha t no matu ra t i on i s pe r fo rmed a t the Inverboynd ie s i te , and the was te i s sen t

d i rec t l y to be m ixed w i th sand fo r use fo r l and f i l l res to ra t ion .

D3 .899 . A t the Min t law s i te the mate r ia l i s ma tu red in w ind rows fo r 14 days fo l l ow ing the seven

day compos t ing cyc le and i s then mixed w i th sand fo r use as land f i l l cove r . We were

in fo rmed by SRS tha t the M in t law s i te has su f f i c ien t space fo r on -s i te ma tu ra t ion , wh i le

the s i te a t Inve rboynd ie does no t .

D3 .900 . Leacha te f rom the compos t i ng p rocess i s co l l ec ted and rec i r cu la ted as p rocess wa te r . I t

i s c la imed tha t th i s rec i rcu la t i on i s feas ib le fo r up to abou t two mon ths , a f te r wh ich t ime

the was tewate r i s d ischarged to sewer . Th is rec i rcu la t i on o f the wa te r w i l l l ead to a

g radua l bu i l d up o f con taminat ion in the leachate . There fo re , regu la r pu rg ing o f th i s

s t ream to sewer w i l l be requ i red . Re-us ing p rocess wa te r w i l l a l so need to comply w i th

UK ABPR requ i remen ts to avo id c ross -con taminat ion o f the b io - t rea ted ou tpu t as i t i s

be ing used on land . The was te gases genera ted du r ing compos t ing a re passed th rough a

b io f i l t e r be fo re pass ing to the a tmosphere .





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Future plans

D3.901 . We were in fo rmed tha t the opera t ing company o f the Scot t i sh p lan ts i s cu r ren t l y

i ns ta l l i ng a con ta ine r i sed ‘A lpheco ’ compos t ing sys tem, wh ich wou ld be used to t rea t

res idues f rom bo th MBT p lan ts . The A lpheco sys tem wi l l be des igned to fu r the r compos t

the res idues fo r a to ta l o f seven days and fo r two o f these days the res idues w i l l be

t rea ted a t 60 0 C , i n o rde r to sa t i s f y some e lements o f the ABPR c r i t e r ia fo r us ing the

f i na l res idues on land .

Process Performance

D3.902 . Typ ica l i npu ts and ou tpu ts fo r the p rocesses opera ted in Sco t land a re shown in F igu re

D217 . Based on th i s ba lance, the was te d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l has been ca lcu la ted and

summar ised in F igu re D218

Figure D217: Typical inputs and outputs for the MBT plants operated in Scotland

Bulky waste(1-2%)

Waste- water(Not specified)

Waste gases (incl. water vapour)

(Not specified)

Oversized fraction (>30mm) to landfill (55-60%)

Waste Feed (100%)


Trommel

Fe-metals (1-3%)Magnetic Separator

Shredder & Pulveriser

Fraction(<30mm)

Landfill restoration

(12%)

Bulky waste(1-2%)

Waste- water(Not specified)


(Not specified)

Oversized fraction (>30mm) to landfill (55-60%)

Waste Feed (100%)


Trommel

Fe-metals (1-3%)Magnetic Separator

Shredder & Pulveriser

Fraction(<30mm)

Landfill restoration

(12%)

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f da ta f r om Abe rdeen sh i re Coun ty Counc i l





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Figure D218: Diversion potential of the MBT plants operated in Scotland

Divers ion Potent ia l Percentage (wt)

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill < 40

Note: This is not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets but total mass diversion


D3.903 . Th is i s a re la t i ve l y l ow mass d ive rs ion ra te and we wou ld expec t tha t the BMW d ive rs ion

ra te wou ld a l so be low.

Environmental Impact

D3.904 . Gas c lean ing: The compos t i ng tunne ls a re ma in ta ined under a s l i gh t nega t i ve p ressure and the co l l ec ted compos t i ng o f f -gases a re p iped to a b io - f i l te r be fo re emiss ion to a tmosphere . No ana lys i s o f the f i na l emiss ions was made ava i l ab le and the re fo re we cou ld no t assess how we l l odorous con taminan ts and pa r t i cu la tes were aba ted .

D3 .905 . Bio- t rea ted so l ids: As we have po in ted ou t above, the compos t ing t ime used i s 50% o f the no rmal t ime (as imp lemented in Nor th Amer i ca ) used fo r th i s compos t i ng techno logy. Th is w i l l have an e f fec t on the compos i t i on o f the so l i ds be ing used fo r l and f i l l r es to ra t ion and thus the b iodegradab i l i t y and heavy meta l concent ra t i on o f tha t ma te r ia l .

D3 .906 . The heavy meta l compos i t i on o f the b io - t rea ted mate r ia ls p roduced a t Inverboynd ie i s

summar ised in F igu re D219 . The da ta i s compared w i th PAS100 requ i rements and the

heavy me ta l compos i t i on o f MSW.

Figure D219: Results of tests on the bio-treated materials produced at Inverboyndie

Sample Source Cu Pb Hg Ni Zn Cd Cr

Inverboyndie (mean), mg/kg 70.86 171.53 0.17 24.79 198.04 0.44 13.65

PAS100, mg/kg dry matter ≤200.00 ≤200.00 ≤1.00 ≤50.00 ≤400.00 <1.50 ≤100

Unsorted MSW, mg/kg 274.00 513.00 2.40 45.00 1570.00 5.50 100

Sou r ce : Taken f r om da ta supp l ied by SRS

D3.907 . A l though these resu l t s , p rov ided by SRS, i nd i ca te tha t the b io - t rea ted mate r ia l cou ld

have lower heavy meta l con ten t than the PAS100 requ i remen ts , t he leve ls o f o the r

pe r t i nen t phys ica l (g lass e tc . ) , chemica l (phyto tox ins ) and b io log ica l (pa thogens)

con taminan ts were no t repor ted . Fu r the rmore , the bas is o f the tes ts on the

Inve rboynd ie samples i s no t known. We the re fo re conc lude tha t the in fo rmat ion i s

i nsu f f i c ien t to de te rm ine whe the r the compos t wou ld mee t PAS100 c r i t e r i a .





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Process Avai labi l i ty and Flexibi l i ty

D3.908 . We have no t been ab le to ob ta in de ta i l ed in fo rmat ion abou t the ava i l ab i l i t y o f t he two

Scot t i sh p lan ts .

Process Scale

D3.909 . SRS marke ts i t s techno logy as a modu la r sys tem. The techno logy has been

imp lemented us ing compos t i ng modu les f rom 0 .25 Tpd to 30 Tpd . Typ ica l modu les

appear to have capac i t i es o f 20 -30 Tpd . The Inve rboynd ie p lan t u t i l i ses 2×25 Tpd

modu les and the M in t l aw p lan t has 3×25 Tpd modu les . I f imp lemented a t th i s modu la r

sca le fo r fu tu re p lan ts , we wou ld no t expec t any s ign i f i can t sca le -up r i sks .

Footprint

D3.910 . The repor ted foo tp r in t o f the compos t ing p lan t w i th mechan ica l p re - t rea tment i s

0 .13m 2 /Tpa . I t i s a lso repor ted tha t a fu r the r 0 .15 m 2 /Tpa wou ld be requ i red i f

ma tu ra t i on o f the res idues were to be ca r r ied ou t on-s i te .

Costs

D3.911 . The cap i ta l cos ts o f the Inve rboynd ie p lan t were repor ted to be abou t £2 .5M (c . €3 .75M) .

The t rea tment cos ts a re repor ted to be abou t £35-40 /Tonne (c . €52 .5 -60 /Tonne) .


D3.912 . We have been unab le to rev iew da ta on the ava i l ab i l i t y o f the Sco t t i sh re fe rence p lan ts .

D3 .913 . The mass ba lance da ta was incomp le te . No da ta on the energy requ i rements o f the

p rocess was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

D3 .914 . A l though some da ta was p rov ided on the heavy meta l con ten t o f the b io - t rea ted

mate r i a l s , i n fo rmat ion on o the r re levant con taminants was no t made ava i lab le fo r th i s

rev iew.

D3 .915 . We a re unc lea r abou t the way in wh ich the was tewa te r f rom the p rocess i s t rea ted . No

da ta on was tewate r qua l i t y was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.





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Summary

D3.916 . Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l supp l i es a compos t ing p rocess tha t has been p roven ove r a

number o f yea rs on va r ious o rgan ic was te f rac t i ons . However , t he p lan ts i n Sco t land

a re the on ly fac i l i t i es i n wh ich the Wr igh t Env i ronmenta l compos t i ng p rocess has been

used fo r t rea t ing unsegrega ted MSW. A t these p lan ts the compos t i ng p rocess i s

opera ted d i f fe ren t l y f rom the way in wh ich i t has been imp lemented a t o the r success fu l

re fe rence p lan ts i n Nor th Amer i ca .

D3 .917 . The p rocess re jec ts a s ign i f i can t quan t i t y o f t he incoming was te , wh ich i s sen t to

l and f i l l , and as a resu l t the d i ve rs ion i s re la t i ve l y l ow. Even so , i t may be su f f i c ien t to

reach re levan t l oca l BMW d ive rs ion ta rge ts , wh ich cou ld make th i s re la t i ve l y s imp le and

po ten t ia l l y l ow cos t approach an a t t rac t i ve op t ion fo r some Loca l Au tho r i t i es . However ,

some o f the po ten t ia l d isadvantages assoc ia ted w i th th i s approach a re :

l ow recyc l i ng ra tes ;

poor ove ra l l recovery ; and ,

a l im i ted sca le o f imp lementa t i on because o f the f i n i te ou t le t f o r p roduc ts .

This review was prepared in September 2004 based on information received in February and April 2004 and from discussions

with SRS and Aberdeenshire Council. The review was finalised in October 2004, following further clarification discussions with

SRS.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s S UT C O



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SUTCO


Sutco markets an MBT process for treating MSW based on a waste composting system, which is called ‘Biofix’. The main outputs from the process are an RDF and a bio-stabilised output, which is landfilled.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant




• process demonstrated on MSW

• significant experience with the design of the front-end mechanical pre-treatment equipment, which should minimise processing risks

• process is a net energy user

• co-firing opportunities for the RDF may be difficult to secure in the UK

Contact details Sutco RecyclingTechnik Gmbh & Co. KG, Britanniahütte 14, D-51469 Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.

Tel: +49 2202 2005 35 Fax: +49 2202 2005 70

www.sutco.de

Key contact Udo Voß

Managing Director


F e - m e t a l s

B i o - s t a b i l i s e d o u t p u t

R e s i d u a l M S W

R D FR D F

M e c h a n i c a l p r e -

t r e a t m e n t

C o m p o s t i n g

R e f i n i n g S t a g e





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Overview

D3.918 . Su tco Masch inenbau Gmbh marke ts an MBT p rocess based on compos t ing . The

compos t i ng process i s ca l l ed ‘B io f i x ’ and i t t akes p lace in open bays , wh ich a re housed

in an enc losed bu i l d ing .

D3 .919 . Su tco was founded in 1985 . In 2003, the company a long w i th i t s Po l i sh subs id ia r i es

Su tco Po lska (manu fac tu r ing and reg iona l marke t ing fac i l i t y ) and Su tco B iu ro

Inzyn ie rsk ie (eng ineer ing o f f i ce ) , were acqu i red by the German was te techno logy

supp l i e r Ludden & Mennekes Entso rgungs -Sys teme GmbH a f te r Su tco was so ld by RWE

Umwel t AG ear l i e r i n the same year .

D3 .920 . The company i s we l l known fo r des ign ing and bu i l d ing ind iv idua l mechan ica l equ ipment

and p rocess sys tems fo r d i f f e ren t was te so r t i ng , separa t i on and re f i n ing opera t ions

inc lud ing MRFs , DSD 1 f ac i l i t i es , p lan ts p roduc ing RDF and so r t i ng o f MSW befo re

the rmal t rea tmen t . I n add i t i on , Sutco has supp l ied pre - and pos t - t rea tmen t equ ipment to

a number o f MBT p lan ts supp l ied by o the rs .

Figure D220: Sutco’s Erbenschwang plant

Stack for gases from biofilter Enclosed bio-filterComposting plantStack for gases from biofilter Enclosed bio-filterComposting plantStack for gases from biofilter Enclosed bio-filterComposting plant

Sou r ce : Su tco

1 DS D = Dua les S ys te m Deu tsc h l an d , t he Ge r m an p ro duc e r r es po ns i b i l i t y r ec yc l i ng i n f r as t r uc t u r e





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D3.921 . We v i s i ted Su tco ’s E rbenschwang re fe rence p lan t i n Oc tober 2004 , wh ich t rea ts a l l o f

t he res idua l MSW and b iowas te a r i s ings f rom Wei lhe im-Schongau coun ty i n Germany.

Dur ing ou r v i s i t , we had de ta i l ed d iscuss ions w i th the Manag ing D i rec to r o f Su tco and

w i th the depu ty manag ing d i rec to r o f EVA GmbH (Erbenschwanger Verwer tungs -und

Ab fa l l en tso rgungs) , t he opera to rs o f the p lan t . As a resu l t o f t hese d i scuss ions EVA

supp l ied us w i th de ta i l ed da ta fo r the p lan t opera t ion . Wh i le we had unders tood tha t th i s

p lan t was opera t iona l , a t t he t ime o f ou r v i s i t t he p rocess was be ing rebu i l t t o

s ign i f i can t l y i nc rease the res idua l was te capac i t y . Add i t i ons were a l so be ing made to

mee t the l im i t s i n the German 30 t h B ImSchV regu la t i ons . The en la rged p lan t i s expec ted

to be in opera t ion in January 2005 .

D3 .922 . The Erbenschwang p lan t a l so p rocessed about 16 ,000 Tpa b iowas te in a separa te l i ne

bu t th i s was a l so no t opera t iona l when we v i s i ted the s i te . A l l t he p rocess bu i l d ings were

l ow p ro f i l e s t ruc tu res (see F igu re D220) and a re ad jacent to the opera to r ’ s own land f i l l

s i t e .


D3.923 . Su tco p rov ided a l i s t o f f i ve MBT re fe rences , wh ich a re shown in F igu re D221. However ,

on ly the p lan t a t E rbenschwang in Germany i s a fu l l MBT supp ly u t i l i s i ng Su tco ’s ‘B io f i x ’

p rocess .

Figure D221: Sutco’s MBT references treating residual MSW

Locat ion Plant Capacity,

Tpa

Current Status

Scope of Supply

Startup

Düren-Horm, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

180,000 Mechanical pre-treatment

1995

Erbenschwang, Bavaria, Germany 22,000 ‘Biofix’ process 1997 (plant being expanded)

Bassum, Lower Saxony, Germany 60,000 Mechanical pre-treatment

1997

Singhofen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

45 T/h Mechanical pre-treatment

2000

Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

206,000 Mechanical separation plant

2001

Piemont, Italy 18,000 ‘Biofix’ process Being built

The colour coding system in denotes plants currently operating ( ), plants that are under construction, under commissioning or in planning ( ) and plants that have stopped or are no longer being built ( ).

S ou r ce : Su tco

D3 .924 . The Erbenschwang p lan t opera ted f rom 1997 to 2004 w i th the process shown in F igu re

D222 . The ma in ou tpu t was a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t (p roduced a f te r 30 days compos t ing )





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f o r l and f i l l i ng . The opera to rs to ld us tha t the i r ta rge t resp i ra t i on ac t i v i t y fo r the b io -

s tab i l i sed ou tpu t was be low 20 mg O 2 /g ds 1.

D3 .925 . The p rocess i s cu r ren t l y be ing upgraded to t rea t more was te and to mee t the new

German regu la t i ons on b io -s tab i l i t y o f res idues go ing to l and f i l l as d iscussed be low.

Figure D222: The process that operated from 1997-2004 at Erbenschwang, Germany

KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading

Emissions Residue Stream

Sieve Drum

Residual MSW

Rejects

Picking Line

Stabilised materials to landfill

Magnetic Separator

< 80mm

> 80mm

Fe-metals

Homogenising Trommel Screen

Crusher

Composting Bays

Air & Water

Off-gases to biofilter

Bulky Wastes

Air Separator

RDF to baler

> 140mm

Heavy fraction

Metals



Sieve Drum

Residual MSW

Rejects

Picking Line


Magnetic Separator

< 80mm

> 80mm

Fe-metals

Homogenising Trommel Screen

Crusher

Composting Bays

Air & Water


Bulky Wastes

Air Separator

RDF to baler

> 140mm

Heavy fraction

Metals

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ’ s r ep re sen tat i on o f Su t co ’ s i n fo rmat ion

The Process

D3.926 . The new p rocess under cons t ruc t i on a t E rbenschwang rece ives was te in a f l a t bunker .

The was te i s t ranspor ted by whee l l oader to a c rusher , wh ich reduces the s i ze o f the

incoming mate r ia l s to abou t 300 mm. The c rushed was te i s conveyed to a s ieved d rum

tha t separa tes i t i n to two f rac t i ons o f pa r t i c le s i zes : >80 mm and <80 mm. The >80 mm

f rac t i on i s passed th rough an e lec t romagne t i c separa to r wh ich recovers fe r rous meta ls .

1 ds = d r y so l i ds





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Non- fe r rous meta ls a re no t separa ted f rom the was te s t ream a t th i s p lan t because i t i s

deemed to be uneconomic fo r th i s p rocess capac i t y because o f the h igh degree o f

househo ld separa t ion conduc ted in Germany. The remain ing mate r i a ls a f te r me ta l s

recovery a re ba led and sen t fo r use o f f - s i te as an RDF in an inc ine ra t ion p lan t . Fe r rous

meta l s a re a lso recovered f rom the <80mm f rac t ion be fo re i t passes to a homogen is ing

m ix ing d rum to wh ich wa te r i s added . The homogen ised mate r i a l s a re sent fo r

compos t i ng .

