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Sanford, Florida will be the first municipality in North America to adopt the MaxWest gasification system to dispose of biosolids. MaxWest Environmental Systems has developed the gasification system, which converts sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment system into energy.
"Compared to the projected cost of natural gas, a fossil fuel, Sanford will save $9,000,000 over the 20-year life of our contract. This technology has provided us with the opportunity to save money while managing our waste stream and protecting the environment."
--Paul Moore, Utility Director, City of Sanford
MaxWest will build a facility at a wastewater treatment plant. The end product of a sewer plant, wastewater sludge, also called biosolids, will be gasified in an enclosed primary gasifier to produce syngas. In a continuous integrated process, the syngas will be oxidized in an enclosed thermal oxidizer to produce thermal energy. For Sanford, the thermal energy will replace natural gas to power a new dryer.
"Compared to the projected cost of natural gas, a fossil fuel, Sanford will save $9,000,000 over the 20-year life of our contract," said Paul Moore, the city's utility director. "This technology has provided us with the opportunity to save money while managing our waste stream and protecting the environment."
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Where do they get this sh#@? I love this *$it! But seriously, the payback on this sh*& must be substantial. Peddling solar and wind, even with incentives can yield raised eyebrows and yawns; I can't imagine how the initial meeting with this idea goes. Are these guys offering classes or is the technology just that good? Can't wait to hear more success stories like this. I hope this is a sign that society is realizing that we don't have to dig very deep at all to power our future.
This has been done for decades around the world.
What's new are the integrated anaerobic digesters that mix sludge and organic solid waste and generate methane..Austria, U.K., Ireland, and Sweden have quite few, and more being built.
Sludge presents a lot of problems, and toxic action groups pounce on anyone disposing of it. The ultimate solution is a high-temp. pyrolysis furnace that generates producer gas...pricey, but they work see PRYOMEX.We've proposed an integrated facility for the REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY that is planning for the conversion of Brunswick Naval Air Station. My concept would to get the gas first, i.e. extract the hydrogen in gaseous form; then seperate liquid from solids; thoroughly test both and treat them accordingly as best possible. I favor bio-treatment, i.e. living filters like oyster beds, wetlands, macrobial filters and gravity settling of heavy metals
Using biosolids as fuel not only produces substantial electrical power for the grid it also produces heat. This heat can be used for substantial savings in the processing of the biosolids. Also, since the power plant is not concerned with pathogens, the biosolids do not have to go through the expensive treatment process before combustion.
We would be pleased to take 100,000 tons of biosolids per year and turn it into power and heat for any municipality. Our power costs would be about $.05KW including capital, labor, maintenance, etc. The cost savings to the community would be almost as much as the electric revenues.
C. Van Milligen, Bioten Power and Energy Group
cavm@aol.com
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