Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing ProcessBiosolids Cake to Commercial Fertilizer

A Reality

Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment PlantFertilizer Manufacturing Facility

September 2010

Pierce County

Digester Failure – Lime StabilizationDecember 2000-March 2001

CostsExcess Hauling $268,917Equipment and Chemicals $213,363Labor $27,085Total Costs $509,365

Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing ProcessThe Facility

Operates 24 hours a day up to 7 days a week depending on operational, maintenance, and distribution strategies

Evaporates 4,400 lbs water/hour

Produces 2,400 tons of fertilizer per year

Final Product: 0.5 - 2.5 mm pellets93% dry solid

Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing ProcessFertilizer Manufacturing Process

Pierce County

Fertilizer

Digesters Centrifuge Wet Materials Bin

Recycle Bin

Mixer

FurnaceDryer Drum

Vibrating Screens

Preseparator/Polycyclone

CrusherTrash

Pellet Cooler

Pneumatic Conveyor

Silo

Bagging

Pierce County

Safety Systems

• Nitrogen Purge SystemActivated when oxygen levels rise too high

Storage silos, recycle solids bin

• Temperature sensors and water spray extinguishing systemActivated when temperature rises too high

Dryer drum

• Operator interfacing with control system

Pierce County

2008/2009 Biogas ProductionChambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant

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140

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TOTAL GAS PRODUCED WASTED TO FLARE UTILIZED IN BOILER UTILIZED IN FMF

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2008

2009

Pierce County

Odor Treatment

Three odor treatment systems:

• Venturi Scrubbers

• Building Air Scrubbers

• Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer

Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility2008/2009 Operating Costs

Item 2008 2009Electricity $ 66,958 $68,353Natural Gas $124,867 $149,376Operations and Maintenance Staffing $199,462 $208,258Polymer & Chemicals $316,056 $352,922Miscellaneous (parts, bags, pallets, etc.) $ 87,928 $113,558Total $795,271 $892,467

Digester Gas Value (avoided cost) ($214,331) ($199,789)

Pierce County

Award Winning Facility

• 2007 - Governors Award for Pollution Prevention & Sustainable Practices

• 2008 - Excellence in Biosolids Management Award, Northwest Biosolids Management Association

• 2009 - Recycler of the Year, Washington State Recycling Association for Public Agency Generator

Pierce County

SoundGRO - The Fertilizer

• Current N-P-K composition 6-7-0

• pH ≈ 7

• Density - 38+ lbs/ft3

• How the nitrogen composition affects the fertilizer’s behavior

• Metals and Micronutrients

• Salt Index

Pierce County

Importance of Pretreatment - MolybdenumOur Experience

• Content exceeding 75 ppm - final product cannot be classified as a Class A or B biosolid

• Content exceeding 10 ppm - a warning must be put on fertilizer label

• Moly is a plant nutrient and can exceed the WSDA loading limit by listing it as a micronutrient

• Pretreatment research identified the source of high Molybdenum discharge source and additional limits were placed on the discharger

• Concentrations have been reduced to well within acceptable levels

Pierce County

Establishing a Fertilizer Marketing Program

• Fertilizer Product Name, Registered Trade Mark, Patent Attorney

• Preliminary Marketing Study

• Biosolids Testing and Agricultural Laboratory Testing

• Product Logo and Bag Design

• University Research Program to Validate Application Rates and NPK Composition

• State Fertilizer Licenses – Washington 2005; Oregon, Idaho, Montana 2007; California 2008

Pierce County

Marketing Plan

Target Markets:

• Fertilizer Blenders, Commercial Agriculture, Golf Courses, Landscapers, Hydroseeders

• Residential users, small farms, pastures, and community gardens

• Competition – Primarily Commercial Fertilizers

Pierce County

Product Distribution & Sales

• How is the product provided or sold to customers

• How is the product packaged– Individual bags - 50 pound bags;– Pallets - forty 50 pound bags per pallet; – Half and one ton totes; – Bulk - truck trailer transport loaded from silos.

• Commercial distributors for product

• Product price - the product has value - it should be sold, not given away

Pierce County

SoundGRO Sales and Storage

2008

2009

Jan Feb Apr

Mar Sep May Aug Oct June Dec

July Nov

800*

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Apr July

June Aug Sep

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Sales Storage*In tons

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Pierce County

SoundGRO Marketing & Revenue (Excludes Labor)

Marketing Costs 2008 2009- State Fertilizer Licenses $330 $500- State Tonnage Fees $622 $732- Tradeshow Booth Fees $2,750 $2,465

Total $3,702 $3,697

Revenue 2008 2009- Individual Sales $34,199 $32,783- Commercial Sales $56,652 $86,633- Sales Taxes Collected $3,103 $3,703- Sales Taxes Paid $3,082 $3,716

Total $90,872 $119,403

Pierce County

Asset Management Program Utilize BCE process to determine best solution for optimizing operations, maintenance, and distributions

Pierce County

Alternatives Analysis

Alternative Description Capital costs 10-year NPVMeets

regulatory requirement

Optimizes practices

Allows for RTO

drying

1 Existing operating practices

$15M ($24.975M)

2 Redundant facilities $15M ($26.564M)

3 Optimized operations schedule

$15M ($25.142M)

4 Existing maintenance practices

($1.366M)

5 Optimized maintenance practices

($666K)

6 Existing distribution ($1.565M) 7 Automated bagging $1M ($2.086M) 8 New storage $2M ($3.566M) 9 Automated bagging

and new storage$3M ($4.086M)

Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility Maintenance Requirements

• Total Assets in Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility300 pieces of equipment

• Manufacturer Recommended Maintenance Labor3,047 hours annually

• Business Case Evaluation by Consultant Recommended 1,651 hours annually

• Work Orders by Trade Mechanical – 1,122; Electrical – 222; Instrumentation – 205; Operations 116; and Miscellaneous – 24

Pierce County

Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility Optimization

• Operations– Operational practices do not leave sufficient time for

maintenance

• Maintenance– Tasks based on manufacturer’s recommendation and a review to

determine if bundling, delaying or removal was applicable had not been performed

• Distribution– Excess product in winter requires storage, currently using

Collection’s garage which displaces Collections vehicle fleet

Pierce County

Since the BCE

Operations adopted a modified schedule for planned shutdowns

Maintenance work orders and costs significantly reduced

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010ytd

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010ytd

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Total Cost Applied In thousands

Total Work Order Count

Total Preventative Maintenance WO’s

Total Corrective Maintenance WO’s

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Pierce County

Distribution Overview

• Bulk customers– Golf courses, farmers,

fertilizer blenders• Bag customers

– Residential, distributors, lawn and landscape

• Cost $450/ton to produce (2009)

• Sold at – $58.40/ton ($1.46/bag) for

bulk bagged product– $38.80/ton for loose bulk– $3.20/bag for individual bags

Pierce County

Distribution Trends Analyzed Better Understanding of Customer Buying Patterns

Pierce County

Distribution Customer Profile Developing a Reliable Commercial Customer Base

Pierce County

BCE Conclusions and Recommendations

• Operations – Optimize with 10 day on/5 day off schedule

• Maintenance– Optimize by going from 3,175, maintenance tasks to 1,610

• Distribution– Continue with current practice– Expand market research and determine new winter customers

Pierce County

Questions