Figure D223:The new process at Erbenschwang, Germany

>50mm<25mm



Crusher

Sieve Drum

Residual MSW

Fe-metals

Magnetic Separator

Star Screen


Magnetic Separator

<80mm

Air Separator

>80mm

Fe-metals

Rotating Drum Mixer

Baling Press

RDF fraction

Intensive Composting

Bays

Water

Maturation Bays

Air & Water

25-50mm

‘Fluff’Inerts to landfill RDF fraction

Off-gases to RTO


>50mm<25mm



Crusher

Sieve Drum

Residual MSW

Fe-metals

Magnetic Separator

Star Screen


Magnetic Separator

<80mm

Air Separator

>80mm

Fe-metals

Rotating Drum Mixer

Baling Press

RDF fraction

Intensive Composting

Bays

Water

Maturation Bays

Air & Water

25-50mm

‘Fluff’Inerts to landfill RDF fraction

Off-gases to RTO


Source : Jun ipe r rep resen ta t ion o f EVA in fo rmat ion

D3 .927 . Th is desc r ip t i on co r responds to F igu re D223 . The compos t i ng process i s ca r r i ed ou t i n open- top bays wh ich a re housed in an enc losed bu i ld ing . They a re ae ra ted v ia a combina t ion o f p ressure ae ra t ion , fo r 4 -5 hours pe r day, and a suc t ion sys tem (suc t i on ae ra t ion i s the p redominant me thod o f ae ra t ion used fo r the remainder o f the day) . The was te i s l oaded in to these bays by an au tomat i c l oad ing and tu rn ing mach ine and i s compos ted fo r 30 to 40 days du r ing wh ich t ime the was te i s tu rned about seven t imes w i th in each bay by the mob i le ‘B io f i x ’ w ind row tu rn ing dev ice . Dur ing tu rn ing , f resh o r p rocess wa te r can be added to the was te . A f te r the in tens ive compos t i ng s tep , the mate r i a l s a re t rans fe r red to ano the r se t o f bays , where they undergo matu ra t ion fo r a fu r the r 30 -40 days . The b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t fo r the matu ra t i on bays i s separa ted by





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s ta r sc reen 1 i n to th ree f rac t i ons . The <25 mm f rac t ion i s sen t to l and f i l l w i thou t any fu r the r p rocess ing . The 25 -50 mm f rac t i on passes to an a i r dens i t y separa to r , wh ich separa tes the l i gh t o rgan ics ( ‘ f l u f f ’ ) f rom the mos t l y i ne r t mate r i a l s . The f l u f f and >50 mm f rac t i on i s marke ted as an RDF. The ine r ts a re sen t to l and f i l l .

Process Performance

D3.928 . Typ ica l i npu ts and ou tpu ts fo r Sutco ’ s ‘B io f i x ’ p rocess , as p rev ious ly opera ted a t E rbenschwang , a re shown in F igu re D224 . F rom these numbers , the was te d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l has been ca lcu la ted and summar ised in F igu re D225 a long w i th the re levan t assumpt ions tha t have been made in the ca lcu la t i ons .

Figure D224: Typical inputs and outputs for Sutco’s ‘Biofix’ process

RDF fraction (>50mm)(9.2 %)

‘Fluff’(0.7 %)

Fe-metals (2.5%)

Residual MSW (100%)

RDF fraction (>80mm)(40 %)

Off-gases (incl. water vapour)

(15.1 %)Composting

Mechanical Pre-treatment



Bio-stabilised output & inerts to landfill

(32.5 %)

Mechanical post-separation

RDF fraction (>50mm)(9.2 %)

‘Fluff’(0.7 %)

Fe-metals (2.5%)

Residual MSW (100%)

RDF fraction (>80mm)(40 %)

Off-gases (incl. water vapour)

(15.1 %)Composting




Bio-stabilised output & inerts to landfill

(32.5 %)

Mechanical post-separation

Sou rce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f Su t co da ta

Figure D225: Landfill diversion potential (by mass) of Sutco’s ‘Biofix’ process

Divers ion Potent ia l Minimum, % Maximum, % Bas is of Estimation


17.5 67.4 Min: RDF, inerts and bio-stabilised output to landfill

Max: RDF is used for energy recovery, bio-stabilised output and inerts sent to landfill

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data is available on the biodegradability of the outputs


1 S t a r sc r ee n – sc r ee n i ng sys t em o f t en us ed f o r s ep a ra t i ng an d s i z i n g o r ga n i c m a t e r i a l , wh i c h ha s h i g h m o i s t u r e c o n t e n t s u c h a s c o mp o s t .





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D3.929 . The b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t tha t w i l l go to l and f i l l i n Germany f rom the re -des igned p rocess a t E rbenschwang w i l l have to mee t the German AT4 resp i ra t i on l im i t and the s t r i c t l eve ls o f <18% TOC 1. Fo r the pu rpose o f ca lcu la t i ng BMW d ive rs ion f rom landf i l l , t h i s b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t go ing to l and f i l l w i l l have a l ow BMW con ten t . Th is means tha t i f t he RDF ou tpu ts a re u t i l i sed as fue l , Su tco ’s new p rocess cou ld have a h igh BMW d ive rs ion pe r fo rmance .

Figure D226: The pre-sorting process and composting bays at Erbenschwang

Sou r ce : Su tco

Energy Requirements

D3.930 . The p lan t i s a ne t energy user . Energy ba lance da ta was no t made ava i lab le fo r rev iew.

Process avai labi l i ty

D3.931 . Su tco ’s l a tes t p rocess con f igu ra t ion has no t ye t opera ted . Mos t o f the s ign i f i can t

changes a re be ing made to the mechan ica l p re -p rocess ing o f the was te and the pos t -

t rea tmen t o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t . However , t hese a re a reas in wh ich Su tco have

cons ide rab le exper ience (see F igu re D229 and F igu re D230) ; a l so the exper ience ga ined

f rom the opera t ion o f the o ld E rbenschwang p lan t i s d i rec t l y re levan t to the new

p rocess . We have summar ised in F igu re D227 the opera t iona l pe r fo rmance da ta f rom

1 TO C = To ta l O rg a n i c Ca r bon





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t he o ld con f igu ra t i on a t E rbenschwang . The da ta i nd ica tes tha t the sys tem was

opera ted cons is ten t l y a t abou t 75% o f i t s name-p la te capac i t y fo r s i x years .

D3 .932 . The opera to rs , EVA, exp la ined to us tha t the apparen t shor t fa l l i n capac i t y was no t a resu l t o f p rob lems w i th the p rocess , bu t tha t the p lan t was des igned to accommodate i nc reases in was te a r i s ings . Data we have rev iewed shows tha t the ove ra l l was te sen t fo r p rocess ing inc reased by abou t 10% f rom 1998 to 2003 , bu t much o f th i s was recovered fo r recyc l i ng be fo re the MBT p lan t o r sen t d i rec t l y to l and f i l l .

Figure D227: Actual throughput of waste processed at Erbenschwang

14500

15000

15500

16000

16500

17000

17500

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Inpu

t to

MBT

pla

nt,

Tpa

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

Des

ign

capa

city

uti

lised

, %

Input to plant, Tpa

Design capacity utilised, %14500

15000

15500

16000

16500

17000

17500

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Inpu

t to

MBT

pla

nt,

Tpa

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

Des

ign

capa

city

uti

lised

, %

Input to plant, Tpa

Design capacity utilised, %

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f EVA ’ s data

Process F lexibi l i ty

D3.933 . The Su tco ‘B io f i x ’ compos t ing p rocess has been used a t a number o f p lan ts fo r t rea t ing

separa te l y c o l l ec ted b iowas tes . The company p rov ided a l i s t o f a t l eas t s i x re fe rences

u t i l i s i ng th i s sys tem to t rea t b iowas te tha t a re i n opera t ion in Germany, Norway and

I ta l y . The p lan ts range in capac i t y f rom abou t 6 ,500 Tpa to 50 ,000 Tpa .





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Figure D228: Selected biowaste references using the ‘Biofix’ composting technology


Tpa

Startup

Stavanger, Norway 28,000 2000

Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 25,000 1998

Goch, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 50,000 1998

Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 25,000 1997

Lochau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany 6,500 1994

Swisttal-Morenhoven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

12,000 1993

Sou r ce : Su tco

D3.934 . Su tco a l so has exper t i se w i th the mechan ica l equ ipment tha t i s necessary fo r MBT

p lan ts and fo r re f i n ing the p rocess ou tpu ts (e .g . to use as a secondary fue l ) . F igu re

D229 and F igu re D230 summar ise some o f the i r exper ience w i th mechan ica l sys tems fo r

p rocess ing was te .

Figure D229: Selected RDF reference facilities


Tpa

Startup

Delitzsch, Saxony, Germany 50,000 2000

plant extended to 60,000 Tpa in 2002 after fire damage

Erftstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

45,000 1998

Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

13,000 1995

Winschoten, The Netherlands 15 T/h 2002

Wiefels, Lower Saxony 40,000 of wood waste and 60,000 commercial waste

2004

Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

100,000 March 2005

Meschede, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

100,000 May 2005

Sou r ce : Su tco

Process Scale

D3.935 . The Su tco MBT p rocess has on ly opera ted a t the Erbenschwang p lan t . The p lan t tha t opera ted f rom 1997-2004 had a capac i t y o f 22 ,000 Tpa . The re -des igned process w i l l





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have a capac i t y o f 40 ,000 Tpa . The or ig ina l p lan t u t i l i sed a s ing le p re -p rocess ing l i ne and s i x compos t i ng bays . The new p lan t w i l l a l so use a s ing le p re -p rocess ing l i ne bu t w i th e igh t bays fo r i n tens ive compos t i ng and a fu r the r s i x bays fo r pos t -matu ra t i on . Each bay has a capac i t y o f approx imate ly 450 m 3 . The sca le up to 40 ,000 Tpa requ i res la rge r p re - t rea tment equ ipment bu t , f rom the re fe rence l i s t p rov ided by Su tco fo r th i s rev iew o f p re - t rea tmen t p lan t they have bu i l t and equ ipment they have supp l ied , th i s sca le -up i s we l l w i th in the i r capab i l i t i es .

Figure D230: Selected mechanical sorting plants


Tph

Applicat ion Startup

Gernsheim, Bavaria, Germany 90,000 Tpa Sorting plant for construction waste, industrial waste and bulky refuse

1996

Cologne-Niehl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

660,000 Tpa Mechanical pre-treatment of domestic waste before incineration

2000

Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

7 (c. 19,000 Tpa*)

Sorting plant for ‘yellow bag’ waste 2001

Hamburg, Germany 13

(c. 35,000 Tpa*)

Sorting plant for paper and cardboard 2001

Rainham, UK 50,000 Tpa Materials Recycling Facility 2001

Cologne-Merkenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

14.5

(c. 39,000 Tpa*)

Automatic paper sorting plant 2002

Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

8

(c. 22,000 Tpa*)

Sorting plant for ‘yellow bag’ waste 2002

Alton, UK 24

(c. 65,000 Tpa*)

Materials Recycling Facility 2004

Greenwich, UK 22 Materials Recycling Facility 2004

Schwedt, Bardenburg, Germany

1,000 Tpd

(c. 300,000 Tpa*)

Waste paper recycling facility 2004

* Juniper calculation based on 9 hours of operation per day 300 days per year

Sou r ce : Su tco

Output Materials

D3.936 . F igu re D231 g ives the quan t i t i es o f ou tpu ts tha t cou ld be ob ta ined f rom the Su tco MBT

p rocess . Th is g i ves some ind ica t i on abou t the amounts o f va r ious s t reams tha t w i l l have

to be managed i f t h i s p rocess i s imp lemented fo r t rea t ing s im i la r t ypes o f was te .

D3 .937 . Bio-s tab i l ised output :The p rocess i s cu r ren t l y des igned to p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t to mee t the German AT4 resp i ra t i on l im i ts .

D3 .938 . In Germany the l im i ts on the resp i ra t i on ac t i v i t y o f ma te r i a l s sen t to l and f i l l have been

t i gh tened. The new AT4 l im i ts , wh ich requ i re tha t the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t has a





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resp i ra t i on ac t i v i t y be low 5 mg O 2 /g ds , w i l l app ly to a l l was te p rocess ing p lan ts f rom

June 2005; th i s i s the main d r i ve r fo r the re -des ign o f the p rocess a t E rbenschwang .

Figure D231: Products based on plant processing 40,000 Tpa German residual MSW

Products Tpa Applicat ion

RDF (>80mm from Input separation) 16,000 could be upgraded for use as a fuel

RDF (>50mm from refining of the outputs from the maturation plant)

3,680 could be upgraded for use as a fuel

Ferrous metals 1,000 recycled

‘Fluff’ 280 could be used as a fuel

Composting losses 6,040 treated in biofilter before exhausting to atmosphere (RTO1 system will be used in new plant to treat air from composting process)

Bio-stabilised output 13,000 sent to landfill

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f EVA da ta

D3.939 . RDF output : Dur ing ou r s i te v i s i t , EVA in fo rmed us tha t du r ing p lan t opera t ion , the a i r separa to r was ra re l y used (see F igu re D222) . The RDF tha t was p roduced when the a i r separa to r was opera t ing was sen t to an o f f -s i t e i nc ine ra to r . No de ta i l s abou t the compos i t i on o f the RDF s t ream were p rov ided fo r rev iew and we unders tand tha t no fo rmal o f f - take a r rangements were in p lace fo r the RDF ou tpu t . Because o f the in f requen t opera t ion o f the a i r separa to r a t t he o r ig ina l E rbenschwang p lan t , much o f the h igh CV f rac t i on was landf i l l ed . F rom June 2005 , land f i l l i ng o f was te mate r ia ls w i l l be sub jec t to l im i t va lues o f <18 % TOC, wh ich means tha t the land f i l l i ng rou te fo r h igh CV mate r i a l s w i l l no t be a v iab le op t ion a t the new p lan t . F rom our d iscuss ions w i th EVA, i t appears tha t i nc ine ra t i on i s to be the p re fe r red d isposa l rou te fo r the RDF.

D3 .940 . To u t i l i se the RDF as fue l i t i s l i ke l y tha t the h igh CV f rac t ion w i l l have to be fu r the r

separa ted to reduce ce r ta in con taminants such as ch lo r i ne con ta in ing mate r ia l s . Su tco

has s ign i f i can t re levan t exper ience in th i s t ype o f pos t -separa t ion , and f rom in fo rmat ion

the company p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew, we no te tha t they have bu i l t a number o f

mechan ica l p rocess ing p lan ts fo r p roduc ing RDF f rom MSW in a t l eas t th ree d i f f e ren t EU

Member S ta tes .


Wastewater Emiss ions

D3.941 . The p rocess does no t p roduce any leacha te . F resh wa te r i s added to the homogen is ing

d rum and can be added d i rec t l y to the compos t i ng bays by means o f the au tomat i c

‘B io f i x ’ t u rn ing mach ine .

1 RTO = Re ge ne r a t i ve Th e r m a l O x i d a t i o n





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Process Gaseous Emiss ions

D3.942 . The o f f -gases f rom the o r ig ina l E rbenschwang p lan t passed th rough an enc losed b io f i l t e r

be fo re be ing emi t ted to a tmosphere v ia a sma l l s tack . A l l f ug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the

p lan t were co l l ec ted v ia a nega t i ve a i r sys tem and a l so passed th rough the b io f i l t e r .

D3 .943 . The new p rocess p lan t i n Germany w i l l i nco rpora te a Regenera t i ve Thermal Ox id i se r

(RTO) to t rea t the o f f -gases f rom the mechan ica l p re- t rea tment par t o f the p lan t and the

compos t i ng process . The exhaus t gases f rom the secondary matu ra t i on and the pos t -

sc reen ing a reas w i l l be t rea ted v ia the enc losed b io - f i l t e r .

Footprint and Visual Impact

D3.944 . The land- take o f the 40 ,000 Tpa p lan t a t E rbenschwang i s 8448 m 2 . Th is t rans la tes to a

foo tp r in t o f 0 .21m 2 /Tpa. Desp i te the need fo r compos t matu ra t ion , the land- take i s l ow

compared w i th p lan ts tha t requ i re a cons ide rab le l and a rea fo r w ind row compos t i ng and

matu ra t i on .

D3 .945 . A l l o f t he bu i l d ings a t the o r ig ina l p lan t were low p ro f i l e s t ruc tu res tha t p roduce a low

v isua l impac t ( see F igu re D220) . The v i sua l impac t o f t he p lan t w i l l i nc rease because o f

the p resence o f a th in exhaus t s tack fo r the RTO (see Annexe A5) . We have a l ready

d i scussed the po ten t ia l imp l i ca t ions i f a s im i la r t ype o f o f f -gas t rea tment p rocess i s

requ i red in the UK (see Annexe B5) .

Costs

D3.946 . EVA repor ted tha t the cu r ren t ga te fees a re €130 /Tonne and €110 /Tonne , i nc lud ing and

exc lud ing land f i l l i ng respec t i ve l y . The cos t i nc ludes the opera t ion o f the RTO.


D3.947 . We have no t been ab le to rev iew da ta on the fo l l ow ing :

The compos i t i on o f the RDF s t ream sent fo r i nc ine ra t ion ;

The energy ba lance fo r the Erbenschwang p lan t .

Summary

D3.948 . Su tco has s ign i f i can t exper ience in bu i l d ing mechan ica l separa t ion p lan ts and equ ipment

fo r p rocess ing va r ious was te s t reams, and in supp ly ing these t ypes o f equ ipment to MBT

p lan ts . Such exper ience i s s ign i f i can t i n des ign ing MBT p lan ts as many o f the





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bo t t l enecks and p rocess ing i ssues a re usua l l y a t t r i bu ted to poor was te p repara t ion and

pos t - t rea tmen t o f the ou tpu ts .

D3 .949 . Wh i le the company has compara t i ve l y l ess exper ience w i th i n teg ra ted MBT and a

re la t i ve l y l ow v i s ib i l i t y ou ts ide the German marke t i n the MBT sec to r , the i r on ly tu rnkey

MBT re fe rence p lan t has opera ted fo r s i x years and demons t ra ted a h igh leve l o f

ava i l ab i l i t y . The co -opera t ion we have rece ived in p repar ing th i s rev iew f rom the

opera to rs o f th i s p lan t , EVA, sugges ts tha t they have conf idence in the p rocess and a re

now ex tend ing the p lan t and commi t t i ng s ign i f i can t f i nanc ia l resources to the new

deve lopment .

