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
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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
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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
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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
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
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
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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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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.
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SRS
Summary of the process
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.
Type of process being marketed
No plant yet built
Pilot Plant
Demonstrator plant
Commercial plants
Commercial status on MSW feedstock
Advantages Disadvantages
Key advantages & disadvantages
• 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
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
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
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%)
In-Vessel Composting
Trommel
Fe-metals (1-3%)Magnetic Separator
Shredder & Pulveriser
Fraction(<30mm)
Landfill restoration
(12%)
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%)
In-Vessel Composting
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
Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s
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) .
Outstanding Quest ions
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.
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SUTCO
Summary of the process
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.
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
• 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
Email: [email protected]
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 .
Status of Technology
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
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
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
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
Emissions Residue Stream
Crusher
Sieve Drum
Residual MSW
Fe-metals
Magnetic Separator
Star Screen
Stabilised materials to landfill
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
Off-gases to biofilter
>50mm<25mm
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
Emissions Residue Stream
Crusher
Sieve Drum
Residual MSW
Fe-metals
Magnetic Separator
Star Screen
Stabilised materials to landfill
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
Off-gases to biofilter
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
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
Emissions Residue Stream
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
Mechanical Pre-treatment
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
Emissions Residue Stream
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
Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill
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
Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s
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
Locat ion Plant Capacity,
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
Locat ion Plant Capacity,
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
Locat ion Plant Capacity,
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 .
Environmental Impact
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.
Outstanding Quest ions
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
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 - 3 1 0
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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.
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 - 3 1 1
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VALORGA
Summary of the process
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.
Type of process being marketed
No plant yet built
Pilot Plant
Demonstrator
plant
Commercial plants
Commercial status on MSW feedstock
Advantages Disadvantages
Key advantages & disadvantages
• 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
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
B i o - s t a b i l i s e d o u t p u t
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
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 - 3 1 2
A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VA LO RGA
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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 .
Status of Technology
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 .
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 - 3 1 3
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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)
Sou rce : Pho tog raph t aken by J un ipe r du r ing s i t e v i s i t
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
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 - 3 1 4
A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VA LO RGA
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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
KEY EffluentStreamRecyclables
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
KEY EffluentStreamRecyclables
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
KEY EffluentStreamRecyclables
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
KEY EffluentStreamRecyclables
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
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 - 3 1 5
A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VA LO RGA
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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.
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 - 3 1 6
A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VA LO RGA
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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
36,000 Kitchen and garden waste
1 25 4,000 110-120 Electricity & heat
Geneva, Switzerland
10,000 Kitchen and garden waste
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
2 25 3,800 100-120 Electricity & heat
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 .
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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
Mechanical Pre-treatment
(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
Mechanical Pre-treatment
(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.
Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s
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 - 3 1 8
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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 .
Outstanding Quest ions
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.
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VKW
Summary of the process
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.
Type of process being marketed
No plant yet built
Pilot Plant
Demonstrator plant
Commercial plants
Commercial status on MSW feedstock
Advantages Disadvantages
Key advantages & disadvantages
• 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
Email: [email protected]
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
B i o - s t a b i l i s e d o u t p u t
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
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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 .
Status of Technology
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
Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill
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.
Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s
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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A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s VK W
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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
Sou rce : Pho tog raph t aken by J un ipe r du r ing s i t e v i s i t
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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Environmental Impact
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
Sou rce : Pho tog raph t aken by J un ipe r du r ing s i t e v i s i t
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
Outstanding Quest ions
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
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 - 3 3 2
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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.
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 - 3 3 3
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
Summary of the process
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.
Type of process being marketed
No plant yet built
Pilot Plant
Demonstrator
plant
Commercial plant
Commercial status on MSW feedstock
Only the mechanical sorting plant
has been operated on a demonstration basis. A commercial facility with all the elements is being
commissioned
Advantages Disadvantages
Key advantages & disadvantages
• 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
Email: [email protected]
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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A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s WA S TE C
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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 .
Status of Technology
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
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 - 3 3 5
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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
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
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
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
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
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 - 3 3 6
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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
Plastic film & paper
Metals, glass, rigid plastics, inerts
GreenGlass
AmberGlass
FlintGlass
Electromagnet & Eddy Current Separator
Ferrous Metals
Non-ferrous metals
Plastics + Inerts
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
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
Plastic film & paper
Metals, glass, rigid plastics, inerts
GreenGlass
AmberGlass
FlintGlass
Electromagnet & Eddy Current Separator
Ferrous Metals
Non-ferrous metals
Plastics + Inerts
KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading
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.
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WEHRLE WERK
Summary of the process
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.
Type of process being marketed
No plant yet built
Pilot Plant
Demonstrator plant
Commercial plant
Commercial status on MSW feedstock
Operated (1997-1999)
Operated (2000-2003)
Awarded contract to supply percolation process for
100,000 Tpa plant
Advantages Disadvantages
Key advantages & disadvantages
• 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
Email: [email protected]
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 .
Status of Technology
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
Off-gases to thermal
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
Off-gases to thermal
treatment
Off-gases to thermal
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
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
Sou r ce : Weh r l e
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
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 - 3 4 7
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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
Sou r ce : Weh r l e
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
Waste gases (incl. water vapour)
(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
Mechanical Separation
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
Waste gases (incl. water vapour)
(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
Mechanical Separation
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
Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill
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
Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s
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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
Sou r ce : Weh r l e
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 .
Environmental Impact
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
Sou r ce : Weh r l e
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.
Outstanding Quest ions
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.