BIObytes Biomass News Briefs
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket System
Partnership will develop algae production models
Cheese plant installs wastewater treatment, digester Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Co. subsidiaries Biothane LLC and N.A. Water systems LLC have begun work installing an advanced wastewater treatment system at The Holmes Cheese Co. in Millersburg, Ohio, which will employ an anaerobic digestion technology to help reduce energy costs. Biothane’s Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket system first passes wastewater through a pretreatment and conditioning tank where it is prepared for main treatment. It is then supplied via an influent distribution system on the UASB reactor ground, rising through a bed of granular biomass (sludge bed) where the treatment takes place. At the top, a three-phase settler separates the treated water from biogas and granular biomass, and water and biogas are drawn off separately while the granular is returned to the sludge bed.
Alliance brings Austrian products to US Austrian-based AAT Abwasser’s biogas division and BioEnergy Technologies LLC, Sumter, S.C., have formed a strategic alliance that will establish BioEnergy as the sole representative for AAT’s biogas technology in 44 states in the U.S. AAT has more than 26 years of experience in anaerobic digestion technology, with more than 100 plants in operation in Europe and one in Oregon that came on line this past
16 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 3|2010
summer, according to Christian Kloser, AAT America managing director. BioEnergy Technologies, a renewable biomass energy provider, builds and operates decentralized facilities on-site at farm and processing locations, generating biogas that is converted to power, and also can provide a source of chilled water, hot water or steam to the host facility, according to BioEnergy Technologies.
California-based OriginOil Inc., which has developed a technology to transform algae into a competitor for petroleum, has formed a partnership with London-based StrategicFit, a strategy consulting firm with world-class analytical capabilities. The partnership will focus on increasing the robustness of OriginOil’s core algae productivity model by refining underlying assumptions and process logic,
according to OriginOil. The lifecycle model will be the starting point for the project, as it shows that a properly sited industrial algae production system could be both profitable and beneficial, according to OriginOil. The knowledge and experience of StrategicFit will help OriginOil identify key opportunities and challenges involved in commercializing its technology platform.
Arizona landfill gas project on line The Glendale, Ariz., Energy Power Plant, a 2.8-megawatt biogas plant in the city of Glendale’s municipal landfill, is now on line and serving customers of utility company APS. A dedication ceremony for the plant was held at the end of January, followed by “Lunch at the Landfill,” which was open to the public. The project uses large combustion
engines to turn a shaft connected to a generator, producing electricity from the landfill’s methane emissions. APS has a power purchase agreement with Glendale Energy LLC. This is APS’ first biogas project, but its renewable energy portfolio includes solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, together serving about 60,000 households.
Excel Energy contracts Missouri firm Missouri-based engineering, architecture and consulting firm Burns & McDonnell will perform engineering services, procurement and construction support services for the design and installation of a biomass gasifier at Xcel Energy’s Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland, Wis. The company will assist Xcel in converting the last of three coal-fired boilers to a waste-
wood feedstock, including wood left behind in logging operations and forests, according to Burns & McDonnell. Engineering and design technology evaluation is underway on the 73-megawatt plant and construction is slated to begin in 2011, with operation in 2012. Burns & McDonnell will review and finalize project costs, as well.