D3 .950 . The p rocess now be ing bu i l t w i l l take some t ime be fo re i t can be regarded as

commerc ia l l y fu l l y p roven . Though the p lan t a t E rbenschwang does no t p roduce a ‘ h igh

qua l i t y ’ RDF because o f the cus tomer requ i remen ts , we wou ld expec t Su tco ’s exper ience

in manufac tur ing RDF p lan ts to be o f re levance where the re migh t be more s t r i ngen t

requ i rements on the compos i t i on o f the RDF ou tpu t f rom the p rocess .

This review was prepared in November 2004 based on information received during our site visit to the Erbenschwang plant in

October 2004 and from further direct communication with the plant operator. The review was finalised in January 2005,

following further clarification discussions with Sutco.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VA LO RGA



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VALORGA


Valorga designs dry anaerobic digestion systems that have operated in a number of MBT plants in Europe. Below is the typical MBT configuration in which the Valorga AD process has been integrated. The main products are biogas, which is used to generate electricity, a bio-stabilised output and RDF.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator

plant

Commercial plants




• significant number of references treating MSW in at least five different EU Member States

• long experience with supply of their AD process

• well known system that has been the subject of a number of independent assessments

• process is a net energy producer

• did not respond to our enquiries

Contact details Valorga International SAS, Parc du Millénaire - BP 51, 34935, Montpellier Cedex 09, France.

Tel: +33 467 994 1 00 Fax: +33 467 994 101

www.valorgainternational.fr

Key contacts Bertrand Hyllaire

Sales Manager

[email protected]

M e c h a n i c a l p r e -

t r e a t m e n t

F e & N o n -F e

M S W

B i o g a s t o g a s -e n g i n e s


R D F

A n a e r o b i c D i g e s t i o n

D i g e s t a t e s t a b i l i s a t i o n

http://www.valorgainternational.fr/





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Overview

D3.951 . Va lo rga In te rna t iona l SA i s a F rench based company tha t marke ts a ‘ d ry ’ s ing le–s tage anaerob ic d iges t ion sys tem tha t has been used in a number o f MBT p lan ts to t rea t MSW. Va lo rga was acqu i red by S te inmül le r and known as S te inmül le r Va lo rga . The name o f the company reve r ted back to the o r ig ina l name a f te r the res t ruc tu r ing o f Babcock Bors ig Power , t he fo rmer pa ren t company, wh ich became inso lven t .

D3 .952 . The name was changed to Va lo rga In te rna t iona l when the new shareho ld ing a r rangement was ag reed in December 2002 , under wh ich Tecmed 1 and Hese Umwel t ( see the Hese p rocess rev iew) each ho ld 40% o f the shares .

D3 .953 . Bo th Tecmed and Hese independent l y p romote the Va lo rga p rocess . Ros Roca (whose MBT p rocess we have rev iewed) was a l so p rev ious ly l i censed to marke t the Va lo rga AD p rocess in Spa in and Por tuga l , bu t we were in fo rmed by Ros Roca tha t th i s agreement i s no longer ac t i ve .

D3 .954 . Desp i te ou r many e f fo r t s to ob ta in more spec i f i c p rocess in fo rmat ion f rom Va lo rga fo r ou r rev iew, we have been unab le to make con tac t w i th them. We have been to ld by i ndus t ry sources tha t th i s m igh t be due to the fac t tha t the company i s undergo ing va r ious changes and migh t be shor t on ava i l ab le resources to respond to ou r reques t fo r i n fo rmat ion . Un fo r tunate l y the re fo re , th i s rev iew has had to be based so le l y on in fo rmat ion ob ta ined f rom our v i s i t t o one o f Va lo rga ’ s re fe rence fac i l i t i es , fac i l i t a ted by Tecmed, as we l l as pub l i c doma in in fo rmat ion a l ready he ld on ou r i n -house da tabase and tha t ob ta inab le f rom Va lo rga ’s webs i te and o ther pub l i c domain sources .


D3.955 . Va lo rga has been invo lved w i th the anaerob ic d iges t ion o f was te s ince 1982 when they

bu i l t a smal l p i l o t sca le p lan t i n Montpe l l i e r , F rance . A number o f p i l o t s tud ies were

conduc ted be tween 1982 and 1988 in France and Be lg ium and the company cons t ruc ted

the i r f i rs t commerc ia l AD p lan t to t rea t m ixed MSW in Amiens , F rance in 1988 . S ince

then , Va lo rga has supp l ied AD p lan ts tha t opera te w i th in an MBT con f igu ra t ion to t rea t

m ixed MSW and res idua l MSW. They have a l so supp l ied p lan ts to t rea t va r ious

separa te l y co l l ec ted o rgan ic was tes .

D3 .956 . Desp i te some nega t i ve pub l i c i t y as a resu l t o f an exp los ion a t one o f the i r d iges te rs a t

an AD p lan t i n La Coruña, Spa in , the company has es tab l i shed a s ign i f i can t repu ta t ion

in the marke tp lace . Va lo rga has supp l ied the i r d ry AD techno logy p rocess to a t l eas t

seven MBT re fe rences in f i ve d i f fe ren t EU Member S ta tes , one o f the mos t recen t be ing

ins ta l l ed a t the MBT p lan t a t Ecoparc 2 i n Barce lona, wh ich we v i s i t ed in Ju l y 2004 .

1 T e c me d i s t he e n v i r on me n t a l s e r v i c es d i v i s i o n o f t he l a rge Sp an i s h c o ns t ruc t i o n g ro up A CS (Ac t i v i da d es d e C o ns t ruc c ió n y S e r v i c i o ) , wh i c h me rg ed i n 20 0 3 w i t h D r a ga d os a m a j o r S p an i s h c o mpa n y a c t i ve i n t h e wa s t e m a na g em e n t an d en v i r on m en t a l s ec to r s .





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D3.957 . The Barce lona fac i l i t y tha t was cons t ruc ted by Tecmed i s we l l eng ineered bu t had on ly j us t begun ‘ seed ing ’ t he d iges te r when we v i s i ted the p lan t (F igu re D232) . The p lan t i s des igned to p rocess 300 ,000 Tpa o f MSW, w i th abou t 120 ,000 Tpa (c . 40%) o f the inpu t go ing to the anaerob ic d iges t i on p rocess . A l i s t o f Va lo rga ’ s MBT re fe rence fac i l i t i es i s shown in F igu re D233 .

Figure D232: MBT plant at Ecoparc 2, Barcelona (2 of 3 Valorga’s digesters in foreground)


Figure D233: Valorga’s reference facilities

Locat ion Total p lant

capacity, Tpa

Design capacity of the

d igest ion plant, Tpa

Type of waste input to the plant

Startup

Amiens, France 55,000 now 85,000

Mixed MSW 1987 extended in 1996

Tillburg, The Netherlands

52,000 Source segregated MSW (vegetable-garden-fruit)

1994

Engelskirchen, Germany 35,000 Kitchen and garden waste 1998

Freiburg, Germany 36,000 Kitchen and garden waste 1999

Geneva, Switzerland 10,000 Kitchen and garden waste 2000

La Coruña, Spain 182,500 142,000 Mixed MSW 2001

Cadiz, Spain 210,000 115,000 Mixed MSW 2001

Mons, Belgium 58,700 Sorted MSW (40%), biowaste 2002

Varennes-Jarcy, France 100,000 MSW (70%) and biowaste 2002

Bassano, Italy 52,400 MSW (84%), biowaste (15.5%), sludge (0.5%)

2003

EcoParc 2, Barcelona 265,000 120,000 Source segregated MSW 2004

Hannover, Germany 100,000 Source segregated MSW 2005

Beijing, China 100,000 MSW 2005

Shangaï town, China 240,000 MSW 2005

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r da taba se





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The Process

D3.958 . The Va lo rga AD techno logy has been in teg ra ted w i th in a number o f d i f f e ren t p rocess

des igns and has opera ted in a t l eas t seven MBT p lan t con f igu ra t ions (see F igu re D233) .

Typ ica l l y , t he des ign to t rea t m ixed MSW inc ludes a mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t s tage to

separa te the o rgan ic f rac t ion o f the was te fo r d iges t ion .

Figure D234: Typical Valorga process concept

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ’ s i n t e rp re ta t i on o f i n f o rmat i on f rom the Va l o r ga webs i te and f rom o the r pub l i c doma in

s ou rce s

MSW


Further upgrading

Residue Stream

Bag opening and trommel screen

Magnetic separator

Size reduction

Residues

Screen oversize

Screen undersize

Magnetic separator

Ferrous metals

Trommel

Screen oversize

Densityseparator

Glass + stones

Cyclone

To digestion plant

Ferrous metals

Mixer

Process water

Anaerobic Digester

Biogas to storage tanks

Boilers or gas enginesHeat & Power

Heat and Power

Screw Press

Digestate

Process water for reuse

CompostingTrommel

Residues

Bio-stabilised output

Off gases

Leachate

Light plastics

MSW


Further upgrading

Residue Stream


Magnetic separator

Size reduction

Residues

Screen oversize

Screen undersize

Magnetic separator

Ferrous metals

Trommel

Screen oversize

Densityseparator

Glass + stones

Cyclone

To digestion plant

Ferrous metals

Mixer

Process water

Anaerobic Digester



Heat and Power

Screw Press

Digestate


CompostingTrommel

Residues


Off gases

Leachate

Light plastics

MSW


Further upgrading

Residue Stream


Magnetic separator

Size reduction

Residues

Screen oversize

Screen undersize

Magnetic separator

Ferrous metals

Trommel

Screen oversize

Densityseparator

Glass + stones

Cyclone

To digestion plant

Ferrous metals

Mixer

Process water

Anaerobic Digester



Heat and Power

Screw Press

Digestate


CompostingTrommel

Residues


Off gases

Leachate

Light plastics

MSW


Further upgrading

Residue Stream


Magnetic separator

Size reduction

Residues

Screen oversize

Screen undersize

Magnetic separator

Ferrous metals

Trommel

Screen oversize

Densityseparator

Glass + stones

Cyclone

To digestion plant

Ferrous metals

Mixer

Process water

Anaerobic Digester



Heat and Power

Screw Press

Digestate


CompostingTrommel

Residues


Off gases

Leachate

Light plastics





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D3.959 . The d iges t ion o f th i s f rac t ion i s usua l l y ca r r i ed ou t ove r a min imum o f abou t 25 days and

the b iogas y ie ld i s about 110 to 150 Nm 3 / tonne o f i npu t was te to the d iges te r , depend ing

on the t ype o f was te . The d ry so l i ds con ten t o f the feed to the d iges te r i s i n the range

25-40%

D3.960 . The b iogas produced a t Va lo rga ’s re fe rence fac i l i t i es has been u t i l i sed in va r ious ways :

t o make h igh p ressure s team v ia an on-s i te bo i l e r ;

t o genera te e lec t r i c i t y d i rec t l y i n gas eng ines ;

i n jec t ion in to the gas ne twork a f te r pu r i f i ca t i on .

D3 .961 . The a i r f rom the compos t ing p lan t and fug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the mechan ica l p re -

t rea tmen t p rocess a re co l l ec ted and passed th rough a b io f i l t e r be fo re ven t ing to

a tmosphere . We were no t ab le to i den t i f y how the b iogas f rom the Va lo rga d iges t ion

p rocess i s c leaned be fo re be ing used or how any l i qu id emiss ions a re managed .

D3 .962 . The dewate red d iges ta te i s no rma l l y t rea ted us ing an ae rob ic compos t i ng s tage to

fu r the r b io -s tab i l i se th i s ou tpu t . I n add i t i on to genera t ing b iogas , the company ’s

webs i te i nd ica tes tha t the AD p rocess can be imp lemented in va r i ous con f igu ra t ions

wh ich a im to p roduce h igh qua l i t y compos t , a so i l improver o r a b io -s tab i l i sed res idue

fo r l and f i l l i ng . Such d i f f e ren t con f igu ra t ions wh ich a im to p roduce d i f f e ren t ou tpu ts a re

d i scussed in Annexe A .

D3 .963 . I t a l so p rov ides a schemat i c o f a t yp i ca l con f igu ra t ion o f the i r p rocess to t rea t va r i ous

was te inpu ts ( res idua l , o rgan ic and g reen was tes ) . We have summar ised th i s i n fo rmat ion

(F igu re D234) fo r hand l ing the res idua l MSW input , wh ich i s the same as the p rocess

imp lemented a t Amiens , F rance . A t o the r MBT re fe rences , we unders tand tha t

va r i a t i ons o f th i s p rocess concep t have been imp lemented .

Process Performance

D3.964 . The company d id no t respond to ou r reques t fo r spec i f i c p rocess da ta to a l l ow us to

assess the pe r fo rmance o f the Va lo rga d iges t ion p rocess fo r th i s rev iew. Never the less ,

the techno logy has been the sub jec t o f a number o f pub l i c doma in pub l i ca t i ons and the

company themse lves p rov ide an impress ive amoun t o f de ta i l abou t the i r re fe rence

fac i l i t i es on the i r webs i te . We have summar ised some o f th i s i n fo rmat ion be low.





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Figure D235: Summary of plant performance

Locat ion Digester capacity,

Tpa

Waste input

No. of d igesters

Min imum retent ion

t ime,

Days

D igester s izes,

m3

B iogasy ie ld*

Nm3/T

B iogas usage

Amiens, France

55,000 now 85,000

Mixed MSW 3

1

18-22

2,400

3,500

140-160 High pressure steam for industrial

use

Tillburg, The Netherlands

52,000 Source segregated

MSW (vegetable-

garden-fruit)

2 20 3,300 80-85 Injection into gas network

Engelskirchen, Germany

35,000 Kitchen and garden waste

2 25 3,000 100-110 Electricity & heat

Freiburg, Germany



Geneva, Switzerland


1 24 1, 300 110-120 Electricity & heat

La Coruña, Spain

142,000 Mixed MSW 4 16-20 4,500 130-150 Electricity & heat

Cadiz, Spain 115,000 Mixed MSW 4 25 4,000 145 Electricity & heat

Mons, Belgium 58,700 Sorted MSW (40%),

biowaste


Varennes-Jarcy, France

100,000 MSW (70%) and

biowaste

NR NR NR NR NR

Bassano, Italy 52,400 MSW (84%), biowaste (15.5%), sludge (0.5%)

3 33 2,400 129 Electricity

EcoParc 2, Barcelona, Spain

120,000 Source segregated

MSW

3 25 4,500 114 Electricity

NR – Not Reported * Biogas yield per Tonne of input to the digestion plant

Sou r ce : Va l o rga ’ s webs i t e (www.va l o rga in te rna t iona l . f r/ index_en .php )

D3.965 . A mass ba lance fo r the Ecoparc 2 p lan t i s g i ven in F igu re D236 . Based on th i s mass

ba lance we have ca lcu la ted the mass d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l o f t h i s p rocess , wh ich a long

w i th the assumpt ions we have made in ou r ca l cu la t i ons , a re g iven in F igu re D237 .

http://www.valorgainternational.fr/index_en.php





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Figure D236: Mass balance for MBT plant at Ecoparc 2, Barcelona

Flocculant(1.0%)

RDF(43%)

Mixed plastic(PET, HDPE etc.)

(1.3%)

Coarse inerts & rejects

(3.8%)

Paper & carton

(1.4%)

Glass

(1.5%)

Non Fe-metals

(0.2%)

Fe metals

(3.3%)

Organic fraction of MSW (100%)

Biogas to gas engines(6.6%)

Mixer


(including hand picking)

Plastic film

(0.9%)

Valorga’s Dry Anaerobic Digester

Steam (1.5%)

Bio-stabilisedOutput(26.3%)

Digestate Dewatering

Wastewater (some recirculated as

process water)(13.9%)

Organic fraction(44.6%)

Condensate(0.3%)

Tunnel Composting

Flocculant(1.0%)

RDF(43%)

Mixed plastic(PET, HDPE etc.)

(1.3%)

Coarse inerts & rejects

(3.8%)

Paper & carton

(1.4%)

Glass

(1.5%)

Non Fe-metals

(0.2%)

Fe metals

(3.3%)

Organic fraction of MSW (100%)

Biogas to gas engines(6.6%)

Mixer


(including hand picking)

Plastic film

(0.9%)

Valorga’s Dry Anaerobic Digester

Steam (1.5%)

Bio-stabilisedOutput(26.3%)

Digestate Dewatering

Wastewater (some recirculated as

process water)(13.9%)

Organic fraction(44.6%)

Condensate(0.3%)

Tunnel Composting

Sou rce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f da ta p rov i ded by the p l an t ope ra to r s du r i ng s i t e v i s i t

Figure D237: Diversion potential based on Figure D236

Divers ion Potent ia l Minimum, %

Maximum, % Bas is of Estimation

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill c. 27 c. 96

Min: Bio-stabilised output to landfill, RDF to landfill, all inerts landfilled

Max: Bio-stabilised digestate reused RDF used as fuel, inerts landfilled.

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data was available on the biodegradability of the process streams.






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Energy Balance

D3.966 . Energy ba lance da ta ob ta ined du r ing ou r s i te v i s i t i nd i ca te tha t the Ecoparc 2 p lan t w i l l

expor t approx imate l y 11 ,000 MWh/year to the g r id f rom a to ta l e lec t r i c i t y p roduc t i on o f

approx ima te ly 26 ,500 MWh/year ( i . e . c . 42% o f e lec t r i c i t y genera ted i s expor ted ) .

Scale

D3.967 . The capac i t y o f t he MBT p lan ts i n wh ich Va lo rga ’s sys tem i s be ing used range f rom

10 ,000 Tpa to 300 ,000 Tpa . I n add i t i on to the i r MBT supp ly , Va lo rga has a number o f

s tand-a lone AD p lan ts p rocess ing segrega ted MSW and b iowas te a t capac i t ies o f up to

52 ,000 Tpa . F rom the da ta in F igu re D235 : , i t can be seen tha t the company has

des igned d iges te rs i n va r ious s i zes and the re fo re cou ld imp lement the i r t echno logy fo r

bo th smal l sca le and la rger sca le p ro jec ts .


