ABUTEC’s combustion technology is once again paving the way for waste-to-energy projects through its partnership with Roeslein Alternative Energy.
With almost two million pigs housed throughout nine facilities, Smithfield Foods Missouri produces an exorbitant amount of manure, enough to produce 2.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas. ABUTEC and Roeslein have partnered to help Smithfield Foods convert this waste into renewable energy by trapping the biogas released from manure lagoons and storing it for a repurposed use – energy production.
Roeslein is using a Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) gas conditioning system from Guild Associates, Inc., which works to remove any impurities from the biogas to create pipeline quality natural gas. In the event that too much biogas is generated or the PSA systems are down for maintenance, ABUTEC’s custom-designed 1.5 MW enclosed combustor allows Roeslein to continue operation and production by burning off the waste gas with a greater than 98 percent destruction efficiency. Upon completion of the project, ABUTEC will ultimately manufacture and install 88 of these combustor units, one for each of Smithfield Foods’ manure lagoons.
ABUTEC teamed with Roselein during the design‐build process of the entire Smithfield Foods’ system. To customize the units for this project, ABUTEC had to consider the manure lagoons’ Potential to Emit (PTE), possible corrosive contaminants within the gas composition and the functionality of its combustors with the Roeslein system.
ABUTEC also worked with Roeslein to overcome the challenges they faced with some previous flare designs they had employed, namely reliable ignition, continuous confirmation of combustion and highly efficient combustion to ensure no hydrocarbons were venting freely into the atmosphere. Resolving these issues was critical to moving forward with the project as Roeslein missed out on more than $1 million worth of carbon credits due to these challenges.
Through the combined technology of ABUTEC and Roeslein, Smithfield Foods will also earn carbon credits for its commitment to environmental sustainability. A carbon credit, or carbon offset, is a form of compensation that represents one tonne of carbon dioxide removed or reduced from the atmosphere by an emission reduction project.
ABUTEC, an acronym for Advanced Burner Technologies, is a manufacturer of environmentally friendly combustion solutions. ABUTEC specializes in offering high‐efficiency, low‐emission burners and flares to various industries, including biogas, oil and gas (including upstream and midstream), landfill gas, wastewater treatment, mine gas and many more. ABUTEC manufactures burners, enclosed combustors/flares, vapor combustors, incinerators and thermal oxidizers, all aimed at reducing emissions and increasing efficiency.
This article was originally published by PennEnergy and was republished with permission.
