Wasatch Resource Recovery (WRR) project being built in North Salt Lake City, Utah has chosen GE’s Monsal anaerobic digestion technologies to produce biogas from food waste.
Phase one of the WRR project, being built by a joint venture of ALPRO Energy and Water and South Davis Sewer District will produce3,000 dekatherms (dth) of renewable natural gas (RNG) per day.
After completion of the second phase of the project, it will supply renewable natural gas (RNG) to meet the needs of about 15,000 homes.
The project will serve as food waste digestion facility that will convert 180,000 tons of food waste to energy per year which in turn reduces emissions of green house gas.
GE will provide Re:Sep 2.0 technology for separating contaminants, sequential gas mixing technology and a pump mixing system for the digestion tanks and heat exchangers for the heating process.
Re:Sep 2.0 separation technology will help in separating plastics, metals and glass for recycling..
GE Water & Process Technologies engineered systems global leader Kevin Cassidy said: “Using anaerobic digestion technology, food waste can become a sustainable energy resource instead of a waste stream.
“Instead of disposing of organic food waste in a landfill, which causes greenhouse gas emissions, biogas can be used to generate electricity, biomethane and even compressed for vehicle fuel.In the case of the Wasatch Resource Recovery project, the facility will use GE’s Re:Sep and gas engine technologies to convert the biogas into renewable energy and fertilizer.”
GE technology will help in separating organic material mechanically before entering the facility and turn them into digestible slurry.
The slurry then will blend with liquid waste and will be anaerobically digested to produce biogas and fertilizers. The biogas will be collected, purified and converted to RNG which is inserted into the gas pipeline.
On completion of the second phase, the facility can use biogas in gas engines to generate power. The project’s construction has commenced and will be completed by third quarter of 2018.
Alder Construction vice president of operations Eric Alder said: “The WRR project will produce energy from waste organics including prepared and packaged foods, fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy, fats, oils, grease, expired beverages, screened curbside wastes and liquid organics from major food processors in the area.
“Using the anaerobic digestion technology not only converts these organic wastes into RNG, but it also produces a nutrient-rich, bio-based fertilizer. The facility will be the first in Utah, and GE’s advanced technologies are the key to diverting these organic wastes from landfills.”
Image: GE to supply anaerobic digestion system for renewable energy project in Utah. Photo: Courtesy of General Electric.