D3.968 . Desp i te ou r many e f fo r ts to ob ta in more spec i f i c p rocess in fo rmat ion f rom th i s company

fo r ou r rev iew, we have been unab le to make con tac t w i th them and as a resu l t we have

no t been ab le to p rov ide ou r ana lys i s o f a number o f i t ems , i nc lud ing :

process ava i lab i l i t y ;

t he pe r fo rmance o f the d iges te rs based on an assessment o f the b iogas y ie ld ;

t he compos i t i on and qua l i t y o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t f rom the d iges t i on p rocess ;

t he t yp i ca l requ i red land- take and v i sua l impac t o f an MBT fac i l i t y bu i l t a round a Va lo rga AD process ;

cos t i n fo rmat ion .

Summary

D3.969 . Va lo rga shou ld be cons idered a l ead ing p rocess supp l ie r w i th in the AD/MBT sec to r w i th

demons t ra ted p rocess ing exper ience . As a resu l t , i t i s l i ke l y tha t th i s techno logy wou ld

be a cand ida te fo r MBT tenders where an AD-based approach i s a t t rac t i ve . I t i s unc lea r

whe the r Hese , Tecmed o r Va lo rga themse lves wou ld p romote the techno logy in the UK

marke t and i t i s a l so unc lea r wh ich o rgan isa t i on a po ten t ia l cus tomer shou ld con tac t as

a poss ib le supp l ie r o f an MBT p lan t .

This review was prepared in November 2004 from various public domain sources including Valorga’s website. We also

obtained information during our site visit to a Valorga MBT reference facility at Eco Parc 2 in Barcelona in July 2004. This site

visit was facilitated by Tecmed. Despite our many efforts to contact Valorga directly, we were unable to get any further

information from the process company. The review was finalised in December 2004.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VK W



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VKW


VKW promotes a composting process, which is being used to treat MSW in MBT configurations and various bio-wastes. The MBT reference plants in which VKW systems are being used produce a bio-stabilised output, which is used as a soil improver or landfilled. Some of the MBT reference plants also produce RDF as a major output.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plants




• demonstrated on mixed MSW

• process designed for large scale applications

• relatively simple process to implement

• actively promoting their technology in the UK market

• turnkey MBT plant recently supplied by VKW but not as yet in full commercial operation

• process is a net energy user

Contact details VKW Anlagenbau und Umwelttechnik GmbH

A-6901 Bregenz, Weidachstraße 6, Austria

Tel: +43 5574 601 2800 Fax: +43 5574 601 8520

Web: www.vkw-anlagenbau.at

Key contacts Helmut Schneider

Executive Secretary


M e c h a n i c a l p r e - p r o c e s s i n g

I n - h a l l c o m p o s t i n g

p r o c e s s


F e & n o n - F e m e t a l s & o t h e r d r y r e c y c l a b l e s

M S W

R D F

http://www.vkw-anlagenbau.at/

mailto:[email protected]





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Overview

D3.970 . VKW An lagenbau und Umwel techn ik (VKW) i s a 100% owned subs id ia ry o f the Aus t r i an

p rov inc ia l power company Vora r lbe rge r K ra f twerke AG, wh ich i s i t se l f 95 .55% owned by

the Prov ince o f Vora r lbe rg . In 1996 Vora r lbe rge r K ra f twerke d i ve rs i f i ed in to the was te

and env i ronment i ndus t r i es and acqu i red the eng ineer ing company Voge l & Mü l le r and

the Huber t Häus le Group , the la rges t reg iona l was te management company in wes te rn

Aus t r i a . I n 2001 Vora r lberge r K ra f twerke repor ted a tu rnover o f €241M f rom i ts co re

energy bus inesses .

D3 .971 . Voge l & Mül le r , f ounded in 1983, des igned the f l a t w ind row compos t ing p rocess tha t i s

now be ing marke ted by VKW as an in -ha l l compos t ing sys tem. The compos t ing p rocess

uses a pa ten ted compos t tu rn ing mach ine tha t was fo rmer l y re fe r red to as the ‘KUM’

sys tem: th i s dev ice i s now ca l l ed the ‘CTM’ sys tem.

D3 .972 . P r io r to the acqu is i t i on o f Voge l & Mül le r , t he compos t i ng p rocess was l i censed to the

Swiss company Büh le r and so ld under the name ‘Wende l in ’ . We unders tand tha t th i s

company i s no longer ac t i ve .

Figure D238: Part of the 'CTM' compost turning machine

Sou r ce : Pho tog raph t aken by Jun ipe r du r ing Tu f i no s i te v i s i t

D3.973 . We v i s i ted the re fe rence p lan t i n Tu f i no , I t a l y , wh ich i s be ing opera ted by the I ta l i an

company F is ia I t a l imp ian t i . The p lan t i s we l l eng ineered and i s housed in re la t i ve l y

subs tan t ia l bu i l d ings . The compos t i ng p rocess was fu l l y opera t iona l du r ing our s i t e v i s i t

bu t we on ly had l im i ted access to the mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t pa r t o f t he p lan t , wh ich

was housed in a separa te bu i l d ing . We were in fo rmed tha t eng ineer ing work was in





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progress on tha t pa r t o f t he p rocess , bu t we were unab le to de term ine the ex ten t o f th i s

work and whe the r i t wou ld a f fec t the opera t ion o f the f ron t -end p rocess .

D3 .974 . We observed tha t the ‘CTM’ sys tem, wh ich was supp l ied and e rec ted by VKW, was

e f fec t i ve i n au tomat ica l l y tu rn ing the compos t heaps .

D3 .975 . Dur ing ou r s i te v i s i t VKW in fo rmed us tha t the compos t ing p rocess a t Tu f i no and the i r

o the r I t a l i an re fe rence p lan ts a re no t opera ted in accordance w i th the i r p rocess

spec i f i ca t i ons . VKW ind ica ted tha t the qua l i t y o f t he b io -s tab i l i sed mate r ia ls was

in fe r i o r to the p roduc t be ing p roduced a t the i r o the r re fe rence p lan t i n Tu rkey and a lso

in fe r i o r to the qua l i t y tha t they wou ld a im to p roduce in a UK p ro jec t . Th is was

a t t r i bu ted to the fac t tha t the compos t ing p rocess was be ing opera ted w i th i nsu f f i c ien t

wa te r . The p rocess opera to r a t Tu f i no exp la ined tha t they had a re la t i ve l y sma l l l eacha te

s to rage capac i t y and as a resu l t they had to l im i t t he quant i t y o f wa te r used in the

compos t i ng process to avo id hav ing to send was tewate r fo r t rea tmen t .

D3 .976 . The ‘house-keep ing ’ a t t he p lan t was be t te r than ave rage . We cou ld no t de tec t any

s ign i f i can t odorous emiss ions f rom the p lan t and were adv ised tha t no comp la in ts had

been rece ived s ince the p lan t commenced opera t ion .


D3.977 . VKW has imp lemented the compos t i ng techno logy in MBT conf igu ra t ions fo r t rea t ing

MSW a t s i x d i f f e ren t p lan ts ; one in Tu rkey and f i ve in I t a l y . Fo r the p lan ts i n I t a l y , VKW

supp l ied the ‘CTM’ sys tem and the p rocess ‘ know-how’ . The p lan t i n Is tanbu l has the

‘CTM’ sys tem in teg ra ted w i th in the i r compos t i ng p rocess . A t each p lan t , abou t 50% o f

the incoming was te i s sen t fo r compos t ing .

Figure D239: VKW’s reference plants treating MSW

Extent o f Supp ly

Locat ion Compost ing

P lant Capac i ty , Tpa

Cur rent S tatus

Waste Treated ‘CTM’

sy stem Compost ing

p rocess

S ta rtup

Caivano, Italy 270,000 Mixed MSW 2001

Istanbul, Turkey 150,000 Mixed MSW 2001

Santa Maria, Italy 135,000 Mixed MSW 2001

Giugliano, Italy 135,000 Mixed MSW 2002

Tufino, Italy 135,000 Mixed MSW 2002

Battipaglia, Italy 135,000 Mixed MSW 2003

Buchen, Germany 110,000 Residues from ISKA’s percolation

process 2005

Heilbronn, Germany

60,000 Residues from ISKA’s percolation

process 2005

The colour coding system denotes plants currently operating ( ); plants under construction, under commissioning or in planning ( )

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f VKW in fo rmat i on





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D3.978 . Two o f VKW’s la tes t MBT p ro jec ts a re w i th ISKA in Germany. VKW is supp ly ing the i r

compos t i ng process to b io -s tab i l i se the ou tpu ts f rom ISKA’s pe rco la t i on sys tem (see the

ISKA p rocess rev iew) so tha t the German AT4 l im i ts fo r l and f i l l i ng w i l l be ach ieved . We

unders tand tha t the l i nks be tween the two compan ies have been deve loped because o f

the work ing re la t i onsh ip be tween the i r respec t i ve energy u t i l i t y owners Vora r l be rge r

K ra f twerke and EnBW ( ISKA’s owners ) .

The Process

Waste preparat ion

D3.979 . The MBT p lan ts , i n wh ich VKW’s compos t ing techno logy p resen t l y opera tes , use

mechan ica l p repara t ion equ ipment supp l ied by o the r compan ies . The company has

the re fo re no t ye t supp l ied any tu rnkey MBT p lan t , bu t they marke t a 4 -sha f t ro ta ry

sh redder ca l l ed ‘KompoMax ’ tha t can be used as pa r t o f t he prepara t ion o f the was te

feed be fo re compos t ing .

D3 .980 . The company in fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t the p re -p repara t ion requ i rements fo r the i r

compos t i ng process mean tha t the incoming was te i s f i r s t sc reened to remove mate r ia l s

l a rge r than abou t 100mm. A combina t ion o f me ta l s , p las t i cs and ine r ts a re recovered

f rom the was te s t ream ahead o f the compos t ing s tage .

Compost ing

D3.981 . The was te mate r ia l t o be compos ted i s l oaded in to bays tha t a re ae ra ted f rom be low and

housed in a c losed bu i l d ing (o r ha l l ) . I t t akes 4 -6 weeks in I t a l y and Is tanbu l to comple te

th i s p rocess (abou t e igh t weeks a re requ i red i n Germany to fu l l y b io -s tab i l i se the was te

in accordance w i th AT4 l im i ts ) and a fu r the r th ree weeks fo r the matu ra t i on o f the

‘ compos t ’ . The ‘ compos t ’ i s ‘ t u rned ’ au tomat i ca l l y by the ‘CTM’ sys tem, wh ich i s

essen t ia l l y a bucke t whee l and conveyor sys tem, wh ich inco rpora tes compos t i r r i ga t ion

tha t t rave rses each compos t i ng bay abou t f i ve t imes du r ing the in i t i a l 4 -6 weeks cyc le .

D3 .982 . Leacha te f rom the compos t i ng p rocess i s co l l ec ted and rec i rcu la ted as p rocess wa te r .

We no te tha t the rec i r cu la t i on o f the leacha te w i l l l ead to a g radua l bu i l d up o f

con tamina t ion in th i s s t ream, wh ich i s l i ke l y to requ i re regu la r pu rg ing to reduce the

bu i l d -up o f con tamina t ion . The gases genera ted du r ing the compos t i ng p rocess a re

co l l ec ted by a suc t ion sys tem and passed th rough a sc rubber and b io f i l t e r be fo re be ing

emi t ted to the a tmosphere .





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Process Performance

Mass Inputs & Outputs & Landf i l l Divers ion Potent ial

D3.983 . An ind ica t i on o f the mass inpu ts and ou tpu ts , p rov ided by VKW fo r imp lementa t i on o f

the i r MBT p rocess in the UK, i s shown in F igu re D240 . I t shou ld be no ted tha t the

numbers g i ven by VKW are approx imate and tha t the inpu ts and ou tpu ts do no t add up to

100%.

Figure D240: Indicative inputs & outputs for the VKW MBT process (UK context)

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f VKW da ta

75,000-150,000 Tpa organic waste

Bio-stabilised output (incl. moisture) (c. 50 %)

Water (c.13.5%)*

Additional Water input (c. 19.1%)*

Leachate re-use(c. 3.8%)*

Fe-metals (c. 2.1%)

Fraction <100mm

(c. 63.3%)

Fraction >100mm

(c. 36.3%)

MSW(100%)

Sent for Composting (c. 61.2%)

Drum Sieve

Fraction >100mm (c. 36.7%)

Magnetic Separator

Fe-metals (c. 0.4%)

Magnetic Separator

Composting

Waste Gases (incl. moisture)

(50.9%)

* Based on waste input to process

KEY Residue Stream

Recyclables Further upgrading Effluent

Air (Water content, c.3.4 % *)

75,000-150,000 Tpa organic waste

Bio-stabilised output (incl. moisture) (c. 50 %)

Water (c.13.5%)*

Additional Water input (c. 19.1%)*

Leachate re-use(c. 3.8%)*

Fe-metals (c. 2.1%)

Fraction <100mm

(c. 63.3%)

Fraction >100mm

(c. 36.3%)

MSW(100%)

Sent for Composting (c. 61.2%)

Drum Sieve

Fraction >100mm (c. 36.7%)

Magnetic Separator

Fe-metals (c. 0.4%)

Magnetic Separator

Composting

Waste Gases (incl. moisture)

(50.9%)

* Based on waste input to process

KEY Residue Stream

Recyclables Further upgrading Effluent

Air (Water content, c.3.4 % *)





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D3.984 . Based on the da ta in F igu re D240 prov ided by VKW, we have ca lcu la ted the mass

d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l o f t h i s p rocess . These , a long w i th the assumpt ions we have made in

ou r ca l cu la t i ons a re g i ven in F igu re D242 .

D3 .985 . Mass ba lance da ta f rom the I s tanbu l p lan t i s summar ised in F igu re D241 . The ca lcu la ted

mass d i ve rs ion based on th i s f i gu re i s approx imate ly 71% (assuming tha t the so i l

improver i s u t i l i sed fo r tha t pu rpose) .

Figure D241: Summary of main input and outputs from the Istanbul plant

Sou r ce : VKW

Figure D242: Diversion potential of the VKW composting process based on Figure D240

Diversion potential Min %

Max %

Bas is of est imation


c. 14 c. 64 Min: bio-stabilised output to landfill, >100mm fraction landfilled

Max: bio-stabilised product utilised, >100mm fraction landfilled

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data was available on the biodegradability of the process streams.


Energy Balance

D3.986 . F igu re D243 summar ises da ta p rov ided by VKW fo r the energy requ i rements fo r two

s i zes o f p lan t , 75 ,000 Tpa and 150,000 Tpa .

To landfill ( 29.3 %)

Metals (0.1 %)

Soil improver (41.3 %)

MSW(100%)

Mechanical SeparationComposting

Plant

Off-gases to bio-filter (29.3%)

KEY Residue Stream

Recyclables Further upgrading

Effluent

Leachate for reuse

To landfill ( 29.3 %)

Metals (0.1 %)

Soil improver (41.3 %)

MSW(100%)

Mechanical SeparationComposting

Plant

Off-gases to bio-filter (29.3%)

KEY Residue Stream

Recyclables Further upgrading

Effluent

Leachate for reuse





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Figure D243: Indicative energy consumption (per annum) for a VKW composting plant

Equipment 75,000 Tpa 150,000 Tpa

Pre-processing equipment, kWh 1600 1900

Composting, kWh 450 900

Waste gas extraction & gas cleaning system, kWh 1800 3500

Miscellaneous, kWh 100 200

Total, kWh 3950 6500

Sou r ce : VKW

D3.987 . The ac tua l energy consumpt ion fo r the I s tanbu l p lan t i s repor ted to be abou t 6MWh per

annum. The da ta p rov ided in F igu re D243 i s shown schemat i ca l l y i n F igu re D245 on an

energy pe r tonne bas is . As i s ev ident f rom the da ta , the p rocess i s a ne t energy

consumer .

Operabil i ty and Availabi l i ty

D3.988 . The ac tua l tonnage o f was te p rocessed per annum in VKW’s Is tanbu l re fe rence p lan t i s

shown in F igu re D244 a long w i th the to ta l opera t iona l hours fo r each year . The da ta

shows tha t the p lan t has exceeded i t s namepla te capac i t y fo r th ree years and tha t the

p lan t ava i l ab i l i t y was h igh : be tween 86 and 90% (based on 8 ,000 h rs pe r year ) .

Figure D244: Reference Plant Availability Summary (Istanbul, Turkey)

Year P lant Commiss ioned: Mid 2001

Des ign Capac i ty: 150,000Tpa

Status : Commerc ia l p lant cu rrent ly operat ing

Year Operat iona l hours per year Measured throughput , Tpa

2002 7190 157,000

2003 7150 159,000

2004 6900 155,000

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ’ s r ep re sen tat i on o f VKW’ s i n fo rmat ion

D3.989 . The absence o f da ta f rom the I ta l i an re fe rences i s reasonab le s ince VKW does no t

opera te these p lan ts , t hey d id no t supp ly an in teg ra ted sys tem and they to ld us tha t the

compos t i ng process was no t cu r ren t l y be ing opera ted to the i r p rocess spec i f i ca t i ons .

D3 .990 . A l though the VKW compos t i ng p rocess has opera ted a t re fe rence p lan ts t rea t ing

b iowas te fo r a number o f yea rs , da ta on the ava i l ab i l i t y o f the p rocess when t rea t ing a

he te rogeneous was te s t ream such as m ixed MSW is necessary to demons t ra te the

sys tems su i tab i l i t y fo r th i s t ype o f commerc ia l opera t ion .





