http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/3204754522/articles/waste-management-world/waste-to-energy/2012/11/96_000_TPA_Waste_Gasification_Plant_Awarded_EA_Permit_in_Merseyside.html
15 November 2012
UK waste to energy company Energos has been awarded a full Environmental Permit to operate a small scale advanced conversion technology (ACT), which will use gasification to treat 96,000 tonnes of waste per year at Knowsley Industrial Park, Merseyside.
The company said that the facility, which will use its patented gasification process, has also been selected by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) to manage short-term treatment of residual, non-recyclable waste, helping to divert it from landfill.
Once operational the plant is expected to generate some 9 MW of power, which Energos said is equivalent to the output of 15 large wind turbines.
According to the site’s developer the facility is designed to complement local recycling initiatives and to process only non-hazardous, residual waste, with an ability to accept a variety of waste streams, including refuse derived fuel (RDF).
In recognition of the technology’s capability of achieving NOx emissions less than 25% of the EU limit, without any form of NOx abatement system, the Environment Agency has set low limits for NOx emissions from the plant.
The company said that the first phase of construction at the Knowsley Energy Recovery facility has already been completed and the second phase of work is expected to start in 2013.
The facility could be completed by 2015,” said Nick Dawber, managing director of Energos. “Despite the difficulties in the financial markets, we are making good progress in securing finance for this £60 million project.”
Public consultation
According Dawber the company set up the Knowsley Community Liaison Group back in 2008 to manage communication with residents and businesses and members have been fully involved in the project and met at key points in the development cycle.
Steve Molyneux, environment manager for the Environment Agency commented: “We’ve carried out a thorough assessment of the application and consulted widely on the details. We’ve sought comments from other organisations, including Knowsley Council, Knowsley NHS, the Health Protection Agency and local people.”
“The Environment Agency is confident that the proposed energy from waste facility will not harm human health or the environment,” he added.
Technology
The company said that the scheme will use an advanced conversion technology (ACT) gasification technique which converts waste into a gas via a rigorously controlled two-stage thermal treatment process – using the heat of partial combustion.
The gas is then fully combusted to generate heat, which is used to produce steam and electricity. The combined heat and power process will generate heat for use by neighbouring businesses, as well as electricity.
The company said that the project will create 20 long term skilled jobs at the site and more than 50 jobs during the two-year construction period, with more jobs created through the supply and support chain.
Energos added that its advanced conversion technology has also been selected for the treatment of residual waste at the proposed Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park and at Glasgow City Council’s proposed Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre.
Small Scale Community Plants Way Forward for Waste Gasification
Energos’ Sarpsborg facility
25 June 2012
To maximise efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions savings waste to energy plants in the UK need to make use of their heat potential, according to Nick Dawber, managing director of Energos.
Speaking at the recently held Waste to Energy City Summit, Dawber argued that waste to energy facilities should exist within the heart of industrial and residential communities to utilise the heat value of the waste.
The Summit brought together technology developers and waste management companies with the city?s financial community and policy makers to identify emerging investment and development opportunities in gasification and pyrolysis for municipal and industrial waste.
“To achieve higher levels of efficiency we need to sell heat – either directly as steam to industrial customers to displace existing fossil fuel supplies – or as combined heat and power (CHP),” explained Dawber.
“When the ratio of energy used is two parts heat to one part electricity, facilities will achieve up to 50% efficiency, which rises to as much as 85 % if you utilise the full heat potential,” he added.
According to Dawber it is necessary to develop smaller waste to energy facilities to capitalise on heat potential since there are more sites available for such facilities, which can be located close to the potential demand for heat and are appropriately sized to satisfy that heat requirement.
He also claimed that there will be higher public acceptance for ‘community sized’ facilities.
Smaller plants minimise traffic to the site and can sit alongsiderecycling
facilities to provide a local solution for local non-recyclable waste while delivering a renewable supply of low carbon, low cost energy, he argued
.
Dawber called on the government to accelerate the development of district heat networks, as demanded under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, to avoid valuable heat resources being wasted.
He stated that a large 400,000 tonnes per annum waste to energy plant, producing around 32 MW of electricity, would have a surplus of around 70 MW of heat that is normally lost to the atmosphere because there are very few industrial facilities that have sufficient CHP demands for large scale facilities.
Dawber cited small scale facilities such as Energos? plants in Norway and its UK sites, scheduled to open in 2014 that can supply usable amounts of energy (up to 20MW of heat) to local customers.
Apart from the efficiency benefits, such plants also qualify as a ‘recovery’ plant under the EU Waste Framework Directive and stand to benefit from the UK’s Renewable Heat Obligation.