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Figure D245: Indicative energy requirements for the VKW process (75,000 -150,000 Tpa)

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f VKW da ta

Process F lexibi l i ty

Process Scale

D3.991 . The company marke ts th ree d i f f e ren t compos t i ng sys tems based on th ree s i zes o f

tu rn ing mach ine ry ‘CTM 250 ’ , ‘CTM 300 ’ and ‘CTM 350 ’ – co r respond ing to bay he igh ts

o f 2 .5m, 3m and 3 .5m respec t i ve l y .

D3 .992 . VKW has imp lemented compos t ing p lan ts rang ing in capac i t y f rom 6 ,000 Tpa to 270 ,000

Tpa . We were in fo rmed tha t the p rocess i s be ing p romoted ma in l y fo r l a rge capac i t y

MBT p ro jec ts , wh ich i s d i f f e ren t f rom many o f the o the r MBT sys tems we have rev iewed

in th is s tudy .

Input Materials

D3.993 . The VKW process inc lud ing the ‘CTM’ sys tem has so fa r been demons t ra ted on m ixed

MSW and b iowas tes . VKW’s re fe rence l i s t o f p lan ts fo r MSW has a l ready been shown in

F igu re D238 , those t rea t ing b iowas te a re summar i sed in F igu re D246 .

Miscellaneous (1 kWh/T)

Energy Input for Composting (6 kWh/T)

Energy for gas extraction and cleaning

(23-24 kWh/T)

Energy Input to Feed Preparation Stage (13-21 kWh/T) VKW’s MBT Process

Miscellaneous (1 kWh/T)

Energy Input for Composting (6 kWh/T)

Energy for gas extraction and cleaning

(23-24 kWh/T)

Energy Input to Feed Preparation Stage (13-21 kWh/T) VKW’s MBT Process





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Figure D246: VKW’s composting reference plants for bio-wastes

Locat ion Compost ing Plant Capacity, Tpa

Status Startup

Lustenau, Austria 20,000 1983

Linz, Austria 22,000 1995

Zell am See, Austria 6,000 organic 14,000 MSW

1996

Hanover, Germany 40,000 2000

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f VKW’ s i n f o rmat i on

Output Materials

D3.994 . The mass f l ow o f ou tpu ts f rom a VKW MBT p lan t , based on the ind ica t i ve pe rcen tages o f i npu ts & ou tpu ts i n F igu re D240 and F igu re D241 a re shown in F igu re D247 .

Figure D247: Projected outputs from a VKW MBT plant processing 150,000 Tpa MSW

Products Tpa, based on F igure D240

(UK indicative)

Tpa, based on F igure D241 ( I stanbul)

Applicat ion

Ferrous metals 3,750 90 can be recycled

Rejects 54,450 44,000 sent to landfill. (Will be utilised as an RDF in Italy. See discussion of outputs below)

Bio-stabilised output (including moisture)

75,000 62,000 currently landfilled or used as a soil improver. Similar outlets would be relevant in the UK market.

Leachate None None Leachate re-used as process water. Purge will be necessary.

Waste Gases 76,350 43,910 some water and NH3 removed in scrubbing systems. Gases then passed to bio-filter before being exhausted to the atmosphere

Water addition 59,550 NR

NR – Not Reported

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s

D3.995 . Bio-s tab i l ised output : Th is i s the la rges t so l i d ou tpu t f rom the VKW process . A t the

I ta l i an re fe rence p lan ts no fu r the r mechan ica l separa t ion o f the b io -s tab i l i sed mate r i a l s

i s ca r r i ed ou t and th i s ou tpu t i s cu r ren t l y be ing land f i l l ed . A t I s tanbu l no pos t - re f i n ing i s

pe r fo rmed, bu t i n th i s case we were in fo rmed tha t the b io -s tab i l i sed mate r ia l i s be ing

used as land f i l l cove r and as a so i l improver .

D3 .996 . No da ta was made ava i lab le about the compos i t i on o f th i s ou tpu t f rom any o f the

company ’s MBT re fe rence p lan ts .





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D3.997 . Fo r the I ta l i an p lan ts , t he b io -s tab i l i sed mate r ia ls w i l l have to be assessed in

acco rdance w i th the DRI (Dynamic Resp i ra to ry Index , see Annexe B3) to assess the

leve l o f b iodegradab i l i t y be fo re i t i s l and f i l l ed . Fo r the new p lan ts be ing bu i l t i n

Germany the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t w i l l have to mee t the German AT4 l im i ts ( see a l so

Annexe B3) be fo re i t i s sen t to l and f i l l .

D3 .998 . The VKW compos t ing p rocess i s be ing opera ted to p roduce compos t f rom b iowas te fo r

use in ag r i cu l tu re . I n fo rmat ion p rov ided abou t the Hanover re fe rence p lan t i nd i ca tes

tha t the p rocess can p roduce compos t wh ich sa t i s f i es the h ighes t qua l i t y s tandards fo r

tha t ma te r i a l i n Germany.

D3 .999 . RDF: Dur ing ou r v i s i t to the Tu f ino p lan t we observed tha t the opera to rs were ba l i ng and

s to r ing on -s i te , RDF separa ted in the mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t s tage . Th is ou tpu t i s

p roduced f rom the >100mm f rac t i on , wh ich i s no t sen t to the compos t ing p rocess . We

a re unc lea r abou t the ex ten t o f any fu r the r separa t ion o f th i s f rac t i on be fo re i t i s ba led

as RDF, as th i s pa r t o f t he p rocess was no t supp l i ed by VKW and we had l im i ted access

to the p lan t . We unders tand f rom our d i scuss ions w i th VKW tha t i t i s p lanned fo r the

RDF ou tpu t f rom the i r f i ve MBT re fe rence p lan ts i n I ta l y to be u t i l i sed in two

combus t i ons p lan ts cu r ren t l y be ing bu i l t by F is ia i n the Napo l i reg ion . We were

in fo rmed by VKW tha t F i s ia has s ta r ted cons t ruc t i on o f one o f these combus t ion p lan ts

i n Acer ra , I t a l y .

Figure D248: Baled RDF at Tufino for use in combustion plants


D3.1000. No da ta was made ava i lab le about the compos i t i on o f the RDF p roduc t o r i t s energy

con ten t and the re fo re , we cou ld no t assess how th i s ma te r i a l compares w i th the marke t

requ i rements i n the UK. However , f rom the ind ica t i ve mass ba lance p rov ided fo r the

po ten t ia l UK imp lementa t ion o f the techno logy, i t appears tha t the RDF wou ld no t be

recovered as a p roduc t s t ream.





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Process gaseous emiss ions

D3.1001. The VKW process i s fu l l y enc losed . A t the I ta l i an re fe rence p lan ts and in Is tanbu l , t he

o f f -gases f rom the compos t i ng p rocess and the fug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the mechan ica l

separa t ion s tage a re co l l ec ted and sent fo r t rea tmen t . The o f f -gases a re f i r s t sc rubbed

to reduce the leve ls o f ammon ia (NH 3 ) and then passed th rough a b io f i l t e r be fo re be ing

emi t ted to the a tmosphere . A t Tu f i no , we observed tha t the o f f -gases f rom the p rocess

and the fug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t p lan t were p iped to

separa te sc rubbers be fo re they were t rea ted by b io - f i l t ra t i on .

D3.1002. At Hanover , VKW has a l ready imp lemented the i r techno logy under the s t r i ngen t German

regu la to ry reg ime fo r o f f -gas management and as a resu l t we see no reason why th i s

aspec t o f t he p rocess shou ld be a d i f f i cu l t cha l l enge when imp lement ing the i r t echno logy

in the UK.

D3.1003. The two MBT p lan ts be ing bu i l t i n Germany w i l l i nco rpora te regenera t i ve the rmal

ox ida t ion fo r o f f -gas t rea tmen t i n o rde r fo r the emiss ions to mee t the German

30BImSchV regu la t ions on TOC (To ta l Organ ic Carbon) . The more s t r i ngent

requ i rements on gaseous emiss ions f rom MBT p lan ts i n Germany mean tha t the re needs

to be cons ide rab ly more expend i tu re fo r t rea t ing the o f f -gases . However , i t i s s t i l l

unc lea r whe ther th i s t ype o f t rea tmen t wou ld be requ i red when imp lement ing the

techno logy in the UK in the fu tu re to mee t BAT requ i rements under IPPC (see Annexe

B5) .

Wastewater Emiss ions

D3.1004. Based on the mass ba lance in F igu re D240 , the p rocess i s a ne t use r o f wa te r . A l l o f t he

leacha te genera ted i s re -used as p rocess wa te r and as a resu l t no was tewate r i s be ing

sen t fo r t rea tmen t . A s ign i f i can t quan t i t y o f wa te r i s added to the p rocess (c . 40 wt% o f

the inpu t was te ) and abou t 40 wt% o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t i s mo is tu re (VKW s ta te

tha t the leve l o f mo is tu re can be ad jus ted depend ing on cus tomer requ i rements ) .

D3 .1005. In UK based p lan ts , t he re -use o f wa te r w i th in the p rocess w i l l have to comply w i th the

UK ABPR p rocedures i f t he b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t i s to be app l ied to l and in the UK. We

unders tand f rom our d i scuss ions w i th VKW tha t th i s has been taken in to accoun t i n the i r

des igns fo r imp lementa t ion in the UK, where they wou ld imp lement p re - t rea tmen t tunne ls

be fo re the i r CTM process to t rea t the was te a t tempera tu res o f 70 0 C. Bu t as we have

no t rev iewed appropr ia te i n fo rmat ion abou t these con f igu ra t ions , we a re unab le to

comment fu r the r on whe ther the p rocess i s l i ke l y to be UK ABPR compl ian t .





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Visual Impact & Footprint

D3.1006. The re fe rence p lan ts i n I ta l y a re o f s im i la r cons t ruc t i on to tha t shown in F igu re D249 .

The bu i l d ing in the fo reg round houses the was te recep t ion and mechan ica l p re- t rea tment

pa r t s o f t he p rocess and the la rge r bu i l d ing in the background houses the compos t ing

p rocess . The fac i l i t y a t Tu f ino occup ies a re la t i ve l y l a rge land area (on wh ich the re a re

few o the r bu i l d ings ) and the re fo re th i s s i te migh t no t be a good ind ica to r o f the land-

take fo r a po ten t ia l UK imp lementa t i on .

D3 .1007. VKW ind ica ted tha t fo r a p lan t o f abou t 75 ,000 Tpa bu i l t i n the UK (based on a

compos t i ng t ime o f s i x weeks ) abou t 12 ,200m 2 w i l l be needed . Th is i nc ludes was te

recep t ion , mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t , compos t i ng and ‘ compos t ’ pos t -p rocess ing and

t rans la tes to abou t 0 .16m 2 /Tpa .

Figure D249: The Tufino MBT plant


D3.1008. No the rmal o f f -gas t rea tmen t i s cu r ren t l y be ing used a t VKW’s MBT re fe rence p lan ts , bu t

the la tes t fac i l i t i es cu r ren t l y under cons t ruc t ion in Germany w i l l u t i l i se th i s techno logy.

In the UK the rma l o f f -gas t rea tment may have an adverse impac t on pub l i c pe rcep t ion

and on secur ing p lann ing approva l , because o f the ex i s tence o f a s tack .





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Costs

D3.1009. The company p rov ided a fu l l b reakdown o f cap i ta l and opera t ing cos ts fo r two s i zes o f

p lan t , 75 ,000 Tpa and 150,000 Tpa. We have summar ised the i r da ta in F igu re D250 .

Figure D250: Indicative costs for VKW’s MBT process

I tem 75,000 Tpa 150,000 Tpa

Capital cost, £ million 6.74 9.93

Civil works, £ million 4.33 8.00

Operating costs* , £ million 1.70 2.50

Operating costs* , £/tonne input 22.78 16.91

* costs include depreciation of 10% on machinery and 5% on civil works

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f VKW’ s i n f o rmat i on


D3.1010. Opera t iona l mass ba lances f rom the p lan ts i n I t a l y were no t p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew. The landf i l l mass d i ve rs ion pe r fo rmance o f the VKW process has been ca lcu la ted f rom ind i ca t i ve mass ba lances p rov ided by VKW and the mass ba lance da ta tha t was made ava i l ab le fo r the Is tanbu l p lan t .

D3 .1011. We were unab le to ob ta in da ta on the compos i t i on o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t p roduced

in I s tanbu l and f rom the I ta l i an re fe rence p lan ts . Th is da ta i s des i rab le to g i ve some

ind i ca t i on o f the accep tab i l i t y o f th i s ma te r ia l f o r some app l i ca t i ons .

D3 .1012. No da ta was made ava i l ab le abou t the quan t i t y o r compos i t i on o f the RDF p roduced at

the I ta l i an MBT re fe rence p lan ts .

Summary

D3.1013. Un l i ke many MBT p rocess supp l ie rs , VKW is u l t ima te l y pa r t o f a re la t i ve l y l a rge energy

company, the Aus t r i an p rov inc ia l power company Vora r lbe rge r K ra f twerke , wh ich cou ld

p rov ide resources , bo th f i nanc ia l and eng ineer ing to suppor t p ro jec t imp lementa t ion .

D3 .1014. The company has good exper ience in p rov id ing la rge sca le compos t i ng p lan ts tha t have

been in teg ra ted in to some o f the la rges t capac i ty MBT sys tems cu r ren t l y opera t ing .

The i r focus on la rge -sca le sys tems cou ld be advan tageous because many o f the

supp l i e rs o f compos t i ng processes tha t have been inco rpo ra ted in to MBT conf igu ra t i ons

have on ly so fa r p rov ided re la t i ve l y smal l sca le p lan ts .

D3 .1015. VKW in fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t they were the genera l con t rac to rs fo r the 100,000 Tpa

Buchen p lan t , wh ich i s now comp le ted and i s expec ted to s ta r t commiss ion ing ea r l y i n





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2005 . They a l so in fo rmed us tha t they a re the genera l con t rac to rs fo r the p lan t be ing

cons t ruc ted in He i l b ronn , Germany and w i l l supp ly the fu l l scope o f eng ineer ing works

inc lud ing the c i v i l works . These two p ro jec ts w i l l p rov ide the company w i th exper ience in

cons t ruc t i ng tu rnkey, mu l t i -e lement , MBT p lan ts (see ISKA p rocess rev iew) .

D3 .1016. The cu r ren t h igh leve l o f marke t ing ac t i v i t y by VKW in the UK has s ign i f i can t l y i nc reased

the i r v i s ib i l i t y among Loca l Autho r i t i es and was te management compan ies . They appea r

to have focused on some o f the techn ica l cha l l enges wh ich a re spec i f i c to the UK, such

as the ABPR requ i rements to ensure tha t the i r p rocess o f fe r ing mee ts the needs o f the

deve lop ing marke t .

This review was prepared in October 2004 from information provided by the company in late spring 2004. A site visit (Tufino,

Italy) was conducted on 29 June 2004. The review was finalised in February 2005, following further clarification discussions

with the process company.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s WA S TE C



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WASTEC


Wastec supplies a mechanical sorting process, which utilises a combination of ‘off-the-shelf’ equipment and a patented system called the ‘kinetic streamer’. Their most recent plant, which we were informed is currently being commissioned, combines the proprietary mechanical sorting process with an in-vessel continuous composting technology to treat unsorted MSW. The principle outputs from this process are various dry recyclables and a bio-treated output.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator

plant

Commercial plant


Only the mechanical sorting plant

has been operated on a demonstration basis. A commercial facility with all the elements is being

commissioned



• designed to treat ‘black bag’ waste

• designed to produce various ‘clean’ recyclables

• no integrated MBT process yet in commercial operation

• little known MBT experience

• possible scale-up issues

Contact details Suite 4, 1st Floor, Wellington House, Falcon Court, Preston Farm Industrial Estate, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 3TS, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 1642 674268 Fax: +44 1642 602500

www.wastec.co.uk

Key contacts Gordon Morehead

Director


M u l t i - s t a g e M e c h a n i c a l P r o c e s s i n g

V a r i o u s d r y r e c y c l a b l e s

M S W

B i o - t r e a t e d o u t p u t

I n - v e s s e l

C o m p o s t i n g

L i g h t p l a s t i c s & p a p e r





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Overview

D3.1017. Was tec L im i ted (Was te Convers ion Techno log ies ) , i s a UK company es tab l i shed in 2001

tha t marke ts a mate r ia ls recovery sys tem fo r p rocess ing unsegrega ted MSW. The

sys tem fea tures a pa ten ted mechan ica l separa t ion techno logy known as ‘The K ine t i c

S t reamer ’ (a l so re fe r red to as ‘A rmad i l l o ’ by the company) . The sys tem, wh ich separa tes

the incoming was te i n to va r ious po ten t ia l l y recyc lab le s t reams and an o rgan ic f rac t i on ,

has opera ted on a demons t ra t i on bas is a t one s i te i n S tock ton -on-Tees fo r more than

two years .


D3.1018. The sys tem be ing o f fe red cons is ts o f the K ine t i c S t reamer techno logy, fo r wh ich the

company s ta te tha t they ho ld a pa ten t , i n con junc t i on w i th va r i ous ‘o f f - the -she l f ’

mechan ica l separa t ion un i t s . No b io log ica l e lemen t was inc luded in the demons t ra t i on

p lan t opera ted in S tock ton-on -Tees , where the p lan t was con f igured to p rocess 12 ,000

Tpa o f UK ‘b lack bag ’ was te (abou t 14% o f the to ta l househo ld was te a r i s ings f rom the

bo rough o f S tock ton -on-Tees) . We unders tand tha t the o rgan ic f rac t i on f rom th i s p lan t

was compos ted e l sewhere and used as land f i l l pe rmanen t cover .

D3 .1019. We were in fo rmed by the company tha t the demons t ra t i on p lan t was d i sman t led in

February 2004 and i s now be ing re -e rec ted a t the Seamer Car r l and f i l l s i t e i n

Scarborough, UK. They s ta ted tha t th i s new p lan t , wh ich i s cu r ren t l y be ing

commiss ioned , inc ludes an i n -vesse l compos t ing p rocess supp l ied by the New Zea land

based, HotRot Compos t i ng Sys tems .

The Process

D3.1020. The fo l l ow ing desc r ibes the p rocess cu r ren t l y be ing commiss ioned a t Seamer Car r .

Bag Spl it t ing

D3.1021. The Was tec p rocess has opera ted to da te on ‘b lack bag ’ was te . The ‘as rece ived ’ was te

i s d i rec ted to a bag sp l i t te r , wh ich b reaks open the bags . A t th i s s tage o f the p rocess

ove rs i zed mate r ia ls a re removed . The remain ing was te i s then conveyed to Was tec ’s

‘K ine t i c S t reamer ’ .

Kinet ic St reamer

D3.1022. Th is mechan ica l separa t ion p rocess uses a rec ip roca t ing tab le w i th a va r i e ty o f

l ong i tud ina l and la te ra l s lop ing su r faces , wh ich fac i l i ta te some in i t i a l separa t ion o f the





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he te rogeneous was te because o f the way in wh ich the was te mate r ia ls respond to the

induced momentum.

D3 .1023. A t th i s s tage the was te i s d i v ided in to two s t reams; one conta in ing the l i gh te r f rac t i ons

(paper , p las t i c f i lm and mos t o f the b iodegradab le o rgan ic ma te r ia ls ) and the o the r

con ta in ing the heav ie r f rac t i ons (g lass , s tee l , a lumin ium cans and r i g id p las t i cs ) . Bo th

s t reams a re fu r the r separa ted in para l l e l p rocess l i nes as shown in F igu re D251.

Because o f the under l y ing opera t ing p r inc ip le , t he Proponen ts o f the sys tem c la im tha t i t

can be read i l y ad jus ted to cope w i th var ia t i ons in the was te s t ream and thus ma in ta in a

h igh leve l o f was te separa t i on .

Figure D251: The Wastec ‘Kinetic Streamer’ system

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f Was tec ’ s i n fo rmat ion

Addit ional Mechanical Separat ion

D3.1024. The l i gh t f rac t i on , S t ream 1 , i s sen t to a t rommel , wh ich a ims to separa te the

b iodegradab le con ten t o f the was te f rom the paper and p las t i c components .

Biodegradables

Kinetic Streamer

Trommel


Bag Splitter

Biodegradables

Plastic film, paper, biodegradables

Oversized materialsUK Black Bag Waste

Plastic film & paper

Electromagnet & Eddy current

separator

Metals

Vibrating ScreenMetals for recycling

Small plastic and glass pieces

Stream One

Metals, rigid plastics, inerts,

glass, etc.

Stream Two

see next process schematic

Residue Stream

In-vessel composting

process

Bio-stabilisedoutput

WaterAir

Off gases and leachate to treatment

Effluent Stream

Biodegradables

Kinetic Streamer

Trommel


Bag Splitter

Biodegradables

Plastic film, paper, biodegradables

Oversized materialsUK Black Bag Waste


Electromagnet & Eddy current

separator

Metals

Vibrating ScreenMetals for recycling

Small plastic and glass pieces

Stream One

Metals, rigid plastics, inerts,

glass, etc.

Stream Two

see next process schematic

Residue Stream

In-vessel composting

process

Bio-stabilisedoutput

WaterAir

Off gases and leachate to treatment

Effluent Stream





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D3.1025. The unders i ze f rac t i on , wh ich conta ins mos t o f the b iodegradab les , passes to a

magne t i c d rum separa to r and an eddy cu r ren t separa to r to recover fe r rous and non-

fe r rous meta ls respec t i ve l y . The b iodegradab les a re then sen t to an in -vesse l

con t inuous compos t ing p rocess , where i t i s b io - t rea ted fo r 10 -14 days . Th is i s a

re la t i ve l y l ow res idence t ime and the b iodegradab le mate r ia l w i l l no t be fu l l y b io -

s tab i l i sed .

D3 .1026. The Ho tRo t compos t i ng sys tem compr i ses fu l l y enc losed U-shaped reac to rs . A i r and

wa te r a re in jec ted d i rec t l y i n to the was te con ta ined in each reac to r and the con ten t o f

each i s mechan ica l l y ag i ta ted . The ne t fo rward mot ion o f the ag i ta to r moves the was te

th rough the reac to r . The ae ra t ion i s a r ranged so tha t c ross -con tamina t ion be tween the

un t rea ted and t rea ted was tes i s m in imised so as to mee t a requ i rement o f the UK ABPR.

Leacha te f rom the compos t i ng p rocess i s co l l ec ted and sen t fo r t rea tment .

D3 .1027. The o f f -gases f rom the compos t i ng p rocess a re passed th rough a b io - f i l t e r be fo re

exhaus t i ng to the a tmosphere . No de ta i l s were p rov ided on how the fug i t i ve emiss ions

f rom the p lan t w i l l be abated .

Figure D252: Examples of the HotRot composting vessel

Sou rce : Ho tRot Compos t i ng Sy s tems webs i te (www. ho t ro t s y s tems . com)

D3.1028. The overs i ze f rac t i on f rom the t rommel , wh ich conta ins ma in l y paper and l i gh t p las t i cs ,

i s co l l ec ted and fu r the r p rocessed fo r recyc l i ng as a so l i d fue l . Was tec in fo rmed us tha t

they have a commerc ia l a r rangement w i th a UK power genera to r to take a l l o f the i r so l i d

fue l ou tpu t bu t i nd ica ted tha t the de ta i l s were commerc ia l l y sens i t i ve a t th i s t ime . We

have no t had s igh t o f t h i s ag reement and have no t seen any compos i t i on da ta fo r th is

ou tpu t . We the re fo re canno t comment fu r the r on the v iab i l i t y o f th i s ou tpu t as a fue l .

D3 .1029. The co l l ec ted meta ls a re fu r the r c leaned by pass ing them over a v ib ra t ing sc reen , wh ich

removes any p las t i c o r g lass con tamina t ion be fo re they a re sen t fo r recyc l i ng . The

p las t i c and g lass p ieces recovered a t th i s s tage a re sen t to l and f i l l .





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Figure D253: Waste Kinetic Streamer system (continued from Figure D251)

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f Was tec ’ s i n fo rmat ion

D3.1030. S t ream 2 , con ta in ing the ma jo r i t y o f t he meta ls , g lass and r i g id p las t i cs i s passed over a

v ib ra t i ng sc reen wh ich removes the f ine b iodegradab le mate r i a l a long w i th sma l l p ieces

o f paper and p las t i c , wh ich a re sent to the t rommel i n S t ream 1 . The remain ing

mate r i a l s a re sent to an a i r d rum separa to r , wh ich removes paper and p las t i c f i lm .

D3 .1031. The rema in ing g lass , me ta l s and r i g id p las t i cs a re p rocessed by a manua l p ick ing l i ne to

recover g lass i n th ree d i f f e ren t co lou rs (g reen , amber and f l i n t ) . The meta ls and r i g id

p las t i cs f rom the p i ck ing l i ne a re passed th rough a d rum magne t and eddy cu r ren t

separa to r to recover fe r rous meta ls and a lumin ium cans fo r recyc l i ng . The ob jec t i ve o f

the p rocess i s to max imise the recovery o f recyc lab le mate r i a ls .

Process Performance

D3.1032. No mass ba lance da ta fo r the p lan t be ing commiss ioned was prov ided fo r th i s rev iew. We cou ld no t the re fo re de te rm ine the land f i l l d i ve rs ion pe r fo rmance o f th i s sys tem.

D3 .1033. We were in fo rmed by Was tec tha t the demons t ra t i on p lan t had a ‘95% re l i ab i l i t y ’ , bu t the amoun t o f was te t rea ted over the two year pe r iod was no t repor ted o r the to ta l number o f hours the p lan t was opera ted .

D3 .1034. No de ta i l s abou t the qua l i t y o f the p r imary ou tpu ts f rom the new p lan t such as the b io -

s tab i l i sed ou tpu t and the paper and p las t i cs were made ava i l ab le fo r th i s rev iew. We

cou ld no t there fo re assess these p roduc ts aga ins t marke t requ i rements .

Vibrating Screen

From previous process schematic

Biodegradables + fine paper & plastic

Manual Picking Line

Metals, rigid plastics, inerts, glass, etc.

To Trommel shown in previous process

schematic

Air Drum Separator


Metals, glass, rigid plastics, inerts

GreenGlass

AmberGlass

FlintGlass

Electromagnet & Eddy Current Separator

Ferrous Metals

Non-ferrous metals

Plastics + Inerts


Residue Stream

Effluent Stream

Vibrating Screen

From previous process schematic

Biodegradables + fine paper & plastic

Manual Picking Line

Metals, rigid plastics, inerts, glass, etc.

To Trommel shown in previous process

schematic

Air Drum Separator


Metals, glass, rigid plastics, inerts

GreenGlass

AmberGlass

FlintGlass

Electromagnet & Eddy Current Separator

Ferrous Metals

Non-ferrous metals

Plastics + Inerts


Residue Stream

Effluent Stream





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D3.1035. A l though we were no t p rov ided w i th de ta i l s on how the p rocess i s des igned to sa t i s f y the

requ i rements o f the UK ABPR, Was tec in fo rmed us tha t fu l l reg is t ra t i on as a compl ian t

ABPR fac i l i t y i s a p re requ is i te fo r the commerc ia l imp lementa t ion o f the i r new p lan t .

Th is wou ld mean tha t a fu l l y opera t iona l Was tec p lan t shou ld p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed

ou tpu t tha t i s su i tab le fo r l and -use in the UK.

D3 .1036. No in fo rmat ion was p rov ided about the measures in p lace to t rea t fug i t i ve emiss ions

f rom the in teg ra ted p rocess p lan t .

D3 .1037. No energy ba lance da ta was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

D3 .1038. No da ta on the ava i lab i l i t y o f the techno logy du r ing the two year demons t ra t i on was

made ava i l ab le .

Scale

D3.1039. Was tec i s ta rge t ing p ro jec ts f rom 25 ,000 Tpa us ing mu l t i p le l i nes o f th i s capac i t y . The

mechan ica l so r t i ng p rocess has so fa r opera ted a t ha l f t h i s capac i t y and the re fo re some

sca le -up r i sks , pa r t i cu la r l y w i th the ‘K ine t i c S t reamer ’ , can be env isaged. However ,

Was tec in fo rmed us tha t the p lan t a t S tock ton -on-Tees was res t r i c ted to 12 ,500 Tpa

because o f an ag reement they had w i th an inc ine ra to r to take the non- recyc led

mate r i a l s . They ind ica ted tha t each modu le i s capab le o f hand l ing 25 ,000 Tpa o f was te

bu t d id no t p rov ide re levan t i n fo rmat ion abou t the ac tua l th roughpu t o f the p lan t a t

S tock ton -on Tees .

D3 .1040. The ‘Ho tRot ’ compos t i ng p rocess i s ava i l ab le i n modu les o f 1 -12 Tpd (c . 300-3600 Tpa) .

There fo re mu l t i p le modu les may need to be imp lemented to t rea t the b iodegradab le

f rac t i on o f the 25 ,000 Tpa mixed MSW inpu t . Was tec in fo rmed us tha t the in i t i a l

i ns ta l l ed capac i t y o f t he Ho tRo t sys tem i s 5 ,000 Tpa , bu t no de ta i l s was p rov ided on

how many modu les were be ing used a t the Seamer Car r fac i l i t y .

Footprint and Visual Impact

D3.1041. Fo r commerc ia l p lan ts rang ing f rom 25 ,000 to 100,000 Tpa one to fou r p rocess l i nes

wou ld be requ i red and the bu i l d ing a rea i s es t ima ted to be approx ima te l y 1250m 2 to

2300m 2 co r respond ing to the smal les t and la rges t capac i t y . Th is i s equ iva len t to a

foo tp r in t i n the range 0 .02 to 0 .05 m 2 /Tpa . The requ i red headroom ranges f rom about

7 .5m to 9m, and the re fo re the p lan t cou ld be housed in a l ow p ro f i l e bu i l d ing , m in im is ing

the v i sua l impac t .

Costs

D3.1042. Was tec repor ted tha t the cos t o f tw in and fou r l i ne p rocesses w i l l be about £1 .9 to £3 .3

m i l l i on respec t i ve l y . These es t ima ted cos ts a re fo r equ ipment supp ly , i ns ta l l a t i on and





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commiss ion ing on ly . Based on in fo rmat ion genera ted f rom the demons t ra t i on p ro jec t i n

S tock ton -on-Tees , Was tec ind i ca ted tha t the opera t ing cos ts ( l abour , e lec t r i c i t y ,

ma in tenance and consumab les ) w i l l be abou t £10-15 pe r Tonne .

Outstanding quest ions

D3.1043. A number o f ques t ions abou t the new Was tec p lan t and the opera t ion o f the i r

demons t ra t i on un i t rema ined unanswered . These inc lude :

Deta i l s o f opera t ion o f the compos t ing p rocess ;

Mass and energy ba lances ;

Qua l i t y o f ou tpu ts . The res idence t ime in the IVC i s l ow and the b iodegradab le mate r i a l w i l l on l y be pa r t ia l l y b io -s tab i l i sed . No da ta was p rov ided to assess the degree o f b io -s tab i l i sa t i on ;

Fug i t i ve emiss ions con t ro l measures ;

Plant ava i l ab i l i t y da ta ;

Deta i l s o f how the p las t i c f i lm and paper ou tpu t f rom the p rocess w i l l be used, i nc lud ing o f f - take a r rangements and appropr ia te compos i t i ona l ana lys i s o f t h i s f rac t i on .

Summary

D3.1044. UK based Was te Convers ion Techno log ies , i s a sma l l , re la t i ve l y new company, wh ich

p romotes a mechan ica l separa t ion p rocess fo r manag ing m ixed MSW. The mechan ica l

p rocess has so fa r opera ted a t a demons t ra t i on p lan t , wh ich d id no t i nc lude a b io log ica l

e lemen t . Desp i te submi t t ing de ta i l ed c la r i f i ca t i on ques t ions to the Proponen ts o f the

sys tem dur ing the p repara t ion o f th i s repor t , we have no t rece ived subs tan t i ve answers

on many key aspec ts , as l i s ted above .

D3 .1045. We have been in fo rmed tha t the demons t ra t i on p lan t has been moved to ano the r l oca t ion

in the UK and tha t i t i s now be ing in tegra ted w i th a compos t i ng p rocess a t t h i s new s i te .

Because pa r t o f t he p rocess has been demons t ra ted in the UK, i t has a t t rac ted much

in te res t and a t ten t ion f rom UK Loca l Au tho r i t i es . A l though the Proponen ts have

p rev ious ly p romoted the i r t echno logy as a was te so r t i ng sys tem, i t has o f ten been

re fe r red to as an MBT sys tem (poss ib l y because o f the pub l i c i t y tha t the sys tem has

genera ted ) .

D3 .1046. The p rocess can o f fe r bene f i t s by separa t ing the incoming was te in to d i f fe ren t ‘ c lean ’

recyc lab les ( i n common wi th some o the r MBT sys tems) , wh ich wou ld mean tha t the re

may be compara t i ve l y fewer i ssues invo lved in marke t ing these ou tpu ts .

D3 .1047. We have no t been p rov ided w i th su f f i c ien t i npu t to de te rmine whe the r the company can

success fu l l y i n teg ra te the i r mechan ica l sys tem in to an MBT con f igu ra t ion . The

compos t i ng techno logy tha t they have se lec ted fo r the new p lan t has been used to t rea t





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var ious b iowas tes bu t does no t appear to have been opera ted w i th MSW. A lso , no da ta

was p rov ided about the re l i ab i l i t y o f the mechan ica l sys tem dur ing the pe r iod o f

demons t ra t i on . The company has ye t to demons t ra te a fu l l y i n teg ra ted MBT sys tem.

This review was prepared in November 2004 from standard information provided by Wastec in February, 2004 and answers to

some of our clarification questions provided in December 2004. We were unable to visit Wastec’s demonstration plant

because it had ceased operating and was being relocated at the time of this study. The company was not able to supply much

detail about the composting technology that would be integrated into the new demonstration facility. The review was

finalised in December 2004.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s WE H RLE WE RK



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WEHRLE WERK


Wehrle Werk’s MBT process utilises percolation (effectively washing the biodegradables from the waste with water), anaerobic digestion and an optional aerobic drying stage. The process has operated at demonstration scale. It is geared to produce biogas for use in gas engines and a bio-stabilised or fuel output.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant


Operated (1997-1999)

Operated (2000-2003)

Awarded contract to supply percolation process for

100,000 Tpa plant



• process demonstrated on unsorted MSW

• process can be a net energy producer via biogas utilisation

• process can be ‘tailored’ to produce different added-value outputs

• no commercial plant yet built

• market nervousness about viability of outlets for RDF

Contact details Wehrle Werk AG, P.O. Box 11 10, 79301 Emmendingen, Bismarckstraβe, Germany.

Tel: +49 7641 585 227 Fax: +49 7641 585 4227

www.wehrle-werk.de

Key contact Dr Peter Schalk

Marketing & Business Development Manager


P r e - s o r t i n g

M u l t i - s t a g e b i o l o g i c a l

s y s t e m

P o s t -

t r e a t m e n t

F e - m e t a l s B i o g a s t o e l e c t r i c i t y

D r y r e c y c l a b l e s

R D F o r b i o -s t a b i l i s e d o u t p u t

M S W





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Overview

D3.1048. Wehr le Werk AG i s a p r i va te l y owned company, wh ich was founded in 1860 by Wi lhe lm

Wehr le . The company has a year l y tu rnover o f €25-30M (c . £16 .5 -20M) . The i r i n i t i a l

bus iness focus was the des ign and manu fac tu re o f sma l l i ndus t r i a l bo i l e rs . Th is

bus iness has now g rown to i nc lude des ign and cons t ruc t i on o f l a rge sca le bo i l e rs fo r

was te inc ine ra to rs and la rge combus t i on p lan ts .