The plant room Energos’ Sarpsborg waste gasification facility
Small scale waste gasification process
Warrington based Energos has developed a small scale waste gasification process that converts residual, non-recyclable waste into a gas by using the heat of partial combustion to free hydrogen and carbon in the waste.
Residual waste is fed into the gasification chamber, where it is converted into a syngas. This syngas is then transferred to a secondary oxidation chamber where it is mixed with air and recycled flue gas under tightly controlled conditions that ensures complete and efficient combustion resulting in reduced emissions in the flue gases.
Since 2002, Energos’ Forus advanced thermal processing facility in Stavanger, Norway, has supplied electricity to the local grid and hot water to a district heating system for an adjacent industrial and commercial estate.
The 40,000 tonnes per annum plant exists at the heart of the community, handling municipal and commercial waste and complementing local recycling facilities.
Energos? newest gasification facility is at Borregaard Industries, Sarpsborg, in Norway. The 78,000 tonne per annum plant is owned by Norway?s leading power supplier, Hafslund Energy Recovery AS, which appointed Energos to design, build and commission the advanced thermal conversion facility.
The 32 MWth double line plant treats non-recyclable commercial and industrial waste and produces 256 GWh/a of high grade steam to displace approximately 22,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil per annum.
Waste Gasification, AD and MBT Facility Planned for Milton Keynes
01 November 2012
Waste and recycling company AmeyCespa has been named as the preferred bidder to design, build and operate a facility that will feature MBT and anaerobic digestion as well as waste gasification technology from Energos to treat around 90,000 tonnes of residual waste in Milton Keynes.
According to the company, a part of Spanish infrastructure company Grupo Ferrovial (FER:MC), the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park will deal with household ‘black sack’ waste, residual waste which has been through a recycling process and some commercial waste.
AmeyCespa said that it is proposing to build the new facility in the Old Wolverton industrial area, on the site of a former distribution centre, where it will bring together three technologies to divert waste which has not been reused, recycled or composted from landfill.
The company said that the technologies it is proposing are:
The gasification technology to be deployed at the planned facility is to be supplied by Warrington based Energos, and will have a capacity of over 90,000 tonnes and generate a gross output of 7 MW.
Energos said that it has also recently been selected as a technology provider for Glasgow City Council’s proposed Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre.
Benefits
According to AmeyCespa, these technologies will help extract more recyclable materials, as well as generate enough to power for the equivalent of 11,000 homes
Further benefits were said to include reduced costs for local waste management – a saving of more than £50million over the design life of the facility, a 95% reduction in landfill, 45 permanent jobs and an on-site visitor and education centre for use by schools and the wider community
“Milton Keynes Council has an excellent recycling record and has set out to build on this by recovering as much as possible for recycling and composting from our black sack waste and generating renewable energy with what’s left,” commented Councilor David Hopkins, Milton Keynes Council’s cabinet member for Environment and Waste.
According to Hopkin following dialogue with AmeyCespa, the council came to the conclusion that its proposal was an innovative long-term, value for money solution which will meet these aims.
The company said that over the coming months it will finalise its proposals for Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park prior to submitting a planning application in 2013.
As part of this, the company added will undertake a comprehensive consultation programme and organise public exhibitions.
Waste Gasification Technology Selected for Glasgow Project
02 August 2012
Manchester, UK based waste gasification technology developer, Energos is to supply equipment to treat waste at Viridor’s planned waste to energy and recycling facility in Glasgow.
The company said that its technology will feature as part of a three stage-process residual waste project at the proposed £146 million Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre.
Viridor’s planned facility will mark a major overhaul to the way Glasgow’s residual household waste is managed over the next 25 years, and will handle between 175,000 and 200,000 tonnes of the council’s green bin waste every year.
According to Energos its patented gasification process and proprietary control system ensure that emissions are consistently low.
The company said that average NOx emissions are typically 25-30% of the EU limit and no de-NOx system is needed.
The ENERGOS thermal conversion process consists of two stages, a primary chamber for gasification of the waste and a secondary chamber -for high temperature oxidation of the syngas produced in the primary chamber.
The company claimed that the project is expected to save the city £254 million across life of the contract, in addition to 90,000 tonnes of CO2 every year through landfill diversion from landfill, the sale of recyclate materials and the generation of electricity from renewable sources.
“This is an environmentally responsible, small scale local solution for local waste that would otherwise fill up landfill, commented Nick Dawber, managing director of Energos.
A planning application is expected to be made towards the end of summer with a view to securing planning consent in early 2013.
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Viridor Contract for Waste Gasification, AD & Recycling Facility in Glasgow
Viridor – a part of the Pennon Group (LSE: PNN) – has signed a 25 year contract with contract with Glasgow City Council to Design, Build, Finance and Operate a 200,000 TPA recycling, AD and waste to energy gasification facility in the city.