D3 .1049. Based in Emmend ingen, a smal l t own in the Sou th Wes t o f Germany near F re ibu rg , th i s

med ium-s ized company opera tes two bus iness d iv i s ions : Wehr le Werk , the company ’s

energy and equ ipment manu fac tu r i ng opera t ions ; Wehr le Umwe l t , t he env i ronmenta l

bus inesses , i nc lud ing the deve lopment o f a was te pe rco la t i on techno logy known as

‘B ioperco la t ’ . Th is l a t te r d i v i s ion i s bes t known fo r i t s ac t i v i t i es i n the was tewa te r and

leacha te t rea tmen t sec to rs i n wh ich they have supp l ied ove r 60 e f f l uen t t rea tmen t p lan ts

ac ross Europe . These p lan ts u t i l i se the company ’s own c ross - f l ow f i l t r a t i on techno logy,

wh ich i s known as ‘B iomembra t ’ . I n the UK, the marke t ing agen t i s the Ox fo rdsh i re

based company Wehr le Env i ronmenta l .

D3 .1050. The pe rco la t i on concep t a t the hear t o f t he MBT p rocess was l i censed to Wehr le by the

Swiss deve lopers o f the techno logy in 1997 and , under the cur ren t a r rangement , t he

l i cense w i l l exp i re i n 2007 . We unders tand tha t the o r ig ina l pe rco la t i on concept was

fu r the r deve loped by Wehr le be tween 1997 and 1999 and the MBT concept tha t i s be ing

p romoted now a lso has ae rob ic so l i ds d ry ing and was tewate r t rea tmen t us ing

B iomembra t .

D3 .1051. Jun ipe r unders tands tha t the same o r ig ina l pe rco la t i on concep t has a lso been l i censed

to ISKA (see ISKA p rocess rev iew ) , bu t tha t the ISKA p rocess i s marke ted in a d i f fe ren t

con f igu ra t ion f rom the p rocess , wh ich Wehr le opera ted a t i t s demons t ra t i on p ro jec t i n

Kah lenberg . Bo th compan ies in fo rmed us tha t they have p ro tec ted the i r own fu r the r

separa te deve lopments o f t he pe rco la t ion concep t w i th re levan t pa ten ts .


D3.1052. The Wehr le pe rco la t i on p rocess has so fa r on ly been opera ted a t a s ing le fac i l i t y : t he

20 ,000 Tpa demons t ra t i on p lan t a t the Kah lenberg land f i l l s i t e near Emmend ingen , wh ich

opera ted f rom December 2000 to December 2003 .

D3 .1053. Jun ipe r v i s i ted the Kah lenberg s i te i n March 2004 . A l though a l l t he p rocess equ ipment

was s t i l l e rec ted a t the s i te , t he p lan t was no longer opera t ing . Never the less , we

observed tha t i t was we l l eng ineered . We were to ld tha t the opera to rs o f the nearby

land f i l l s i t e , wh ich was opera t ing when we v i s i ted the p lan t , i n tended to bu i l d a l a rge r

fac i l i t y nearby fo r wh ich Wehr le has tendered . I t i s p lanned tha t the new fac i l i t y w i l l

t rea t 100 ,000 Tpa and Wehr le has p roposed s i x pe rco la t i on l i nes to ach ieve th i s





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capac i t y . We were recen t l y i n fo rmed tha t Wehr le was awarded the cont rac t to supp ly the

pe rco la t i on p rocess fo r th i s p lan t and i s cu r ren t l y bu i l d ing the pe rco la t i on l i nes .

D3 .1054. When i t was opera t ing the fac i l i t y r ece ived unsegrega ted househo ld was te f rom the

Zweckverband , an assoc ia t i on o f two loca l mun ic ipa l i t i es . The inpu t was te to the

p rocess was sub jec ted to s iev ing ( to remove overs i zed mate r ia l s ) and some magne t i c

separa t ion be fo re be ing sen t to the pe rco la to r .

D3 .1055. A second p ro jec t w i th one o f Wehr le ’ s pa r tne r compan ies , B iogas in Norway, to t rea t

20 ,000 Tpa o f m ixed MSW in Nomi l l , Norway, has s ta l l ed . We were to ld tha t the

cus tomer had d i f f i cu l t i es ob ta in ing p lann ing pe rmiss ion to bu i l d on the p roposed s i te and

tha t a new s i te was cu r ren t l y be ing sough t .

Figure D254: The Wehrle plant at the Kahlenberg landfill site

Enclosed conveyor transporting waste to the percolator

Housing for concreted percolator

Anaerobic digester

Settling tank Enclosed conveyor transporting waste to the percolator

Housing for concreted percolator

Anaerobic digester

Settling tank

Sou r ce : Weh r l e

The Process

Waste feeding & percolat ion

D3.1056. The Wehr le p rocess has opera ted on m ixed MSW. We be l i eve th i s i s an impor tan t s tep

to demons t ra te the ab i l i t y o f the p rocess to t rea t ‘ b lack bag ’ was te . Fu r the rmore , i f t he





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process can ex t rac t and t rea t the b iodegradab le con ten t o f a mixed was te f rac t i on , we

fo resee re la t i ve l y few cha l l enges to t rea t sou rce segrega ted MSW.

Figure D255: Wehrle’s percolation process being built in Germany

The dotted lines above show an alternative process configuration that has not yet been demonstrated.

Mixed Waste

Percolation & Hydrolysis

Wet Digester

Wastewater Treatment

Biogas

Treatedwastewater

KEY EmissionsRecyclables Further Upgrading

Drum Screen & magnetic separators

Oversized materials

Solids (Percotrate)

Water

Air

Percolate

Solids

Dewatering

Press

Press water

In-vessel aerobic drying/composting

Solids

Air

Off-gases to thermal

treatment


treatment

RDF & potential recyclables

Mechanical Separation

Stabilised waste to landfill

Gas Engines

Heat & Power

Ferrous Metals

Paper, foil etc.

Residue Stream

Exhaust Gases

Energy

Inerts to landfill

The dotted lines above show an alternative process configuration that has not yet been demonstrated.

Mixed Waste

Percolation & Hydrolysis

Wet Digester

Wastewater Treatment

Biogas

Treatedwastewater

KEY EmissionsRecyclables Further Upgrading

Drum Screen & magnetic separators

Oversized materials

Solids (Percotrate)

Water

Air

Percolate

Solids

Dewatering

Press

Press water

In-vessel aerobic drying/composting

Solids

Air


treatment


treatment

RDF & potential recyclables


Stabilised waste to landfill

Gas Engines

Heat & Power

Ferrous Metals

Paper, foil etc.

Residue Stream

Exhaust Gases

Energy

Inerts to landfill

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f Weh r l e ’ s i n f o rmat i on

D3.1057. The feeds tock a t Kah lenberg was t ranspor ted v ia fu l l y enc losed conveyors f rom the

was te bunker to a d rum s ieve wh ich removed the mate r ia ls g rea te r than 150mm.

Fe r rous meta ls were a l so magne t i ca l l y removed a t th i s s tage . The mater ia l s be low

150mm ( repor ted to be equ iva len t to abou t 90% by we igh t o f the m ixed was te f l ow) were

fed to the pe rco la to r .





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D3.1058. The pe rco la to r hand les a l l t ypes o f ma te r ia ls excep t some overs i ze i t ems and fe r rous

meta ls , thus m in im is ing the need to hand le , t ranspor t and separa te un t rea ted was te

w i th in the p lan t . Th is fea tu re cou ld po ten t ia l l y be bene f i c ia l f o r reduc ing p lan t odours ,

b io -ae roso ls and ve rmin .

D3 .1059. In the pe rco la to r , wa te r rec i r cu la ted f rom the anaerob ic d iges te r i s used to wash ou t the

b iodegradab les f rom the was te ( see Annexe A fo r a more de ta i l ed desc r ip t i on o f the

pe rco la t i on p rocess ) . I t i s s t i r red cont inuous ly to enhance the mass t rans fer be tween

the so l i d and l i qu id phases . The p rocess i s ma in ta ined a t abou t 35 0 C and the wash ing o f

the was te takes p lace ove r a pe r iod o f 2 -3 days under fo rced ae ra ted cond i t i ons . The

tempera tu re i s ma in ta ined by pa r t i a l was te degrada t ion and con t ro l o f t he a i r f l ow to the

p rocess .

D3 .1060. A key aspec t o f t he p rocess i s tha t the read i l y so lub le b iodegradab le o rgan ics and

ino rgan ics and the f i ne r ma te r ia ls w i l l be washed ou t f rom the was te du r ing pe rco la t i on .

These d i sso lved and suspended so l i ds a re then sen t to the anaerob ic d iges te r .

Anaerobic Digest ion

D3.1061. The resu l t i s tha t on ly a l i qu id f rac t ion o f the b iodegradab le con ten t o f a mixed was te

s t ream, known as ‘pe rco la te ’ , i s sen t fo r d iges t ion . The d iges te r , wh ich i s unmixed, i s

opera ted under mesoph i l i c cond i t i ons w i th a so l i ds res idence t ime o f abou t 3 -5 days .

Un l i ke o the r sys tems wh ich a im to d iges t a l a rge r f rac t i on o f b iodegradab les , the

d iges te r i n the Wehr le concept t rea ts eas i l y d iges t i b le ma te r i a ls . Thus , t he re la t i ve l y

sho r t ho ld ing t ime compared w i th conven t iona l unmixed and unhea ted d iges te rs may be

a t t r i bu ted to th i s fac to r .

D3 .1062. Overa l l , we wou ld expec t the y ie ld o f b iogas pe r tonne o f was te inpu t to the p rocess to

be lower than tha t f rom processes tha t d iges t a l a rge r f rac t i on o f the b iodegradab les in

the was te s t ream. However , such p rocesses wou ld requ i re l onger d iges t ion t imes , wh ich

cou ld have an impac t on un i t t h roughpu t . Th is cou ld have a consequen t impac t on the

s i ze o f t he p lan t foo tp r in t as we l l as the inves tmen t cos t .

D3 .1063. The compos i t i on o f the b iogas p roduced in the Wehr le p rocess i s shown in F igu re D256 .

Th is shows tha t the techno logy produced a cons is ten t qua l i t y o f b iogas over a

reasonab le pe r iod o f opera t ion . However , da ta on the quan t i t y o f b iogas p roduced over

the same per iod was no t ava i l ab le . We canno t comment there fo re on whe the r the

d iges te r opera ted a t a cons is ten t l eve l fo r a sus ta ined pe r iod o f t ime .

D3 .1064. We were p rov ided w i th da ta wh ich ind ica ted tha t the b iogas produc t i on ra te f rom th is

p rocess i s abou t 70 -80 m 3 /Tonne o f was te i npu t to the pe rco la t i on p rocess . A more

de ta i l ed ana lys i s o f t he b iogas can be found in F igu re D262 .





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Figure D256: Biogas composition from the Wehrle process for a 61 week period


Wastewater Cleaning

D3.1065. The l i qu id l eav ing the anaerob ic d iges te r was c leaned by Wehr le ’ s pa ten ted B iomembra t

sys tem befo re be ing d ischarged to sewer . Some o f the un t rea ted l i qu id f rom the

d iges te r i s reused as pe rco la t i on wa te r . Na tu ra l l y th i s wou ld inc rease the d i sso lved and

suspended so l i ds l oad ing en te r ing the reac to r and the re fo re improve the b iogas y ie ld .

Con t inuous ly d i scharg ing some o f the e f f l uen t f rom the d iges te r to wa te r t rea tmen t and

rep lac ing th i s w i th t rea ted wa te r ensures tha t the ca rbon :n i t rogen (C /N) ra t i o s tays

w i th in the op t imum leve ls requ i red fo r sus ta in ing the anaerob ic bac te r ia i n the d iges te r .

D3 .1066. So l ids f rom the d iges ter a re re tu rned to the pe rco la to r . F igu re D263 shows the

pe r fo rmance o f the was tewate r t rea tmen t sys tem used a t Kah lenberg .

Aerobic Dry ing

D3.1067. The so l i ds rema in ing in the pe rco la tor a re con t inuous ly removed a t one end o f the

pe rco la t i on vesse l . I n the sys tem opera ted a t Kah lenberg , these so l i ds ( re fe r red to as





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‘Pe rco t ra te ’ ) , were d i scharged in to a sc rew p ress where they were mechan ica l l y

dewate red f rom abou t 40% by we igh t , d ry so l i ds (ds ) to about 60% ds . The wa te r

removed was recyc led back to the anaerob ic d iges ter . The p ressed so l i ds were sen t to a

c losed vesse l b io log ica l d ry ing p rocess ( re fe r red to as ‘Pe rco t ry ’ ) i n wh ich the mate r i a l s

were he ld fo r 5 -9 days du r ing wh ich t ime the mo is tu re conten t was reduced to be low

15% by we igh t ( i . e . 85% d ry so l i ds ) . Th is i s ca l l ed ‘b io -d ry ing ’ and i t i s desc r ibed in

Annexe A .

Mechanical Separat ion

D3.1068. The s tab i l i sed mate r ia l s f rom ‘Perco t ry ’ were then pu t th rough a se r ies o f s ieves wh ich

p roduced separa ted f rac t ions o f i ne r ts (con ta in ing g lass ) and d r ied o rgan ic mate r ia ls o f

va r i ous s i ze f rac t i ons . We were in fo rmed by the company tha t these RDF f rac t i ons have

been tes ted in i ndus t r i a l power p lan ts , bu t the de ta i l s and resu l ts o f t hese combus t ion

tes ts were no t made ava i l ab le to us . We were a l so no t p rov ided w i th de ta i l ed

compos i t i on da ta fo r the fue l ou tpu t .

D3 .1069. In ou r v iew secur ing su i tab le ou t le ts fo r the RDF i s no t s t ra igh t fo rward and a number o f

f ac to rs cou ld have an impac t on the w i l l i ngness o f the co -combus t i on sec tor to u t i l i se

these mate r ia l s . The marke tab i l i t y cons ide ra t ions fo r SRF a re d i scussed in de ta i l i n

Annexe C o f th i s Repor t .

D3 .1070. F igu re D257 summar ises the ca lo r i f i c va lues o f the va r ious RDF s i ze f rac t i ons recovered

and the y ie ld o f RDF f rom the p rocess i s shown in F igu re D257.

Figure D257: Calorific values of RDF from the Wehrle process

Screen Cut Gross calor if ic value, MJ/kg

0 – 8mm 11 - 14

8 – 25mm 15 - 16

25-150mm 20


Process Performance

D3.1071. The mass ba lance fo r Wehr le ’ s p rocess opera ted a t Kah lenberg i s shown in F igu re D258 . Based on th i s ba lance, the was te d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l has been ca lcu la ted and summar ised in F igu re D259 a long w i th the re levan t assumpt ions tha t have been made in the ca l cu la t i ons .

D3 .1072. F igu re D260 i s an energy ba lance o f the Wehr le p rocess opera ted a t the Kah lenberg

s i te . The f igu re d isp lays the quan t i t y o f e lec t r i ca l energy (o r i t s equ iva len t ) used o r

p roduced a t the va r ious s tages o f the process .





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Figure D258: Typical inputs and outputs from Wehrle’s percolation process

Make-up water

Plastic foil, paper,

cardboard etc. (c. 6.5%)

Waste Gases (incl. water vapour)

(c. 15 %)

Press water Percotrate


(c. 7.3%)

Oversized Fraction (>150mm)

(8.0%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Biogas(c. 6.0%)

Dewatered Percotrate

Press

Percolation/Digestion Processes

Pre-preparation

Treated Wastewater (c. 27.6 %)

Aerobic Drying

‘BIOMEMBRAT’Process


Inerts (incl. glass) (c. 10%)

RDF (various grades)(c. 35%)

Fe-metals (c. 1.5%)

Wastewater

Leachate

Make-up water

Plastic foil, paper,

cardboard etc. (c. 6.5%)

Waste Gases (incl. water vapour)

(c. 15 %)

Press water Percotrate


(c. 7.3%)

Oversized Fraction (>150mm)

(8.0%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Biogas(c. 6.0%)

Dewatered Percotrate

Press

Percolation/Digestion Processes

Pre-preparation

Treated Wastewater (c. 27.6 %)

Aerobic Drying

‘BIOMEMBRAT’Process


Inerts (incl. glass) (c. 10%)

RDF (various grades)(c. 35%)

Fe-metals (c. 1.5%)

Wastewater

Leachate

Sou rce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f Weh r l e ’ s i n f o rmat i on

Figure D259: The diversion potential (by mass) of the Wehrle percolation process

Divers ion potent ia l Minimum, % Maximum, % Bas is of est imation


48.5 90 Min: does not include RDF to energy recovery. Inerts & oversized materials to landfill

Max: RDF is used for energy recovery, oversize fraction separated for recycling, inerts to landfill

Nb. This is not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets but total mass diversion






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Figure D260: Energy balance for the Wehrle process operated at Kahlenberg

Electrical energy input to feed preparation & other parasitic loads

(10 kWh/T)

Equivalent electrical energy input for AD

(c.15kWh/t)

Electrical Energy for export

(c.80kWh/T)Wehrle’s MBT System

Electrical energy input for mechanical post-

treatment stage (7 kWh/T)

Potential Energy recovery if RDF used as Fuel*(c. 325 kWh/t)

Denotes MBT process operated at Kahlenberg * based on an RDF mean CV of 15MJ/kg

Electrical energy input to feed preparation & other parasitic loads

(10 kWh/T)

Equivalent electrical energy input for AD

(c.15kWh/t)

Electrical Energy for export

(c.80kWh/T)Wehrle’s MBT System

Electrical energy input for mechanical post-

treatment stage (7 kWh/T)

Potential Energy recovery if RDF used as Fuel*(c. 325 kWh/t)

Denotes MBT process operated at Kahlenberg * based on an RDF mean CV of 15MJ/kg

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f Weh r l e ’ s da ta

Operabi l i ty and Avai labi l i ty

D3.1073. The ac tua l t ime the Kah lenberg demons t ra t i on fac i l i t y was opera ted and the average

measured annua l th roughpu t were no t ava i l ab le fo r rev iew. A l though Wehr le i nd ica ted

tha t the p lan t worked we l l du r ing demons t ra t i on they sa id tha t the th roughput da ta was

he ld by the opera to rs o f the Kah lenberg s i te . However , we were unab le to ob ta in da ta on

the ac tua l quan t i t y o f was te p rocessed and any ma jor downt ime . A lso no da ta was made

ava i l ab le on the y ie ld o f b iogas ove r a sus ta ined pe r iod o f t ime . Because o f th i s we

cannot comment upon the leve l o f re l i ab i l i t y o f t he techno logy du r ing the demons t ra t i on

pe r iod .





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Input Materials

D3.1074. The Wehr le p rocess has so fa r been demons t ra ted on unsegrega ted MSW. Based on th i s exper ience the company i s marke t ing the techno logy fo r t rea t ing bo th unsegrega ted and res idua l mun ic ipa l was tes . We do no t env isage tha t the re wou ld be any s ign i f i can t i ssues fo r th i s p rocess to t rea t res idua l MSW once proven on mixed MSW.

D3.1075. The inc reased mo is tu re con ten t o f the MSW feed tha t wou ld be encounte red in some count r i es shou ld no t pose s ign i f i can t p rob lems to the opera t ion o f the p rocess because such t ypes o f feeds tock a re l i ke l y to be compat ib le w i th the way in wh ich the pe rco la t i on techno logy opera tes .

D3 .1076. On ly m in ima l p repara t ion o f the m ixed was te was ca r r ied ou t a t Kah lenberg . The was te was sc reened and fe r rous meta ls removed p r io r to pe rco la t i on . The in tens ive mechan ica l separa t ion o f the was te was ca r r i ed ou t pos t -so l i d s tab i l i sa t i on . The advantages and d i sadvantages o f pos t -s tab i l i sa t i on mechan ica l separa t ion a re d i scussed in Annexe A3.

Process Scale

D3.1077. To da te the Wehr le techno logy has opera ted a t a sca le o f 20 ,000 Tpa on unsegrega ted MSW. The company p lans to bu i l d l a rge r p lan ts by us ing mul t i p le pe rco la t i on l i nes . Fo r example , s i x pe rco la t i on l i nes (one l i ne i s spare capac i t y ) a re be ing bu i l t f o r the 100 ,000 Tpa p lan t a t Kah lenberg . Techn ica l i ssues assoc ia ted w i th sca le -up fo r l a rge r th roughpu ts a re the re fo re l i ke l y to be m in ima l . However , some po ten t ia l sca le -up i ssues m igh t be exper ienced w i th the anaerob ic d iges te rs , s ince Wehr le p lan to bu i l d l a rge r and fewer d iges ters than tha t wh ich has a l ready been opera ted .

Conf igurat ion of Technology

D3.1078. Fo r commerc ia l i ns ta l l a t i ons the company p lans to bu i l d one o f two conf igu ra t ions :

t o p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t tha t can be land f i l l ed accord ing to German landf i l l s tandards ;

t o p roduce an RDF and o the r po ten t i a l l y rec yc lab le f rac t i ons f rom the pe rco la t i on res idues (wh ich has been opera ted a t the Kah lenberg p lan t ) .

D3 .1079. In bo th con f igu ra t ions b iogas w i l l be genera ted and conver ted to energy v ia gas eng ines .

D3 .1080. A second conf igu ra t ion o f the p rocess (shown in F igu re D260 in do t ted l i nes ) , wh ich has no t ye t been demons t ra ted , w i l l p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t su i tab le fo r l and f i l l i ng i ns tead o f RDF. In th i s con f igu ra t ion the so l ids f rom the pe rco la to r a re no t mechan ica l l y dewate red and a re ae rob ica l l y compos ted fo r 10 -12 days .





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Output Materials

D3.1081. F igu re D261 l i s t s the p roduc ts and the quan t i t i es o f each tha t have been p roduced in the

20 ,000 Tpa p lan t t rea t ing unsegrega ted MSW.

Figure D261: Products based on plant processing 20,000 Tpa unsegregated MSW

Products from plant at Kahlenberg, Tpa

Applicat ion

Biogas c.1200 utilised in gas engines after H2O removal

Ferrous metals c. 300 can be recycled

Inerts c. 2000 may be recyclable but landfill most likely

RDF c. 7000 market required

Screen oversize (paper, plastic foil, packaging etc.)

c. 1300 further separation required before recycling

Treated wastewater c. 5500 to sewer

Waste gases c. 2700 to bio-filtration before discharge

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f Weh r l e ’ s da ta

D3.1082. Biogas: The b iogas p roduced i s repor ted to have the compos i t i on and energy va lue

shown in F igu re D262 . The sys tem a t Kah lenberg was con f igu red to p roduce e lec t r i c i t y

f rom the b iogas by d i rec t l y f i r i ng i t , m ixed w i th l and f i l l gas f rom the same s i te , i n gas

eng ines . The m ix ra t i o was approx imate ly 10 :1 land f i l l gas : b iogas .

Figure D262: Biogas composition from Wehrle’s process after gas drying

Consti tuent Concentration Biogas production rate

CH4, vol % 70

CO2, vol % 30

O2, vol % < 3

H2S, ppm < 500

Si, mg/m3 < 1

Cl, mg/m3 < 0.5

Biogas CV (Calculated by Juniper from CH4 composition) c. 27 MJ/m3

70-80 m3/T


D3.1083. On ly condensa te was removed be fo re i t was m ixed w i th l and f i l l gas . The da ta ind i ca tes

tha t H 2 S remova l cou ld be requ i red in some cases . Th is con taminan t can fo rm co r ros i ve

ac ids when combus ted in the p resence o f wa te r , wh ich wou ld shor ten the l i f e o f the gas

eng ine . I n some cases the su lphur d iox ide in the exhaus t gases , fo rmed v ia H 2 S

combus t i on , cou ld requ i re aba tement .





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D3.1084. The concen t ra t i on o f s i l i con i s usua l l y repor ted because i t i s assoc ia ted w i th s i l oxanes ,

a subgroup o f compounds con ta in ing S i -O w i th o rgan ic rad i ca ls bonded to the s i l i con ,

p resent i n the b iogas . Th is con taminan t can fo rm s i l i con d iox ide depos i ts du r ing the

combus t i on process , wh ich can lead to i nc reased eng ine wear ( see Annexe A) .

D3 .1085. The y ie ld o f b iogas p roduced i s l i ke l y to have bene f i t ed f rom the h igh leve ls o f pu t resc ib les con ta ined in the unsegrega ted was te . Th is ra te o f genera t ion o f b iogas i s the re fo re l i ke l y to be lower i f res idua l was te , i ns tead o f m ixed was te , was to be p rocessed us ing th i s sys tem.

D3 .1086. RDF: The RDF p roduced i s repor ted to have a mo is tu re con ten t o f be low 15% and a CV o f 12 -18 MJ /kg . Th is f rac t ion con ta ins a much h igher CV than the m ixed MSW f rom wh ich i t i s der i ved . Thus a p lan t p rocess ing 20 ,000 Tpa o f m ixed was te cou ld po ten t ia l l y genera te a fu r the r 3 -4 .5 MW o f t he rmal energy .

D3 .1087. The company p roposes to use the RDF in combus t i on p lan ts to recover energy . Var ious samples o f RDF repor ted to be recovered f rom the p rocess tha t opera ted a t Kah lenberg were shown to Jun ipe r du r ing ou r s i te v is i t . The mechan ica l separa t ion p rocess p roduced va r ious ‘ s i ze cu ts ’ and ‘pu r i t y ’ o f t he RDF mate r i a l wh ich a re a imed a t d i f f e ren t energy recovery app l i ca t ions . F igu re D257 l i s ts the ca lo r i f i c va lue o f RDF f rac t ions p roduced a t Kah lenberg . More de ta i l ed da ta on the compos i t i on o f the RDF was unava i lab le and the re fo re we cou ld no t assess whe ther th i s ma te r i a l con ta ined s ign i f i can t leve l s o f con taminan ts tha t cou ld res t r i c t t he i r u t i l i sa t i on as a co - fue l i n some combus t i on processes .

D3 .1088. Wehr le i n fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t they have assessed the s tab i l i t y o f the RDF f rac t i on by i t s

wa te r con ten t . Whi le we unders tand tha t th i s g ives an ind ica t i on o f whe the r the mate r i a l

w i l l con t inue to degrade i f s to red w i thou t fu r the r mo is tu re i nc rease, i n common wi th

p rocesses tha t p roduce an RDF, i t i s poss ib le tha t the mois tu re con ten t cou ld i nc rease

p r io r to usage ; i n th i s case the mate r ia l i s l i ke l y to con t inue to degrade, wh ich cou ld

l ead to a number o f p rob lems inc lud ing odours and leacha te run -o f f . The cond i t i ons

under wh ich the RDF i s s to red a re the re fo re ve ry impor tan t .


D3.1089. Gas c lean ing: Al l p rocess o f f -gases f rom the commerc ia l p lan t be ing bu i l t a t Kah lenberg w i l l be the rma l l y t rea ted to comply w i th the l im i ts on TOC (To ta l Organ ic Carbon) i n Germany. The fug i t i ve emiss ions co l l ec ted f rom ins ide the p lan t w i l l be p iped to a b io -f i l t e r . The company in fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t they have mon i to red the quan t i t y o f va r ious con taminan ts be fo re and a f te r b io - f i l t ra t i on . However , the re levan t da ta was no t p rov ided fo r fu r the r ana lys i s .

D3 .1090. Wastew ater : Wehr le uses i t s own was tewa te r t rea tmen t techno logy known as B iomembra t . Th is i s a c ross - f l ow membrane imp lemented as a two-pass b io reac to r i n th i s case , wh ich opera tes under ae rob ic cond i t i ons to reduce the o rgan ic and n i t rogen compounds in the e f f l uen t s t ream. The per fo rmance o f th i s p rocess a t the Kah lenberg p lan t i s shown in F igu re D263 .





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Figure D263: Performance of the ‘Biomembrat’ wastewater treatment plant

Components Before treatment After treatment

BOD, (mg/l) 2500 < 10

COD, (mg/l) 7500 <800

Nitrates as (mg/l); NH4-N

NO3-N

1800

NS

<20

<150

AOX, Adsorbable Organic Halogens, (µg/l) 2800 < 500

NS- Not Specified


D3.1091. Dust & Odours: When Jun ipe r v i s i t ed the s i te the p lan t was no t opera t ing and the re fo re we cou ld no t observe whe ther po ten t ia l dus t and odour p rob lems ex is ted . We d id see du r ing ou r s i te v i s i t t ha t a l l re levan t equ ipment i n the p rocess , i nc lud ing conveyors , pe rco la to r , d iges te rs and d ry ing p lan t , were fu l l y enc losed . We were in fo rmed tha t a s l i gh t nega t i ve p ressure was used in many pa r t s o f the p lan t to p revent fug i t i ve emiss ions o f dus t and odour and we no ted tha t the necessary f i t t i ngs were s t i l l i n p lace . The a i r co l l ec ted in these a reas and the was te bunker was p iped fo r use as p rocess a i r t o the pe rco la to r and to the ae rob ic d ry ing p rocess . The was te gases f rom these two s tages o f the p rocess were p iped th rough a b io - f i l te r be fo re emiss ions to a tmosphere . We were in fo rmed tha t , as a requ i rement fo r p lann ing pe rm iss ion , the Kah lenberg fac i l i t y odour had to be reduced by up to 95% to a max imum o f 400 odour un i ts . Fo r fu tu re p lan ts i n Germany, regu la t ions wh ich came in to fo rce in 2001 w i l l requ i re the rma l t rea tmen t o f the exhaus t gases .

Footprint & Visual Impact:

D3.1092. Fo r the p roposed 100 ,000 Tpa p lan t a t Kah lenberg , Werh le has ind ica ted tha t the en t i re

fac i l i t y wou ld requ i re a l and- take o f abou t 8000-9000m 2 . Th is t rans la tes to abou t 0 .08 -

0 .09m 2 /Tpa . I f t he p rocess i s con f igu red to p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t fo r l and f i l l i ng

to the cu r ren t German s tandards , then s ign i f i can t l y more land may be requ i red to

imp lement the compos t i ng and matu ra t ion p lan ts : an add i t i on o f 10 -20m 2 fo r each 1000

tonnes o f was te p rocessed i s no t uncommon. Thus the overa l l l and - take cou ld be as

much as 0 .11m 2 /Tpa . Th is i s s t i l l much smal le r than many t rad i t i ona l compos t i ng

sys tems , wh ich can have a land- take as h igh as 0 .3m 2 /Tpa when compos t ma tu ra t ion

and was te p re - t rea tmen t a re i nc luded.

D3 .1093. The ta l l es t p rocess i t ems a re the anaerob ic d iges te rs , wh ich a re approx ima te l y 14m in

he igh t . P rov is ion fo r syngas f l a r ing w i l l a l so be requ i red fo r commiss ion ing and s ta r t -up

and in case the re i s the need to bypass the gas eng ines . The f l a r i ng sys tem cou ld

po ten t ia l l y have a s ign i f i can t v i sua l impac t , depend ing upon the t ype o f f l a re used

( ‘ open ’ o r ‘ c losed ’ ) , i t s he igh t and f requency o f use .





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Costs

D3.1094. The p roposed ga te fee , based on cos ts i n Germany , fo r a p lan t con f igu red to t rea t m ixed

MSW to p roduce e lec t r i c i t y v ia b iogas u t i l i sa t i on and RDF i s es t imated to be

approx imate ly €75 /Tonne (c . £53/Tonne) , wh ich inc ludes the cos t o f abou t €60/Tonne fo r

manag ing the RDF ou tpu t . Th is t rea tmen t cos t does no t i nc lude revenues f rom e lec t r i c i t y

and ho t wa te r . However , i t shou ld be no ted tha t these cos ts were spec i f i c to Germany

and cou ld be d i f fe ren t i n the UK.


D3.1095. We were unab le to ob ta in de ta i l ed in fo rmat ion on the pe r fo rmance o f the d iges te r and

the ac tua l quan t i t y o f was te p rocessed and the re fo re we cou ld no t assess the re l i ab i l i t y

o f the p rocess and whe ther the p rocess has been opera ted a t a re levan t sca le .

D3 .1096. Da ta re la ted to the u t i l i sa t i on t r i a l s fo r the RDF f rom Kah lenberg wou ld be ve ry he lp fu l

i n assess ing whe the r some o f the cha l l enges assoc ia ted w i th RDF usage have been

overcome. We have no t been ab le to rev iew such da ta o r the fu l l compos i t i on o f the

RDF. We there fo re cou ld no t make re levant compar i sons be tween the qua l i t y o f t he RDF

p roduced in the Wehr le p rocess and marke t requ i rements .

D3 .1097. I f the ou tpu ts a re to be b io -s tab i l i sed and sen t to l and f i l l , t he BMW con ten t o f t h i s

s t ream may need to be measured, as th i s wou ld a f fec t the d ive rs ion o f BMW f rom land f i l l

i n the UK.

Summary

D3.1098. Wehr le Werk AG i s pa r t o f a l ong-s tand ing eng ineer ing company tha t has a t rack - reco rd

in the des ign and cons t ruc t i on o f componen ts fo r l a rge combus t i on p lan ts . The d i v i s ion

i t se l f has been success fu l i n the was tewa te r t rea tmen t sec to r , t o wh ich i t cu r ren t l y

supp l ies a pa ten ted t rea tmen t p rocess . The company has less exper ience w i th MBT,

hav ing s ta r ted the i r deve lopment o f the i r MBT concep t i n 1997 .

D3 .1099. The Wehr le MBT p rocess opera ted a t a demons t ra t i on p lan t fo r th ree years . Dur ing th i s

t ime the p lan t t rea ted mixed MSW. Th is i s unusua l i n Germany a t p resent , s ince much

o f the was te ava i l ab le fo r t rea tmen t i s the res idua l f rac t i on a f te r sou rce segrega t ion .

However , t h i s exper ience wou ld be d i rec t l y re levant i n a UK con tex t where m ixed MSW

ar i s ings a re more w idespread . Th is p rocess i s the re fo re l i ke l y to be su i ted to bo th

‘ b lack bag ’ was te and separa te l y co l l ec ted o rgan ic f rac t i ons o f househo ld was te .

D3 .1100. Wehr le supp l ies a fu l l y i n teg ra ted concep t , wh ich can be op t im ised to p roduce b iogas

and RDF o r b iogas and a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t .





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D3.1101. Wh i le th i s f l ex ib i l i t y can b r ing some bene f i t s i n ta i l o r i ng the sys tem to su i t d i f f e ren t

marke ts , t he p rocess concep t i s ye t to be opera ted on a fu l l y commerc ia l bas is and

hence a number o f ques t ions remain .

D3 .1102. One key aspec t o f t he p rocess i s tha t i t t rea ts the eas i l y b iodegradab le f rac t i on o f the

was te v ia AD to max imise the b iogas y ie ld pe r mass o f b iodegradab les t rea ted and as a

consequence the b iogas produc t i on ra te i s h igh . However , t h i s means tha t the res idues

w i l l s t i l l con ta in a s ign i f i can t b iodegradab le con ten t , wh ich has to be fu r the r t rea ted .

D3 .1103. The p rocess concep t i s a re la t i ve l y new add i t i on to the b io log ica l was te t rea tmen t

sec to r , i n teg ra t i ng newer concep ts (perco la t ion ) w i th more conven t iona l techno logy (AD

and compos t i ng ) i n o rde r to i nc rease p rocess f l ex ib i l i t y . The comple t i on o f the f i rs t

commerc ia l p lan t w i l l be a s ign i f i can t s tep .

D3 .1104. Overa l l we fee l t ha t th i s i s an in te res t ing concep t , wh ich i s l i ke l y to be inc luded in a

shor t l i s t f o r a number o f d i f f e ren t t ypes o f p ro jec ts .

This review was prepared in August 2004 from information provided by Wehrle during our site visit to Kahlenberg, Germany

in March 2004 and answers to some of our clarification questions provided in September 2004. The review was finalised in

October 2004 after further discussions with Wehrle.

mechanical-biological-treatment : a guide for decision makers … › bionett › biog-2005-009...

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